[capefisherman]

For the last ten years I've been on a quest to find the most natural sounding amp for small/medium venues when I gig. Although my guitars have changed over the years (various Martins, Taylors, some high end boutique stuff and lesser priced instruments) my basic signal chain has always been K&K pick-ups (retrofitted by a professional luthier) and a Red Eye pre-amp. Of all the amps I've tried - including more expensive models by AER, Schertler and Henrickson - my older Carvin AG-200 and a more recent AG-300 remain my favorites if I don't feel like lugging my Fender Vibrolux tube amp (which still sounds better than anything else, if I'm careful with the settings to avoid feedback). A couple months ago My AG-300 developed an annoying defect: when turned on it immediately started a buzzing sound that would gradually increase in volume of a minute or so, then gradually subside, but sometimes come back over the course of a gig. It also began to sound somewhat distorted at times.

So even though it was out of warranty by a few months I sent it back for repair. It finally came back this week and here's the interesting part. Not only is the buzz gone but overall the amp sounds even better than it ever did before. According to the work order, all that was done was clean some contacts and I was charged $85 for labor, no parts. This is curious. I can't help but wonder if Carvin DID in fact replace some internal component that perhaps they know is an on-going problem with this amp, or???? In any case, I am happy they did whatever they did (although their communication was less than stellar through the process) and continue to feel this is the best sounding acoutic amp out there, giving as close to a natural sound that you can get short of using a mic. Interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience with this amp.

Gene