All user reviews for the Carvin Nomad 112

Carvin is very underrated in my opinion. They build very good quality made in the USA guitars and amplifiers that are pretty budget friendly for the most part but have a great tone and a lot of versatility. This is a nice little combo and features two channels one with the clean and crunch channel. You get four EL84 matched power tubes as well as for 12aX7 preamp tubes. You also get a nice 12 inch speaker built by Carvin that really balances out this amplifier.

UTILIZATION

GT12 Speaker
- All tube design - four 12AX7 tubes
- Four EL84 matched output tubes
- Dual channels (clean & crunch/sustain) with separate level controls
- 50-watt output
- The cabinet voiced line output jack delivers the natural "mic'd" sound direct to your mixer
- A 4, 8 or 16ohms switch allows your choice of speakers
- A normalized Effects Loop is featured for foot effects as well a rack effects
- The optional FS22 foot switch is for selecting channels and effects
- DSP digital reverb
- Hand crafted 7-ply poplar wood cabinet (not particle board) covered in vintage tweed vinyl
- Dimensions: 19.5 inches wide X 10.25 inches deep X 17.75 inches high
- Weight: 40 lbs.
- Made in San Diego, California
- Warranty: 1 year

SOUNDS


This is a very versatile amplifier that can get you a lot of great quality sounds at very inexpensive price. The crunch channel is a nice juicy tone that is very involved in the blues tone of rock. So basically anything from clean and blues, country to classic rock this amplifier is going to meet those needs very well. Has a nice built-in effects loop and a foot switch to allow you to jump from channel to channel. It also has a speaker output connection in the back that allows you to hook up to a different speaker cabinet if you're not into the 1x12 cabinet. This has a lot of versatility and overall a great clean and a great overdrive channel.

OVERALL OPINION


At new you can find amps for right around $600 which is a great price from made in the USA all tube combo amplifier. This is a great price and anyone who is looking to get a good solid clean tone and fantastic overdrive tone. I like this amp for clean and blues and it meet those needs very well.

I don't know what tubes it has, I haven't got the slightest idea, but I can tell you that it really has that tube sound! It has enough power to stand up to many amps and drummers, it has a lot of punch!!! I don't know about connection options, I don't use effects, I love guitar and I love this combo, it's really good!!! The controls are very simple, although you need to take some time to dial it in. It's more for blues hard than thrash! Playing with the soak control will surprise die-hard blues fans! The reverb is incredible, too. Apart from the soak and reverb controls, this amp has no effects. It lacks a pedal!

USE

It's incredibly easy to use, even for the dumbest among the dumb. It's very simple and practical!!! Moreover, its looks somewhat like a mesa boogie. It's very easy to get a good sound, but it's either a bass or a treble-heavy sound! It's a very surprising sound, compared to marshall or mesa boogie, fender or soldano. I think it's a good sound. Different strokes for different folks! You can get a powerful sound pretty quickly! It all depends on the music style. I don't have the manual! But you don't need it, it's very easy to understand!

SOUND

It's perfect for my style of music (led zep, blues hard, classic hard and manouche hard). I play a vintage jacobacci, a true museum piece (it's sort of a les paul with beneditti pickups), a '72 gibson sg with bigsby, an Ibanez Satriani, and a jackson Professional. It sounds completely different with every guitar!! As for the sound, you can crank the soak but you need to adjust the guitar's volume, otherwise it can be incredibly sharp and even hurt your ears! I usually use it together with a Fender performer 1000 or a Mesa boogie mark IV Trust (it has nothing to shy about in terms of power!)!!! I love how it sounds with Soak set to 7, because the treble is not too upfront and, with the Satriani, I have the impression of playing an old Strat!!! The clean sound is a bit Pink Floydesque with a very extreme reverb, wow!!! But watch out for the highs! That's the only thing I don't like about this amp.

