Amp Shopping Fender 64 Custom and Carr Mercury V

[River Hill]

I have been shopping for amps and I think I am close to narrowing it down to the Fender 64' Deluxe Custom Reverb Handwired and the Carr Mercury V. They are both about the same price.

The Carr seems to do more and the line out is nice, but something keeps bringing back to Fender 64. Maybe because of the Fender name, just not sure.

Have any of you compared these?

[Steve DeRosa]

I played handwired blackface Deluxe Reverbs back when they were brand-new and that was the only way they came from the Fullerton factory...

Nice stuff - everything you ever heard about them is true, and then some - and if the new ones are built to the same standard Fender's got a winner here...

Most "new" amps I've played fail to capture the mojo the old amps had from day one/right out of the box, regardless of manufacturers' claims; if the OEM tubes are up to the task this one could be the real deal, and it's priced competitively with its boutique counterparts - the only problem being so is a clean original, and guess which I'd rather have...

YMMV...

[DukeX]

Either way you're going to have a great amp that will be a joy to own and play.

[muscmp]

i haven't tried the carr but i have played thru the 68 custom reverb. it could be close to what your are looking at. this one was an amazing amp. it has the bassman channel also as it comes that way. jumpering the two channels gave tons of different tones.

the carr seems to be a great amp but would be completely different with british voicing instead of american. they win awards for their amps.

do you gig? both will be more than bedroom loud.

in case you haven't, take your guitar and play thru them both. that will help a lot in your decision.

play music!

[roylor4]

I have not compared the two amps, but I have played through a Carr before.

I cannot imagine ANY amp being substantially better than a Carr. That said, nothing holds it's value like a Fender. Here is a review w/sound clips:
https://www.premierguitar.com/articl...rcury-v-review

[River Hill]

Thanks for the feedback. I have played through both and need to to it again.

I have a Collings City Limits which is fantastic but I still want a Les Paul Custom. The Collings I think is better in every way, but something about the classic Les Paul tempts me. I just wish the quality control was higher on the Gibson.

[redir]

I played through a Carr Rambler before and it was one of the best amps I ever played. You can't go wrong with either choice.

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by River Hill

I have been shopping for amps and I think I am close to narrowing it down to the Fender 64' Deluxe Custom Reverb Handwired and the Carr Mercury V. They are both about the same price.

The Carr seems to do more and the line out is nice, but something keeps bringing back to Fender 64. Maybe because of the Fender name, just not sure.

Have any of you compared these?

I haven't compared and mainly because there would be no question about which amp I'd prefer. So, I bought the Mercury V about 3 months ago and it's a incredible amp. I love the line out and use it for recording. It's the best line out on any amp I've ever tried, just incredibly voiced.

It can do semi-clean and any flavor of gain you might require. Just a special amp all the way around.

I've set aside my 65 Amps SoHo and Tungsten Cortez in favor of this amp.

[LeftIsRight!]

The Care is in a whole different league. I would guy that one without thinking twice

[KevWind]

Just narrowing it down to those two is big accomplishment ....Seems like at that price point there are a number of possible excellent choices

[Dr. Spivey]

I demoed a Carr Mercury about 5 years ago. I still can't get it out of my head. Someday...

[MikeyB59]

Originally Posted by River Hill

I have been shopping for amps and I think I am close to narrowing it down to the Fender 64' Deluxe Custom Reverb Handwired and the Carr Mercury V. They are both about the same price.

The Carr seems to do more and the line out is nice, but something keeps bringing back to Fender 64. Maybe because of the Fender name, just not sure.

Have any of you compared these?

This is late to the party, but I have a 64 DR original and the Mercury V. The Mercury V is one of the most versatile amps I've ever played. All the gain structure variations and attenuator are genius. The DR is really great, but it is very much limited compared to the Carr. I'd get the Carr. If I had to choose between my original DR which I've gigged a lot and the Carr, it would be the Carr all day long. The clean is fantastic and the gain variations are just tremendous. You can get the Carr to do 90% of the DR sound and will never get the DR anywhere near the all the other stuff the Carr does.

[Mark L]

Carr. “Another league”…..yes.