capabilities for some dramatic tone thick-
ening. Slightly turning it up beyond noon
gave the amp impact and punch that com-
bined well with high-headroom settings—
resulting in a slightly compressed, spanky
lead tone similar to Keith Urban’s sound on
the Dixie Chicks’ recording of “Some Days
You Gotta Dance.”
With the Headroom dropped to around 9
o’clock and Volume cranked, the Sportsman
produced a grinding overdrive that reminded
me of Robby Krieger’s tone on “Roadhouse
Turning up the Treble knob didn’t simply tilt the tone
towards bright, but added increasingly airy harmonics
to the sound without becoming piercing or fatiguing.
Blues.” The Sportsman’s bass depth at these
grittier settings is a real asset, and it adds a
substantial amount of warmth and impact
that further distinguishes it from its esteemed
forebears. The Sportsman can’t achieve high
gain, nor is it meant to. Instead, its overdrive versatility lies in the ease at which
you can dial in countless and cool fusion,
blues, and classic-rock tones.
Though the Headroom knob does
more than any other control to adjust
the character of the amp’s distortion, it
behaves with a little more subtlety than I
expected. In certain applications, it acts
somewhat like a master volume. But as a
blackface Fender fan, I loved that it could
isolate my favorite Blackface sweet spots
at my desired volume level in ways master
volume amps can’t. I could be almost
anywhere on the Volume knob (except for
the lowest extremes), hit a note, and hear
the sweet sound of 6V6 tone, fattened by
the onset of early breakup. And in many
ways, it was like having several amps in
one, with almost no discernable loss in
tone quality as I lowered the Volume from
Deluxe Reverb down to Champ levels.
Wide Open Spaces
The Sportsman’s reverb sounds huge
when you want it to. But whether you
set it to barely perceptible levels or full,
lush extremes, the clarity and character of
your instrument remains intact. It sounds
incredibly three-dimensional and alive
in the room, and cranking the Reverb
knob adds layer upon layer of lush decay.
This full tilt, dripping reverb—combined
with plenty of headroom— makes the
Sportsman an obvious choice for surf-guitar sounds when used with single-coils, and equally suited to those who
love reverb in lighter doses that give an
instrument that extra bit of spaciousness.
The Verdict
The Sportsman’s ability to nail vintage,
clean, and overdrive sounds—and move
beyond them in breadth of tone—
arguably makes this Carr a contemporary
classic. Factor in the fact that a new
Sportsman probably won’t rattle, vibrate,
or require potentially costly repairs many
years down the road, and that vintage
amp starts to look a little less appealing.
