A ride in a Carr

Red Baron · Aug 4, 2017

porterburst said:
The Skylark has less bass, in fact some may feel it doesn't have enough low end. I think it's perfectly balanced for it's size and power rating, and works well with all types of guitars. Sounds amazing with my Les Pauls, very full and balanced. The low end is round and firm, but not super stiff. The Skylarks mid range tone can sound very similar to a Rambler cranked in low watt mode.

The Mercury V has more low end that's tight. I keep the bass around 9 o'clock with my Les Pauls and higher if needed with single coils.

From my standpoint the Skylark and Mercury have similarities, but are still very different amps in general. I like the differences each amp offers. The Skylark has the bounce and tone of various old Fenders with a little British flavor with Carr own take tossed in. The Skylark also has this super fast response with a very sweet overall tone range. It also has a very singing lead tone with my Les Pauls that I love.

The Mercury V is much more Marshall flavored, but does have some Fender like tones tossed in. It's also a little louder in the bedroom compared to the Skylark, even at its lowest attenuated level. The tone is bold and somewhat firm or tight compared to the Skylark. The Mercury has that bright Marshall like crunch or grunt, while the Skylark has some crunch is more on the smooth brown side. Both amps are amazing, just different.

The Mercury really shines when cranked and has a lot more clean headroom with endless overdrive options. Cranked it seems much louder that 16 watts. The reverb is also very different on both models, the Skylark being a little more traditional while the Mercury is more ambient but does offer some surf like splash.

I love them both for different reasons.

Thanks for your insights, sounds like you can't go wrong owning both, absolutely great amps. :salude

porterburst · Aug 28, 2017

Charlie Hargrett Playing an original 1959 Les Paul Burst through a Carr Mercury V.

joeh77 · Aug 29, 2017

The Mercury V sounds great! But what about the original 8 watt version with the Kingpin speaker? Used prices on this model have come down, as you'd expect. How much different would you expect the tone to be from version 1 to the V?

Joe

porterburst · Aug 29, 2017

joeh77 said:
The Mercury V sounds great! But what about the original 8 watt version with the Kingpin speaker? Used prices on this model have come down, as you'd expect. How much different would you expect the tone to be from version 1 to the V?

Joe

The original Mercury is a totally different amp compared to the new Mercury V.

The original Merc is a nice amp, but some loved the original Kingpin speaker, while other hated it and preferred the Eminence Red White and Blue speaker that came in the later original Merc models.

roysessions · Aug 30, 2017

I own a Skylark and a Swart AST (personally like the Swart a bit better for gigs, but you cannot beat the skylark attenuation and is far more versatile. Need pedals for the Swart) but I have also gotten the Mercury V on order based on the glowing reviews.

I also have a Tone King Majesty 15 for my British sounds and its still too loud for me in bedroom/man cave volumes (normal conditions).

I think Carr has the best attenuation settings compared to all others for my ear. It has such flexibility and Range over the Iron Man or other. Cant wait for it to arrive!

Xpensive Wino said:
Nice!

porterburst · Aug 30, 2017

roysessions said:
I own a Skylark and a Swart AST (personally like the Swart a bit better for gigs, but you cannot beat the skylark attenuation and is far more versatile. Need pedals for the Swart) but I have also gotten the Mercury V on order based on the glowing reviews.

I also have a Tone King Majesty 15 for my British sounds and its still too loud for me in bedroom/man cave volumes (normal conditions).

I think Carr has the best attenuation settings compared to all others for my ear. It has such flexibility and Range over the Iron Man or other. Cant wait for it to arrive!

Tone is so subjective, but I owned a Swart AST MKII Master 1-12 combo that was amazing, but I like my Skylark much more overall.

The eq of the Skylark is just so broad and makes for a better amp for so many different styles of music, plus it works well so many different types of guitars.

I love my Mercury V just as much.

Carr makes killer amps!

58burst · Sep 16, 2017

A mercury V arrived yesterday, took it to a jam today- I gotta say that's the MOST fun I've ever had with an amp. I'm in love!

porterburst · Sep 16, 2017

58burst said:
A mercury V arrived yesterday, took it to a jam today- I gotta say that's the MOST fun I've ever had with an amp. I'm in love!

I agree, it's a killer amp.

Pictures...????? :yah

kiwi burst · Sep 17, 2017

58 Burst stashed his Mercury V at my house and I'm not letting it leave. Great amp.

RocknRollShakeUp · Sep 18, 2017

Xpensive Wino said:
I've yet to hear anything negative about it.

That Rodney Gene Jr. review is one of the best amp reviews ive ever seen! What a great player and he took that amp from country to David Bowie! Wow! What a great sounding amp! Do these come with a built in attenuator?

porterburst · Sep 18, 2017

Here's a cool Mercury V head and 1X12 cab clip.

Pellman73 · Sep 26, 2017

Tweed and black— just Ordered from humbucker music

decided I don’t need two Friedman amps and I’m gonna sell my ds mini

unless someone can convince me that i need both a ds mini and a mercury V. How many hand wired low watt Marshally things does a person need anyhow?

