Custom amp created by Bob Carver (AND I SHIT ON IT)

Isn't that what you were really buying?

I'll answer for him, FUCK NO!!!

I don't believe that you'll be hearing anything conciliatory from Bob any time soon.

I don't either. Bob doesn't strike me as the type who would ever admit a mistake... nevermind actually make up for one.

Throughout this entire mess I've been calm and never said anything other than the truth. I've not even bad mouthed Bob.

I didn't have to.

The pictures of my amp and bobs ridiculous response to me when I questioned him about it, pretty much says all anyone ever needs to know about commissioning a custom carver tube amp.

The pictures of my amp and bobs ridiculous response to me when I questioned him about it, pretty much says all anyone ever needs to know about commissioning a custom carver tube amp.

I feel for your situation but honestly it would not effect any decision of mine to do business with Mr. Carver and no, its not because I have my head stuck up his ass! I do not see how you can not shoulder some of the blame for this situation as not being up front with your expectations as a buyer. I'm assuming there's no "terms" in writing for the agreement or contract? You've assumed FAR too much, paid very little for what you received and have not come up with one single solution to the problem. To say that this is a shining example of Mr Carver's work is just foolish, there's plenty of fine examples all over the internet and numerous accounts on this forum alone.

Just to clarify, you did not have a custom tube amp built for you by Mr Carver, you had your broken down POS brought back from the dead using Mr Carver's technology and I say mission accomplished! Now if you want a "show piece" take the covers and have them repainted already and quit your bitchin'!!

Having read thru 4 of these 7 long (and somewhat repetitive...) thread pages, I'm 100% in Bob's corner on this one. I think you (Don) got a HUGE deal on this amp and a big blessing for him to have even undertaken this (now) thankless one-of-a kind nightmare of a task. ANY amp builder would have been hesitant...but to get a bonafide legend to build it for you is truly a gift/blessing (that you subsequently pissed all over). Who really gives a rat's ass what it looks like "under the hood"? If that was a big deal to you, then you should have specified that up front and THEN Bob could have adjusted his price accordingly and had the covers (unseen; if they were "front and center" to the amp, that might be different; but they are not..) professionally painted. But geez....stop whining like a spoiled brat! Bob did you a favor....not an "audition" to show off his amp painting skills. Don't like the amp, then put it up on eBay: I'm quite sure a LOT of folks would love to own it and not care in the least about the quality of the paint job on some INTERNAL part!

Who really gives a rat's ass what it looks like "under the hood"?!

I... the customer does.

Bob did not do me a favor, please people. Get over that idea now.

This amp is not bob doing me a favor.

This amp is bob pissing all over me. I won't stand for it.

eMAIL SENT TO BOB YESTERDAY

Bob, as you know, I'm not happy with some things about the amp.

1. the cost nearly doubled from the $1500 we originally agreed on.

2. the horrible paint finish on the transformer covers

3. the LED light defeat switch we talked about (and you agreed to install) is not on the amp.

4. the lifetime warranty is null and void if I "can't contact you ever again", as you said to me the last time I emailed you.

I obviously cannot spend $370 to ship this back to you for the paint and LED defeat switch repairs and then spend another $370 for you to ship it back to me so... what do you think a fair solution would be?

Let's try to come to an agreement?

-Don

Having read thru 4 of these 7 long (and somewhat repetitive...) thread pages, I'm 100% in Bob's corner on this one. I think you (Don) got a HUGE deal on this amp and a big blessing for him to have even undertaken this (now) thankless one-of-a kind nightmare of a task. ANY amp builder would have been hesitant...but to get a bonafide legend to build it for you is truly a gift/blessing (that you subsequently pissed all over). Who really gives a rat's ass what it looks like "under the hood"? If that was a big deal to you, then you should have specified that up front and THEN Bob could have adjusted his price accordingly and had the covers (unseen; if they were "front and center" to the amp, that might be different; but they are not..) professionally painted. But geez....stop whining like a spoiled brat! Bob did you a favor....not an "audition" to show off his amp painting skills. Don't like the amp, then put it up on eBay: I'm quite sure a LOT of folks would love to own it and not care in the least about the quality of the paint job on some INTERNAL part!

For fucks sake...

I will even pay freight to pick up the covers and have them powder coated!

I am the director of purchasing at my co. And we must put terms on all po's.

You must state all details when you place an order, if you don't ask for it up front, don't expect it.

I don't believe that you'll be hearing anything conciliatory from Bob any time soon.

I don't either. Bob doesn't strike me as the type who would ever admit a mistake... nevermind actually make up for one.

Throughout this entire mess I've been calm and never said anything other than the truth. I've not even bad mouthed Bob.

I didn't have to.

