EMPIRE
EMPIRE
FREE SHIPPING! (limited time only)
Versatile modern high gain at all volumes.
Hand built.
Limited availability.
Purchase in full by adding your EMPIRE to the cart, or reserve your EMPIRE via a deposit by Inquiring here.
Designed to accommodate (but definitely not limited to) the needs of modern metal guitar players and those who utilize extended range guitars in their arsenal, the Carstens Empire amplifier began after a conversation between Brian Carstens and modern metal guitar pioneer, Misha Mansoor.
The tone is massive, bold and 3-dimensional, with an open, un-compressed, harmonically rich midrange and articulate voicing; hallmarks of the Carstens tone. With the gain set high you will experience singing high gain and beautiful long lasting sustain.
A single channel, 100W circuit, the Empire amplifier is capable of a remarkably wide variety of characteristics depending on the level of the amps Gain, Master Volume, the highly interactive tone controls and your guitar volume. Your Empire will sound fantastic even at bedroom volumes and will clean up exceptionably well by utilizing your guitar volume control and playing dynamics to clean up, or push the amp's beautiful tube overdrive.
Specs:
Completely handmade/hand-wired in the U.S.A by Brian Carstens
Custom cabinet handcrafted in the U.S.A
Specially designed, hand-wound Mercury Magnetics transformers
Optional tube buffered series FX Loop
Premium capacitors
High grade vacuum tubes selected for low noise and peak performance
Powder coated/silk screened, high quality aluminum chassis
Selectable 4/8/16Ω speaker output
Depth control for added punch
Negative feedback control for versatility and change of feel
Mercury Magnetics power cord
No printed circuit boards
100W
Tubes:
4 x E34L
4 x 12AX7
Controls:
Gain, Treble, Middle, Bass, Master Volume, Response, Edge, Depth, Gain Boost Switch
“The amp is f***ing insane! Just straight in I adore it. Absolutely unreal! Really, really fantastic work, Brian. I genuinely feel that this amp is special.”
“It’s one of the easiest amps to dial in amps I’ve ever played and is right up my alley for metal in both feel and voicing. You just plug in and it rips with no fuss. Its response and the way it projects out of the cab are awesome. I appreciate that even though you were going for modern metal it doesn’t paint you into a corner - it’s just as al home playing fast thrash riffs as it is playing big open distorted chords. It feels great under the fingers with just the right amount of compression to give some bounce to its feel, but it’s still plenty tight and open with an organic responsiveness.”
“The Empire is one of the best amps made.
Its complex sounding gain structure is becoming a favorite of mine to use for all kinds of genres of rock and metal. It can do it all!”
“A crushing and versatile 100W amp, with an open, un-compressed, musical midrange and articulate voicing. This amp rules! The gain structure is harmonically rich and stays tight and punchy even with the gain cranked!”