What's old yet new, tweedy yet smokin'? Try Carvin's righteous Vintage Tweed Classic series of amplifiers, exemplified by the Vintage 33 Combo. The entire series is a re-creation of the all-tube Carvin amps well known in California during the 1950's with critical updates in the areas of voicing, reverb, and modern amenities like channel switching and line-out. The overall package is one of those great confluences of engineering and art where every element comes together and the result is definitely more than just the sum of the parts.

Structurally and cosmetically, this is a vintage lover's dream. The combos range from Princeton-sized 33 (which puts out exactly 33 watts, how did you guess?), powered by a quartet of EL84's into a single vintage 12" speaker, an identical chassis housing a 50 watt configuration, up to the big brother, a Vibrolux-sized 50 watt 2 by 12" combo called the Bel Air. For those into overkill, a separate head and enclosure are also available. The box is really solid and something we'd be proud to call American, covered in correctly yellowed tweed, with an oxblood colored grillcloth. Controls are mounted facing front and recessed onto a metal plate with white faux-deco script noting the basics: a single input, dual channels which possess their own bass, mid, and treble, a shared reverb, and of course, there is "soak". Well, you have to remember that Carvin is based in California. The second channel can be manually accessed at the front by simply switching a toggle, or remotely through the footswitch, which could incidentally use an LED. The unflappable David Flores, head of Artist Relations at Carvin and longtime musician himself commented that there is talk about adding this, but the overall feeling is to keep the series as uncomplicated as possible, retaining as much vintage "feel" while creating as flexible an amp as possible. "Soak" is saturation of the pre-amp tubes, and can be minimal giving a second clean or overdriven channel, versus fully soaked, which is pretty hip. Or then there's always my favorite, half-soaked, which yielded a convincing "woman-tone" at any overall volume. The president of Carvin, Mr. Carson Kiesel, was the driving force behind the new tweed vintage series, and indeed did base the overall design on the original Carvin tube amps, which had evolved from the 1950's into the 1960's as tube amps quite unique and different in preamp design from Fender. Master guitarist Allan Holdsworth was instrumental in creating the dynamic saturation circuit known as "soak", and the fluid gustiness of the second channel is indeed quite an eyeopener.

Our celebrity reviewers, the Hellecasters, couldn't pass up a chance to try something new, and the little Carvin ended up gracing the big stage at Arlington where it was used in the same jam session. Will Ray, prodigious slidemaster, spent most time with our Vintage 33, and commented, "This has way more bottom and fullness than you'd expect from a single 12" speaker. The bottom is pretty tight, too. I like the first channel, which sounds about as Fender-ish as you'd want." Will pumped his G & L six-string through the combo, and produced some chilling sounds on channel one, full in the low end without the looseness we all dread at higher volumes. Stated master-bender Jerry Donahue, "I like this a lot. The warmth of the tubes, especially in the overdriven channel, is unmistakable. It really seems to have it's own character."

The development team at Carvin has come up with the genuine article here. Lots of other manufacturers have jumped on the vintage bandwagon with startlingly varied results, but Carvin's Vintage 33, weighing in at a mere 44 pounds, is way more than just a packaging ploy--this amp is all-tube, with meticulous chassis assembly and traces, an innovative and smooth reverb that exhibits less "boinginess" than what we've grown to associate with Fender's hammond reverb tank, and a sonic character that ranges from brilliant clean tones to a growling-when-cranked overdrive channel. Best of all is Carvin's pricing: the company is dealing direct to the public via its quarterly catalogue, has a liberal approval policy (ten days to get to know and love your new amp or guitar, which does not include shipping time), and the savings are considerable. Little brother sells for about $429, and the Bel Air 212 with it's higher wattage and two twelve inch speakers sells for barely $200 more. Is capitalism great or what?

-Steve Patt, Vintage Guitar Magazine

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