The tone and vibe of Steve Carr’s designs and his team’s dedication to their craft is absolutely top notch. Handmade in North Carolina, Carr amplifiers build on classic designs but with an ingenuity and ethos that is all their own. The workmanship is impeccable and the circuit designs provide the best parts of the classic tones we all love but with an added versatility that is a sophisticated approach but most importantly, sonically inspiring, if not addictive.
If we don't have the exact Carr amp of your dreams, perhaps you’d like a different tolex or prefer a head version, please let us know. Carr turnaround time on custom orders is pretty quick, usually only 90 days. We also offer discounts on custom orders. Please let us know if you're interested; we'd love to talk shop with you!
Steve Carr's team is dedicated to creating amplifiers of the utmost quality that inspire the musician. We feel their amps are a significant evolution in amp building and tone shaping. It also doesn't hurt that they look cool as hell!
Carr Bel-Ray
Bel-Ray: Three British classics in a performance-ready package. With the big, powerful amplifiers of the golden age of guitar tone ever harder to use on stage and in the studio, the Carr Bel-Ray reconfigures three legendary ’60s to early ’70s sounds from across the pond into a portable, club-friendly package that dishes out classic British chime, crunch, and kerrang in a format today’s player can actually use. Fronting a dual-EL84 output stage that generates 16 watts of power, the Bel-Ray sports a front end of two 12AX7s plus a fat British-voiced EF86* pentode tube in a triple-threat preamp that delivers Top Boost chime, Plexi grind, and H-Watt punch at the twist of a switch.
Juicy, tactile dynamics and multi-dimensional playing feel are ensured by tube rectification courtesy of an EZ81—an essential part of the power supplies in the smaller ’60s AC combos and 18-watters alike—and atmospherics are maximized by a tube-driven, bias-modulated tremolo circuit that oozes a warm, lush, swampy throb. Atop this versatile foundation, the Bel-Ray carries the kind of feature set that has made Carr Amplifiers famous for their ability to deliver vintage-caliber tones to modern playing situations.
The Level (aka Volume) control is coupled with a High/Low volume-taper toggle which selects between a direct signal or one with a partial Master Volume inserted after the following EF86 stage. In High, the volume comes on fast and furious, hitting the output stage harder for increased crunch. Set to Low, the volume rolls up gradually and drives the EL84s less aggressively, perfect for at-home nighttime playing and quieter settings. The Bel-Ray’s decibels are further dialed in with Carr’s acclaimed built-in attenuator: a toggle switch flips between the full 16 watts and anywhere from 0 to 2 watts of power. And behind it all is Carr’s hand-wired, point-to-point circuit construction, acknowledged as among the finest in the business, using military grade power components, signal elements from the golden age of analog amplification, and other high-end parts to optimize clarity, depth, and playing feel.
Carr impala
Impala: Girth, growl and glory – toothsome American tone, unleashed. Countless players acknowledge the mid-’60s blackface Bassman™ as one of the greatest all-around guitar amps ever made, but too often you have to scaffold the original in modifications to get the most out of it. The Impala frames that classic circuit’s beating heart within a more usable format to deliver everything from guttural cleans to pushed American overdrive in a package that enables this iconic performer’s full potential to shine through. From a foundation of 44 watts generated by two 6L6GC power tubes the Impala adds an ultra-wide-ranging Volume control that lets the preamp run free. Add a versatile three-knob tone stage bolstered by a highly interactive Mid control, a super-usable Master to rein in the gain at all volumes, and addictively atmospheric tube-driven spring reverb and the Impala is ready for anything.
In its lower reaches, the Volume enables a luscious palette of clean tones, from sparkling and scooped to chunky and midrange-thick. Then wind it up past 3 o’clock—where most amps just give up the ghost—and the Impala roars forward with toothy, aggressive American overdrive and increased girth and sustain. With its impressive solidity and openness, the Impala also makes an amazing pedal platform, chewing up boosters, overdrives, fuzzes and distortions, skin, bones, hair and all.
The Impala is constructed in the fully hand-wired, point-to-point Carr tradition, using high-end and military grade components to ensure unprecedented signal purity and sonic clarity. The hand-crafted, solid-pine combo cabinets carry ’50s-style floating speaker baffles for optimal resonance and character, resulting in an expressive amp with utterly playable dynamics. The Carr Impala — turn it loose, and let the tone run free!”
