Carlsbro. A blast from the past.

[dave_bass5]

Had a gig recently where i couldnt take my cab. The band said they would supply an amp.
Glad i took my LMII to use as a pre amp. Not seen one of these for years.
he band said it sounded much better with the LMII than it usually did when one of their other bass players uses it.

Edited March 25, 2009 by dave_bass5

[Gazm]

I had a Carlsbro Stringray 150W bass amp and 2x15 400W cab in the 80s.
Absolute sh*te, I think the cab went down to about 500Hz

Pete.

[Viajero]

Ooh, I had one of those Cobras as my second ever amp. Hilariously ill-defined tone, no high mids or treble to speak of. Great for dub or walking bass, terrible for anything else. But such fragrant, happy memories.

I've not seen one for years - are they still being used out there?

[beerdragon]

Snazzy lead though, it would go well my equaliser t shirt.

[paul, the]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='47788' date='Aug 20 2007, 04:05 PM']Had a gig recently where i couldnt take my cab. The band said they would supply an amp.
Glad i took my LMII to use as a pre amp. Not seen one of these for years.
he band said it sounded much better with the LMII than it usually did when one of their other bass players uses it.[/quote]

Cool.

My first amp that wasn't easy to lift was a Carlsbro Viper. It was awful.

[elros]

The school has a huge Carlsbro combo, with a folded horn speaker thing. It's probably 1,2 meters high. Sounds big, too.

[stingrayfan]

Haha... I also remember using one of those beasts - at school in the early 80s! Just to complete the terrible sound, they had a Hondo bass to run though it. Probably one of the most awful instruments I've ever played!

[Phaedrus]

I had a 150w Carlsobro combo with 1x15" + 1x8".

I can't remember what it sounded like, but it was really heavy + big.

Haven't been able to find anything on-line about it.

Mark

[ahpook]

is there any practice studio in the land that doesn't have some carlsbro stuff in ?


odd...cos they sound like sh*te !!!

[lukeward2004]

Ive played throuhg some of the modern Carlsbro bass amps, such as the bass bomber and bass beaver, and thought they where sh*te - so I dont hold much hope for something 20 years older!

I can vouch for the pair of Carlsbro PA active monitors we use with the band's PA rig though - clear as a bell and does the job I need them to do.

[Alun]

I used a Carlsbro for years - a weird thing with a 15" and this really odd semi-parametric EQ. Only one I ever saw. I think I sold it in the end - amazed anyone bought it as it had more Gaffa tape than real covering by the end!

Cheers,
Alun

[Russ]

They did a really nice upmarket range of bass amps a few years ago called Delta Bass - they weren't bad at all. Two channels, separate powered subs, quite a few bells and whistles. Good tone too. But they were pretty much commercially ignored, despite the fact that there was hardly any Carlsbro branding on them.

Edited August 21, 2007 by Russ

[jamesakabob]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='47788' date='Aug 20 2007, 03:05 PM']Had a gig recently where i couldnt take my cab. The band said they would supply an amp.
Glad i took my LMII to use as a pre amp. Not seen one of these for years.
he band said it sounded much better with the LMII than it usually did when one of their other bass players uses it.

[/quote]

AHHH! I have that model amp! Bought it for a pittance as my first amp a while back, anyone know what exact model/wattage/year it is? Can't find a single pic or info on it anywhere but would like to know whats living in my cupboard , and Carlsbro has just gone into administration too so no help there

Oh, and good call on taking the LMII hehe

Cheers,
J

Edited March 23, 2009 by jamesakabob

[spongebob]

The place we've been using recently for practice has got an old Carlsbro combo.

It has to be, the worst thing I've ever plugged into!

TBH, it makes my Rickenbacker sound like a buzzing fly! Terrible!!

[BigBeefChief]

Any more dissing Carlsbro and I will do the lot of you.

[Mr. Foxen]

I like my Carlsbro, gonna get it fixed up soon. Apparently it could stick 500v through anyone who touches it at a gig, which is a feature I feel should come with more amps.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='442815' date='Mar 23 2009, 06:22 PM']Any more dissing Carlsbro and I will do the lot of you.[/quote]

I'll get the lube.

[Count Bassy]

I have a Colt 100, which is a full range/keyboard/acoustic combo, rather than a bass specific combo, and it's been great.

[JPJ]

Once upon a time not so very long ago, Carlsbro were a top manufacturer of bass kit and way ahead of their time.

Back in the day, I had a 300w Pro Bass head (two channels with independent semi-parametric tone controls, compressor, variable crossover etc) into a 2x15, biamped with a 150w pro bass slave into a 2x10 top cab.

Sounded awesome, weighed a bloody tonne.

[wazz]

wow...the carlsbro stingray...that was my first amp!

Had some odd push in buttons for sound shaping I seem to remember

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='Clive Thorne' post='442977' date='Mar 23 2009, 07:40 PM']I have a Colt 100, which is a full range/keyboard/acoustic combo, rather than a bass specific combo, and it's been great.[/quote]

I used to have one of those as well when i was playing keyboards. I found it easy to carry around although it wasn't really much more than a monitor.

[socrates]

interesting thread - I am going to Brum to see my folks this weekend and in my old bedroom is my Carlsbro stingray 150w combo - big 'bass' logo, 5-band eq and built in limiter . . brought in around 1985 I think as an upgrade from my 60w Marshall Combo (which soon turned out not to be able to compete with the local drummer).

I recall the tone was always pretty rubbish - boxy and lifeless - but it was the most wattage for the cash at the time . . .

so what do you think? bring it home and stick it on eBay as a 'vintage' combo, or keep it (just in case the sound of 'angry-bee in a cardboard box' ever comes back into vogue)?

I've done a quick search and can't seem to find any info on these at all . . .

[umph]

it's a shame because the original carlsbro stuff is great, especially the top and 200 watt models

[RJI777]

It's now 10 years since the last post on this thread and, coincidentally, I have just retrieved my first proper bass head from long term storage: A Carlsbro Stingray Pro Bass 150. I also note that there are a lot of posts here in which it seems that bass players are mocking their amplification i.e., the bass heads made by Carlsbro back in the 80s. This I find a little strange as my sound was not at all bad. In fact, I was regularly complimented on my bass sound and the use of the word "amazing" was not infrequent.

Simply put, I don't get it; the "amp blame game" that is; WTF? My bass head was usually played through a Carlsbro 1×15 cab, sometimes in parallel with an HH 4×12. Nothing special, right? I did (and still do) use an Aria Pro II SB900 bass, which helped, but it doesn't explain why my sound was not in the least as bad as described in the posts above.

Makes you think, doesn't it? I mean, what is it that they say about bad workmen and their tools? Like I said, makes you think, right? Or, at least, it should.

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by RJI777
Typo

[Stub Mandrel]

I don't remember Carlsbro as anything exceptional. My mate who got me into bass had one like the one pictured above, I seem to recall.

I've got a Colt 45 guitar combo, that I built a replacement power amp for, two channel, nothing exceptional but workmanlike enough. To be honest I've barely used it at volume and never gigged it (I've only played guitar live once...)