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New Carvin XB100 vs. my 1993 XB100


asatnutz

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It's cool. :D

 

I had a 1x12 "vintage" version....which I have since sold.

When I played it in the store I was blown away....thought the cleans were top notch, and the gain was decent......overall just a huge sonic footprint.

 

After a while.....I still liked the cleans....but they were nothing compared to my Super Reverb or TOL50. I tried it with extension cabs, and it still didn't sound "right". It had a really notched tone.....to my ears.

The dirt tones were almost unusable after a while.......ugly. :freak:

 

I liked the layout of the amp, switchable power, assignable 5 band EQ, and footswitchable FX loop....but in the end it just didn't deliver.

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I know what you're saying about the dirty channel...it's awful.

 

I've got an X60B, and by itself, it's the worst sounding dirty channel I've owned...and I've owned more than my fair share. There's SO MUCH bass in the preamp of the thing that it makes your bridge pickup sound like a neck pickup. It's really unusable.

 

BUT...when I picked up the X60, I also got a Boss GE-7 in the deal. Let me tell you, the combination is pretty f-ing magical. With the GE-7, you can pull the bass out of the preamp, boost the mids and level, and REALLY tighten up the gain channel and turn it into a fire-breathing monster. Pre-gain EQ makes it into a completely different amp. You know...one that DOESN'T suck.

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Yeah, I too tried an EQ and/or a boost to "fix" the tone and it worked.......but in the end it just didn't sound that good anyway.

 

I heard some talk about how they used to ship them out with EV speakers and that those sound a lot better? :idk:

 

Sadly as a side effect, I've really become interested in old Mesa amps......

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Aside from the obvious there are much better amps out there for the money, people at the Carvin forum are saying the reissues aren't nearly as loud, particularly the clean channel. I had one from the early 90s and it was extremely loud. People are saying you can stand in front of the new one fully cranked and still talk over it.

 

Here's a thread with clips

 

http://carvinbbs.com/viewtopic.php?t=10337

 

The Carbinbbs has a lot of discussion about it.

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