Carvin X-100B Tube Set

The Carvin X-100B Tube Set consists of 3 x 12AX7 preamp tubes and 4 x EL34 or 4 x 6L6 power tubes.

The X-100B was a model produced by Carvin in the eighties and became very popular with rock players such as Frank Zappa, Craig Chiquico from Jefferson Starship, Warrant, and of course Steve Vai—who allegedly recorded the track “Blue Powder” with this amp.

The tone controls are very wide ranging with active circuits providing cut and boost capabilities. When coupled with the 5- band EQ, an amazing range of both clean and overdriven tones are created. The clean channel is stellar. The bright switch is not harsh or overbearing compared to some other amps. The clean channel has very high headroom and does not compress too much, even at higher gain settings with humbucking pickups.

The Overdrive channel can be driven into big, creamy, fat distortion even without using the gain toggle switch. If you are so inclined however, that switch will produce any amount of over-the-top sustain and gain anyone would ever need. It is easy to back things down on these controls to get the traditional bluesy and classic rock sounds for which this amp is famous for. The guitar cleans up well when turned down even at high gain settings. By using the EQ, more modern rock tones are there as well. This amp doesn’t produce the type of distortion produced by a Rectifier or Soldano, but is more open and even bigger, but not as percussive on the low end. However, the EQ really helps this and provides the boost in the bottom that some players may require.

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