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Even the most experienced musicians forget essential parts of their rig from time to time. A drummer I know forgot his drum sticks at an out of town gig, and I myself have showed up to play at a local show having forgotten to bring my bass amp head (I had to use a DI that night)! It’s something that happens to the best of us. Fortunately, if there are other bands on the lineup or a helpful soundman, they may be obliged to help you out lending you the item you forgot, especially if it is something like a cable.
If you aren’t getting the bass sound you want, you may immediately consider investing in some new pedals, a new bass, or even a new amp. But before you do that, spend some time adjusting your equalization. Understanding how each of your amp’s equalization controls affects your bass tone can help you achieve a sound that sits perfectly in any stage or studio (and it’s free)!
Many tube guitar amplifiers on the market today come with a feature that can either switch or vary the maximum power output of the amplifier section. Simply put, this allows you to adjust the maximum output of the amplifier, making it higher or lower at the flick of the switch. If you have a tube amp with a lot of clean headroom and plenty of power for any gig, you may be wondering why you can’t just use the volume knob to get it to the level you want.
Watch The Tone King's outdoor demo and review of Carvin Audio's VX Series Birch Guitar Cabinets. He demos both the VX212S Slant 2 x 12 cabinet and the VX112 cabinet with a Carvin Audio V3M 50W Tube Amp, and explains the features and benefits of the VX Series and the different tuning options. Watch both videos below. Project the passion of your music with a USA Built VX Series Birch Guitar Cab.
Compression is an often-overlooked effect that can make your bass sound better than ever if you use it correctly. Understanding how it works will be of great use on stage and in the studio!
A good solid footswitch is the unsung hero of a guitar or bass rig. While it may not be part of the glamorous backdrop of glowing power tubes and pilot lights upstage, adding a footswitch to your rig will help you take full advantage of the versatility of your Carvin Audio amplifier.
Many of today's bass amplifiers, including Carvin Audio's B Series, come with the added flexibility of a PRE/POST EQ option. While often overlooked, this simple switch can make a notable difference in how your bass rig sounds onstage.
Many guitar players dream of standing in front of a massive audience at a sold out show, playing through a huge stack of tube amps. While countless guitarists have actually done this, it doesn’t make too much practical sense (sorry to burst your bubble!) Not that you shouldn’t have that dream, but even if you are playing in an arena, the soundman will mic up your amp and use a quality PA system like a Carvin Audio TRx 3000 Series system to make sure your guitar is heard everywhere in the venue. Whether you are playing in a small club or actually playing an arena, your guitar amp probably won't have to do the heavy lifting. Instead, your amp will provide stage volume and monitoring, and put out the tone that will be picked up by the mic and sent to the front of house. You don't necessarily need high wattage and lots of speakers to be heard.
I was thirteen years old the first time I ever heard a Carvin Audio speaker. I was at a classmate’s house, a kid I knew from history class at school, who had invited me over to his house to jam after hearing through mutual friends I played the bass. He sang and played guitar, and wasn’t that good at it. But he had gear, and a lot more than other kids our age. In the tiny attic we played in, he had a full drum kit, a mixer, a couple of combo amps, and a PA speaker: it was a Carvin Audio 1540. He would shout into the mic in a frenzy of pre-pubescent rebellion. And man, it was loud. Once, one of his neighbors came knocking on the door, complaining that his singing was too loud. To this day that has been the only time I’ve ever heard anyone complain that the vocals were too loud.
When the time comes for your band to hit the road for a couple of weeks or months, you’ve all worked on sounding your best. You’ve put in the time at practice, working on the set and making sure everything goes smoothly. You’ve turned knobs on your equipment and tried different settings, making sure that everything is dialed in. Hopefully, you’ve also made sure that all your equipment not only works as it should, but will hold up to the rigors of the road (and fit in the van!) It can be difficult to find gear that meets all these requirements, and if you’re a bass player, chances are you’ve sat there and pondered which cabinet could fit the bill.
All practical audio amplifiers require some type of amplifying device, whether in the form of new school transistors or old school vacuum tubes. Transistor amps are durable, efficient and in lesser forms, comparatively inexpensive. Tube amps like power, they eat it like a college student making a fifth run at the "all you can eat buffet” while being fragile compared to their solid state cousins. Let’s not forget to mention the heat generated by tube amps. Your studio rarely needs that radiator to work on those cold nights while you are honing your craft.
When purchasing a new speaker cabinet, guitarists are often faced with the choice of open back or closed back cabinets. An often overlooked factor, this seemingly simple choice is responsible for a large part of your tone. While no cabinet style is necessarily better, they are different, and it’s just a matter of finding which one works better for your situation.
