Anyone tried one of these? Apparently they have a ton of clean headroom. Just curious as to how they would be for the rockabilly/Chet sound. Any ideas/theories?
Carr Rambler
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Jun 1, 2008 12:08 a.m. Markster:
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Jun 1, 2008 2:04 a.m. cjet:
I just picked one up this week - traded in a Bruno Tweedy Pie 18 plus a few bucks. While I liked the sound of the Bruno, it really was a one trick pony, and though the amp does that trick very well, I don't. I'm strictly a rhythm player and prefer a clean tone. The Rambler does this very well. The sound is rich and dimensional, with lots of clean headroom. A great feature of the amp is the pentode (28 watts) and triode (14 watts) settings, giving you a lot of versatility w/r/t headroom, and allowing you to get nice tone and rich overdrive at very reasonable volumes. Great reverb and tremolo, too, as well as a control for midrange. Tighter bottoms than the couple of vintage Deluxe Reverbs I've heard, and much more pleasing highs than the DRRIs, imho.
As for obtaining the rockabilly/Chet sound, I claim no expertise here, though I got some really nice sounds from my 6122-62 and DynaJet. This after messing around for less than an hour. And the amp LOVED my '52 RI Tele.
The amp seems very well made, is relatively small, and surprisingly light - no small thing for such a versatile piece of equipment (and no small thing for a rapidly aging fart like me).
I don't miss the Bruno AT ALL (first piece of equipment I've sold that I didnt immediately regret selling), and I may sell a 1966 Princeton b/c I simply don't need it now.
In sum, I am so far very pleased. Yes - "a ton of clean headroom" and a nice match for the 2 Gretches i threw at it. Breaks up nicely at volume, very versatile, seems to take pedals well (Maxon od-9, Fulltone OCD, Maxon ad-9 [delay]).
Hope that helps!
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Jun 1, 2008 2:33 a.m. fieldhdj:
I was hoping I'd see a review of a Carr amp here. I played a Carr Mercury at the Tulsa Guitar show last year and was realy impressed, if a bit sticker shocked. Thanks for a smart review!
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Jun 1, 2008 9:17 a.m. LMRMAX:
I've tried out several Carr amps in the past few weeks, including the Rambler and the Vincent, looking specifically for the Chet sound, clean tones for fingerpicking. The Rambler is great, with a beautiful tone, if you close your eyes it sounds like a vintage Fender Deluxe Reverb, maybe a bit nicer. But to my ears, for pure Chet style and country rockabilly type sound, the Carr Vincent (now Viceroy) sounds fantastic. Very punchy and focused, great bass response (no mud), touch responsive. I will probably buy one soon! Here is a link to a detailed review. http://www.steelbender.com/spotlightcarrvincent.
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Jun 2, 2008 7:24 p.m. senojnad:
I had an opportunity to "A/B" a Carr Rambler (two of them, actually) along with a Bad Cat Cub, and Allesandro Working Dog and my Fender '65 R.I. Twin about 2 years ago. The Carr, Bad Cat and Allesandro were all superior to my '65 Twin in many ways. I liked the Carr and Allesandro better than the Bad Cat -- fuller sound, better bass and overall better clean sound (IMO). I opted for the Allesandro, but not by a huge amount. I'm sure the price difference had some influence.
Not to confuse things, but another GREAT boutique amp in that price range is the Fargen Black Bird. Obviously (since I bought one) I would also recommend trying the Allesandro Working Dog amps.
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Jun 2, 2008 9:35 p.m. cjet:
For pure quality of sound, I actually preferred the Bruno Cowtipper 22 to the Carr Rambler (both Blackface-types). The Bruno sound was lush in a way that I'd never heard a 22 watt amp sound. Imho, there was no contest between the Rambler and the Bruno Cowtipper - - - the Cowtipper won going away. However, the Carr provided more flexibility (14 and 28 watt modes - a big important difference if one plays a lot at home), a bit more clean headroom, was a good deal lighter, and cost a couple hundred less than the Bruno. Practicality (i.e., my bad back and worse hearing) won the day and I went with the Carr. No regrets.
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Jun 2, 2008 9:42 p.m. Nobody:
I'm always happy to see these Carr threads reappear. I haven't had the chance to really push the Rambler, but at low volumes, I had the impression I was playing through some huge system. Loved the tem and verb.
I've said before that my fantasy is the Mercury looks with the Rambler sound. The two-tone Merc with beige and Burgundy...sigh. Alas, it is not to be.
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Jun 2, 2008 11:14 p.m. roadjunkie:
I never made up how I truly felt about the Rambler nonetheless my favorite Carr was the Imperial no longer in production. Iffy trem but clean for days on end with a sweet reverb. 60 watts of class A power but didn't have the staying power to keep in the lineup.
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Jun 3, 2008 9:52 p.m. Bluesman:
I shopping for a Carr myself. I just demoed a Rambler, a Hammerhead, and a Vincent (Viceroy). I really went looking for the Slant 6V because I need channel switching. There was no 6V in stock so I played through the three available. The HH had great OD with several differnt colors using various "Grip" settings. It's not really a clean headroom animal...more drive focused. The Viceroy sounded great but wasn't me. The Rambler was possibly the best sounding amp I have ever just plugged into and started playing. I didn't want to turn the thing off. I tried it with my Gary Moore Les Paul and it was wonderful. I plugged my 64 (6135) Corvette into it with the same deal. The Rambler made me rethink whether I really needed channel switching. I have Klon, which also sounded great with the Rambler. I will continue to wait until I demo the Slant 6V before making a decision, but the Rambler is very hard to walk away from. It made my guitars sound so warm, sensitive, and dimensional. Very inspiring amp. Simple and super tone worthy.
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Jun 5, 2008 2:35 a.m. gusto:
i would nominate the Dr. Z Z28 to be tried out. From what im reading here i believe this amp is right up your alley.
