same reason I sold mine a long time ago. I was getting OK tone when I put a power block on it and cranked the volume though.

 

Maybe you could add the jemini pedal to your loop

 

+1

Having a seriously bad case of V.G.A.S (Vai Gear Aquisition Syndrome), I've done just that. Very happy with the result. While I like the natural dirty channel of the Legacy, it doesn't do heavier music much justice. Also, as we all know, a good OD is ideal for breaking through on leads. Jemini solves both of those "problems".

J

 

The Legacy is sort of an "old school" amp.

For Vai like gain, you will need heavily modified Distortion before the amp, sometimes combined with a second stage boost (or nowadays prolly Jemini, but never tried it).
Now you need to crank the amps gain AND volume up quite a bit to get some power tube saturation and boost the whole rig with your distortion + booster/overdrive.

Now you are getting there gain wise, you will need lots of delay and reverb. I have tinkered quite a bit with my Glass Nexus to get a Vai'isch sound.

IMHO though the best way to get a Vai'isch tone is sadly to NOT buy a legacy.
Got a solid Vai sound with a Carvin V3 in modern setting of the Gain channel and EQX, quite a bit of mids and presence and the Glass Nexus in the loop. With the JEM sounds like 100% Vai.

 

I'm sure you've read this already, but the dirty channel doesn't come alive until you have the volume at at least 4. I've found 7 to be the sweet spot. Needless to say, this is extremely loud. 4 is too loud for every club I've played in. I had to get a hotplate for gigging. Even then, most soundmen thought it was too loud at -8 db.

If you need something that sounds great quiet, you may want to look at a JSX. It's the reverse of the legacy from what I've heard. I've heard it sounds better at bedroom levels than gig levels. However, take that with a grain of salt since I don't own one.

 

I'd like to throw in an opposing view. When I had my Legacy half stack I was completely satisfied with the tone. I agree that the clean tone was fantastic. I really enjoyed it while being pushed with an OD-3. That is how I got my Satriani tones. For the Vai like stuff I usually just boosted the lead channel with a GE-7. I like to run my amps a little hotter than they need to be for the situation and use a volume at the end of my FX loop to limit the volume. Maybe that had something to do with it. Either way, I hope you can find a way to work it out because the Legacy is capable of producing some of the best tones I have ever had the pleasure to play with.

I also found that the demo Vai did on carvin.com was spot on what the amp could produce on its own. Does yours sound like that?

 

+1 to that. Exactly...if you listen to that demo you will here Steve say that all that is added to the amps raw tone is a little delay....and Vai's fingers of course!!

Also if Volume is an issue you could consider the Carvin X100B, awesome tone even at Low Volume. I am able to use mine at home on the 25W setting with the clean channel on around 8, Lead Channel on around 6-7 and Master Volume on between 4-6 & no noise complaints so far!!
Using it with a 2x12 Cab with a Vintage 30 & a G12H.

Excellent review can be found here:
http://digital.premierguitar.com/premierguitar/200811/?folio=168

However I would add that the X100B's clean channel...although excellent is not a patch on the Legacy's!

 

maybe play with the settings a little more, I've had gear where I thought it was hopeless until I found the sweet spot.

 

That's true for me as well.

I've been pondering a Legacy, but I'm glad I stumbled upon this first. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

I just picked up a Legacy combo yesterday and I got a fairly Vai-ish sound out of it by just running my standard effects......George Dennis distortion/Lexicon MX200/BBE Sonic Stomp....straight in through the front. I've got the bass,mid,and treble all dimed. On my last amp I dimed all three on my George Dennis, but with the Legacy I dialed the mid back about 30%. I got a pretty damn reasonable facsimile.

I agree with the opinions on the leadchannel. I'm playing it at home so I'm not about to crank it. The wife and kiddies were out yesterday and I had it to about 2........VERY loud,but not much grind, and pretty mediocre. Although I'm sure at F-15 levels it probably sweetens up alot. In fairness to the amp, I wasn't expecting it to have that kind of gain. The only amps I've ever played or owned that had that type of onboard grind are the 5150 and the old Mesa single rectifiers.

 

Never quoted my own post before,but I figured I would this time. I neglected to mention that I'm running everything through the clean channel to get my tone.

 

i love my legacy, and can get all kinds of tones from it. try playing with the presence and treble settings, they interact very well together.

also, i hated the ds-1 with the legacy but try a tube screamer, i have the maxon pedal and its amazing at pushing the amp into that vai-ish tone.

mike

 

I love my Carvin Legacy also.

The clean is great, but the high gain only kicks in at VERY loud volumes. A volume pedal in the FX helps me with this.

You can't expect to get a Vai tone form one amp, since he uses 1000's of dollars on his rig, but this does comes close. I think your technique and fingers also help a lot.

Overall i think it's a great amp.

 

I have been wanting a Legacy also for the price and tone, I get mixed reviews but all of them say its loud which turns me off since I am in an apt situation and soon to be in dorm situation. So that would mean I have to get an attenutors or volume pedal which adds to the price. But from all the youtube vids of ppl that say they are plugged directly in or with screamers or distortions in I love the tone.
AHHH! :lol:

 

I've re-canted my disappointment.

I finally spent some time the last two days with it and I've got some great tone coming out of it. I think it is the DS-1 that I'm more disappointed with. Not so much with the pedal itself but more the combination of the pedal through the Legacy.

I just got the amp a few weeks ago and didn't really tinker too much as I really wasn't considering the set-up complete until my Ds1 Keeley Ultra came in. I can get some great bluesy, classic tone, from it, but don't much care for it as a "Boost".

