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Carvin V3: Whats the deal??

MattACaster

By MattACaster
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Sixtonoize Newbie

Sixtonoize

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It has a VERY distinct voicing - you either love it or hate it.

 

A lot of their problems is that people bought them thinking that they were a budget version of the Dual Rec, and that's simply NOT the case. Carvin, of course, didn't help the situation - they pretty much billed the V3 as "just like a Dual Rec, only better".

 

YouTube can't really do the amp justice, and it's NOT an amp that you can buy on blind faith.

 

You've really got to try one out yourself.

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MattACaster Newbie

MattACaster

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It has a VERY distinct voicing - you either love it or hate it.


A lot of their problems is that people bought them thinking that they were a budget version of the Dual Rec, and that's simply NOT the case. Carvin, of course, didn't help the situation - they pretty much billed the V3 as "just like a Dual Rec, only better".


YouTube can't really do the amp justice, and it's NOT an amp that you can buy on blind faith.


You've really got to try one out yourself.

 

 

Is there an amp you could compare it to?

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The Anomaly Newbie

The Anomaly

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I looked at that but I like that the V3 can be controlled via MIDI. I was looking at getting a G-Major soon and it looks like the loops and the MIDI on the V3 would work really well with it.

 

 

The G-major can control some other amps without midi, too. It has a TRS 1/4" jack that will let you plug into some amps' footswitch jack and control, say, reverb and/or channel changing.

 

I had two stints with a V3, one was when I had a Dual Rec right beside it, the clean channel on the V3 smokes the Dual Rec, but the dirty channel is a different story.

 

It's not bad, but it just kind of sounds like everything and nothing at the same time, very non descript, lacks personality and color.

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musicdog400 Newbie

musicdog400

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There's also a high-presence that can't be dialed out.

 

I noticed this too. I liked the amp, but thought that an EQ in the loop would be necessary because of the presence. The tone can be adjusted many different ways on this amp, but I couldn't dial out that presence. At high volumes it may not be an issue.

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MattACaster Newbie

MattACaster

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The G-major can control some other amps without midi, too. It has a TRS 1/4" jack that will let you plug into some amps' footswitch jack and control, say, reverb and/or channel changing.


I had two stints with a V3, one was when I had a Dual Rec right beside it, the clean channel on the V3 smokes the Dual Rec, but the dirty channel is a different story.


It's not bad, but it just kind of sounds like everything and nothing at the same time, very non descript, lacks personality and color.

 

 

I know it can. But it seems to be much more involved if you want to control an amp that uses more than a 1/4TRS to control functions.

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Awake77 Newbie

Awake77

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I have a V3 and like it a lot. Here's a clip:

 

V3 Clip

 

That was recorded with the volume at ~1.5, which sounds nice but they do reach their full potential opened up.

 

I love the amp, but agree with the sentiments above. There is so much tone control that it takes a lot of time to really dial in your tone. All the controls are very sensitive too - which is great if you love tweaking but rough if you just want to plug in and get your tone in a minute. However, after owning the amp for a while you'll get a good feel for it.

 

It has a very unique voicing and can cover a very wide range, but does not sound like anything other than itself. Don't expect it to sound like a Marshall or a Mesa because it doesnt. The amp has a very solid and defined low end - fast, palm muted runs sound tight even with high gain settings. The chugga chugga stuff is excellent. The gain does get kid of messy if you crank it too far, but that's a given. I prefer it right around 5-6.

 

The presence at mid to high levels can sound buzzy, but it also really depends on the speakers you run it through. When I first got the amp I was running it through greebacks and it was really harsh - through an old set of G12m-70's it's smooth and crisp. I believe the amp was designed for G12T-75's (The G12m-70's are an older version of those)

 

Like any amp, an EQ in the loop can really help shape the tone. I've been messing around with an ART Dual Tube EQ in mono mode (8 band parametric) and it's added a new dimension to the V3's already wide array of tones, it also seems to make the presence control more useful being able to notch certain frequencies.