Carr mercury v
Mercury V: A Brit-rock beast with astounding versatility! The Mercury V reinvents a long-standing Carr platform to deliver snarling Marshall-esque British tones with a highly evolved feature set and surprising versatility. From thick cleans, to punchy midrangey crunch, to wailing roar, it’s all here with attitude to spare. Rendered in a supremely portable package and able to nail all reduced-volume requirements, the Mercury V brings stack-like sonic thunder to the rehearsal room, studio, and club stage. In 2003 Vintage Guitar magazine’s cover story declared the original Mercury the ‘Tone of the Gods.’ Its bigger brother the Mercury V now configures that directivity and touch sensitivity into an even more fully-featured, breathtakingly versatile design enabling a broad range of gain structures, voicing capabilities and output levels to tackle just about any genre or playing style.
Based on a pair of 6V6GT power tubes for a full-throated 16 watts, the Mercury V harnesses an ingeniously original preamp circuit featuring dual Volume controls (for High and Low voicings), a three-position Boost switch, and a three-knob EQ stage to kick out a dynamic range of distinctly English tones. The results included everything from pushed ’60s cleans, to chunky ’70s rock, right into’80s and ’90s crunch and singing leads, and even scorching high-gain sizzle. The internally paired High and Low channels can be run in parallel like a jumpered four-hole classic, or switched to cascade in series, taking the gain levels off the charts and into the 21st century.
An onboard attenuator—Carr’s forte—can be switched in to take the firepower anywhere from 4 watts down to a mere whisper, and there’s a post-power amp Line Out to send it to the PA or into your recording interface for tracking. Add lush tube-returned spring reverb, and there’s a wealth of multi-dimensional tone packed into this remarkably compact combo. It’s all put together with the top-quality parts and construction that Carr is famous for, including in-house crafted dovetailed solid North Carolina yellow pine cabinets, military and NASA-grade power supply components, and trenchant mid-Century signal elements rendered in true point-to-point wiring.
Carr Super bee
“Super Bee: A classic new Super for the 21st Century! The Super Bee captures that legendary Fullerton-made blackface 4x10" Super Reverb sound in an inspiring new model sized and powered to suit the true needs of today’s venues. No channel switching, no loop, just pure old-school blackface-inspired tone, delivered with new-school usability. From scooped chime, to edge-of-breakup twang, to stinging roar, it’s all there at volume levels that will keep the soundman smiling while you push the Super Bee into succulent output-tube-driven overdrive and harmonically saturated bloom.
The key to the Super Bee circuit lies in its current-production 6BM8 output tubes. The pair achieves rich, bold, articulate tone remarkably reminiscent of the classic 6L6GC but at only 10 watts — plenty to cut through your drummer at the next club gig, but easily driven into dynamic sonic splendor without violating any noise restrictions. Add a built-in attenuator to take it from 2 watts to a whisper for late-night jams; Carr’s spacious, three-dimensional tube-driven reverb; an EZ81 tube rectifier for a lively, bouncy playing response; and Carr’s legendary point-to-point construction and high-end component selection, and this is the finest compact Fullerton-killer on the scene today.
But wait! There’s also the versatile Sting switch to reconfigure the Super Bee for three classic voices: 64 – extra-scooped shimmer for crystalline cleans. 68 – pushed blackface with bite for meaty twang and crunch 72 – more gain and a shift in the EQ circuit placement delivering fuller mids for luscious leads. The Super Bee — a Super reverb combo you can actually carry . . . And tear down the house without shredding any eardrums.
carr Telstar
Telstar: An utterly original approach to otherworldly tone! Ever thought you’d love to marry the sonic qualities of a deep, bold 6L6 and a chewy, harmonically complex EL84 in one amp? The Carr Telstar does just that, and blasts a new tonal template into the stratosphere as a result, attaining myriad ‘brand-new classic’ tones you previously didn’t know existed. The key to the Telstar’s unique capabilities lies in its merger of two very different power tubes in the same push-pull output stage: a 5881 (6L6GC type) exerts solidity, control, and a bountiful low end; an EL84 slathers on sinewy, complex, overtone-laden shimmer and bite. There’s really nothing like it, yet put them together and the plethora of tones available are instantly inspiring.
Dial it all in with the aid of a Lean/Lush switch to tailor the body of the tone and a 53/58 switch to alter the gain structure and the frequencies the Tone control emphasizes, and there’s an amazingly broad range of colors and textures to explore. The Telstar easily achieves recognizable renditions of traditional sounds — tweedy, Marshally, blackfacey — all with superb dynamics and playability. But the amp’s real beauty is in the way it crafts utterly original blends from the broad sonic palette, which instantly sound iconic and expressive all on their own. Dial it all anywhere from 16 watts to 0 via the Telstar’s built-in attenuator, and it’s perfect for home, club, and studio alike.