For many years Carlsbro amps have been the mainstay of Britain's semi-pro players — and with good reason. Almost always their products have had up to date features, been affordable and (perhaps most important of all) proved exceptionally reliable. It's our assessment, based on some background research Ed has been carrying out on this subject, that Carlsbro's amps probably have the best reliability record on the UK market. We couldn't swear to this, but it is strongly indicated and goes at least part of the way towards explaining Carlsbro's popularity.

But new makers and new products come along all the time, so no manufacturer, however successful, can afford to rest on their laurels - hence the recent spate of introductions from this Notts-based maker, in particular two new guitar combos, the Rebel 8 and 12. It's the Rebel 8 that we're reviewing here.

Facilities & Features

Most makers, especially once their amps are established and popular, tend to stick to a 'family' look. Carlsbro, however, have taken the bold decision to completely overhaul their cosmetics with these new models, dropping the black vinyl covering, the pointed control knobs and the distinctive panel layout in favour of a handsome grey leather look, smaller round knobs and a new 'high-tech' panel layout. Tastes in such things are purely personal, of course, but we feel that the established Carlsbro range was beginning to look a bit dated, and these newcomers more than redress the balance.

Back to the Rebels. Two models of this transistorised 90 watt twin channel amp are available, one employing a single 12" 100 watt speaker, the other using two 50 watt rated 8" units (both Celestions). This must surely be one of the smallest and most portable 90 watters on the market, measuring just 19" wide by 14" high by around 10" deep. If you hate lugging heavy and bulky combos from be high on your shopping list by virtue of its dimensions alone!

Although quite tiny, the Rebel doesn't look fragile. The open backed housing seems extremely sturdy and is well protected against knocks by having moulded strips with integral corner protectors running along the top and bottom of the side panels. For ease of stacking, the 'stretch' carrying strap (always a nice feature of Carlsbro amps) is recessed so that it fits flush with the amp's top panel.

From a facilities viewpoint the Rebel 8 is identical to its 12" endowed brother, with the usual IEC mains input on the back alongside a pair of FX loop jacks, a headphone outlet, line output and two extension speaker sockets (min. load 4 Ohms). The front panel is also a departure from previous Carlsbro ideas, looking very modern. From left to right it offers twin jack inputs (high and low), Channel A gain (with a 'pull-bright' setting), a further pair of FX loop send and return jacks, a red-rimmed socket for the electronic channel switching foot-switch (along with a nice-looking cover as part of the package), dial-in overdrive (with a pull boost) and gain for Channel B, an Eq pre-set button, overall treble middle and bass cut and boosts, reverb depth for the on-board Accutronics spring, push buttons selecting reverb on/off for both channels, a second red surrounded socket (for a remote reverb footswitch, which isn't supplied), and a direct inject outlet.

On the face of it the Rebel is well equipped with useful extras (DI's, speaker outlets, two FX loops and so on), but it's our view that only having one set of tone controls is a definite weakness, especially at the price. By no means is the Carlsbro unique in this respect of course, but there's an increasing number of full twin channel combos coming onto the market, some more competitively priced. That aside, the controls are well laid out, easy to use and comprehensive.

The Sound

Short of calling on Uri Geller, there's no way of getting a quart out of a pint pot, so it's not surprising that, as the result of having such a small enclosure, the Rebel 8 has quite a 'boxy' sound. Whether this is something you'd actually want or would find a point for criticism is going to be very much down to your own tastes. Put side by side with a comparably powered amp fitted with a 12" driver in a larger box the Rebel 8 does sound a bit 'squashed', and seems to some lack bass response, but these tonal qualities are quite deliberate on Carlsbro's part. For those who want more bass, more top and a less 'tight' sound, there's the Rebel 12. This one's for players who want a more traditional combo sound - more like a Sessionette's perhaps? The Rebel 8 has a distinctly tighter guitar sound than a 12" speakered combo, an almost percussive effect as the speaker's small cone reacts to your guitar's dynamics. You might, naturally enough, assume that the Rebel's 8" speakers could have made the combo too toppy (we'd wondered that ourselves before trying it) but, oddly, our reviewers didn't feel that it was toppy enough for some players' tastes, especially on Channel B where the gain control doesn't have Channel A's 'pull bright' feature. Again it's down to personal taste, but some, especially those without naturally 'toppy' guitars, might find that they want more treble from this amp, particularly on overdrive effects. If your tastes run to really high treble, check out this point.

The Rebel's distortion is, in our view at any rate, a decent slice above the average of modern tranny amps. The overdrive control enables you to set the required amount of dirt in Channel B's sound and has the useful effect of providing 10dB more gain when pulled. This doesn't increase the amount of distortion, but it does wellie-up the volume, giving lead breaks the ability to jump out ahead of your rhythm sound and hence ahead of your band's background din. Even so, we wouldn't have minded a bit more gain on Channel 2, although that's only going to be required when using untypically low output guitars.

As we say, the Rebel's overdrive is better than most, especially when the Channel B gain control's 'pull/smooth' setting is used to give a richer, warmer sound that traditionalist Blues/Rock players are very likely to appreciate. Unfortunately it achieves this by activating a high frequency filter, which, as the Rebel 8 isn't over-endowed with top from the start, seems a shame for those who'd ideally like a smooth overdrive and a lot of top. In other areas there's no question of the Carlsbro being subject to taste — it performs well by any standards. It's quiet in operation, and the channel switching via the footswitch is both silent and instantaneous. Equally, the pre-set Eq on the second channel has been very well voiced, giving a good, fat sound so that you can select your channel A (rhythm) tone from the Eq controls and yet have a warmer sound for solos. The Rebel 8 is loud too, capable of felling a bouncer at 100 paces! The Accutronics reverb works well and it's particularly handy having it switchable on or off for either channel.

Conclusions

The 8" speakered version of Carlsbro's new Rebel range seems quite a specialised product, and one that could provoke strong reactions either way. Our opinion is that a lot of rhythm players and some more traditionally minded Rock guitarists will love it, although some of the latter could find it lacking in treble. The majority, however, will probably prefer the 12" model's more 'open' sound. For the player who likes the specialised sound of the Rebel 8, though (not to mention its amazing portability!), it offers a lot of features, excellent build quality and, no doubt, Carlsbro's superb reliability. It's hard to assess the Rebel 8's value for money, because there really isn't a directly comparable amp on the market - certainly not one with twin 8" speakers that we can recall. Bearing in mind that twin speakers always cost more, £328 doesn't seem too bad against the Rebel's 12's RRP of £306, and that seems a reasonable price.

To sum up, we'd judge this a very worthwhile introduction; all the more so because it's unique, an individual product with genuine character. It may not be to everyone's taste, but isn't it good to see Carlsbro offering us a choice? Definitely one to try.

RRP £327.98 inc. VAT

More info from Carlsbro (Sales) Ltd., (Contact Details).