Carvin SX200

I got this amp directly from Carvin.com. It cost $440 with $30 shipping. The list price was $795, so in theory you get more for your money. I needed a gigging amp, because all I had was a 20 watt Rogue amp, which is embarassing.

I like the volume especially, its extremely loud for a 100 watt. Its solid state, so I didn't expect a wonderful sound, but with the tube emulation it sounds amazing. I like the built in digital effects alot too. It has Echo, Reverb, Chorus, and Flanger, which all work very nicely. If you want real high quality effects though, you shouldn't be looking for the ones that come with an amp. Not only does it have a reverb effect, but it also has a reverb button that gives off an auto reverb so you can use it with any of the other effects. The channel sellect is great because you can set the effects on on the clean channel, and off on the overdrive channel(and vice versa) and only have to push one button on the footswitch to get exactly what you want. Not only does it have a mean and beefy overdrive, but there is a "blues" button that gives you a jazzier distortion which I like alot.

The only thing I don't like really is that the distortion is either way too raunchy, or not raunchy enough. If you play with settings long enough you can basically get anything you want, but a distortion pedal is a good idea.

This amp is pretty beefy. Its got strong metal corners, and its not made of any partical board (all plywood). The two button footswitch that comes with it is massive, but very very durable.

I play mardcore(yes, Mardcore) punk rock, and I needed something powerful to blow people away. Although its just a solid state combo, it does all I could ask it to.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com