52-54 Carvin Vai 21-08rb.indd

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Finger-twisting virtuoso Steve Vai has a fruitful relationship with California’s Carvin.
Can the second generation Legacy amp improve on the first? Review by Dave Walsh
Carvin
on
s
Fi r s t I
m
Legacy II VL2100 head & C412T cab
S
teve Vai naturally declared the Mk1
Legacy amp to be the best he’d ever
played – so how has Carvin set out
to top it the second time around? Well,
there’s an extra channel for starters, plus
a completely reworked circuit design
courtesy of Californian amp modder
Benjamin Fargen. Fans of high end amps
will no doubt be salivating at the news
that Fargen has included many of the
tweaks and modifications that he carries
out on his own Plexi-inspired range of
boutique amplifiers. To quote Fargen,
the resulting amp is ‘a powerful blend of
high-end boutique sound and rock-solid
American manufacturing.’
Housed inside the hand-crafted sevenply poplar wood cabinet (no particle
board here) with its dark brown tolex
covering are four EL34s and five dual
stage 12AX7 valves. These sit behind a
leather-backed mesh grille cloth adorned
with the Legacy legend and the obscure
‘personal anagram’ Vai logo. Fans will
recognise the logo from some distance
– if not, it’s subtle enough not to scream
‘Vai freak’ at a gig at the Dog and Duck.
Sturdy chrome steel corners complete a
blend of vintage and refined aesthetics,
and the detailing includes a chocolate
finish control panel and, in place of the
original Legacy’s single row of controls, a
double layer of cream chickenhead knobs
with blood red piping.
The left side of the new row of knobs
control the extra channel circuit, which
acts as a boost on the clean channel to
give, in Vai’s words, ‘a bit more hair.’ The
remainder of the controls consist of a
Master Volume then lead channel rotaries
for Presence, Treble, Mid, Bass, Drive,
and Volume along the top row. These
are followed by three mini toggles for
channel selection; they’re a little flimsy
and would lose in an argument with the
back of a Transit van or a stray boot.
The input jack socket completes this
row while below are clean channel EQ,
Volume and Presence controls next to the
boost channel Tone, Drive, Volume and a
Presence push/push switch.
The Legacy II also has a couple
of tuneful tricks up its sleeve: three
FACTFILE
VL2100 HEAD
Description: Three channel
all-valve 100W amplifier head
with three stage switchable
output levels (25, 50 and
100W), five dual stage 12AX7
preamp valves and four EL34
matched Groove Tubes power
valves. Made in San Diego,
California
RRP: £949
Front panel: Mains on/off and
standby switches. Top row:
Master Volume, Presence,
Treble, Mid, Bass and Volume
for lead channel. Three
channel selectors and input
jack. Bottom row: Treble, Mid,
Bass and Volume for clean
channel, Tone, Drive and
Volume for boost channel.
Rear Panel: Twin speaker
output jacks, speaker ohm
selector, recessed RMS
output selector, power valve
Bias selector, line out jack,
footswitch jack, MIDI ports,
FX loop jacks, fuse, power
inlet
Dimensions: 622mm wide,
266mm deep, 241mm high
Weight: 18.4kg/40lbs
C412T CAB
Benjamin Fargen has included many of
the tweaks and mods that he carries out
on his own range of boutique amplifiers
Description: Closed back,
slanted-front 240W cabinet
loaded with four Celestion
G12 Vintage 30 60W speakers.
Plywood build with metal
grille and corner protectors
RRP: £539
Dimensions: 762mm wide x
762mm high x 368mm deep
Weight: 42.6kg/94lbs
switchable output levels plus a ‘hidden’
feature which is found by setting the lead
channel Drive at 6 and using the guitar
volume pot to clean up the signal without
the need to swap channels.
The standard 100W output can
be tamed and stepped down in two
increments to 50 and then 25W, selected
by a recessed RMS power switch on the
rear panel. Carvin doesn’t promise huge
drops in volume – in fact, it’s only 3db and
6db – but it aims to offer the feel of early
power valve saturation at lower volume
while still using all four output valves.
There’s also an easily removable access
panel which allows you to swap the EL34s
for 5881/6L6GC valves in combination
with a bias selector switch. The rear also
houses a recessed speaker ohm selector
(4, 8 or 16), a line out jack, footswitch
input jack, MIDI in/MIDI through jacks
and the send/return effects loop inputs.
Finally, come the speaker inputs for the
matching slanted-front, closed back cab,
which is solidly built from plywood with
a metal grille and corner protectors and
comes loaded with four Celestion G12
Vintage 30 60W speakers.
