Carvin Legacy Amps? Comments and opinions wanted!!

[GuitarPlayerShaun]

Im looking for a new amp and i want to be open minded and consider every amp out there. i stumbled upon the carvin legacy amps and wondering if anyone has heard them? I thought this was the right place to come to.

[davester1234]

listen to vai's live at the astoria dvd if you want the gist of what a legacy sounds like. he is probably running a ds1 distortion pedal along with it though.

They are very good amps, sparkling clean sounds and very even tone, although some have reported the gain chanel lacking a bit of uummff for that metallica sound (that real scream).

The ds1 distortion pedal has reportedly worked wonders for that issue.

Its rated one of the best amps you can buy, and if you've heard Steve, you'll know why.

[sandman]

they're very good amps, and very loud too... it has one of the best clean sounds i've ever heard from any amp (and i've tried quite a few very expensive ones). but depends on what you like, the lead channel isn't exactly for "heavy" playing it has a calmer sweeter distortion, but (just as mentioned above) you can overdrive it with an overdrive/distortion pedal and get a much heavier distortion. the Carvin website has a demo of it... but i'd suggest you go check it out and play through one yourself.

[GuitarPlayerShaun]

Originally Posted by sandman

they're very good amps, and very loud too... it has one of the best clean sounds i've ever heard from any amp (and i've tried quite a few very expensive ones). but depends on what you like, the lead channel isn't exactly for "heavy" playing it has a calmer sweeter distortion, but (just as mentioned above) you can overdrive it with an overdrive/distortion pedal and get a much heavier distortion. the Carvin website has a demo of it... but i'd suggest you go check it out and play through one yourself.

thats the problem no one carries it.

[The Euphor]

I had the combo for quite some time. And it was good. My main problem was that it wasn't loud enough without an external cab. With a 4x10" it was great, but then the whole point for me getting a combo was gone.

[Devo]

i love mine....

unfortunatly its still back home in ireland..... gathering dust

as far as tones go.... the clean is fantastic... the gain is great.. and the tone crontrols are really superb... it always amazes me that you can hear a difference between n and n.5 (n=1,2...9) on any dial ...

its really really really loud .... but still kicks out great tones at relatively low volumes!!!

superb amp

[pagliai]

legacy is wow tone for me- bogner is different but wow tone and more money- soldano slo like bogner!
pump

[Zoso5962]

I had the head w/ the 4x12 cab (V30's) and i wasn't as happy with it as everyone else seems to be. I didn't feel it had the versatility that I wanted. The clean channel was amazing, but if you expect to crank up the gain on the distorted channel and chunk away, that is not the case.

And this amp is not at all forgiving if you are a sloppy player. Every little nuance will be heard!

I've moved on to a triaxis/2:90 all rack rig now because i like to have 3 or 4 different rhythm, lead and clean sounds instantly.

[Thomas M]

Originally Posted by Zoso5962

And this amp is not at all forgiving if you are a sloppy player. Every little nuance will be heard!

Yes... this is good and bad for me. Fortunately it is wow tone to my ears too and that inspires me to practice more, and I've only had the Legacy head for a couple of weeks. (Thanks Nick!) I love it already even though I can't crank it in my apartment -- it's plenty loud at 1. I don't really ever aim for Boogie or nu-metal distortion although with my DS1 it could get there probably. Clean channel is incredible and the lead channel is great too. I love the reverb. Definitely makes me want to push myself to play more and play better!

[Devo]

its another one of those things... you think your clean till you put evos in your guitar and realise how sloppy you are... then you go and get a legacy... and you got to clean up your technique again... fantastic amp though... very expressive...

if your playing it all the time at one... you might want to flick the 50w switch at the back... its makes the amp a bit more playful at lower volumes...

i love my legacy

Steve

[mike777]

See, that's the thing, if an amp can't hide when you're sloppy, then that's the sign of well-made amp. It's nice to sound flawless but hiding behind an amp isn't doing anything to improve your playing.

Mike 777 Haug

[Given to Fly]

I just got mine retubed and my faith was restored. For awhile it didn't really seem to sound all that great. Now it sounds amazing! And to think I almost bought a Bogner Ecstacy to get the sound I wanted. Instead I spent $120 for the Legacy to be fixed and I'm perfectly happy. Saved about $3680!

[Devo]

hey man,

what tubes you go with??

i remember when i re-tubed my legacy was almost life changing...

I went with JJ's mainly cause i know nothing about tubes... and a couple of people on this forum had already tried em out in their legacys and were happy with em...

has anyone switched over to 6L6's yet??

[Knightmeir]

I haven't changed out the tubes in mine yet... but I love the way the thing sounds.
I've got a half stack, bought the head from a forum member and the cab from carvin direct. It was a world of difference from the Fender practice amp I'd been using for a few years. I live in an apartment so I have to play it at an extremely low volume so I don't get the cops called on me... although I don't get the full sound out of it all the time, I still enjoy it quite a bit. I don't think you'd regret the purchase : )

[pace520]

does vai keep his rack effects before legacy or are they on effect loop or sumthing? 'cos i'm considering legacy as my next amp, and i have a small rack which has some reverbs and delays on it. For the best sound, should i put it in a loop or front?