Psyched !!

porterburst · Sep 27, 2017

Pellman73 said:
Tweed and black— just Ordered from humbucker music

decided I don’t need two Friedman amps and I’m gonna sell my ds mini

unless someone can convince me that i need both a ds mini and a mercury V. How many hand wired low watt Marshally things does a person need anyhow?

Psyched !!

I think with the new Carr you'll be pretty much good to go.

Pellman73 · Sep 27, 2017

porterburst said:
I think with the new Carr you'll be pretty much good to go.

great! thanks for that.

I just shipped the DS Mini w the Cab!

Took a bit of a hit but I feel I can look the wife in the eyes when I combine that with an epiphone casino and some pedals that I was able to hawk on the 'verb. Can I get an amen from anyone who knows what I mean
? :##

just looked and it looks like it will be here tomorrow!

I"ll take some pics and maybe try and do a vid

renderit · Sep 27, 2017

I ALWAYS look down when I am around Her Majesty. I know there is something I forgot to tell her so I just do. I just listened to the Lincoln. Thats more up my alley. Though I did find some vids with nice cleans on the Mercury V.

Pellman73 · Sep 28, 2017

renderit said:
I ALWAYS look down when I am around Her Majesty. I know there is something I forgot to tell her so I just do. I just listened to the Lincoln. Thats more up my alley. Though I did find some vids with nice cleans on the Mercury V.

that's a good cover your bases move.

I love the look of those lincolns -- did you watch the lance keltner vid? he always does great ones

I"m posting about another amp too--- Fender's new 64 deluxe reverb hand wired. great from two days ago from John Bohlinger--

heres a nice one on the linc (second half) if you didn't see it.

renderit · Sep 28, 2017

I usually avoid NAMM show video's as there is SOO much crap in the background you can't hear squat, but this one is good. Around 3:00 he does some amazing cleans through it. Shortly before that (2:45) he shows how to set it up to do that.

Pellman73 · Sep 28, 2017

managed to escape work, make it to the UPS store (those signature issues can be tricky) and get this guy out of the box

have played it a little bit and so far I think its pretty incredible. the attenuator alone is really pretty amazing. but the range of sounds you can get from clean to california death metal is pretty astounding. The two channels that you can have in parallel or "jumpered" combined with the three boost settings-- its a cornucopia! but more than that-- aesthetically I just think it is so incredibly cool looking-- and the quality of the build is fantastic.

this is a plug your guitar in and go type of animal. no need for effects (and there ain't no effects loop if ya wanted one. and thats FINE)

it will live in the bedroom and join the red fender combo of doom and awesomeness (yes dear I have two amplifiers in the bedroom now but we have very little art work and these are very much works of art-- don't you think?)

(yea I know I need to get a surge protector)

Pellman73 · Sep 29, 2017

renderit said:
I usually avoid NAMM show video's as there is SOO much crap in the background you can't hear squat, but this one is good. Around 3:00 he does some amazing cleans through it. Shortly before that (2:45) he shows how to set it up to do that.

yes great video for sure. I actually played that amp at NAMM this year but the dude I was talking to (actually the guy that makes the cabinets there) didn't really want me to play it too loud and it was hard to tell anything about it.

NAMM is crazy (have you been?). I was a drummer before I became obsessed with guitars and I have to say when you get anywhere near the drum part its like "I DON'T WANT TO WORK I WANT TO BANG ON MY DRUM ALL DAY" and it just seems so DUMB AND LOUD-- drumming I mean. I guess what I mean is drums are cool like say, if its just you and Manu Katche or Stuart Copeland in a studio-- but a football sized area of people playing drums and things is such cacophany that the sum total experience is you feel like you have entered the monkey part of the zoo and all the monkeys have raided a truck from DW Drums and are going ... well... ape$shit. Made me kind of embarrassed to be a drummer.

so yea. Namm is loud!

I'm headed back this year!

porterburst · Sep 29, 2017

Pellman73 said:
managed to escape work, make it to the UPS store (those signature issues can be tricky) and get this guy out of the box

have played it a little bit and so far I think its pretty incredible. the attenuator alone is really pretty amazing. but the range of sounds you can get from clean to california death metal is pretty astounding. The two channels that you can have in parallel or "jumpered" combined with the three boost settings-- its a cornucopia! but more than that-- aesthetically I just think it is so incredibly cool looking-- and the quality of the build is fantastic.

this is a plug your guitar in and go type of animal. no need for effects (and there ain't no effects loop if ya wanted one. and thats FINE)

it will live in the bedroom and join the red fender combo of doom and awesomeness (yes dear I have two amplifiers in the bedroom now but we have very little art work and these are very much works of art-- don't you think?)

(yea I know I need to get a surge protector)

Very sweet my friend!!!

It's only gonna get better as the speaker breaks in and you become more familiar with the controls since they're very interactive.

A ride in a Carr

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