The British Steelies Society

I have been looking for a small all tube combo for some time now, scouring ebay, wanted something that was loud enough to take out on a gig, so that i could hook it up with my nashville 112, basically to use as a stage monitor for my telecaster, came across this little beaut about three weeks ago on ebay, its a Carvin vintage 33, in gorgeous tweed finish, its all tube, runs on four el84 valves, the tube reverb is as good as i have ever heard, it has switchable channels, clean is so very fender, but with a kinda more rounded sound, absolutely sweet as a nut, the second channel is all i could ask for in overdrive, definately not death metal, but the sweetest overdrive that i have heard in an amp, but the biggest surprise to me is how it sounds with steel, ok, its only rated at 33 watts, but its amazingly loud, why is it that valve watts are so much louder than solid state watts? i never understood that, and im really pleased with the sound, so much so that i am gonna run my steel through it at a gig this sunday, no added fx, just amp to goodrich electronic VP to STEEL, i will mic it into the PA as i usually do, cant wait,

That looks a cracking wee amp, how old is it? look forward to your report.

Hi Donny, i believe carvin started this series of amps in the early to mid nineties, i think the vintage tube 33 is now discontinued, but there is a 50w version called the Carvin Nomad, still available in tweed or snakeskin finishes, same cab size and layout, except with added fx loop and acoustic presence round the back, mine does not have an fx loop, these amps were available with different speaker options, stock carvin 12", celestion g12" or special order Electro Voice 12", mine has the mid range celestion, but i am thinking i will put my Electro Voice EV12M in there for extra clarity, i just love the whole look and sound of this amp, it looks so sexy with its tweed covering, oxblood grill cloth, off white chicken head knobs and that red jewel light [ala fender] the U.S.build quality looks extremely high, yeah i'll let you know how it gigs, im not gonna swamp out the sound with added fx, i just want to hear them tubes working,

Nice one Eddie !
Looks the business, and as John ( was'nt he on here sometimes ?? ) said, tubes are the way to go !
Oh, when are you on Hot Country again ?
All the best
Frank. Corfu (For a bit longer now !!)

Yes i believe John is right, there is something about them glass bottles, hard to describe, but a kind of openness as well as warmth,
Hot Country? to be honest i dont know, i think you have to pay for a slot on that, i did hear it was 250 euro for two slots, but i dont concern myself with that side of things, i just get paid to play, when do you come back home Frank, dont go to England, i heard its freezing and full of snow, come to the balmy west of Ireland +6 degrees and not a snowflake in site, plenty of rain though

Looks like a beauty Eddie,
Yeah the tube/solid state dilemma is something I've been battling for a while. If ya can only keep the bastards from breaking up too early. The different brand of tubes makes a HUGE difference too. The quality of one's that come from the factory in Fender's for example are BRUTAL. I recommend Harma's. That's what i put in my Fender Deluxe, and it became a totally different beast. Changing the speaker to a high end one makes a huge difference too.
BTW I notice from your address you are from down the road from me..

Dave

Hi David, Where are you? are you gigging? are you playing steel? re the Carvin, yeah she does break up too easily for steel, but i didnt get to swap the celestion over for the EV yet, the EV will surely keep it cleaner for longer, but i have a rockabilly jam and gig coming up next month on guitar, playing 50s style rockabilly with drums and slap bass, so i think i will keep the celestion in for that one, anyone lend me a Gretsch??? tis a female vocalist, called OLIVE DE VILLE, drummer is a proper teddy boy, and slap bass player is a blond female with lipstick an attitude, they want me to bring the steel too, but dont know if i can carry off 50s style lap steel type playing, sounds good fun though, better grow a quiff,

Hey Eddie,
Im living near Headford in Co. Galway.. Yeah im gigging alright. Not many steel gigs right now.. Thats mad I play a bit a Rockabilly!..I play steel in http://www.myspace.com/joefuryandthehayride.. Live for that gig i just bring my E9 and drop the E's and hope for the best . However i used my six string Lap Steel on the recordings..
We should hook up sometime
Dave