Who's playing these amps?

After fianoman's post the other day about his Carr Mercury in the Yamaha THR10 review it took me back to the old GLDP when Carr and Swart were all over the discussion board.

So, who is playing Carr or Swart amps, and what is it about them that keeps you plugged in?
If you sold yours, why and what has taken its place?

I saw a Swart Space Tone last month posted for sale and was very tempted, but I guess I'm still a Boogie and Fender guy who likes to be tempted with new shiny toys!

They sell Swart's at the store where I traded for my THR. I have always liked the tone but they are very expensive, at least where Canadian dollars are concerned. I was strong enough not to plug in to try them out. They did seem to be all the rage a few years ago as I recall.

I don't want to come across sounding like an ad for Carr but I will have a Carr until the day I die. I also have a 71 Silverface Princeton Reverb and a 82 Deluxe Reverb II that I really like but never play (and will be selling soon because of this). They are great amps but need some volume to be fun. The reason I searched for something like my Carr is that I can get true tone and feel at very low volumes. I no longer live in a place where I can really crank an amp nice and loud but I can blast the Carr, max distortion, max tube saturation and turn it down to ½ or even a tenth of a watt and still get nice sounds. Seriously. You can talk over it and still get harmonics or feedback and if you want sparkly clean, you can boost it full power (8 watts I think) and it sounds just beautiful. Dig in and it breaks up nicely. Very responsive to finger touch. Versatility is key but I paid a hefty nickel for it too.

I have been mighty tempted to sell my Mercury only to replace it with the Carr Skylark! 6V6 splendor with the same versatility. Or maybe the new Lincoln… LOL! And while I am on tubes, the Mercury will run 6L6, KT66, EL84 and with a Yellow Jacket, an EL84. With a simple and fast re-bias you can open quite a world of sound – name a "sound" and you can come close to it. So, clean/crunch/distortion settings, wonderful reverb, 8, 2, 1/2 or 1/10 watts all in an indestructible package. Steve Carr stands behind his product. I have had that amp for over a decade now with absolutely zero issues. There were not as many low watt choices back then that really had TONE. There are a ton of very versatile, lower wattage amps out there today.

The Carr and probably the Swart are amps for guys that like to plug a guitar straight in and play. It will take pedals no problem but I usually don't use pedals and can get tons of great sounds.

I am also attracted to shiny objects. There is also a mint Champ SE that sits unused (fantastic Fender cleans BTW) and then there is the THR10 that gets to sit in the great room because it is small and looks good and the wife won't let the big, ugly amps in the room! But that Carr is my #1. If I had unlimited funds and time, there would be a revolving door of amps and guitars and the Lonestar would make a presence at some point! There are some great demos over at carramps.com if you want to get inspired to play a bit. That new Lincoln just smokes.

This ran a bit long, sorry.

Just seen a Impalla and a Dr Z both used at GC about a month ago , not sure what they was asking for the Impala but the Dr Z was 1200.00 on the sticker ...... never played either one but here lately I been really digging the Mesa's and I have my next amp purchase narrowed down to two amps , it's going to be either a Roadster or a Roadking II ...... now days I play out exclusively with a early 2000's Dual Rectifier and mesa 4x12 cab with EL 34 tubes (KT77 and 6V6's tubes )and use the MK V for noodling around home ...... my band mates love the Dual Recto , when our lead guitar is soloing our singer and new Bass player turn around and face my cab as I play along with the rhythm and at the end of the song they both comment how great the sound is ..... of all the amps I've brought to practice the dual recto is the one the band likes best ..... on the same note I have never played the dual recto at home and it's only been inside the house twice , still my favorite though

Great feedback guys.

Eric - Boogie brother I haven't played one, but the Roadking always gets killer reviews. You have mentioned your band mates like the sound of your Recto, that can be your #1 then a Roadster or Roadking II as a backup. Dr. Z gets a lot of press, but I have not played one, so no thumbs up or down from me. Don't think it fits the same bill as Recto or Road versions however.

fianoman - no apolgy needed, much useful information. You could do an add for Carr for sure. I have read about the Skylark, sounds like a do it all amp. Will it run the tube gamut like yer Mercury? I am a pedal guy but seem to using fewer pedals these days. (may have a "garage sale" soon). The Boogies can do their thing without pedals, but Carr sounds like it has it's own voice as well. May have to find one at least for a test drive to hear what they sound like. Especially the Skylark, BUT here's a link to Lincoln demo video

glvourot - first hand experience that is always welcome! I agree on the price. Saw the Space Tone on another board for a relatively good price (may still be there). You seem to remember all that raving as well. My 5 watt options will have to remain a Vibro Champ and the 5 watt switch on a Lonesatr Special. Unless I come into some extra cash. That is if it isn't spent on a Carr thanks to fianoman.

Lot of sweet amps out there these days for sure.

oops, forgot the link to Carr Lincoln

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Yeah, that is one hot-rod Lincoln. They also have a nice demo of the Skylark on their website. The Skylark doesn't allow tube swaps like the Merc due to the voltage requirements of the 6V6 but you can always get a set of Yellowjackets for the Skylark which will give you the EL84 crunchy option.

