Carr

“The Sportsman is the latest creation out of Steve Carr’s Pittsboro, NC shop. This 6V6-powered, class-A combo is based to some extent on smaller, US-made, reverb equipped amplifiers from the ’60s like the Fender Princeton. But it’s also built around an expanded array of controls, bound to please guitarists across a greater variety of musical settings.”

“At 16-watts clean, 19 watts maxed, the Sportsman sits somewhere between the Fender Princeton Reverb and Fender Deluxe Reverb, in terms of output. Our review specimen came equipped with an Eminence Red White and Blues 12" speaker and rock-solid pine cabinet. The amp weighs in at 42 pounds.”

“It’s hard not to think blackface Fender when you play the Sportsman. And setting the Headroom knob to 3 o’clock and the EQ knobs to a slightly scooped setting immediately found me in recognizable blackface territory. The tone from my Les Paul’s bridge humbucker was full, sweet, and complex. And the signal from the Carr was brimming with detail—from the taught, metallic zing of the wound strings to the sounds of the contours on the edge of the pick. Turning up the Treble knob didn’t simply tilt the tone towards bright, but added increasingly airy harmonics to the sound without becoming piercing or fatiguing—perfect for some high-fret, funk action and folk arpeggios. The clean sustain was also particularly impressive, and letting the simplest chords ring out and fill the room was a delight.”

“The Sportsman’s ability to nail vintage, clean, and overdrive sounds—and move beyond them in breadth of tone—arguably makes this Carr a contemporary classic. Factor in the fact that a new Sportsman probably won’t rattle, vibrate, or require potentially costly repairs many years down the road, and that vintage amp starts to look a little less appealing. The handsome Sportsman is an amplifier of outstanding build-quality and vintage-but- cheeky styling that provides beyond top-shelf tone. If you can swallow the price, it’s worth every cent. But given the price of a clean, vintage Princeton or Deluxe these days, there’s little reason the Sportsman shouldn’t be in your crosshairs.”-excerpts from PremierGuitar.com's Carr Amplifiers Sportsman Amp Review, Nov 15, 2011

This amplifier shows practically no signs of use and remains in the immaculate condition that its previous owner kept it in. The fawn tolex, control panel and grille cloth all exhibit the same elegant construction that they left the manufacturer with.

• 16 Watts Clean, 19 Watts Maxed, Tube Power
• Single Channel
• Spring Reverb Equipped
• (1) ¼” input, Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Reverb and Headroom Controls, Standby Switch, Red Power Indicator Jewel, and Dual-Polarity Power Switch, all Front Loaded
• Solid Pine Cabinet
• Fawn Tolex Covering
• Heavy Duty Stitched Leather Handle
• Eminence Patriot-Red White and Blues 12” Speaker
• (2) 12AX7, (2) 12AT7 Preamp Tubes
• (2) 6V6 Power Tubes