| The amps from Steve Carr are some of my personal favorites. All of their amps share some of these features: 100% point to point hand wiring. European Space Agency spin-off technology Polypropylene filter capacitors. Vintage-style custom wound interleaved paper bobbin transformers. Carbon composition resistors. Mallory 150 series tone capacitors. Hospital grade power cords. Solid 12-gauge aluminum chassis. Internally wired with George L.® cable. Custom designed Kingpin 60 speakers. Dovetail solid pine cabinets. Available in cream or black tolex (standard) Other colors optional. Limited lifetime warranty to original owner. Their Hammerhead is a class A EL-34 based amplifier, which has four very distinct gain structures that run all the way up to the extreme. If the British sound is your "cup o' tea', this is one amp to give a listen. I believe its gain can in the higher settings, exceed the gain of my Mesa Mk. 1. Their Rambler is a 6L6 based Class A amplifier with reverb and tremolo. It is available in many speaker configurations, but I personally love the 1x12. It is possibly at this time, my favorite amp for blues when I can borrow one. I think I prefer it in many ways over my Fender Deluxe Reverb. It has the ability to also switch from a pentode to triode configuration. It's a fun amp to play, as the volume control, when moving from about 10 o'clock position to about the 3 o'clock position, does not change the volume as much as it changes the entire distortion character of the amplifier. The Mercury is a stylish, hand crafted, 1-12 combo with a unique power attenuating circuit that allows the amp's speaker output to be adjusted from 8 watts down to 1/10th of a watt, with 2 watt and 1/2 watt settings in between. At its full 8 watts, the Mercury has enough headroom and power for playing clubs. With its lower watt settings, the Mercury delivers rich, output tube distortion at volumes appropriate for studio, home, or late night apartment playing. A three position boost switch multiplies Overdrive possibilities from glassy blues jangle through 21rst century harmonic distortion. The Mercury also comes stock with Carr's signature lush, tube reverb. The Slant 6V. Now this was a dilemma, as this was the first Carr amp I was exposed to which I took apart. This was my favorite originally, but now it is a tough choice for my tastes between this amp and the Rambler. This amp is something like my Deluxe Reverb with other features added. This is a two channel amp with different gain structures. It also has the ability, with four 6V6's in the output section, to run normal bias on two of the tubes (so it is like a Deluxe Reverb circuit) ... you can also run two of the 6V6's in a class A configuration (which my Deluxe Reverb cannot do) ... or run all four tubes together, to produce what Carr says is "40 watts". When I put this amp on my bench, it tested out at 50 watts, so I think Carr is somebody that rates his products more than fairly. The Imperial .... something of a "dual Rambler" with twice the output section, two speakers as standard, but with some additional features. This amp can do the clean thing and the dirty thing just as easily. I prefer the Rambler as this is a very loud amp and in my situation it is just too much for me. Perhaps if I was a decent player and more people wanted to listen to me, this amp would be my pick as I'd have more than a small few listen at a time. For the entire picture ... and actual pictures, follow the link below. The latest Carr amp is the Mercury: The Mercury is a stylish, hand crafted, 1-12 combo with a unique power attenuating circuit that allows the amp's speaker output to be adjusted from 8 watts down to 1/10th of a watt, with 2 watt and 1/2 watt settings in between. At its full 8 watts, the Mercury has enough headroom and power for playing clubs. With its lower watt settings, the Mercury delivers rich, output tube distortion at volumes appropriate for studio, home, or late night apartment playing. A three position boost switch multiplies Overdrive possibilities from glassy blues jangle through 21rst century harmonic distortion. The Mercury also comes stock with Carr's signature lush, tube reverb. Class A Single-ended fixed bias KT-66 output stage Single channel: bass, treble, reverb 3-position boost switch Treble cut switch Built in 4 position attenuator (8, 2, 1/2, 1/10 watt) Learn more on the Mercury and other Carr amps by following the link below. There is also an owner's manual on this amp and sound clips. www.carramps.com |