Last month, I went down to Steve Carr's shop on some personal business and ended up playing an amplifier before I left that impressed me quite a bit.  I've owned and played his Carr Slant 6V model before...in an open-back 1x12 combo.  The Slant 6 is one of the most versatile dual-channel amps around in my opinion; it is inspired by the blackface sounds one might find in a Deluxe Reverb (with a higher power rating) and adds a very functional overdrive/distortion channel.

That said, I've always leaned toward the smaller and more buttery-toned Rambler.  I love the 6L6s and the simplicity of the little 1x12 Rambler combo.  The Slant 6 has 6V6s and an overall tighter and faster attack, not to mention a bit more power.  Steve has made a variety of overdriven amps and he does a good job with them; but I've felt the real strength of his models to date have been their wonderful American-voiced clean tones.  The Carr reverb tones are excellent too on both the Slant 6 and the Rambler.

Steve asked me to try a 1x12 open-back Slant that he'd been tweaking in the shop.  He said he had been making some refinements to the gain channel in particular and wanted to see what I thought.  I had a Strat and a Les Paul with me, so that helped a lot in getting an idea of the amp's range.  I would not hesitate to take a Slant 6 1x12 combo out of a store and take it directly to a session or a stage if I needed to.  It's a very organic model and would be one of my prime choices if I needed an amp to plug straight into without any kind of effects (though pedals sound great with the Slant 6). 

Honestly though, there have been some spots on the clean channel in the past, where certain popped and heavily-plucked notes on a guitar's low E-string might get a little woofy and mushy to me on the Slant 6 1x12....this is logically more pronounced at higher volumes.  I haven't done enough experimenting with swapping tubes or the stock Kingpin speaker out of the 1x12 to know what influence, if any, these factors might have on this.  Steve has told me on numerous occasions that it's kind of an inherent aspect of the design.   I don't mean to exaggerate this tonal facet, because the Slant is not a handicapped or limited amp by any means.  It's a really impressive "modern-meets-vintage" product.

The new Slant 6 1x12 combo that I plugged into did indeed sound as nice (and maybe nicer) than any previous Slant 1x12 that I had played.  So, the consistency and quality control after several years is certainly still there.  Steve has done a fine job of making continual quality improvements to all of his products.  Still, I found some of those slightly boomy aspects intact on the newer version ( though I really liked the voicing of the overdrive channel as far as improvements go).  In the past, I had noticed that a 2x12 open-back combo tended to greatly alleviate those mushing-out issues.  I think the extra speaker handles the frequencies much better.  Problem for me is that the 2x12 is a bit bigger and heavier (not to mention a little more expensive).

Before walking out the door, Steve asked if I would check out a new head-version of the Slant 6 which was mated with a closed-back 2x12 cabinet loaded with Eminence GB12s.  I had seen two of these amps sitting in the room, ready for dealer delivery but didn't pay them much mind because I wasn't really interested in a head or the big cabinet.  However, Steve said that one of the heads had the optional reverb in the gain channel.  Most Slants do not have reverb on the overdrive channel; but Carr has been receiving many requests for this, so he relented.  The head also had the now-standard series effects loop, and other new features such as external biasing points for much more convenient adjustments.

I plugged into the head and 2x12 closed-back cab....and I couldn't stop playing.  I was totally knocked-out by how good this configuration sounded!  I remember thinking to myself "Aha...THIS is how the Slant 6 is supposed to sound."  That's not a slam on the 1x12 combo by any means.  The 2x12 head/ closed-back cab seemed to eliminate any minor complaints that I had with the other version...absolutely no woofiness and the OD channel just rocked.  This amp had easily my favorite driven tones that I've heard out of a Carr Amplifier.  They were organic, raw while still being refined, and simply useful.  I didn't "fight" the amp.  It was very forgiving while remaining dynamic and sensitive to the player's input. 

The reverb on the OD channel was very nice too and did not detract from the purity and directness of the tone.  I will say that on both the clean and OD channels, the reverb can get wet and splashy very quickly.  There's a sweet spot early on the dial where I found just enough effect to give a little ambience while retaining a nice dry and present tone.  Personally, I would prefer a wider taper to the control...Steve says a lower-gain reverb tube could be substituted in order to minimize things a bit.

As far as the cab goes, it is made out of pine and was quite manageable to move around.  I'm generally an open-back kind of player, though I've owned my share of closed-backs.  I only had the brief encounter with this Slant 6, and I'm reluctant to issue quick judgments; but I really enjoyed this combination.  The closed-back focused the tone and made things tighter.  I'd like to have more time with this model and perhaps I can get back down to the shop when Steve has another one built.  It would be particularly nice to see how this format would work on a big stage during live performance.  The sound dispersion would surely be a little different than the open-back.  If I have the chance to check it out in such an environment, I'll certainly report back with my impressions.   In the meantime, I haven't felt so "at home" on such a versatile channel-switching amp as I did during the brief trial with the Slant 6 head/ closed-back cab.

Here are some quick photos of the rigs:
 

If you have any more questions about this amp....drop Steve Carr a line at:  info@carramps.com   or call
919.545.0747.