OVERALL OPINION

I've had it with me for 4 years now and I haven't done anything to it, not even a revision, but still it delivers!! I don't recommend it for an apartment! I play with it two hours every day and I have nothing bad to say about the little Carvin! What makes this amp so particular is its old mesa-like look, its controls, which are extremely sensitive, its sound for an amp with this output power. There's no need to crank it all the way up to hear it, a great advantage when you have small kids, since you won't disturb them, on the contrary, they'll got to sleep peacefully with THE sound!!! I have 10 amps! Marshall, fender, mesa. I like them all, but I like this one particularly! If mesa is the rolls among amps, this carvin nomad 112 is the bentley among amps! In terms of value for money, you have nothing to envy other guitarists for when you show up at a gig!!!!!!!!! The price is pretty reasonable, given its output power and sound. If you're a bluesman don't think it twice, go for it, it's good! You only need to get fit to transport it! It's an incredibly powerful combo!!! Given my passion for amps, if I had known carvin before, I would've surely bought this bentley right away! It delivers all the notes exactly like you want them! That's only my opinion, obviously, but it's really powerful for a small combo!

I'll repeat what 's been said already, but it's not that bad.
50W all-tube combo with a celestion vintage 30 speaker (excellent speaker, by the way), at least on my version, I think previous versions had another speaker.
Regarding the controls:
- Front panel:
Volume control and EQ (3 bands: treble, middle, bass) for the clean channel, clean/lead switch, soak (=gain), volume control and EQ (3 bands: treble, middle, bass) for the lead channel, reverb.
- Rear panel:
On/off switch, stand by/on switch, "acoustic presence" control for the clean channel, send and return for the effects loop, line out, footswitch jack, impedance switch (4/8/16 ohms), 2 speaker outputs, one of which is used by the combo's vintage 30.

Vintage look with a very nice-looking tweed coating. This combo gives a very sturdy impression, unlike many other combos at the same price point: The pots are perfectly linear and are smooth throughout the entire travel, all switches are extremely robust, neither the jacks nor the switches feel wobbly... In short, it's all good!
The only drawback is the lack of a Presence control for the lead channel, but that's being really picky, and given its price...

USE

PLUG AND PLAY!
That really nails it.
It sounds great regardless of the position of the controls! This amp can really make anyone who has a hot rod deluxe, bugera, or any other combo at the same price point and with similar manufacturing quality point, weep. It's simply awesome! It can really get the best out of any quality guitar, be it a strat, lespaul, ES, sg, they all sound great!

SOUND

THE SOUND!
Well, okay, death metalheads won't feel the same, which is quite logical, but it's perfect to play anything from jazz to hard rock. Personally, I use it with an MXR zakk wylde overdrive for sharper Metallica-like sounds.
It sounds great with pedals, too, which is great news for people who have 9ft long pedalboards .
I play a strat highway one with a duncan sl-59 (humbucker) at the bridge and, for the time being, not even the mesa boogie haven made me change my mind.
Both channels have a warmth seldom (or never) found on a combo at this price point and that's why I chose it!
I've been using it at home and for rehearsals two years, since you can easily get a good sound at low volumes thanks to the two master volume controls.

OVERALL OPINION

If you are looking for versatility, ease-of-use, compact dimensions, a warm sound, and your budget is nowhere near $3000, this combo is for you.
This is the best combo I have ever tested. If 50w aren't enough for you, try the carvin legacy, which is just as good but has more power!

All-tube amp. See other reviews for the tech specs.
The person who sold it to me equipped it with Electro Harmonix tubes. My model has a Carvin speaker (others have a Celestion vintage 30).
Very compact format. The amp seems sturdy and inspires confidence. It must weigh around 45 lbs, so you can carry it without the fear of breaking your back.

USE

It's very easy to use: The sound of the clean channel is good, even at low volumes. The equalizer will allow you to adjust the sound.
Be careful: Its 50W are really powerful! In an apartment, you'd better not go beyond 1 if you wish to maintain a good relationship with your neighbors. In that sense, the crunch channel is harder to use because it requires you to increase the level to a minimum, at the risk of having a dull sound.
The reverb is perfectly useful.

