Carvin Review: TO1 Tube Overdrive

History:

Purchase: I live in san diego, and Carvin conveniently has a factory store by mount carmel. I paid $30 for it, at first I wanted the distortion pedal they had, but I saw the word "tube" and I couldn't resist. $30 was a fantastic deal.

What I Like About This Carvin TO1 Tube Overdrive: Great quasi-modern/vintage tube sound. The guitar screams for solos at a mere press of a note. Crank up the pedal (if you can distort your amp too, it makes for fantastic sound) slam some hard CRUNCHY humbucker power chords, or scream for solos, you can't ask for a better pedal.

What I Do NOT Like About The Carvin TO1 Tube Overdrive: The only thing I don't like is that its not really a "pedal" per se. Its a pedal with a button on the face, and you press the button not the pedal. I know I'm nitpicking, but there's not much to dislike about this system.

Carvin TO1 Tube Overdrive Quality Rating: As you know, carvins are made in America, but I had some quality concerns with this one. At first it worked great, but after a day of bouncing around in the gig-bag (I didn't think I needed to put it in the box) the volume button started to mess up, and the pedal will go completely silent sometimes, so you have to press down the volume knob. Over time, this threat has really sorta fixed itself, and I'm sure that if I tighten the volume knob the problem will go away, but I'm too damn lazy. Sometimes its also hard to keep turning it on whenever I want, but the batteries are EXTREMELY low. I haven't changed them for about 6-8 months (when I bought it). Besides that, the all-metal construction is fantastic.

Review Summary: definitely worth a buy, especially for 30 bucks, a fantastic deal. This is a $60-100 pedal that you can get for $30. Buy it NOW.

Rating of this Carvin product: 4

This Carvin TO1 Tube Overdrive Guitar Effects Review Submitted By: sdboy

Review Date: 2004-03-28