18 years is quite a long time, for just about anything. It’s especially long for equipment that’s been in demand. I couldn’t really honestly be mad at the end of our beloved Carvin mixer/amp head combo. It’s been through countless gigs, events, shows, done service as a mixer, a pass through, and many other things.
The mixer portion of it still works too, so it could technically be used as a mixer. But the power amp part blew during a recent gig and I just can’t rely on it anymore. 18 years is plenty of time to use a piece of equipment, and the demands place on it have been pretty substantial.
A lot of outside people were snooty when we bought the mixer. It was our early band days, where we were learning about all musical equipment simultaneously.
“Carvin? Ugh, who’s that?”
Well, it’s been a pretty good mixer, and I have no complaints about any of their equipment. If they still made mixers I would replace it with a new one. But alas, they closed that portion of their business and just make speakers. Which is a shame but I’ll still cherish the times we had with it. Here’s a toast to you, mixer….