Nomad compared to Peavey Delta Blues

mjaggisan

I'm really hot to get a decent practice amp. The local music shop carries the Delta Blues Deluxe which is sweet. SAguitar recommended the Carvin Nomad which is a really cool looking amp. Only problem is that there isn't a carvin dealer anywhere near me to test it out. Confused

So I'm wondering if anyone here has played both of these amps and can tell me what they think comparitavely? Right now I can buy a new Peavey BD for $549 or used or $400. The carvin is $499.95 plus $10 shipping. Any advice appreciated.

~Mark~

SAguitar · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:09 am Post subject:

Mark, have you played through the Delta Blues? It is a very good amp, and similar to Carvin in some respects. There are no Carvin dealers outside of two stores in California. That is why they sell for so much less, there are no middle men to pay. But there is an amp review in last month's Guitar Player that covers the nomad, and 4 or 5 other small combo tube amps priced around $500. In that article you get independent reviews from 5 different players on their staff, and they are very informative. In my opinion, they rated the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe No. 1 and the Carvin No. 2 for the bluesy tones that I like. Check out that mag, find it somewhere and read it! Heck, our city library gets it, and it can be read down there! Cool

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mjaggisan · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:44 am Post subject:

I haven't yet. I'm working all this weekend so I'm going to check out the peavey early next week. The shop I go to also has the hot rod deluxe used for $450 so I'll probably look at that too. Since this may be the last amp I buy for a while I kinda want a sparkly new one. Cool

I'm also a harp player and I've heard the Peavey BD is good for that as well. I've downloaded all the specs on these amps and (on paper) I like the features of the carvin the best. It's got a standby and supposedly it's got a great reverb. I also have a carvin x100b head running through a seamour duncan 4x12 cab. I've had it for years and I have always loved the tone of that. Big milky cleans and nice overdrive that's not too harsh. But it's just to big lug around and use as a practice amp.

I'll look for the GP article. I would love to find a Nomad to try but I may have to take a stab at it unless I just totaly love either the fender or the peavey. Decisions, decisions it's always fun checking out new gear. Razz

SAguitar · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:11 am Post subject:

GP liked the Fender best, and said the Nomad had the most Fender-sounding reverb of the group. Fender has always been known for a really good reverb!

I know that the Peavey BD gets rave reviews, but I admit it, I've had a long-standing prejudice against their amps since some of the junk they made back in the 1970s, and I just can't seem to bring myself to buy one! My loss, I know, but that's the way it is. I've had very good results with Fender and Carvin, so I'll just stay with what I like. Cool

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mjaggisan · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject:

Thanks man. I appreciate your insights. I'll check out the peavey and fender in the next couple of days. Of course I do like everything I've seen/read about the carvin. I wonder what kind of a harp amp it might make? If I were to go that route it would be a bit of a leap of faith since there's no way I'd ever get to try before I buy.

SAguitar · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:46 pm Post subject:

Yeah, that's why I thought you should read that article. It gives you 5 more viewpoints from pros who get to play nearly everything on the market. Their takes on the Fender and the Carvin are pretty insightful. They also reviewed a Peavey, but it wasn't the Blues Deluxe. Cool

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mjaggisan · Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 6:51 pm Post subject:

Got to play the Blues Jr. and the peavey Valve king. I really liked the clean on the Peavey VK. The Blues Jr. was nice but for some reason I didn't like the clean channel as much as the peavey. Of course the store was crowded and I really couldn't put them both through the paces as much as I would have liked.

The carvin still intrigues me. I found a great site that offered mp3's of it with different speakers. It's amazing what swapping speakers can do. Here's the site:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=410286

I also emailed Richard Hasselr who has the famous carvin mods and asked him what he thought about the nomad vs the peavey. This is his reply:

SAguitar · Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject:

Great sites, thanks for the links! Cool

And Richard is an Amp Guru. I'd take his advice any day! Very Happy

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mjaggisan · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:22 am Post subject:

I kinda like the idea that the amp is pretty easily modified down the road. I've actually found quite a few links with sound bites of the nomad and it really does sound like a sweet little amp. I'm starting to lean toward the nomad but I haven't tried the Delta Blues yet so I don't know. But I can't find any real sound samples of the PDB interestingly enough. I figured there would be more of those on the web than I seem to be able to finde.

I'll have to wait until the shop gets one in for me to demo.

SAguitar · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:34 am Post subject:

I wouldn't compare the Blues Jr. against the Valve King, though. Those are really two different worlds. The Blues Jr. is only 15 watts, isn't it? I'd try to put the Hot Rod Deluxe into that mix and see how it does against the Valve King and the Delta Blues. Cool

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mjaggisan · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 6:31 am Post subject:

I did it

I bought the nomad. I talked with a cool guy at carvin for quite a while. He's a real gear head and was fimilliar with my gear and what I was after. Said he'd throw in a free footswitch too.

Some of the sales people there are so-so but James was very cool and seems to be a real enthusiest. I figure I can always send it back or sell it later if I don't like it. I heard some sweet sounding clips of strats plugged through the amp and that's what sold me. In addition to the feautres, price and size were also on the mark. I'm still going to check out the PDB but I knew that I would always wonder about this amp unless I tried it for myself. I'll let everyone one what I think when it gets here.

Jake D · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 6:40 am Post subject:

What about the Visual Sound Workhorse Pony?

tele savalas · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:22 am Post subject:

A fella at the Gear Page participated in that GP Shootout, and he really liked the Carvin:

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=295134
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mjaggisan · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:24 am Post subject:

Hmmm....that is a good lookin' amp, although the grill is a little "pimp my ride-ish." I hadn't heard of it before. It's a bit more than the carvin but it's got some great features. Maybe if things don't work out with the carvin I'll take a closer look. They certianly appear to be well made.

I also like the fact that you can easily swap out tubes with the flick of a switch. Cool

SAguitar · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:08 am Post subject:

Congratulations on the Carvin! I'm confident you're gonna like it, they make some great products at that company.

Concerning the VS Workhorse, they are very nice amps also, but do cost a bit more than the Carvin. I bought one and liked it so much, I bought another one. It's a killer little amp, but it is only one channel. The way I'm doing it now, I only need one channel, and I'm getting my overdrive from VS pedals, or my Boss GT-8.

That crazy looking hubcap on there is actually patented. It spreads the sound out radially from the amp, so no matter where you stand in front of it, you hear the same tones. Very cool. Cool

The amp is built to make it very easy to work on. You can bias it all by yourself, no extra equipment needed. It disassembles easier than any amp I've ever taken apart.
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...all the gray areas are becoming black holes...