I'm officially using my EQ to color the tone and I've got it right where I want it. I was also thinking that to get Vai'ish tone I would need to play through an Evolution pup not an SD Blackout. In all honesty I didn't buy the amp to sound like Steve Vai. I just expected it to sound like his tone. At the moment I've got some killer sound coming out. Now I can't wait for my EVH phaser and flanger pedals to arrive!

Thanks for the comments guys. Really appreciated.
Pat

 

an SD blackout in the bridge

I'd say this is an issue also.

 

It's just like most good tube amps. You really have to get it going at decent volumes to get that singing tone. Vai used to use modified JCM800s. Same thing here. They don't sound as good as they do when they are cranked.

 

+1. Of course the Legacy will sound like ass at lower volumes, just like any other tube amp...If you want an amp for your bedroom, get a Line 6 or something instead of wasting all that coin on an amp you will never gig with....

 

yeah the blackout sounds a lot different than the Evo.

All this reminds me, would you guys use an attenuator or a volume pedal to reduce the loudness of the legacy? Also would these be any good with the legacy?
http://www.tedweber.com/atten.htm

 

Have heard good things about Weber attenuators but have never tried one.
I have however tried a Marshall Powerbrake on a Legacy & IMO it sucked!!!
Literally sucked away all the tone!!

I also tried out a THD Hotplate that I had borrowed but never bought one as I felt that the difference I got in sound compared to just putting a volume pedal in the loop did not justify the cost.

To help with your Q putting a Volume pedal or an effects pedal with an input level knob in the loop will allow you to turn the Legacy Volume up more than 1 and allow you more precise level control.
I use a Boss Space Echo in the Loop of my Legacy and it works a treat in that way.

I even practice using both My Legacy & X100B at home with a Switchbone pedal & a cab for each amp so that I can switch between the 2 amps & also have both running together which when using a different Delay pedal in the loop of each amp gives a stereo effect.
It's pretty loud but the house still has windows!!

Also another neat function of the Switchbone is that it has a Gain & mid boost function which can be tailored to give a variable Gain boost and also boost the mid range by +5 or +10 db.
Works great for a solo boost!

 

An attenuator is better because you'll get clipping off of both the preamp and the power amp. You'll only get clipping off the preamp stage with a volume pedal. I use a THD hotplate, but the Webers are known to be really good as well, and they have more options on them.

 

Ya, I only use the volume pedal for moderate volume cut. It is more about volume controll with out loss of preamp drive. If you are trying to get good power amp dist go with an attenuator, as fyrie said.

 

This is why I love solid state and digital. Whatever inferiorities there might be, the consistency of the sound far out weighs anything else. I am very impatient and could never take the time to search for a sweet spot.

I hope the amp turns out being good for you, good luck with that, but this thread is too funny...

 

But when the sweet spot is found, it kills any solid state amp out there

 

Maybe, I'm not convinced with all the hassle that they kill solid state, but...the people we play for wouldn't know the difference between a gorilla 15 watt, and a Matchless anyway, except maybe for the volume output. :lol:

That's just me...

 

had mine for 2 weeks couldnt stand the horrible hum tried many different tube variations sold it for v3 good amp just noisy sucker

 

The Legacy is definitely not a plug and play amp. You need time to get used to it and requires high volumes to give its best.

If I had to choose one only amp to have it wouldn't be a Legacy but it is a good amp.

Spending some time choosing the right speakers for your taste is important.

Regarding the previously mentioned JSX I didn't like it at all. It just gives poor marshall tones. I prefere a real Marshall for many reasons but specially tone-wise.

 

Hmmm I'm a huge legacy fan and i kinda disagree with all of this. The legacy is in fact an OVERALL amazing amp and the tones from it are down right splendid. It can in fact get heavy on it's own. Heres some of my clips, I'm new to micing amps so this isn't exactly how it sounds its actually 10x better!

http://media.putfile.com/the-tone gilbertish tone.

http://media.putfile.com/idk-56-11 SLIGHTLY boosted.

http://media.putfile.com/december-of-hell Straight legacy

http://media.putfile.com/new-song-54-26

Enjoy.

 

Yup, mine sounded exactly like that, mush with no definition.

 

lololololololol

a) dont buy a tube powered half stack for bedroom use
b) how could you miss the 10,000 negative reviews towards the legacy?

 

If it is so great an amp then why does steve use a fender for cleans and pedals for distortion?

 

I thought he said he used the fender for cleans in his monitor so he can hear his sound without his effects.

Also in Vai's new video K'm-Pee-Du-Wee he has amazing tone with the legacy and minimal peadls. I think he has has a flanger, a volume, a delay and something else on his board that I am not really sure what it is but it looks like some other volume pedal. Also he has a tube screamer sitting on top of the head but idk if its plugged in because it wasn't at the beginning of the vid.

Oh and may I add Billy had the smallest roland cube for bass I've ever seen and it sounded pretty good still

 

What kind of music do you play rob? This amp is mainly for leads which it EXCELS at. I myself am even looking for a new amp, not to place this as it sounds awesome. But for nu-metal type tones.

 

Everything from instrumental to death metal. Leads and Rhythm.

that was a tad rude.. you can make a roland cube sound great if you mic it properly-- the opposite goes here.. the first clip def. sounded the best..

How is it rude? I was talking about the overall tone, not the playing.

 

^I'm VERY new to recording guitars. I just recently got an sm57 but i don't have an interface so i plug right to the computer. I still haven't gotten placements correct either, this is the best i could come up with with what i have...It sound's way better in here then it does on the recordings and these are done with the volume below 1 un-attenuated.