Carvin Legacy Issues

[lpowell17]

Hey all

So about a year ago, I bought a Carvin Legacy head off of ebay. It was a great deal and the head was in perfect cosmetic condition. However, I noticed that when I was practicing with my band, my other guitarists head (Marshall DSL 100) blew my head out of the water volume-wise. He'd have his at around 4, and I'd have to crank mine to about 8 to match his volume.

At first I figured it wasn't a big deal, I just had a quiet head. Recently, however, I've been looking through what forums have to say about the head. Everyone says it's pretty much the loudest head ever.

The first thing I thought of was the tubes must be going bad. The guy I bought it from said the tubes were barely used, but I'm sure you all know how ebay people can be. However, I could be mistaken. I'm definitely not an expert in this area.

Does anyone have any advice or insight for me?

[garww]

Tubes with filaments (projector bulbs, too) don't always ship well. How does the glow compare among the power tubes? Maybe the preamp is weak ? I used to go through 6L6GC fairly quick, so extras were part of the kit.

[garageband]

Even moreso, I'd open it up and poke around to see if a joint came apart during shipping. "Tube amp have deadly voltages that can kill you deader than dead...." and other such disclaimers. Also check the cab to make sure it's working good.

[garww]

Ya, GB is right. I remember a few bad connections developing just after normal transportation and cabinet vibration . For me, it was usually the tube socket.

[lpowell17]

The tubes most certainly need to be replaced. They're getting pretty dim (they're the stock EL34 groove tubes by the way). But they're near a year old and it's always been quiet.

I looked around inside and couldn't find anything that was obviously wrong with it, apart from one of the tubes looked slightly crooked in its socket. I'll probably take it in tomorrow and tell them to look for bad connections and such things.

Thanks for the help guys.

[chris beaver]

i have a carvin legacy and its very very loud, sounds like your tubes, also have a look at the back and make sure the 50watt switch isnt engaged. btw dim tubes are normal with that amp

[garww]

Besides, I was never under the impression that Carvin did sloppy work with the connections( better worker stash in San Diego area).

[lpowell17]

So I took it into my local music store, and the guy plugged it in with a mesa 212 cab. It was wayyyy louder. The guy there said there was nothing wrong with it.

I guess I should have mentioned before that the cab I was running it through was a piece. It's a crate G412 cab. So I've come to the conclusion that it's the cab's fault. And now I have to shell out the money to buy a new one .

[garageband]

Didn't I mention that?...I believe I did.

[lpowell17]

Originally Posted by garageband

Didn't I mention that?...I believe I did.

I didn't check the cab because it's one of three cabs I've played the head through with the same results. I think it's a combination of shotty cab and worn down tubes.