Crate V1512 mods

[David Ray]

I've been checking out several sites for mods that will make a difference on my V1512. It has the celestion 70/80 speaker ( I've got a G12H-30, but it stays with my stealth GT50H... always). I've already cut the cap at C38 and it decreased the gain a little, but didn't round out the sound like I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE high gain, but the V's a little fuzzy compared to my stealth although they complement each other well when AB'ed. I like a hard driven Zakk Wyldish sound that's crunchy and full of harmonics at the same time. And the boost button is too dark and mushy to be of any use to me. Has anyone tried a new OT? Can anyone give me a list of mods for the V1512 that could take out the fuzz and bring on the pain, yet still clean up a little by turning down the guitar volume? Any ideas will be considered and appreciated.

[StratTone]

You can get some Zakk tones out of that little amp if you change the speaker to a V30. Makes a huge difference in that little amp.

[sithering]

Reducing gain

Hi Guys.

After a long time using tranny amps I've finally got back to doing it the old fashioned way, and bought myself a V1512T. (replacing a Crate Powerblock and Zoom GFX-8!)

Having read some of the threads on here it seems I am not alone in thinking the little beast distorts far too easily. Am I correct in assuming that simply removing C1 from the board will clean things up?

cheers
John

[HifiPhil]

Crate V1512 Mods

I recently picked up one of these amps (used). I had the same problem with the distortion....too much, too quickly. I was looking to lower the gain some. I ended up sticking a 12AT7 in V1, a 12AV7 in V2, and an old stock 12AX7 in V3. There were JJ EL-84's in the power section already, so I kept those in there. This lowers the gain tremendously! Now the amp stays clean up to around 4 'o clock on the gain dial. Almost old school Marshall sounding, but not quite. The amp I got came with a Eminence Governor (V30 clone), so I'm sure that makes a big difference by itself.

[sithering]

Mine is a new (ex-display) model, with the Tone Tubby speaker.

I can now report that after a giving it a damn good thrashing at one gig and several rehearsals it has calmed down of it's own accord. The speaker was very 'dark' sounding but even this has become much more useable and it will be getting more of the same tomorrow.

I bought it for a mere £80 off Ebay and none of us can quite believe how LOUD it is for an alleged 15w rms. It does get quite hot though, and as I live in southern Spain I'm considering adding a fan because in summer we get temps approaching 50c!

[HifiPhil]

Crate V1512 Mods

I read earlier, in another post, what each tube position represents (v1=input/gain, v2=tone/eq, v3=reverb driver/phase inverter), so I decided to do a quick tube swap to see if I could get any improvements. I am mainly trying to get the amp to 'calm down' quite a bit and get more of an old Marshall sound out of it....even if it means limiting some of it's volume, which is fine by me. I ended up using an old 12BH7 in V1, an old Realistic(?) 12AX7 in V2 (I knew by experience this tube had ample gain but was kinda bright, which might tame the boomy bass), and an old 12AT7 in V3. This really cut down the volume, but made a huge difference in tone, overall, at least for the sound I was looking for. I also noticed that the amp seems to sound better if it was close backed, so I grabbed a thick piece of foam I had laying around and stuck that in the back. This really seems to help the speaker project forward a lot more and helps, as it should, with the nasty rear reverberation/wall effects you can get from an open back cab. I haven't gotten a chance to 'crank' the amp up yet, but at low volumes, with a Fulltone Fat-Boost in from of it, I'm getting GREAT sounds!

[aruppert]

I would start by jumping c3. Im not a big fan of the marshall treble peaker. if its still too harsh you could try a cap (something like 470pf, 400+v) across R7.

clipping c38 eliminates some of the fizz by eliminating a lot of gain, doesnt really fix the source of the problem

[HifiPhil]

Crate V1512 Mods

Thanks for the recommendations.....I doubt I will ever do any mods besides trying out different tubes. I'm not very handy with a soldering iron, especially around circuit boards. Would like to stick in an effects loop though! I finally got my chance to crank the amp up, and I'm having an issue with, what I think, is the spring that's on the Boost button. I don't use the boost at all, but with the amp loud, it will start to reverberate the spring and the amp will start to whine. I can flick the boost button and hear the it through the speaker. I wonder if anyone else has had the issue before? If so, any easy fix?

[trackingstation]

First, The reverb driver tube and the phase inverter/output tube driver should always be a high current tube like a 12AT7 series. A 12AX7 is higher gain but just doesn't supply the current.
Second, there is so much misinformation from people that think they know how tube amps work, I suggest everybody interested should read all the information from "The Tone Lizard" as a basic primer. It will answer a lot of questions with facts to back up the information. This is real "seat of the pants" information that is easy to understand and apply.
Tales From The Tone Lounge; The Home Pages of Tone Lizard Amplifiers