Carvin T-100 power amp stops working at high volume?

shadoe

shadoe

Experienced
This may or may not be the wrong forum to ask. But, I know a lot of you have vast experience with tube amps.

So, I bought an OS Mesa 4x12 the other day and wanted to crank it. I had the power amp bridged and playing through 100 watts. I double checked my ohms and made sure the cab matches the power amp. I set my volume to noon (Which, is pretty facking loud.) and all of the sudden, I had no volume.

All of the lights stayed on and the tubes continued to glow. So, I shut it off and put it back in stereo mode. Both channels worked just fine.

Then, I tested it again and it did the same thing in bridged mode that it had done before. And, the power amp went silent again.

Anyone have a clue?

Here's the tube amp...

http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/images/93-t100.html

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Hey man..

Apologies in advance.. don't mean to hi-jack your thread man.. I had that amp once, had it for maybe 2 weeks then sold it. I found it to be lifeless in just about every sense.. still cant work out why. I messed around with a couple different valve power amps (name brands and reputable ones mind you..) all of which sounded a bit m'eh at best.. What I did notice about cranking the Carvin was that it just didn't get loud once it went past 12' from memory..

Then, I stumbled across something very uncanny.. I acquired the EVH 5153 50w head.. I basically used that as a power amp and don't ask me how, it destroyed EVERY valve power amp I'd ever used!! Me and my friend were BEYOND blown away! At that point, we both had a light bulb moment as far as valve power amps go.. So, firstly I'll acknowledge the obvious that the EVH is obviously not designed to be used as a power amp, however that doesn't mean that you can't use it this way. And secondly, voltage is everything man!! That little sucker keeps up with 100w valve heads because it runs @ around 490 volts which is HUGE... like SLO huge. Voltage is everything. That night when we did this, I then dialed up the Bogner XTC (EURO RED) amp sim.. Sounded so good, so much better than the real thing, that I actually listed my XTC head the next day and sold it a week later! And thirdly, yes, the EVH head is not rack-mountable which is a downer... but, when I had my Carvin power amp, Axe FX all in a 4RU rack case, it weighed nearly 30kgs!! Less is more.

If you end up selling you Carvin, have a think about trying out the EVH the same way I've done.. You'll be pleasantly surprised me thinks..
 
Georgy said:
Hey man..

Apologies in advance.. don't mean to hi-jack your thread man.. I had that amp once, had it for maybe 2 weeks then sold it. I found it to be lifeless in just about every sense.. still cant work out why. I messed around with a couple different valve power amps (name brands and reputable ones mind you..) all of which sounded a bit m'eh at best.. What I did notice about cranking the Carvin was that it just didn't get loud once it went past 12' from memory..

Then, I stumbled across something very uncanny.. I acquired the EVH 5153 50w head.. I basically used that as a power amp and don't ask me how, it destroyed EVERY valve power amp I'd ever used!! Me and my friend were BEYOND blown away! At that point, we both had a light bulb moment as far as valve power amps go.. So, firstly I'll acknowledge the obvious that the EVH is obviously not designed to be used as a power amp, however that doesn't mean that you can't use it this way. And secondly, voltage is everything man!! That little sucker keeps up with 100w valve heads because it runs @ around 490 volts which is HUGE... like SLO huge. Voltage is everything. That night when we did this, I then dialed up the Bogner XTC (EURO RED) amp sim.. Sounded so good, so much better than the real thing, that I actually listed my XTC head the next day and sold it a week later! And thirdly, yes, the EVH head is not rack-mountable which is a downer... but, when I had my Carvin power amp, Axe FX all in a 4RU rack case, it weighed nearly 30kgs!! Less is more.

If you end up selling you Carvin, have a think about trying out the EVH the same way I've done.. You'll be pleasantly surprised me thinks..
Click to expand...

That setup won't work for me. Although, I love the 5150 III amp in real life, I would go with a mesa 2:50 or 2:90. I don't need to haul around a head on top of the things I already have to haul around.
 
I know what you mean... But strangely, it easier for me to carry a less heavier rack than an all in one rack that weighs a tonne.. No regrets on my end mate.. just saying..
 
Georgy said:
I know what you mean... But strangely, it easier for me to carry a less heavier rack than an all in one rack that weighs a tonne.. No regrets on my end mate.. just saying..
Click to expand...
Like I said, I need a power amp. Both for saving rack space and I need both channels.
Does anyone have any suggestions about the initial post?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom