So, I saw this last night:
Messaged the seller, they got back to me sometime in the night, and this morning we arranged to meet. I just picked it up.
The seller said he'd scored it from a commune nearby where somebody had left it behind. A little odd, maybe fishy...whatever. Said it was super dusty, covered in cobwebs and spider egg sacs, cleaned it up a bit, sprayed electronics cleaner in the pots to get out most of the scratchiness, replaced the tubes, etc. Said his girlfriend indicated it was time to clear some things out, so this one had to go.
He also said a couple things which caused me to leave it on the workbench for further assessment before I bring it in and play it. First, he said the power cord was a mess and he'd replaced it. I'll want to open it up and check that out.
Secondly, he said it was still a little scratchy. Given that it might actually be an early 80s' model (http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/imag ... samps.html maybe?), I think I want to just look it all over (not that I really know what I'm doing, though I can probably figure it out), so I can assess that there's nothing majorly awry, and maybe there's a spider or two he missed. I'm not sure at what age something like this should be re-capped, but if I see anything leaking or obviously fried, I'll be more cautious in approaching this.
NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
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awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Does it work? Does it sound good?
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
I had the head version of this amp. It was good sounding, in an 80's kind of way.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
It's weird that the layout looks very much like an old Peavey or Acoustic amp.
Could be good. Be careful with firing up old tube stuff that's been sitting a while. Post some gut shots when you can.
Could be good. Be careful with firing up old tube stuff that's been sitting a while. Post some gut shots when you can.
Rebel Yell
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Awesome!
Just from a rather brief search on that Carvin Museum site, it appears to be a Carvin XV112E or an XB112, from their Tube X-Amp series. It looks like the 2nd input was added to the X-amp in 1983. Oh, it looks like the XV112E was the one with the Electro Voice speaker in it. So my best guess would be that it's an XB112.
That's a very interesting find! Let us know how it sounds once you get it all fired up!
Just from a rather brief search on that Carvin Museum site, it appears to be a Carvin XV112E or an XB112, from their Tube X-Amp series. It looks like the 2nd input was added to the X-amp in 1983. Oh, it looks like the XV112E was the one with the Electro Voice speaker in it. So my best guess would be that it's an XB112.
That's a very interesting find! Let us know how it sounds once you get it all fired up!
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
UPDATE: It works!
I took the chassis out of the cab, looked it over, snapped some photos, then put it back together. There's one spot in particular that looked a bit charred:
Since the seller told me he had spliced in a new power cable, I was concerned that he'd somehow botched that, maybe left off the ground connection, but it looked OK:
So, despite the charred patch, I wanted to at least plug it in and see if I could turn on the amp. It did. (Yay! I didn't blow up, @Greg_L.) And then, of course, I had to hear how it sounded, so I plugged in and played...for a few hours! lol
There was some overall corrosion at the edges of the solder joints. I don't know if it's actual corrosion, or just flux that's looking funky. The shot below is about average, though some joints looked cleaner:
To answer your question, @JD01, I think it sounds good. (That could just be the new $200-dollar-hole in my wallet speaking....) It took me a bit to figure out how to set the knobs to get a good sound, and at first the distortion was a bit blatty or farty-sounding. I'll record and post some tones later; I still have to find a place for this beast in my already cramped music-room/home-office.
@Farview - yeah, some of the toanz had an 80s' vibe to them, for sure. And speaking of the head version...
This logo on the PCB is very interesting. It wouldn't surprise me if Carvin had designed the circuit so they could build your X-100 head, this model, and related models (my look around the Carvin museum website led me to the same conclusion, @Tadpui) all on the same PCB. An interesting feature is that there are two extra places on the board where it looks like a tube socket could go, as well as two pre-drilled but unused holes in the chassis for those two tubes.
