Carvin SX300H Quick Demo DC135

A very quick demonstration of the three different channels of the Carvin SX300 solid state amplifier head. No pedals used. The guitar is a Carvin DC135 with a Holdsworth bridge pickup and two AP11 pickups. I hope this might be helpful to anyone who is curious about this amp. Sorry that I couldn't get any better sound than through my little camcorder's mic.
Sound 1: Channel 3, clean. Bridge pickup.
Sound 2: Channel 2, light crunch, "Blues" switch engaged, neck pickup.
Sound 3 Channel 1: high gain, drive knob dimed, bridge pickup.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Carvin
• amp
• amplifier
• SX300
• SX300H
• head
• guitar
• DC135
• rock

[fweezella]

I wonder why Carvin housed the amp head in such a large cabinet? It's the exact same amp that is in the 300 sx combo. I've removed the amp (controls & circuit board) from the combo cabinet several times for small repairs and you wouldn't believe how small the circuit board is! Then I see the size of the head version (SX H)! Anyway, I'm happy with my sx combo. I use stomp boxes for everything except for reverb.

[ElfDude2112]

@fweezella It looks kinda funny sitting on the 410 cab. I think they just made it the same size as their other heads at the time... and probably so it would look normal sitting on a 412 cab. But I wouldn't have complained if it were smaller. :)

[metalmusiqcrzy]

@ElfDude2112 i love carvin guitars but i first ordered the sx 300 .the guy said ya dude its got tons of high gain this that .i got at 10am and was boxed and at post office by 10;25. this amp is great for any kind of music but hard rock and metal. unless u use distortion pedals but thats dumb.

[ElfDude2112]

@metalmusiqcrzy Yeah, I made a similar comment a couple of months ago. Great classic rock distortion, but it's not a metal sound per se. One needs pedals to do metal with this amp.

[halfie25]

Did you Carvin to do a custom color on your cab too? If so what is that color called?

[ElfDude2112]

@halfie25 The cab is a Vintage 410 from the 90's. It's the same tweed that they put on the Nomad and Belair. Unfortunately they don't sell that model anymore.

[gwugluud11]

Solid state has come a LONG way, that's for sure. Solid state used to be a joke. No harmonics, no depth. They didn't even try to make them sound good until peavey woke all the manufacturers up with their Transtube line in the mid-90s. And when digital processors get even 1% better-sounding than they already do, tubes WILL become obsolete.

[justclassicalguitar]

I saw a guy using one in a club one time, and he got it sounding exactly like old Eric Clapton and Cream live albums, exact. A great piece of equipment.........

[gwugluud]

@justclassicalguitar That right there is enough to sell me...! I messed w/ a used 1 in a store. I thought engaging the "blues" switch made it sound like the meanest Vox AC-30 I've EVER heard !

[GearhartGuitar]

@gwugluud11 Yes and No, There will always be tube 'Purists' who will insist on tubes. These are the same people that swear by 'True Bypass' pedals as well, but there are plenty of pros who use buffered pedals in addition to true bypass. And now we have the Axe FX processors/modelers that a lot of people are switching over to. It's all in your ears and what sounds good to you.

[PeterJCruzMusic]

Nice demo.... though it reminds me of the intro to the "Dukes of Hazard" and how Waylon singing they 'see my hands, but not my face on TV:=." :)

[nascarbean]

Ahh I love this amp. Carvins are so amazing, I'm so happy I have my xv112!

[JonDeth]

@WoWintosh give it another decade or two and as a desktop engineer and analog circuit builder I have to admit, digital will take over. Once they increase the sampling rate and start utilizing more powerful chips, we will see SS and tube become a fraction in the market.

Consider running a preamp with a quad core processor and 128 bit sampling converters at 192khz. When that day comes, and it will, the units will be instrument synths aside from surpassing tube and SS.

[JonDeth]

Damn economy sized cabinets, I got stuck with a couple of those too.

[WoWintosh]

@gwugluud11

No way, tubes will never be obsolete. Play a Fender Frontman and a Vibrolux side by side, or a Marshall MG and a JCM800, and see which one sounds better. Maybe if you're hard of hearing they'll sound the same, but to me and many other people, tube amps are far superior. Solid state is harsh, cheap sounding garbage. Maybe for bass amps, but for guitar, no way.

[metalmusiqcrzy]

@RidiculousTuna  sx300 is junk for hard rock and metal but is great for everything else .buy a new roland cube combo 15 80 xl seies they blow these away.