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Sound Pure's Take

Condition: Used, Excellent

The Carr Sportsman Head is a beautifully crafted, handwired tube amp that delivers rich, dynamic tone with classic American character. Its 19-watt design, powered by 6V6 tubes, produces warm, articulate cleans with a smooth, responsive feel that opens up naturally as you play. The onboard long-spring reverb adds depth and dimension, while the headroom control allows you to fine-tune the amp’s response from clean clarity to a more saturated, expressive voice. Built with premium components and thoughtful design throughout, it offers a refined and reliable playing experience that feels inspiring every time you plug in!

From Carr Amplifiers

We know those sounds from countless guitar-driven hits of the ’50s and ’60s, laced with everything from toothy, biting twang to snappy, glassy chime enabled by those classic Fullteron amps’ transition from tweed to blackface. The Carr Sportsman captures it all in one versatile and eminently playable package, exuding tones so sweet you can stop turning back to tweak and just let your calloused fingertips dig in and enjoy.

While fusing the purity and clarity of an American reverb amp of the mid ’60s with the more aggressive dual-6V6 output stage of the late ’50s, Carr extends the Sportsman’s vocabulary with a fully usable Volume control, a wide-ranging Mid knob, and a Headroom control—the secret weapon that helps you bridge the decades. With the bonus of Carr’s delectable tube-driven, long-spring reverb, the full package makes for a lot of sonic splendor at your beck and call.

Rarely does one 19-watt, single-channel, 1x12" combo do so many things so well, but the Sportsman’s sonic purity and the chameleon-like capabilities of its control complement merge for a ton of versatility. From scooped rust-belt funk and R&B cleans, to stinging edge-of-breakup Chicago blues, to snarling Tex-Mex grind, and even a nod toward trans-Atlantic crunch and wail, it’s all there with just the twist of a few simple controls.

Of course, Carr’s next-level design and high-quality construction help to squeeze maximum sonic juice from the Sportsman, too. The circuit is fully hand-wired, point-to-point in the Carr tradition, using high-end and military grade components to ensure unprecedented signal clarity. Coupled with a hand-crafted, Birch multi-ply combo cabinet and ’70s style fixed speaker baffle for optimal resonance and character, the total package results in an expressive amp with utterly playable dynamics.

The Sportsman — pulling no punches on a bold sonic frontier.

Construction
Hand wired point-to-point in the USA
Components
Custom USA made transformers, Solen Fast Cap Film Power Supply, Mallory 150M signal capacitors, Carbon Comp resistors, and more
Power
19 watts
Channels
One
Tubes
two 12AX7, two 12AT7, two 6V6GT
Controls
Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Reverb, Headroom
Switches
On/off, Standby
Features
All-tube long-spring reverb, 8-Ohm speaker out
Color
Black Gator

Warranty

This item is sold without the Sound Pure 3-year warranty (used / B-stock / dealer-exempt). Coverage terms for items in this category live in Terms & Conditions, Section 27.

Returns

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Sound Pure Studios Control Room A — Durham, NC

Sound Pure Studios · Durham, NC

Come hear it in our control rooms.

Sound Pure is a working studio in Durham, NC — a 1,000 sq ft live room and two pro control rooms. Book a session to audition gear in a world-class acoustic space before you buy.