Carr Amplifiers is a

Pittsboro, North Carolina Pittsboro is a town in Chatham County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,743 at the 2010 census and 4,537 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Chatham County. The town was established in the late 18th century, shortly a ...

, manufacturer of high-end, hand-wired

tube Tube or tubes may refer to: * ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film * ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom * "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show * Tube (band), a ...

guitar amplifier A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which a ...

Critical reception

Carr's amplifiers are praised for their workmanship and high-end components; ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political ...

'' said the Rambler's "layout and wiring are absolutely flawless." Russell Carlson in ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of grow ...

'' remarked on the Carr Rambler's "top-notch craftsmanship, hand-wired electronics and thoughtful, well-researched design." The Carr amplifiers with

6L6 6L6 is the designator for a beam power tube introduced by Radio Corporation of America in April 1936 and marketed for application as a power amplifier for audio frequencies.J. F. Dreyer Jr."The Beam Power Output Tube" New York: McGraw-Hill, ''Ele ...

tubes are compared to classic Fender amps; the Slant 6V, which offers 6L6 or 6V6 power tube options also has

12AX7 12AX7 (also known as ECC83) is a miniature dual-triode 6AV6 vacuum tube with high voltage gain. Developed around 1946 by RCA engineers in Camden, New Jersey, under developmental number A-4522, it was released for public sale under the 12AX7 ident ...

and

12AT7 12AT7 (also known in Europe by the Mullard–Philips tube designation of ECC81) is a miniature 9-pin medium-gain (60) dual-triode vacuum tube popular in guitar amplifiers. It belongs to a large family of dual triode vacuum tubes which share the ...

tubes, was praised as "an amazingly useful and versatile amp" and was a "''Guitar Player'' Editors' Pick" in 2009. The "exceptional" Vincent was praised for "its rich tone, variable power, and compact size." Many of Carr's amplifiers have switchable power outputs, adding to their versatility, according to professional reviews. Carr Amplifiers were praised for having the "retro good looks of the Elvis era" while offering "crystal clear sound" in their selection as a runner up in ''

Garden & Gun ''Garden & Gun'' is a national magazine focusing on the American South. The magazine reports on the South's culture, food, music, art, literature, and its people and their ideas. It was created in 2007, published by the Evening Post Publishing C ...

'' magazine's "Made in the South" 2010/2011 competition. Ed King of

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ( ...

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was the lead si ...

, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Billy Gibbons of

ZZ TOP ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature so ...

, Jorma Kaukonen Canned Heat, Jefferson Airplane, Keith Richards of the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

, Eric Johnson, Mitch Easter, Eric Clapton, Neko Case, Kaki King, Morgan Geer, Coco Montoya, Bill Frisell, Charlie Hunter, Johann Frank, Erick Walls, Paul Simon, Joe Walsh, Eric Johnson, Rick Miller of

Southern Culture on the Skids Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Originally a straightforward roots rock band, they became known as a tongue-in-cheek "party band" with an exaggerated " wh ...

, Bob Mothersbaugh of

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau ...

, Jay Jay French of

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include " We're Not Gonna Take It" and " I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated wit ...

, and Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline of

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently d ...

own guitar amplifiers from this "boutique brand". Founder Steve Carr said of the company: "We try to figure out the great things about forties, fifties, and sixties amps and throw in some new twists. But our amps don’t have a whole lot of knobs or switches. They’re super-useful but very simple."

Models

Carr Amplifier models include: * Mercury V (16 watts, 2 x 6V6's, Celestion Creamback M) * Lincoln (18/6 watts, 2 x EL84's, Celestion Creamback M) * Impala (44 watts, 2 x 6L6's, 5751, 12AT7, 2 x 12AX7, 1x12" Eminence Elsinore) * Sportsman (19 watts, two 6V6's, three 12AX7's, one 12AT7, 1x12" Eminence "Red-White & Blues") * Raleigh (3.5 watts, one EL-84, two 12AX7's, 1x10" Jensen Jet) * Viceroy (formerly the Vincent) (7/33 watts, two 6L6, one 12AT7, and three 12AX7 tubes, and a 12" Eminence speaker) * Rambler (14/28 watts, two 6L6 tubes.) * Slant 6V (18/22/40 watts, four 6V6 or 6L6, four 12AX7, and four 12AT7 tubes, and a 12" Eminence speaker) * Skylark (12 watts, switchable variable attenuator 1.2 watts down to zero, two 6V6GT, two 12AX7, two 12AT7, 1x12" Celestion A Type)

Notable players

* Joe Perry *

Jeff Tweedy Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the singer and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, started his music career in high s ...

Ed King Edward Calhoun King (September 14, 1949 – August 22, 2018) was an American musician. He was a guitarist for the psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and guitarist and bassist for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 to 1975 ...

Jay Jay French Jay Jay French (born John French Segall, July 20, 1952) is an American guitarist, manager, record producer and founding member of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. He is a columnist, author and motivational speaker who oversees licensing and i ...

* Eric Johnson *

Nils Lofgren Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a membe ...

Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassi ...

Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott, known as Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959), is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The son of musician Wayne Scott, he moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana (known today as Lake Station, Indiana). ...

* Erick Walls * Johann Frank * Rodney Gene, Jr. * Paul Simon *

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr ...

Bob Mothersbaugh Robert Leroy Mothersbaugh, Jr. (; born August 11, 1952), or by his stage name "Bob 1", is an American songwriter, composer, musician and singer. Mothersbaugh's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as lead ...

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

*Rick Miller of

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cri ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

* Billy F. Gibbons *

Charlie Hunter Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, a ...

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of context ...

* Will MacFarlane *

Coco Montoya Coco Montoya (born Henry Montoya, October 2, 1951, Santa Monica, California) is an American blues guitarist and singer and former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Musical career Montoya's career began in the mid-1970s when Albert Co ...

References

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External links

Carr Amplifiers
Guitar amplifier manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in North Carolina Audio equipment manufacturers of the United States