Crate tube amp?

[Bmxbarspin724]

i was looking on guitarcenter.com, and i saw that there was a crate 33w 2X12 for 250 dollars. and i also saw another one that was 50w but with One speaker. i am looking to play mostly clean stuff. and i want the one that will be louder with a clean sound. what are the differences? and why are these so cheap compared to all the other tube amps?

50W
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Crate-V-...54-i1322695.gc
33W
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Crate-V-...56-i1372076.gc

now i know that these amps arent gonna be the best amps i will ever play, but i am just looking for a decent tube amp.

if someone could answer my question, id be eternally greatful. or atleast for like 5 minutes.

[Gtr_tech]

I'd think they'd be about the same volume wise. The 30w 2-12 will move more air compared to the 50w 1-12, so they'd be pretty close. But the 2-12 will be more of a PITA to haul around.....you could always use the 50w job with a 4-12 if you wanted. Hell of a deal on both tho.....

[cbarrow7625]

The 50W model with the Class A/B 6L6's will likely have a bigger, cleaner sound than the "class A" (doubt it) 33W model with the EL84's. Both should have similar volume.

Big, Fender-like clean is usually associated with 6L6's, Vox type sounds with the EL84's. I am making huge generalizations here becasue it really depends on a lot more than the power tubes to determine which will have the better clean sound.

They are cheaper than all others because they probably have crummy speakers, crummy tubes, crummy cabinets, minimalist circuits and shoddy construction. Other than that, I reccomend them highly.

[Sparky664]

now i know that these amps arent gonna be the best amps i will ever play, but i am just looking for a decent tube amp.

To me even the cheap crates give you a lot of bang for the buck. I've got a CA125 acoustic amp (not a cheap one) that I've used in church for years and its a rock. I've even played my bass through it in a pinch and its got the guts to handle it very well.
A buddy of mine has one of the tube crates your talking about and he is very satisfied with it.

[Suburbanite]

I've had a vc5310 for over a year, got it cheap because it had issues which only turned out to be a dirty footswitch jack, and its been perfect since, in fact the only thing thats been changed in the amp is the tubes, not bad for an 18yo amp

Sound wise I've recorded it at the same time as a orange ad140 and a mesa only to go with the crate in the final mix, and it hasn't let me down at a gig yet although the orange has twice. Only thing I wish was different about it, is the weight and the fact it won't do bedroom volume

[cminor9]

Personally, I would not buy it.

I'd look for a used Fender Blues Jr or a Fender Pro Jr. I have also heard good things about the Blackheart mini stack or Epiphone Valve Jr. I haven't heard many Crates that sound very good or are built really well.

That's my opinion. Others will differ. The only opinion that matters are your ears, so you ought to just play the amps if you can get to a music store.

Just know that what you like now may not be what you'll like in five years.

One nice thing about those amps, at least in theory: they don't have those cheesy multi effects processors embedded in them. They look to be just honest to goodness tube amps without all the stupid bells and lame whistles.

[satxfencefixer]

Just went and picked up the V18 with a single 12 for 149.00 at Sam Ash. Wow!! 2 EL84's and 3 12ax7's and a reverb. Brought it home plugged it in, and out of the box not bad at all with my Korean Strat with single coils, and my Wolfgang with a AirNorton and a ToneZone. Very nice clean, and turn the gain knob and it get's really crunchy. This is a loud amp. I have pulled the back off, and no-name tubes, and pcb board design; but 149! I plan to add JJ 12ax7's and have not yet made a choice on the EL84's. Nice blue's tone about 4 or 5. This is a great deal I could not pass up. That speaker is questionable also, but will see how high quality tubes make it sound. Have searched the world over for a schematic, but does not seem available. I have a Marshall AVT50 head with a 4 12 cab, and I almost like the crates Tone better. Will try with pedals tonight.

[Weldaar]

I just sold a Crate Vintage Club 30 3 weeks ago. That a great little amp.
Saving for a Reinhardt JKC33 now. Almost there.

[Gtr_tech]

Funny....I just bought one a couple months back. It was just OK stock, but I modded it and its a fire breather now. Beats the sh!t out of the output tubes tho....

[Borg54]

In the last six months I have gone through 5 of these amps. I was first exposed to them through a friend/Crate rep. These are a great bargain amp. There have been issues with the 30?s and 50?s but the 18 watters are solid and the best with great deals now at under $150.00!

First change out the tubes for some good NOS, throw out that speaker as soon as you can afford it. The Mods OMG every thing you need to know on the 18 are at where else 18wattdotcom. Try the new ? power switch on one of these baby?s. There is a lot of room to work on in this cabinet, even more if you rip out the chassis panel and install a blank sheet of aluminum to fix your mods to.

Oh yeah I have given one away, and sold 3 modified Crate 18s. The 2x12 are the best bang for your buck

[turbolx5oh]

I've had a V33H and the clean channel is real nice but the overdrive channel is very dark and muddy. I sent it back. the V18 is a much better option and at $150, it's a hard deal to beat.

[giorfida]

I had a V18 before (when it was the Vintage Club 20 I think they called it back then)... it was an OK sounding amp stock, but with a few tweaks, it was a real killer amp.. if funds werent so tight, and I didnt have wayyy too many irons in the fire right now, id' grab another 1 or 2 for kicks...

[gtrboy]

dirty little amp. top soldered components. weird power supply. sounds tight with my boss turbo overdive. i found the schem at ppwatt.com. similar to a classic 30. im gonna put better caps in and swap some plate resistors and cathode values.

[dhuber]

Originally Posted by Bmxbarspin724

i was looking on guitarcenter.com

50W
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Crate-V-...54-i1322695.gc
33W
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Crate-V-...56-i1372076.gc

Did you buy one, if so which one and what do you think of it? I bought a V33 a few months ago just because it was so cheap, but I've not really used it. The V33 is way too scooped for my taste. If I could cut some bass and add some mid I might keep the amp. I might just put it on ebay. I really like my Peavey classic 30 with the new mods.

[dhuber]

Never mind the above thread. I don't no what was wrong with my V-33 it was like the bass was full open with boost. I set it a side and have been using my peavey classic 30. I think I might have pulled the tubes from the V-33 a few months ago and reseated them. Anyway I plugged it back in yesterday for the first time in 2 months. It sounded normal and perfect with any of my guitars. I must have a bad soldier joint somewhere or a tube was making bad contact. This amp sounds awesome.

[Steve A.]

Originally Posted by dhuber

Never mind the above thread. I don't no what was wrong with my V-33 it was like the bass was full open with boost. I set it aside and have been using my peavey classic 30. I think I might have pulled the tubes from the V-33 a few months ago and reseated them. Anyway I plugged it back in yesterday for the first time in 2 months. It sounded normal and perfect with any of my guitars. I must have a bad soldier joint somewhere or a tube was making bad contact. This amp sounds awesome.

The boost basically opens up the grounded tail of the tone stack, disabling the three tone controls. Most people do think that the amp does have too much bass- perhaps that is not a problem with the speaker that you are using... I dunno.

I've been buying these Crates, specifically to rewire them to the specs of one classic or another. Redoing the preamp to Soldano SLO values works really well- at least a dozen people have done this mod and have been impressed with it.

http://www.blueguitar.org/new/schem/...ion-layout.jpg

But just changing the tubes on the stock V33H can be a big help (I don't need all of that gain so I like to replace all of the 12AX7's with 5751's).

Steve Ahola