OT: Carvin Legacy

[TimSz]

So, I've been bumming around for the past little while trying to decide what amp to get. I stumbled upon the Carvin website after having not been there in probably a good year or so.

I decided to give the Legacy a lookover because if Steve Vai can put his name on it, it can't be THAT bad. And the price... oh lord thunderin' Jesus... the price! It's less money to get a Legacy 100w head, a 2x12 cabinet and a 4x12 cabinet than to purchase a Mesa head! How crazy is that?

I've read and heard that the Legacy puts out a Marshall-y sound except it's been given steroids. Can anyone confirm or deny? Does anyone have one? For the money they're asking, it's affordable, and seems completely logical to purchase one.

Tips? Tricks? Hints?

 

[tommyindelaware]

i played one........i didn't care for the clean channel much at all. very stiff . but.... the distotion channel was very good.

 

[savannah_sean]

Jimmy,

I used to have a Legacy 2x12 combo- I got mine shortly after they came out, I think it was late '98 or early '99. I liked it for the most part- unfortunately I was living in an apartment at the time and didn't have many chances to turn it up- and I didn't think it sounded all that great at low volumes (plugging straight in, mind you)- but I did jam with a drummer for awhile and I thought the thing sounded great when turned up- although I wouldn't characterize it as "marshall on steroids" by any means. It had a nice warm distorted tone, but it wasn't terribly crunchy, like my friends marshall DSL 50 watt head was. So if you're looking for that marshall type crunch, the legacy might not do it for you- unless they've changed them in recent years. I think mine came with celestion vintage 30 speakers, el-34's and 12ax7's...although it might have had 6L6gc's instead, I really can't recall.

The carvin footswitch was pretty chincy, but it worked fine. When I was a kid I had a carvin X-100b halfstack, the old footswitches were nicer I think.

 

[TimSz]

Thanks for the input.

I wanna pick your guys brains a little more though...

I'm not looking to play at low volumes. I have a little practice amp, and am probably going to end up purchasing a Dr. Z Air Brake anyways... those things are amazing.

Side-story: At a local guitar store, we took a JCM800 and hooked in the Air Brake. We pinned the amp while running the Air Brake on "bedroom" level. We got that sweet Marshall tone that everyone is after, and the sound couldn't even be heard outside the room we were playing in. They're THAT efficient, and don't blow up like the Marshall ones do.

Back on track, comparing the amp to a Marshall DSL kind of confuses me as well as the "warm distorted... not crunchy". I'm not quite following your explanation. Let me try to explain what I want tonally, and then if we can go from there, that'll be great.

I want some nice cleans for blues. I was reading on Harmony Central, and a lot of the reviews hype the "crystal clear" cleans, which interests me. In regards to an overdrive, I'll probably end up running a Diamond OD pedal, so that's not an issue with the amp. As far as the distorted side of things, I don't play any of that nu-metal crap. I like Van Halen and Racer X stuff. Can it get that kind of distortion to it?

Thanks again for the scoop.

 

[robelinda2]

I tried the Carvin Bel Air, great combo. nice cleans.

 

[MN246]

I've tried several Carvins. My current rig is a Rocktron Prophesy into a Carvin TS-100 power amp thru a 5150 bottom cab and one of the guitarist that I play with regularly has an X100B. I didn't care much for the tone of the Legacy. It does sound quite a bit like a Marshall. It really doesn't have near enough gain for me without using a pedal. If I were you I'd give a look to the Carvin MTS. It's an awesome amp with tons of modern gain, and the clean channel is the best I've ever heard on any amp. I've been thinking about picking up an MTS myself.

 

[TimSz]

I don't need to go anymore modern than EVH or Paul Gilbert's sound. I just don't want to spend twice as much on a Laney when I don't have to. That's why I'm looking into all options before dropping money I shouldn't be spending. Also, if it sounds like a Marshall then that shouldn't be too bad... after all, EVH did start on Marshall, and Paul Gilbert has recently started playing the new Marshalls...

 

[savannah_sean]

sorry my descriptions aren't more helpful. the truth is it's been about 4 years since I heard that amp (my old legacy), and I'm not too much of a tonehound anyway so I guess I can't really provide an accurate description relative to "standard" tones that everyone is familiar with. I just remember thinking that the lead channel had a really nice, warm, deep sound, but I wouldn't have characterized it as particularly heavy. I was mainly playing Rush and Steve Morse instrumentals with this drummer and it sounded great for that, but wouldn't have been the best for, say, Metallica tunes or something. but again, this was going straight in, no pedals at all.

Have you listened to the sound clips on carvin's site? I seem to remember some clips of Steve Vai demo-ing the amp.

 

[roburado]

The Legacy didn't really suit me. I tried a couple of Carvins out one day including the Legacy and the V3 head. Neither were really my thing.

The Egnater Mod 50, however...

 

[TimSz]

The clips of Vai playing are here: Legacy

They sound good, but I find it difficult to trust a clip over the net by the company... I'd like to hear some Joe off the street record one. Actually, I should go to Youtube and check there out.

