Premier Guitar gave the Sportsman a 4.5 out of 5 rating in their December 2011 issue, saying, 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.

The entire review is available at premierguitar.com: Carr Amplifiers Sportsman.

Our friends at Artisan Guitars in Franklin, Tennessee put up a page about their Rambler display model, a nude 1×12 combo with clear Lexan panels and speaker baffle, and an unfinished, bare pine cabinet. If you’ve ever wondered what’s inside a Rambler, see Carr Rambler 1×12 Display Unit at Artisan Guitars.

The UK magazine Guitar & Bass features a Boutique Amp Roundup in their November 2011 issue. Six small combo amps from Matamp, Torres, Cornell, Bad Cat, Victoria, and Carr are compared. Which amp came out on top, you ask? Well, here’s what they said:

The Mercury is by far and away the most versatile amp in this roundup. If you could only take one amp to a recording session, you could be confident that you’d have all bases (short of death metal) covered. Quality costs, especially when you buy American, but valve amps don’t come much better than this. – Guitar & Bass, November 2011

On newsstands now.

The October 2011 issue of The ToneQuest Report features an interview with Steve Carr and a review of the Sportsman. If you can’t wait for your ToneQuest subscription, we’ve got the article here:

Carr Sportsman, The ToneQuest Report, October 2011 (1.1mb pdf)

The Sportsman sound files have been posted to the Carr Amps website. The tracks were played and recorded by our friend Jason Barker using a Sportsman 1×12 combo with a Briggs Avatar and a Gibson ES-335. Here is a sample:

Carrmouflage (2.42mb mp3) – Gibson ES-335 (humbuckers), Sportsman 1×12 combo

Listen to the rest on the Sounds page!

Testimonial: Carr Sportsman – Field Review (excerpt)

The mid knob is very functional and fattens up the sound giving it what Fender Princeton amps can not do. The bass dial surprises me in this 10 inch model using Jensen’s new Falcon speaker. Very functional bass, dimed if need be with no flubbies! I see it introduced at the 2011 namm footage ,disclaiming that this speaker with the propriatary secret green cone has arrived and has a design mission to sound big,much like a 12 would!…

The reverb on this is very special in that it has a lush quality that seems to blend with overdriven tones without sounding nasty making it very useable. Better and more playable verb than my princetons.

I just played it tonight direct, using no pedals with a Gibson custom shop 329′. It supplied the range of tones needed without footstompin the pedals like the other player were doing all night.

Read the entire testimonial at Artisan Guitars.

On newsstands now, the September 2011 issue of Vintage Guitar features a review of the Sportsman.

With the Carr Sportsman, you don’t have to hunt to find a great tone. Whether jammed with single-coils or humbuckers, its versatile tone stack, high-end components and built quality make it an easy task. – Vintage Guitar, September 2011

On The Hunt – Sportsman Review in Vintage Guitar, Sep 2011 (976kb pdf)

The Sportsman

Inspired by mid ’60s American reverb-type amps, the Carr Sportsman is a versatile performer in a compact and portable package.

Features

• Dual 6V6, class A, partial fixed bias
• 16 watts clean, 19 watts maxed
• Lush, all tube reverb with long spring tank
• Mid control with extended range
• Variable Headroom control
• Floating ’60s-style baffle
• Compact size
• Solid pine cabinet
• Available in 1×12 and 1×10 combos
• Wonderful all-around amplifier

Description

Fusing the insistent purity of ’60s American 1×10 reverb-style amps with the more aggressive
dual 6V6 power section of the late ’50s, we bring you the Sportsman! Tones ranging from clear
and snappy to Texas pushed twang to intercontinental grind are all under the hood of the Sportsman.
The combination of Volume, Headroom, and Mid controls puts this tonal palette in your calloused
fingertips.

Go to the Sportsman page…

…the Artemus is very humbucker friendly – deliciously gritty. For the rock-and-roll Tele player, it’s hard to beat. The amp is well-conceived, highlighted by its cab design, and everything about it, including fit and finish, say quality. – Vintage Guitar, July 2011

Artemus Review in Vintage Guitar, July 2011 (821kb pdf)

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