I know this column is called Ask Amp Man, but after writing it for a crazy number of years, the questions tend to start repeating. That’s why I’ve been writing about some cool amp projects that cross my bench. Some interesting questions have come in lately, so I’ll probably get to them soon, but this month I have for you an amp that I don’t see too often. It was made in the early ’80s, when some manufacturers were trying to compete with the big “M” (the one in Petaluma, California—not in the U.K.) by coming up with their own versions of amps that looked similar but definitely had their own take on an overdriven gain channel. Here’s one that “boogied” along: the Carvin Series III X.
As you can see from the picture, this one borrowed its looks from its competitor’s custom-shop amps, utilizing a cane grille cloth and a red-oak hardwood cabinet. It even went so far as to use an OEM EV 12L speaker, as was typically found in that other company’s popular combo of the time. While the subsequent generation of Carvin X amps typically utilized EL34 output tubes, this series used 6L6s in yet another nod to the competitor. Two switchable channels, reverb, and, of course, a 5-band EQ round out the visual comparisons. And that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. Now let’s take a look at some of the differences.
A rear view displays the EV 12L speaker and array of 6L6 power tubes and three 12AX7s. The reverb is solid-state, driven by a pair of discreet transistors.
Solid-state of the union. The first thing you notice when looking at the tube compliment is that the amp only has three preamp tubes. While this is certainly enough to achieve the typical amount of gain for the era, it’s not enough to support the onboard reverb. That’s because this amp is a hybrid: a mix of tube and solid-state circuitry. A pair of discrete transistors drive the reverb tank, which I think may be more reliable than driving the tank with IC chips, as is pretty typical today.
While all the overdrive in the amp is developed strictly with tubes, there are a few parts of the audio path that involve solid-state design. The first is the tone controls. Traditional tone controls can only attenuate (cut) their respective frequencies. The bass, middle, and treble controls in this Carvin amp are IC driven and are active controls, which means they can boost, as well as cut, frequencies.
Photo 1 — Amp Man suggests lifting one end of the wire coming from the push-pull pot on the master volume so the sound of the amp opens up—restoring its high frequencies.
Pretty cool, but setting them can be a bit more critical than your typical tube amp. The other part of the signal path that utilizes solid-state circuitry is, of course, the EQ, which also can be used to cut or boost frequencies. The EQ is assignable to either the rhythm or lead channel, but not both. This is not atypical, but if you think about it, it is a bit strange, as you cannot use the EQ to establish the signature tone of the amp. It can only be used for making substantial tonal changes to either channel, which can be nice—and, with the “M” amps of this era, necessary for the overdrive channel, in my opinion—but is not really necessary in this amp. Lastly, the presence control in this Carvin works in the feedback loop, as in most traditional tube amps, but is changed in the later X series amps to be included as part of the active tone controls. So far, this is a cool amp, but let’s get into it and make a few tweaks so it becomes even cooler and more usable.
Ins and outs. The first thing you hear about this amp is that it has its own sound. This is immediately noticeable in the rhythm channel. It has a very full bottom end and a nice top end, but doesn’t sound like a traditional F-style clean. That’s not to say it can’t, as that’s where the EQ can come in handy, and I think the clean sound is very unique and useable—especially with the bright function engaged. Now let’s switch over to the lead channel, as this is where the amp can stand some improvement. The lead mode master volume control is a push-pull pot and has two options: normal (in) and pull for “Hi Lead.” In Hi Lead mode, the drive channel is very useable and matches relatively well with the rhythm channel, but in the in-position normal mode, it is, in my opinion, unusable. It’s extremely dark and sounds like someone threw a few moving blankets over the amp. Here’s where we can do a few changes to make this amp sound better.
Photo 2 — Wanna match the tone on both channels? Our columnist suggests removing the 22 µF capacitor and replacing it with a 4.7k resistor with a 0.022 µF capacitor in parallel.
If we follow the schematic, or better and easier yet, the wires coming from the push-pull switch on the rear of the master volume pot, we see that they connect to two different capacitors. One shunts most of the high frequencies to ground. This one needs to go! Simply lift one end of the capacitor from the circuit board and you’re good to go (Photo 1). If you follow the other wire, you’ll see that it connects to a 22 µF capacitor whose other end is attached to pin 3 of V1. When this cap is connected via the switch to ground, it adds a considerable amount of gain to this stage—especially to the bottom end.