 

It does work great with MIDI, and has a 'smart loops' feature where the head will remember the FX loop settings - which is really slick. Gives you a lot more than 3 channels if you're using a MIDI equipped FX rack. It's also got a 'Boost' feature on it that you can kick on with MIDI or a footswitch, and that will give you up to 9db of boost for solos and whatnot. 50W/100W selectable, EL34 or 6L6 biasing via a switch, even a preamp out with cabsim...you'd be hard pressed to find an amp that sounds this good with these kind of features at this price point.

 

I've owned a 5150II and I like the V3 a lot more. I had a Mesa Quad for a long time and sold it in favor of the V3...which was a really tough call. I loved the Mesa but didnt really want to deal with a big rack anymore, there's no comparison to the V3 as they sound completely different...the Quad had that very focused Mark IIC+ sound while the V3 has the sag and roar of a more modern high gain amp. The V3 is here to stay, but if I can manage I may just pick up a Mesa Mark series or a TriAxis at some point to go along with it:)

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gsteph22 Newbie

gsteph22

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Wow, that clip sounds great! I'm impressed.

 

I don't care about sounding like another amp, I just want raw potential -- I'll shape the rest :D

 

Do you think it'd work well with a 7-string, if I choose to get one in the future?

 

I'll have to get an Avatar Cab built with the T75's, or something from Eminence, like the George Lynch speakers...

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Awake77 Newbie

Awake77

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Wow, that clip sounds great! I'm impressed.


I don't care about sounding like another amp, I just want raw potential -- I'll shape the rest
:D

Do you think it'd work well with a 7-string, if I choose to get one in the future?


I'll have to get an Avatar Cab built with the T75's, or something from Eminence, like the George Lynch speakers...

 

All my electrics are 7's, and the V3 works great with them all! It also really lets the sound of the individual guitars/pickups through (that goes for any tube amp though). That clip was recorded my RG7620 w/EMG 707's.

 

I don't care about sounding like another amp, I just want raw potential -- I'll shape the rest

 

The V3 certainly has potential, but you really gotta spend the time with it imo. The cool thing is there is so much tone control you'll always be surprising yourself with new sounds. On the flip side, you might spend a few hours tweaking and not find something you like! I think the general consensus is to keep the presence down pretty low - I think I had it on 1.5 for that recording.

 

That sounds badass, man!


I had written off the V3 before because of the weird presence thing...but you may have changed my mind.

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah the presence control is just wierd on it - if you want a brighter sound there are like 3 switches and 3 different knobs you can mess with to do what you'd expect the presence to do. The presence control on the V3 seems to peak a certain frequency which works with some sounds and doesnt with others.

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solarburn Newbie

solarburn

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I couldn't tell much from that clip. To my ears it was a bit hairy/fuzzy and undefined. I didn't take away anything from it cause it was a bit muddled. Playing was cool though.

 

I checked into this amp awhile ago and the Carvin Website had awful video clips of how it supposedly sounded. I thought they were dumb asses for putting them on the website. Hearing them made me want to run away from the amp.

 

Hope they changed the clips. They must have been impaired making them. Carvin's got some good stuff.

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thinkpad20 Newbie

thinkpad20

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You've really got to try one out yourself.

 

And there's the rub; they're pretty much impossible to try out unless you know someone who has one. I actually do know someone (though not very well). If I were thinking seriously about this amp I'd give him a call, but I'm not, so :idk:

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ENdtime Newbie

ENdtime

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And there's the rub; they're pretty much impossible to try out unless you know someone who has one. I actually do know someone (though not very well). If I were thinking seriously about this amp I'd give him a call, but I'm not, so
:idk:

 

They give you 10 days. Yeah you will be out the shipping, but thats not too steep a price to pay for having an amp for 10 days. Approx. $50 each way.

 

I have posted my opinion/experiences with the V3 a number of times on this board and dont feel like re-hashing them again, but in a nutshell its a good amp, definitly worth the $899(or whatver they are nowadays), it NEEDS to be loud. BUt most heads do, no surprise.. Clean is really nice, the distortion channel can get a lot of tones, but I couldnt get the one I was looking for..

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