We were more than a bit surprised when this underrated, business-like amp slipped from its cardboard carton. No fluorescent floral Tolex? No trans-dimensional quantum drive? Not even a monkey grip? Steve Vai designed this, didn’t he? Well, yes, he did, and not before demanding shredmeister put Carvin’s R&D team through sonic hell. Following countless months of comparison tests on tubes, speakers, and circuitry, the exhausted amp designers were finally released from Steve’s aural vivisection, and this, indeed, is his Legacy.
Steve Vai also designed the exterior of the Legacy VL212 combo, although his involvement is only evident in the logo’s subtle hieroglyph. Otherwise, this is a very serious-looking and intelligently designed amp, complete with black Tolex, seven-ply popular cab, metal corner protectors and a kick-proof grill. Like the exterior, the guts of the VL212 are refreshingly simple and gimmick-free.
The all-tube, two-channel design pumps out 100 watts from its quartet of EL34 power tubes, and if you play in small venues, a half-power switch on the rear panel allows the amp to run at 50 watts or just two EL34s. Another switch can re-bias the amp to accept 5881 or 6L6GC tubes in the power section, should you prefer a grittier tone. The pre-amp stage uses a total of five 12AX7 tubes, one of which drives and adds warmth to the Carvin long-tail reverb.
This collection of tubes provides the thermionic magic for the clean and lead channels. Both channels have the usual treble, mid, bass and volume controls, while the lead channel boasts a drive control, the VL212 uses a rotary control on the lead channel and a presence switch on the clean. This switch is designed to add clarity to the highest guitar harmonics (8-10kHz), which translates as a does of extra sparkle when single-coil pickups are used through this channel.
The Legacy’s arsenal continues with a master reverb control, an effects loop, footswitch socket for the optional FS22 footswitch and speaker extension sockets with impedance selector on the rear panel. It’s everything a modern guitarist could need, without mode-switch overkill. In addition, the VL212 houses a pair of Celestion G12M Greenback speakers in a closed-back cab for enhanced projection, and the amp is also available in the head-only VL100 model with the same speakers in the C412 4×12 closed-cab.
Does it sound like Steve Vai in a box? To say so would be to sell the Legacy short. The tone-obsessed player has certainly left his indelible thumbprint upon the tones of the VL212, but this would please any player seeking powerful, complex sounds.
One noticeable characteristic is the stupendous bass response from the closed-back cab. Clean sounds are exceptionally responsive and leap with dynamics, while dirty sounds are an absolute chunkfest. Another characteristic appears in the overall sound, which is precisely balanced across the spectrum and avoids the midrange swampland found in many vintage-style amps.
This high-resolution tone is modern without being clinical, with plenty of tubular warmth behind the clarity, and bristling harmonics. Cleans sounds are rounded, articulate and powerful, with more headroom than Michael Jordan. The lead channel is nothing short of phenomenal, with spatial overdrives, bone-splitting crunch and the sort of vocal lead tones for which Vai is famous. Setting 3 to 6 on the drive control offer some of the optimum distortions, and settings 6 to 8 provide enough blistering gain to make any distortion stomp-box unnecessary. Go beyond 8, and you may not come back. These distortions are also designed to clean up efficiently with a guitar’s volume control to deliver superb fat and honky, semi-clean tones.
Read your review about the Legacy II by Carvin. Your link to the legacy II on Carvins site goes to the Legacy I. As of today there is only 1 “buyer” posting videos on You Tube. Carvin hasnt posted any audio samples or videos for the Legacy II.
Hi, this is the Carvin Legacy VL212. To read more about the Carvin Legacy II, please follow the link.
Here is the Carvin legacy II Video Review.
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My question is when set to 50 Watt. Does just 2 of the 4 tubes light up. Manual doesn’t specify that. I emailed carvin for a week. The person I spoke to said the only information they have is the manual. Crazy smh
It’s hard to say without looking at it. I’m guessing all 4 should. But remember 2 tubes = 50 watts. So 4 = 100 watts. I thought those Carvin’s had a built in attenuator.
Manual says 2 tubes 50 Watt 4 tubes 100 Watt but doesn’t say if they all light up and or maybe 2 are dimmer on 50 Watt. No attenuator built in. I heard those are bad. Burn up tubes and power source. But Idk.
Do all 4 light up? If you’re using a 100 watts, all 4 should light up.
Looking at the schematic for the VL212 (Carvin is a great company in terms of making their schematics available), all four power tubes will “light up” regardless of the power setting. I.e., their heaters are always powered. The half-power switch just disables one pair of tubes by un-grounding the cathodes and screens. (I’ve never seen a half-power switch that actually turns off the heaters, so this is no surprise.)
BTW, not that anyone asked, but FWIW the “presence” controls on this amp are not “the real deal”: as with other Carvin amps I’ve looked at, the presence is simply another tone control in the tone-stack, presumably a higher-frequency treble control. “Real” presence (and resonance) controls should be in the power amp negative feedback loop, and yes, this amp does have NFB. So just think of it as a straight four-band passive EQ, with two choices of treble (instead of two midrange bands, which would possibly have been more useful).
The Classic 5E3 Tweed Deluxe’s features are either totally intimidating or a knob-dream, tweaker’s depending on which side of the fence you live on. If you’re in the latter camp, you should know that the control array, despite governing three channels, is actually rather straightforward.