Will USA Carvin Legacy 3 Work in UK?

[mkh02]

Hey guys

i am thinking about buying a Carvin Legacy 3 to tide me over till I get the new Kemper!

Been reviewing the price and its £1,120 here in the UK.

If I were to buy it in america then the price is around $1,099. Can't verify this as I can't get on the actual USA Carvin site.

Basically it will cost me well over £500 less!

Can anyone confirm whether i will have to use a step down transformer to operate it in the UK?

There are numerous shipping agents who will take delivery in the USA then export it as a gift so VAT etc will not be an issue!

Just don't fancy getting ripped off by the massive UK prices!

[j.arledge]

you will need a step down converter. It can be done though. I saw a video of an english gentlemen doing a review on a U.S. spec mesa roadking. He just used a huge step down coverter. You may want a conditioner too just to make sure your are getting the right voltage.

[mkh02]

Thanks for that! it does confirm my suspicions lol!

I had a friend who bought a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier from America as he didnt want to spend £2,000+ on a UK model!

He had a carry around a massive step down transformer and a rack mounted power condidioner!

Such a pain...will see if Carvin will ship me a UK model....must still be cheaper then the horrendous price UK shops are selling them for!

Funny for a period in the 80's/90's a lot of amps had a switch on the back that would step them up or down ...basically as a lot of touring musicians would be in america and europe on tour it was a very welcomed addition.

Sadly lacking from amps these days!

[paulh123]

the legacy 3 runs on any voltage it has a 110v/240v switch to cover us and european voltages.
i shipped mine over from the states myself including all taxes and postages it cost me just over £900.

[mkh02]

Thanks bro really appreciate that.

Delivering to a USA adress then forwarding on as a gift will negate VAT so i should be able to get it around the £700 to £750 mark!

Cheers!

[paulh123]

i would be interested to see if you can get it sent as a gift as it is illegal,the guy who posted mine would not do it.
the vat/import tax was around £160.

[mkh02]

Either way it is still really cheap!

Carvin have it on sale at $899 so £556 with postage and taxes wouldnt break £750 which is a lot more realistic!

Thanks for your help bro!

Out of interest sites like Reship.com will let you purchase items that get delivered to an adress in the states. They then forward it onto you for a cost!

[paulh123]

thanks for the info,i will look in to that for future purchases.
if i was you i would do a little homework on the legacy 3 and join the carvin forum,there have been some issues with that amp.

[mkh02]

WIll do mate thanks a lot!

[paulh123]

i had a look at reship.com, has anyone ever used this service? does it work?

[mkh02]

Funnily enough thats the one I was looking at!

Really want to give it a go! Would be great to hear someones opinion on how efficient this is1

For me its a no brainer a Carvin Legacy 3 for £570 then whatever postage costs to get it here! Sounds good to me!

USPS is the best shipping to use. It takes longer but is generally random as to whether you will get VAT/ import tax slapped on....DHL and Fedex will charge it anyway and then bill you so at least you have a choice with USPS!

Worst case scenario i calculated to be around £800 so its still £320 cheaper than the UK and thats if you have to pay everything!

[longi]

When it come through customs you might have to pay a small fortune in tax on it so it probably wont work out any cheaper. Plus if the Royal Mail get hold of it they'll put a handling charge on it too. I've been stitched a couple of times by the pair of them, I might as well bought from the UK or Europe. Just something to be aware of. Customs an Excise are on the look out for stuff bought from the U.S. right now so be carefull, they want their VAT!

[paulh123]

i shipped mine from the states,all in cost around £900 including all fees,so around £200 saving.