The pictures of my amp and bobs ridiculous response to me when I questioned him about it, pretty much says all anyone ever needs to know about commissioning a custom carver tube amp.

i call bullshit. bob is by far the most generous person i have personally meet. to say he is a giving person is selling him short. now moving on, i remember that amp as we were discussing what happened to the finish while i was there with the james and alex. if i remember right, brian purdy painted that chassis and for one reason or another the paint had a horrible reaction hours after he sprayed it. otherwise, i would say from what i saw, tubular joe more than likely built it, as he did all that work with bob on all the ebay amps they did so that part is top notch, second to none, after which bob would ckeck it out at various spots in the power supply as he is applying more volts through the variac until all checks out and then full power. next the amp would go through a specification check out to see hum and distortion as well as power output, etc. after all that checks out, the amp moves on to the new amazing in the upstairs lab for a sound check as well as a partial burn in. i have witnessed bob do his thing on tube amps that would go from ok to oh my god that is magical. a resistor here and there as well as a diode or two. back and forth from the test bench to the sound room. now all the heavy lifting and tedious soldering and such are done by an assistant if not joe as bob is done straining his back for now. two operations and all in the last year or so. again all tweaking, final inspections are done by bob and his test equipment, and more importantly, his ears and brain. moving on to the led switch to turn stuff off in the display, sorry to hear that did not happen . not an excuse here, but bob's memory is not the greatest. that crap about him not admiting to a mistake, well, bullshit. he is up front and center when he gets it wrong. alot has been said here, and i am sad to say the least this is still a issue for you. i think that given a little time, bob will reply to you. he is a great guy. and for god's sake, let this be the last post on this thread.

For fucks sake...

I will even pay freight to pick up the covers and have them powder coated!

I am the director of purchasing at my co. And we must put terms on all po's.

You must state all details when you place an order, if you don't ask for it up front, don't expect it.


Here we have another example of people willing to go above and beyond to help d0n with his problem
d0n I for one am sick to death with your whining and crying about this fucking issue.Grow a set of balls and make a decision already.Live with it or take legal action,those are your choices. But quit fucking boring me and others on this forum with your whining (change your name on this forum to susie it fits).

Hey Harry- don't hold back.......tell us how ya really feel!

I've waited long enough to chime in.

I knew I could count on you Harry (hewlew).

Please settle this outside thie forum.

Bob's status here is somewhere between Elvis and Jesus. We love him.

I watched this man sit at a desk/workbench form early morning to...well early morning working on the little tube amps we all built.

He did not leave for hours at a time making sure the amps were all they should be.

A good suggestin is put it on Ebay. It will sell and probably for more than you paid.

Until then please:

SHUT THE FUCK UP !!!

Thank you.

I'll happily send you a partial roll of electrical tape to substitute for the missing LED switch. I think it should black them out quite effectively.

After his experience with the Carverfest tube amps and now THIS, what do you think the odds are of Bob doing ANYONE else here any favors (or any "piece work") at all? I say slim and none...and if that turns out to be the case, who would blame him? I mean, who needs these kind of hassles? I'm sure he has MUCH better things to do with his time than listen to a bunch of whiny ass folks bitch about all the blood and sweat he pours out to help them out with their "projects"... Thanks, Don (and anyone else who gave him a bunch of grief over the Carverfest amps...).

well said guys!!

Elgrau, I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Regarding the Carverfest amps, I think Bob had a fun idea of bringing 10 or 12 kits to Carverfest for a dozen or so people to experiment building amps. It should consume four or five hours and be a lot of fun. For a couple hundred bucks some folks might walk away with a project amp that would probably work...and probably be tinkered with for years to come. I think what ended up happening is you had people like me ( ) thinking I could get a production level amp for a couple hundred bucks and wondering if we could get stereo versions, mono block versions..etc. We all saw how that little project grew, probably far beyond what it was intended to be.

I think you have some folks here that are technically inclined and that is who is having a great time with the Carverfest amp. Speaking for me and in hind sight, I probably shouldn't have pursued the Carverfest amps because I really can't tinker with them and I can't tweak them at all. I think that is more my short comings than anything else. What I should have pursued was a production amp with a warranty so I can mail it back to the factory if it needs any work done on it. In the end I have the option to trade in my Carver fest amp on a production amp for a silly price. That offer is far beyond what I could have ever expected or asked for. I will say, the two I received from the trade in work flawlessly ...and they look great.... did i say they look great?

As for the frankenstein amp, I think it was folly to try to put a Carver amp in it to begin with. However you ended up at that point, the end result is you are hiding a Carver amp in another box. I think I would have thrown the junk away and pursued one of the ebay amps at that point. Since you have a pretty cool Carver amp but you don't like the transformer covers, they could be reworked. I think I would accept the offer some have made and send them out to be repainted. You would have a very cool amp when you are done.

People are offering a solutions to you problems. It may not be the solution you want, but it would work.

One of my old bosses gave me a piece of advise that I have never forgotten. She said the following " Sometimes it is best to quit trying to advance a bad position".