The problem is, there is so much gain that the bottom end starts to choke at higher gain settings, and it especially does so when the output power switch is set to 60 percent. To alleviate this, remove this cap and replace it with a 4.7k resistor with a 0.022 µF capacitor in parallel (Photo 2). Now, with the master volume on the lead channel pulled out in the Hi Lead mode, the tone of both channels matches very well. Pushing the Hi Lead pot in actually increases the gain in a very balanced way and gives the amp even more drive and sustain.
And there you have it: an amp whose boogie gives the competition a serious run for its money. Enjoy!
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Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, EGC Chessie in hands, coaxing some nasty tones from his Hiwatt.
The Jesus Lizard’s sixth album, Blue, served as the band’s final statement from the frontlines of noisy rock for the next 26 years. By the time of their dissolution in 1999, they’d earned a reputation for extreme performances chock full of hard-hitting, machine-like grooves delivered by bassist David Wm. Sims and, at their conclusion, drummer Mac McNeilly, at times aided and at other times punctured by the frontline of guitarist Duane Denison’s incisive, dissonant riffing, and presided over by the cantankerous howl of vocalist David Yow. In the years since, performative, thrilling bands such as Pissed Jeans, METZ, and Idles have built upon the Lizard’s musical foundation.
Denison has kept himself plenty busy over the last couple decades, forming the avant-rock supergroup Tomahawk—with vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn (both from Mr. Bungle), and drummer John Stanier of Helmet—and alongside various other projects including Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and Hank Williams III. The Jesus Lizard eventually reunited, but until now have only celebrated their catalog, never releasing new jams.
The Jesus Lizard, from left: bassist David Wm. Sims, singer David Yow, drummer Mac McNeilly, and guitarist Duane Denison.
Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins
Back in 2018, Denison, hanging in a hotel room with Yow, played a riff on his unplugged electric guitar that caught the singer’s ear. That song, called “West Side,” will remain unreleased for now, but Denison explains: “He said, ‘Wow, that’s really good. What is that?’ And I said, ‘It’s just some new thing. Why don’t we do an album?’” From those unassuming beginnings, the Jesus Lizard’s creative juices started flowing.
So, how does a band—especially one who so indelibly captured the ineffable energy of live rock performance—prepare to get a new record together 26 years after their last? Back in their earlier days, the members all lived together in a band house, collectively tending to the creative fire when inspiration struck. All these years later, they reside in different cities, so their process requires sending files back and forth and only meeting up for occasional demo sessions over the course of “three or four years.”
“When the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.” —Duane Denison
the Jesus Lizard "Alexis Feels Sick"
Distance creates an obstacle to striking while the proverbial iron is hot, but Denison has a method to keep things energized: “Practice loud.” The guitarist professes the importance of practice, in general, and especially with a metronome. “We keep very detailed records of what the beats per minute of these songs are,” he explains. “To me, the way to do it is to run it to a Bluetooth speaker and crank it, and then crank your amp. I play a little at home, but when the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.”
It’s a proven solution. On Rack—recorded at Patrick Carney’s Audio Eagle studio with producer Paul Allen—the band sound as vigorous as ever, proving they’ve not only remained in step with their younger selves, but they may have surpassed it with faders cranked. “Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style,” explains Allen. “The conviction in his playing that he is known for from his recordings in the ’80s and ’90s is still 100-percent intact and still driving full throttle today.”
“I try to be really, really precise,” he says. “I think we all do when it comes to the basic tracks, especially the rhythm parts. The band has always been this machine-like thing.” Together, they build a tension with Yow’s careening voice. “The vocals tend to be all over the place—in and out of tune, in and out of time,” he points out. “You’ve got this very free thing moving around in the foreground, and then you’ve got this very precise, detailed band playing behind it. That’s why it works.”
Before Rack, the Jesus Lizard hadn’t released a new record since 1998’s Blue.
Denison’s guitar also serves as the foreground foil to Yow’s unhinged raving, as on “Alexis Feels Sick,” where they form a demented harmony, or on the midnight creep of “What If,” where his vibrato-laden melodies bolster the singer’s unsettled, maniacal display. As precise as his riffs might be, his playing doesn’t stay strictly on the grid. On the slow, skulking “Armistice Day,” his percussive chording goes off the rails, giving way to a solo that slices that groove like a chef’s knife through warm butter as he reorganizes rock ’n’ roll histrionics into his own cut-up vocabulary.