I took the chassis out of the cab, looked it over, snapped some photos, then put it back together. There's one spot in particular that looked a bit charred:
Since the seller told me he had spliced in a new power cable, I was concerned that he'd somehow botched that, maybe left off the ground connection, but it looked OK:
So, despite the charred patch, I wanted to at least plug it in and see if I could turn on the amp. It did. (Yay! I didn't blow up, @Greg_L.) And then, of course, I had to hear how it sounded, so I plugged in and played...for a few hours! lol
There was some overall corrosion at the edges of the solder joints. I don't know if it's actual corrosion, or just flux that's looking funky. The shot below is about average, though some joints looked cleaner:
To answer your question, @JD01, I think it sounds good. (That could just be the new $200-dollar-hole in my wallet speaking....) It took me a bit to figure out how to set the knobs to get a good sound, and at first the distortion was a bit blatty or farty-sounding. I'll record and post some tones later; I still have to find a place for this beast in my already cramped music-room/home-office.
@Farview - yeah, some of the toanz had an 80s' vibe to them, for sure. And speaking of the head version...
This logo on the PCB is very interesting. It wouldn't surprise me if Carvin had designed the circuit so they could build your X-100 head, this model, and related models (my look around the Carvin museum website led me to the same conclusion, @Tadpui) all on the same PCB. An interesting feature is that there are two extra places on the board where it looks like a tube socket could go, as well as two pre-drilled but unused holes in the chassis for those two tubes.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
that charred area is a couple of diodes so it's part of the power supply and the diodes were replaced.
if it works I wouldn't worry about it.
Nice score!
if it works I wouldn't worry about it.
Nice score!
Last edited by Lt. Bob on Sun Feb 21, 2021 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Yeah whatever those diodes were before, they sure let the smoke out.
Assuming that cap right next to it goes with those diodes I don't think it's mains power supply. It might be, but that cap is a gigantic value (470uf) and low voltage (16v). Those kinds of specs are usually involved with something solid state, so they may have something to do with channel switching or something like that. But fuck I don't know. If it works, then good!
Assuming that cap right next to it goes with those diodes I don't think it's mains power supply. It might be, but that cap is a gigantic value (470uf) and low voltage (16v). Those kinds of specs are usually involved with something solid state, so they may have something to do with channel switching or something like that. But fuck I don't know. If it works, then good!
Rebel Yell
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
If it works and sounds good then its 200 bucks well spent.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Nice score! I havent browsed Craigslist in forever, I used to look regularly.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
NIce. What's the power switchy thing on the far right (looking at the back) do?
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
looks like a power scaling switch ..... the top number says 100% and the bottom I can't read .... maybe 50%?
Anyways it looks like a half power switch or a reduction of some undiscernible amount.
Did I miss the tube type?
quick google ....
HOLY CRAP!! 4xEL34's ..... but I thought I only saw two power tubes in the thread pic.
went and looked so only two tubes so it can't be an E
If it's 2 EL-34s it's gonna be around 50 watts .... even at half power it'll still annoy the neighbors.
But a lot of the 80's amps were going for that cascading gain structure like Mesa was so it probably has a pretty useful master volume.
Nice old amp man .... congrats .... if it need some work it'll be worth it.
And you can flat out work on that yourself.
Do you have some DeOxit?
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Might be 60%? Hard to see. That was my thought too - just didn't know that was done back whenever this amp rolled off the assembly line. Perhaps at that assumed wattage, more useful for large / small venue switching mebbe.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Power attenuator. You get your choice of 60% or 100%.
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Nah, it's only 2 power tubes. Poking around the Carvin museum site, it looks like this is the '83 update to the '82 model, with very minor changes between the years. Based on the description of the '82 variants (http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/82-guitaramps.html), this is probably one of the lower-wattage ones they made based on the same chassis (and likely circuit board; see the photo of the "X-100-H" logo on the PCB.Lt. Bob wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 4:52 pm ...Did I miss the tube type?
quick google ....
HOLY CRAP!! 4xEL34's ..... but I thought I only saw two power tubes in the thread pic.
went and looked so only two tubes so it can't be an E
If it's 2 EL-34s it's gonna be around 50 watts .... even at half power it'll still annoy the neighbors...