Contact: 0871 890 3022
sales@rocksolid-uk.com
www.guitarsampsdrums.com
June 2010 - Guitar & Bass
52-54 Carvin Vai 21-08rb.indd 52-53
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10/6/10 09:11:15
Amp Review
Price: £949 & £539
The panel looks
busy, but the
three-channel
Legacy II is a
cinch to use
THE COMPETITION
MARSHALL
JVM 410H & MF400A cab
A true 100W all-valve head with
5xECC83s and 4xEL34s. Rugged
Marshall build, Clean, Crunch,
OD1 and OD2 channels, Silent
Recording and emulated line
out – a versatile high-gain rock
rig with a tried and tested 4x12
RRP: £1051 & £641
HUGHES & KETTNER
TRIAMP MK II & VC412A cab
Serious outlay but real
versatility: three internal amps
with three channels each and
an additional FX channel, four
power valves and a staggering
nine preamp valves. Hook it
up to a VC 412A cab with G12M
Greenbacks for a stunning tone
RRP: £2368 & £979
BOGNER ALCHEMIST
HD head & 212 V Cabinet
‘Only’ 40W with a 2x12" cab,
but lots of Class AB tones, a
nifty switchable 20W Variac
mode and two channels. Five
12AX7s and two 6L6s, topdrawer delay and reverb effects
running in parallel. Openbacked cab uses one 12" G12M
Celestion Greenback and one
12" G12H Anniversary
RRP: £849 & £479
54
SOUNDS
Casual fans or observers of Vai’s output
in the pomp of high gain, harmonic
squealing humbucker sounds associated
with instrumental rock of the ’80s and
’90s may be tempted to give this amp a
swerve, untried. This would be doing it a
huge disservice. Plugging in a doublelocking, three-pickup Ibanez reveals
a damn fine all-valve head – a heavily
modified Marshall in tonal essence –
which has been the cornerstone of a
particular type of heavily compressed
rock tone from EVH onwards.
But the Legacy II offers a lot more
than that high gain, over-the-cliff-edge
scooped mid tone. There’s plenty of
solid crunch with warmth, articulation
and a sheen that permeates cleaner
sounds and adds a quality gloss to high
gain leads. The Presence button on the
clean channel adds a glassy edge to good
single coils and accentuates the upper
harmonics on PAF-type humbuckers. The
EQ sections are responsive across their
respective channels, and you can dial in a
solid tone almost instantly and tweak to
taste using your ears for guidance.
Initially, the large array of knobs,
bias and RMS options seems a little
intimidating, but this amp is extremely
simple to set up and use. With three
easily accessible channels, the imposing
nature of the amp layout blurs away and
allows you to get on with playing. The
master volume actually works and clings
The Legacy II offers not just a high-gain
scooped-mid tone but a solid crunch
with warmth and articulation
on to the core amp sound at all but library
level volume, and the RMS step down
is usable even if it doesn’t significantly
decrease output volume as promised.
The ‘hidden’ feature is a boon for
anyone who would rather clean up their
tone using the guitar’s volume pot, and
it’s here that the amp really finds its voice.
Swapping between the Ibanez, an old SG
and a Tele, the tone remained punchy,
responsive and very, very loud.
VERDICT
The trick with any signature kit is to
maximise its appeal to fans without
totally alienating the casual buyer or
non-fan. It’s a tricky balancing act, and
once you get into the post-£1000 range,
the market narrows further and becomes
focussed on pros and a demographic with
plenty of disposable income. We’re not
suggesting that this amp is expensive for
what you get (indeed, there are other
amps in the competition at double the
price) but it may struggle to shed the
unfortunate association with a particular
clichéd ‘bee in a jam jar’ tone.
Vai fans already know that his more
recent guitar sounds rely far less on flatout high gain and more on solid, quality
valves, and regardless of how you view
Vai’s music, he’s renowned for knowing
more than a thing or two about sound
and for being willing to spend countless
hours A/B-ing sounds until they meet his
particular high standards.
This may sound ball-crushingly dull
to those with a more punk ethic, but
whichever side of that fence you fall on, it
seems that the time has been well spent
and the asking price reflects the name,
quality and countless hours of R&D. It still
takes guts to stand in front of an amp with
VAI scrawled across the grille unless you
can actually play like him, but for those
with the courage – and the cash – this is
a flexible, powerful stack that excels in
countless rock areas.
FINAL SCORE
Build Quality ............................18/20
Playability ...............................19/20
Sound ......................................18/20
Value for money .......................18/20
Vibe ......................................... 17/20
TOTAL ............................. 90%
Good for... Refined rock and bionic plexi tones
Look elsewhere... for raw Class A clang or for
lo-fi brittle edge
June 2010 - Guitar & Bass
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