“During recording sessions, his first solo takes are usually what we decide to keep,” explains Allen. “Listen to Duane’s guitar solos on Jack White’s ‘Morning, Noon, and Night,’ Tomahawk’s ‘Fatback,’ and ‘Grind’ off Rack. There’s a common ‘contained chaos’ thread among them that sounds like a harmonic Rubik’s cube that could only be solved by Duane.”
“Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style.” —Rack producer Paul Allen
To encapsulate just the right amount of intensity, “I don’t over practice everything,” the guitarist says. Instead, once he’s created a part, “I set it aside and don’t wear it out.” On Rack, it’s obvious not a single kilowatt of musical energy was lost in the rehearsal process.
Denison issues his noisy masterclass with assertive, overdriven tones supporting his dissonant voicings like barbed wire on top of an electric fence. The occasional application of slapback delay adds a threatening aura to his exacting riffage. His tones were just as carefully crafted as the parts he plays, and he relied mostly on his signature Electrical Guitar Company Chessie for the sessions, though a Fender Uptown Strat also appears, as well as a Taylor T5Z, which he chose for its “cleaner, hyper-articulated sound” on “Swan the Dog.” Though he’s been spotted at recent Jesus Lizard shows with a brand-new Powers Electric—he points out he played a demo model and says, “I just couldn’t let go of it,” so he ordered his own—that wasn’t until tracking was complete.
Duane Denison's Gear
Denison wields his Powers Electric at the Blue Room in Nashville last June.
Photo by Doug Coombe
Guitars
- Electrical Guitar Company Chessie
- Fender Uptown Strat
- Taylor T5Z
- Gibson ES-135
- Powers Electric
Amps
- Hiwatt Little J
- Hiwatt 2x12 cab with Fane F75 speakers
- Fender Super-Sonic combo
- Early ’60s Fender Bassman
- Marshall 1987X Plexi Reissue
- Victory Super Sheriff head
- Blackstar HT Stage 60—2 combos in stereo with Celestion Neo Creamback speakers and Mullard tubes
Effects
- Line 6 Helix
- Mantic Flex Pro
- TC Electronic G-Force
- Menatone Red Snapper
Strings and Picks
- Stringjoy Orbiters .0105 and .011 sets
- Dunlop celluloid white medium
- Sun Studios yellow picks
He ran through various amps—Marshalls, a Fender Bassman, two Fender Super-Sonic combos, and a Hiwatt Little J—at Audio Eagle. Live, if he’s not on backline gear, you’ll catch him mostly using 60-watt Blackstar HT Stage 60s loaded with Celestion Neo Creambacks. And while some boxes were stomped, he got most of his effects from a Line 6 Helix. “All of those sounds [in the Helix] are modeled on analog sounds, and you can tweak them endlessly,” he explains. “It’s just so practical and easy.”
The tools have only changed slightly since the band’s earlier days, when he favored Travis Beans and Hiwatts. Though he’s started to prefer higher gain sounds, Allen points out that “his guitar sound has always had teeth with a slightly bright sheen, and still does.”
“Honestly, I don’t think my tone has changed much over the past 30-something years,” Denison says. “I tend to favor a brighter, sharper sound with articulation. Someone sent me a video I had never seen of myself playing in the ’80s. I had a band called Cargo Cult in Austin, Texas. What struck me about it is it didn’t sound terribly different than what I sound like right now as far as the guitar sound and the approach. I don’t know what that tells you—I’m consistent?”
YouTube It
The Jesus Lizard take off at Nashville’s Blue Room this past June with “Hide & Seek” from Rack.
Keith Urban has spent decades traveling the world and topping global country-music charts, and on this episode of Wong Notes, the country-guitar hero tells host Cory Wong how he conquered the world—and what keeps him chasing new sounds on his 6-string via a new record, High, which releases on September 20.
Urban came up as guitarist and singer at the same time, and he details how his playing and singing have always worked as a duet in service of the song: “When I stop singing, [my guitar] wants to say something, and he says it in a different way.” Those traits served him well when he made his move into the American music industry, a story that begins in part with a fateful meeting with a 6-string banjo in a Nashville music store in 1995.
It’s a different world for working musicians now, and Urban weighs in on the state of radio, social media, and podcasts for modern guitarists, but he still believes in word-of-mouth over the algorithm when it comes to discovering exciting new players.
And in case you didn’t know, Keith Urban is a total gearhead. He shares his essential budget stomps and admits he’s a pedal hound, chasing new sounds week in and week out, but what role does new gear play in his routine? Urban puts it simply: “I’m not chasing tone, I’m pursuing inspiration.”