If I gigged, I would give a serious look at the Lincoln but the Skylark will be the next amp I buy for home use - not that I need it. I am pretty happy after every session with my Merc. Their build quality is superb. Look at some of the pics of their chassis builds. Just amazing stuff. Pride throughout.

Not that you need any more tempting Sam, but the Carrs also hold their value pretty well. I could sell my Carr for almost what I bought it for (still in brand new condition) but the downside is, there are not too many deals on them to be found.


Hey Eric, I thought you were working a Carvin amp? Or is that just for home use? I remember you said it had nice cleans so not dirty enough for your live work?

If amps didn't get beat up in shipping, we could start an exchange program. You get to have it for 3 months and then move on to the next.

fianoman - no apolgy needed, much useful information. You could do an add for Carr for sure.

Tell me about it ! Now I really want to find and try this amp. I don't know whether to thank Fianoman or curse him
That Lincoln demo doesn't help either...

that Lincoln demo is bad azz !! ..... looks like lots of fun

I have been playing a Swart AST for about 8 years now. It has a very nice clean tone, which is what I use most of time. For dirt I use an overdrive/volume pedal. The tube tremolo and reverb on the amp are excellent and I use them on most songs I play; I actually tend to tweak these settings for every individual song. When I first started playing the amp I used to plug into the LO input. But after experimenting with it during band practice and playing out I've settled on the HI input. It tames the treble a bit and gives a smoother tone to my ears.

I got this amp used several years ago. Other than the rectifier tube failing shortly after I got it the amp has been really solid. Our band has been playing out about once a month over the last several months and the amp has served me well. I put it on a stand (the controls being on the back of the amp is a hassle) and have no problem being heard. I have the volume on 5 and it has worked for all the places we've played so far, including a place we just played which is a room about 40x40. I only use 2 pedals with the amp: the overdrive pedal that I mentioned before, and a delay pedal. I have had people tell me that my guitar sounds great. When we play out I play either my SC-3 or my Melancon. Our next gig is this coming Saturday, I am looking forward to it.

Those Swarts are nice hi-quality amps. Wouldn't mind having one like yours hanging around.

Hey guys, Steve Carr said if you buy 10 amps he'll give me a free Skylark so here is some more incentive.

First up, so we have some G&L content - and BTW, the Merc sounds great with my Legacy and the Trib ASAT Special - a Will Ray through the Carr Impala:

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And for demo purposes on the Mercury so you can get a good idea of the settings:

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And for the heck of it, some guy named Bill Frisell playing through the Carr Sportsman:

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There are many, many more samples of Carr magic on their website, like the Skylark. Man, people talk about GAS but I got a case of itchy AAS.

I watched the official Carr Linclon demo Sam posted and it is mighty impressive. When I checked online I realized it cost almost 3G. I've always loved the Vox chime and have been tempted often by a Vox AC15-C1 which I find fairly often on Craigslist for ~$400. But having to haul it around has so far stopped me from getting one.

Kit, yep 3G is bit much, but would like to find a used Skylark hanging around a decent price. Especially since I already have a set of Yellow Jackets for the EL84. The fact you have had the Swart for so long tells me it is a keeper as well. The addition of tremolo gets my attention. Off for the search

It would be interesting to see what you thought of the AC15 after you have had it a while, given the circuit board build. Would the hand-wired tone of the Swart be missed? Who knows unless you can live with them for a while. The Swarts aren't exactly cheap and surely we are paying a little extra for something, right? I can dial in a sound on some less expensive amps but it is strictly that sound, only louder or softer. If I want to alter the sound, I really have to go adjust the amp, where with my Carr, the sound is still variable with my playing style. I can back off and clean it up, add grit or raunch, get a very dynamic range of timbre depending on p/u selection, and so forth. It's very expressive.

I read where Robbin Ford and Larry Carlton were at some event together and they tried each other's amps but still could not sound like one another. The amps expressed the sound coming from the player. Both Dumble amps too.

As I mentioned, yes, the Swart and the Carr are expensive but I can sell my Carr for $200 or $300 less than I paid for it over a decade ago. I would say that renting such a high quality amp for $200 for 10 years is a pretty good deal.

If you do end up with the Vox, come back and give us a report Kit. I enjoy talking amps and would like to know what you find out.

It would be interesting to see what you thought of the AC15 after you have had it a while, given the circuit board build. Would the hand-wired tone of the Swart be missed?

I went to the Carr site and listened to all the sound samples of your Mercury amplifier. What a great piece of equipment ! Tone is tone however, no matter how it comes about. Here is a quote from the Soldano Amplification website.

"One should also bear in mind that there is absolutely no sonic difference between point-to-point and printed circuit board wiring. Detractors of PC boards have argued that they are less reliable due to cracked solder joints or failure prone to burned traces—neither of these complaints are ever an issue with a properly designed board."

My 2 cents anyway.