SOUND

Since I use a pedalboard with a Mesa Boogie overdrive (Bottle Rocket) and a Fulltone OCD, I was first and foremost looking for an amp with a good clean sound. And I found it: A sound that is dynamic and warm at the same time, responsive to your playing and which can even be embellished with the combo's nice spring reverb.
For its part, the crunch channel is creamy at will, while remaining dynamic. I didn't buy this amp for the crunch channel, but I must admit that it blew me away: It goes from a very subtle to a very fat crunch, always with a good dynamic response, a good sound definition and wonderful harmonics!
It's a vintage-like amp: You won't get a modern distortion sound, but that's not what you expect of this amp.

OVERALL OPINION

I've been using this amp for over a year. I've had the chance to use it for rehearsals and live gigs (indoors and outdoors, both with and without PA) and it has only confirmed that it was a good choice. I haven't owned too many amps, but I have tested a few tube amps in studios and rehearsal rooms, and it's obvious that the Nomad 112 is an excellent deal. Unfortunately, it's not easy to find in France, the ones you find secondhand cost around 500 euros. For that price, it will certainly please you, since it has nothing to shy about compared to more expensive models.

(Originally written by Laudia/translated from Audiofanzine FR)

All-tube 50-watt combo (4 x EL84 and 5 x 12AX7) with 12" Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. Made in the USA. Sturdy manufacturing that inspires confidence.
Just touch the knobs and the channel selector on the front panel and you'll immediately feel its quality. It is definitely manufactured for life!

Pure vintage look with tweed cover (feel the tweed and you'll know it's a high-class product)!
It's a very compact combo (18.9" width and 16.5" height).
Very simple connections: TS input on the front panel plus FX loop, footswitch connector and line output on the back. The rear panel also provides an additional speaker output.
Power on/off and standby switches.
2 channels: clean and distortion.
Separate EQ on each channel with TREB, MID, BASS and VOLUME controls. The lead channel has also a gain control labeled SOAK. One reverb for both channels.
The clean channel provides an "Acoustic Presence" control on the rear panel to add very high frequencies. This can come in quite handy for an acoustic guitar.
In short, this amp offers very comprehensive settings.

UTILIZATION

Very easy to use.
You'll get good clean sounds in no time.
But you'll have to tweak the EQ to get the right distortion sound. And of course you'll also have to set the gain with the SOAK control.
It's a 50-watt all-tube amp so watch out for your ears!
In an apartment you won't be able turn up the volume further than 1.
The sound is awesome with low output levels too. It's a high-quality product.
If you play in a band you won't have to crank it up all the way to get good results.

SOUNDS

The clean sound is superb. The Presence control allows you to add a sound dimension you won't find in any other competitor amps. You can even plug an electro-acoustic guitar and get a very good sound, almost as good as with a specialized amps. Really good!
The reverb effect is amazing. Compared with other spring reverbs (I tested the Vox AC15 reverb for example) it doesn't generate any spring noise or "aquatic" sound. The user's manual states that GUITAR PLAYER magazine describes this reverb as one of the best on the market.

The distortion sound is typically vintage. Not for metal heads.
It feels like the first AC15 models or even a 70' Marschall Plexi when you turn the SOAK control all the way. SOAK produces an overdrive effect that goes from crunch to really fat distortion.

OVERALL OPINION

The amp isn't cheap. I was lucky to find it secondhand and I payed less than for a new Peavey Classic 30 or VOX AC15 CC1 which I also like.
The Peavey is nice but the Carvin has more output power and a much richer clean sound. The Peavey has no standby switch: watch out for your tubes!
The VOX model is also good but it has only a single channel. And its reverb sounds awful.
It's not the same product range. Carvin really offers high-class gear.
The NOMAD 112 is definitely a very high-quality amp.
Chet Atkins and Jeff Beck, among many others, played Carvin amps.
Amen

Update from 11/01/08 : After 6 months of using it for rehearsals I can just say: it's a GREAT F***ING AMP!! It is EXCELLENT! The clean channel will allow you to hear the real sound of your guitar at last. Wonderful! And the lead channel has a real character of its own! HATS OFF!