I'll keep you all updated.

PS Savannah_Sean, don't apologize. I wasn't bustin' your balls at all. I was just looking for more detail. Have no fears, pardner. hahaha. ya'll.

 

[Larry]

Those Carvins are a steal... Really good deal if they sound like what there clips look like I can't wait for my Frenzel only like 4 more weeks

 

[dstockden]

I gather that a Legacy 2 is in the pipeline , so maybe worth waiting.

 

[TimSz]

Oh, well son of a bitch. I may just have to wait then. Thanks for the tip!

 

[dstockden]

its gonna be a 3 channel beast apparently, no eta though, just mention of it from vai

 

[TimSz]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNsXOaB6PY8"]YouTube - Carvin New Year 2007![/ame]

That's some pretty nice tone, if you ask me. I'd probably replace the guitar and hair because wow... but anyways... the point is that it sounds killer and for the price, it's worth not even waiting for the new version to come out.

Anyways, I'll keep ya'll updated.

 

[JMB27]

Thanks for the input.

I wanna pick your guys brains a little more though...

I'm not looking to play at low volumes. I have a little practice amp, and am probably going to end up purchasing a Dr. Z Air Brake anyways... those things are amazing.

Side-story: At a local guitar store, we took a JCM800 and hooked in the Air Brake. We pinned the amp while running the Air Brake on "bedroom" level. We got that sweet Marshall tone that everyone is after, and the sound couldn't even be heard outside the room we were playing in. They're THAT efficient, and don't blow up like the Marshall ones do.

Back on track, comparing the amp to a Marshall DSL kind of confuses me as well as the "warm distorted... not crunchy". I'm not quite following your explanation. Let me try to explain what I want tonally, and then if we can go from there, that'll be great.

I want some nice cleans for blues. I was reading on Harmony Central, and a lot of the reviews hype the "crystal clear" cleans, which interests me. In regards to an overdrive, I'll probably end up running a Diamond OD pedal, so that's not an issue with the amp. As far as the distorted side of things, I don't play any of that nu-metal crap. I like Van Halen and Racer X stuff. Can it get that kind of distortion to it?

Thanks again for the scoop.

+1 on the Z Air-Brake ... have been thinkin' about adding that to my collection.

and, Diamond pedals? Absolutely love my J-Drive ....

based on your sound requirements, you might also wanna check out the BB Pre-amp from Xotic (it's next on my wish-list)

happy shopping

Joel

 

[TimSz]

Hell yeah!

I am big into Dr. Z amps as well (I think we've even spoken about them on here...) but I found that they were one trick ponies. I don't want to have to tote around seventy pedals to get ALL the sound I want. I would much rather find an inexpensive alternative that will only require three pedals.

EBMM wah > BB Pre > J-Drive

It's like you read my freakin' mind! I think with the Legacy and those three pedals, I'd be done. I wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore... so I could devote all of my moneys to buying more guitars. And to anyone that is looking to play their hundred plus watt amp at home, get an Air Brake. They are simply stunning.

High fives all around for this! And I don't even think I'll wait for the new Legacy. This current one seems like it will do the job, and I don't want to have to wait for two to five years for a new one to surface. I'm impulsive, damnit!

 

[Roxy]

I tried a few Legacy Combos and experienced nothing but frustration. After four exchanges at three to four weeks at a time I requested a full refund. My complaints would be in their shipping materials for the combos is just not sturdy enough. Each unit shipped across the US got beat up causing malfunctions or cosmetic damage. The reverb circuit added noise (on all four units), and the build quality varied unit to unit. The customer sevice was ok. Response times were lengthy, however they refunded every penny less one shipping charge.

I have since bought Mesa and will look no farther. I'd recommend to anyone to try out a Stiletto before buying a Marshall. It's an amazing EL34 based amp. IMHO it smokes the Carvin and worth the extra money: awesome tone, better CS, much better build quality, simple tube changes (fixed bias), 5 year warranty. Mesa's attention to detail is astounding (like MusicMan).

 

[JeffreyB]

Have any of you tried the peavey JSX? I love mine....I don't play any really heavy stuff, but I compared it side by side with a Mesa triple rectifier (i think that's what it was) and the jsx sounded better and the clean channel is VERY usable....works great with any pedals!

just my 2 cents

 

[gregmarradotcom]

I use the Legacy live with a Keeley modded Tube Screamer in front of the amp. It's essentially a one trick pony but for the dirty channel alone it's great for what I need it to do. Lacks a bit in the lows but will cut through most mixes and live settings. I used this amp and a second as a backup for the past two years supporting my first cd from theaters to tiny bars and have gotten tons of compliments on the tone from sound engineers.

I just picked up a Mesa Lonestar and am loving it! Very smooth and creamy tone ... use it with a BB Preamp in fron of the amp on the clean channel and it sings for days.

Good luck....