Legacy Head-Best Amp In The World! - It's official!

Andy J Dampier · #1 01-06-2001, 11:18 PM

It's official now, the Carvin Legacy was nominated the "Best Guitar Amp Head" world-wide!

See, I told you so.

You'll see the write-up ad in the new guitar mags.

Kind of cool to own the best amp in the world.

Take care everyone, and go buy a Legacy!

wyzenhymer · #2 01-07-2001, 06:53 AM

Alright! That's what I was wanting to hear in my other post! I needed some good news!

alienx · #3 01-07-2001, 08:59 AM

Great news, but which poll was that and which mag organised it?

And... which ones are 2nd and 3rd?

tommy west · #4 01-07-2001, 01:40 PM

Legacy rules, very nice tones all the way around! Pick one up today.

ellsobrien · #5 01-07-2001, 01:53 PM

I would say it was the best in it's price range. And I bet you that is what they won an award for too.

Andy J Dampier · #6 01-07-2001, 07:31 PM

I know it's definitely in Guitar One and Guitar World. It's got a picture of a couple Legacy's and Steve as well.

The amp won 'Best Guitar Amp Head'-NOT 'Best Guitar Amp Head For The Price'

ellsobrien · #7 01-07-2001, 10:58 PM

didn't mean to offend, just my opinion that it is a mid-range amp in a mid range price range (and there are alot better amps out there). IMHO

Goofy · #8 01-08-2001, 03:56 PM

* * * * *I would have one of these already, but I have an obsession with playing something and hearing it before I put about 1000 dollars into it. *Too bad Carvin has to be factory direct. * Did you guys not worry about going out on a limb? *I know they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, but it seems like a hassle to deal with the shipping and all. *Maybe when I find one used in town I can check it out.

bob oakman · #9 01-08-2001, 04:18 PM

Goofy, I wrestled with that problem for a long time. Not that I didn’t trust Andy’s positive assessment of the Legacy in many past threads. I am just used to a certain type of gain and had, in the past, gone to extremes to make my amps perform like I wanted. I never could get what I was looking for over the counter. I finally bought a used head.

I was pleasantly surprised. It is very responsive for a 2 channel tube guitar amp. The tone is to die for. I agree with many that claim it is a wee bit short on gain if you’re doing the mega-gain, hardcore thing, but it is easily remedied with some type of gain boosting device on the front end. It responds well to those devices.

IMO, it is true that you can listen to Vai and tell pretty much what the Legacy sounds like. Even though the Legacy is not used on most tunes (It wasn’t invented yet), the Vai tone is easily obtainable by simply plugging directly into the Legacy.

diek · #10 01-08-2001, 11:49 PM

Polls are like statical studies, usually biased and always void of a true control. Best for one person is someone elses garage tone. Personally, I think the carvin is decent, but it's not the best in the world. That's a very lofty and unprovalble statement and magazines say those things just to get you to read the article. IMHO, It still has it's short comings for the some types of music. There really is no amp that suits every style of music %100. There shouldn't be either, that's why we have amp switchers.

warmregards · #11 01-09-2001, 05:41 PM

In response to the Lagacy being a mid range amp...keep in mind Legacy's now make up the majority of Vai's amplification equipment. *It boggles me that he gave up Bogner Ectasy's for these but hey, he did it and he sounds great still. *Right now I use a Marshall VS100R combo...I want a Legacy but unfortunately I do not even own a Jem yet...which is next on the list for me. *Being 16 sucks. *lol...

1 1 Dragon 2 2 2 · #12 01-10-2001, 10:25 AM

the amp question is now my main dilemma.
it took alot of work to keep my bias objective
wrt legacy because it seemed it would really
make the big amp question easy. but i will
not be in situations where i can put the volume
beyond maybe 1 or 2.

bob oakman · #13 01-10-2001, 11:51 AM

I lost the isolation booth in my work studio to another producer and studio setup. My actual studio is quite large, but has no way to isolate anything unless I use the tie lines into the sound stage. That is too far to walk for amp adjustments, so I just stuck the Legacy behind the console in front of a condenser mic and it sounds great at low volume. (below”1”) Except for some speaker cabinet resonance that only occurs at higher volume, all the gain and tone seems to be present.

I’m not sure I like the amount of resonance the condenser mic is picking up from the closest wall, so I may just go with an SM 57 and throw a blanket over the entire rig, but the amp is performing perfectly.

1 1 Dragon 2 2 2 · #14 01-12-2001, 10:56 AM

really... huh. i'm very new to
100w amps. my thinking so far is that it is definitely
better to have 2 4x12 cabinets for the legacy head?
this would attack more air at surface / time unit ?
also, there is this issue of 'power tubes' and that
they only get 'fed' at like 5 or 6? if the legacy
can do well at low volumes why wouldn't i buy it is my
reasoning. for tone i need something that will not interfere - so i spend most time inspecting tone
at guitar without any external mutations. when i
go with vai equipment it is very due to it allows me the greatest variability (doesn't interfere). i have maybe
a month to take this all in so i'm in no rush.

bob oakman · #15 01-12-2001, 01:55 PM

I agree… The Legacy delivers superior tone at high volume. Loading up the power tubes, making the wood in the cabs shake and moving massive air is the ultimate tone generator. I was, however, impressed by the tone it delivers at low volume as well.

I finally pushed the record button last night on my latest, screwed up recording venture. It is the first serious project using the Legacy instead of “Amp Farm”. WOW! Except for the annoying 60 cycle hum, it sounds so cool. I know “cool” is a real 70’s word. I’m old and, unlike my taste in music, my vocabulary has never grown with the times.

Be groovy,

bob