Review Demo - Carr Mercury V

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All amps from North Carolina-based builder Steve Carr are steeped in vintage designs, but he isn’t afraid to wander from the retro path. He mixes and matches features, violates norms, and routinely makes classic circuits sound better than ever.

Mid-Atlantic Accent
The Mercury V is a perfect example of this “tradition with a twist” approach. Carr describes the 16-watt 1x12 combo as the “British cousin” of his Fender-flavored Skylark combo. (Carr’s previous Mercury models were only 8 watts.) The Brit-style features include a simple yet absurdly versatile preamp section that mimics the gain characteristics of Marshall amps from the ’60s though the ’90s. The Celestion speaker is another British nod.

But there are at least as many features from west of the Atlantic. The power tubes aren’t the big bottles used in large Marshalls, or even the EL-84s that power 18-watt Marshall combos and Vox AC15s, but a pair of 6V6s, the standard for medium-small Fender amps such as Princetons. Another non-vintage-Marshall feature is a gorgeous-sounding MOD spring reverb.

The gorgeous doesn’t end there. Mercury V’s cabinet is dovetail-jointed pine clad in jet-black tolex with white piping and an artfully oblique baffle board cut. (Carr will custom-build cabinets in different colors.) The cab’s design angles the speaker slightly upward, increasing the likelihood that you’ll serenade your ears, not your ankles.

Continue reading the review: http://bit.ly/CarrMercuryV