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
I found a way to fit it all in (hopefully the tower doesn't lean):
And now that it's in place, I could grab a few sound samples. No pedals, no f/x (other than the built-in spring reverb at times), just the guitar straight in and into an SM57 on axis / on the grille / just over the dustcap/cone seam. Just noodling, switching settings a bit, switching from a cheap-o Dean with dual humbuckers, to a tele-clone-ster. I've obviously got more experimenting to do to get the hang of this new piece of equipment.
And now that it's in place, I could grab a few sound samples. No pedals, no f/x (other than the built-in spring reverb at times), just the guitar straight in and into an SM57 on axis / on the grille / just over the dustcap/cone seam. Just noodling, switching settings a bit, switching from a cheap-o Dean with dual humbuckers, to a tele-clone-ster. I've obviously got more experimenting to do to get the hang of this new piece of equipment.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Reading a bit more closely on a page (http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/imag ... samps.html) linked from page I linked earlier, I think this might be the '83 XT-112 60-watt model. The catalog description of that says it includes a Celestion G12/50 speaker, but this one has a G12SweetDan wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:44 pmNah, it's only 2 power tubes. Poking around the Carvin museum site, it looks like this is the '83 update to the '82 model, with very minor changes between the years. Based on the description of the '82 variants (http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/82-guitaramps.html), this is probably one of the lower-wattage ones they made based on the same chassis (and likely circuit board; see the photo of the "X-100-H" logo on the PCB.Lt. Bob wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 4:52 pm ...Did I miss the tube type?
quick google ....
HOLY CRAP!! 4xEL34's ..... but I thought I only saw two power tubes in the thread pic.
went and looked so only two tubes so it can't be an E
If it's 2 EL-34s it's gonna be around 50 watts .... even at half power it'll still annoy the neighbors...
/75, and it doesn't make sense that they'd have put a 50-watt speaker into a 60-watt amp, right? I think the catalog had a typo here. It also says the 60-watt model had 2 tubes, which this one has.
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Sounds pretty good, man! I'd be curious to hear how it sounds when it really gets wound up and loud.
I saw that same thing in the catalog and noticed the difference in speaker. I was wondering if it was even an after-market speaker. Either way, that was a great find and it was fun digging through old Carvin catalogs for the first time in decades
I saw that same thing in the catalog and noticed the difference in speaker. I was wondering if it was even an after-market speaker. Either way, that was a great find and it was fun digging through old Carvin catalogs for the first time in decades
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
Sounds good man. You got a sweet deal.
I'm thinking that might not be the original speaker. It says "Rola Celestion". I'm pretty sure Celestion was done with Rola labeling by 1983, and the "Ditton" and Ipswitch Suffolk" labeling makes me think that speaker is probably from around 1975-ish. So unless Carvin just had them laying around for years, that is probably not the original speaker. Not that any of that matters.
I'm thinking that might not be the original speaker. It says "Rola Celestion". I'm pretty sure Celestion was done with Rola labeling by 1983, and the "Ditton" and Ipswitch Suffolk" labeling makes me think that speaker is probably from around 1975-ish. So unless Carvin just had them laying around for years, that is probably not the original speaker. Not that any of that matters.
Rebel Yell
Re: NAD - craigslist score (and my first real tube amp!)
still wondering the tube type.SweetDan wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:12 pmReading a bit more closely on a page (http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/imag ... samps.html) linked from page I linked earlier, I think this might be the '83 XT-112 60-watt model. The catalog description of that says it includes a Celestion G12/50 speaker, but this one has a G12SweetDan wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:44 pm
Nah, it's only 2 power tubes. Poking around the Carvin museum site, it looks like this is the '83 update to the '82 model, with very minor changes between the years. Based on the description of the '82 variants (http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/82-guitaramps.html), this is probably one of the lower-wattage ones they made based on the same chassis (and likely circuit board; see the photo of the "X-100-H" logo on the PCB.
/75, and it doesn't make sense that they'd have put a 50-watt speaker into a 60-watt amp, right? I think the catalog had a typo here. It also says the 60-watt model had 2 tubes, which this one has.
I found a schematic that showed 6L6's .... if it's 2 6L6's it's gonna be 50-60 watts.