Crate and Carvin tube amps

[Tomm Williams]

I rarely see these mentioned so it's easy to assume the obvious reason. Any happy users out there ?

[1001gear]

I have 2 Carvin Bolts. Plenty guitar for me.

[Tomm Williams]

Not guitars, tube amps.

[1001gear]

Yeah I know. Also my opinion of Carvin and Crate amps

 

Actually I have a Crate Vintage 15 or something. 2 EL84s making 16 or so watts. Makes one good sound Pre on minimum and the master on max. Add Strat neck pickup and stir gingerly. Everything else is some degree of bad sounding distortion. Its forte strangely enough is as an overdrive via the headphone out. That kills.

 

I tried some Carvins in the 90s and that in combination with their guitars at the time sent me to the Boogie store - next door IIRC.

 

[WRGKMC]

Crate is more popular but in my opinion, I think Carvin does a better job with tone and quality in my opinion. I have a Crate bass head and have used many of the guitar amps. I'm not impressed with their sound.

 

The best crate I've heard was one my other guitarist used back in the 80's had a 100W version of the ones that were built into a cab that looked like a crate. He had the extension can for it and he was able to nail the popular songs being played then. Not all of those older ones sounded good. I've read that some of the lower wattage versions were outright awful sounding so they must have had budget and pro versions of those.

 

I've heard some smaller crate tube combos that sounded outright awful to me. I've owned mostly Fender and Marshall tube amps and use those a yardstick against other Tube amps.

 

My other buddy has a large Solid State Twin type Crate. He used it for one gigs we played and it sounded really bad. I tried plugging into it to see if any better tones could be dialed up but it really sucked for tone. I've used some others that were comparable to some SS Peavey amps that sounded similar. Crate may have some other models that sound better but it wouldn't be a brand on my wish list. There's just so many of them being sold cheap that make them popular.

 

The second guitarist in my buddies Blues band used a Carvin Belair Tweed. It sounded very good. He was able to match the tones my buddy got using his Bogner 2X12 combo quite well. I think some of the bigger stuff is used by some metal bands but I haven't heard nor tried one. Again they wouldn't be on my wish list out of all the amps out there given all the other great amps available out there.

[Verne Andru]

I play a couple Crates and love 'em both. My supercharged V8 is a solid practice and recording amp, while my hi-gain modded V33 provides lovely clean and crunch tones for gigs.

 

The appeal of the Crates is they had the basics, but because they missed some essentials in the wiring department at the factory, they could be had for cheap. That made them ideal mod platforms for those so inclined.

[WRGKMC]

^^^ I've heard that from several Crate amp users. Like I said, I've heard a few that were pretty good. I still haven't found anything that would make me go out and buy one. I feel that way about several brands of amps I've used before. I guess it comes down to what works best for someone's playing techniques. Its good we have many choices. I'd hate to hear everyone playing through the same amps. How boring would that be.

 

I paid $200 for that 200W bass head of mine when my Blackfaced Peavey head blew out. That's head actually sounded allot better for bass. I needed something quick for the studio and snagged the Crate at a pawn shop. Its been very reliable but its one of those heads that only sounds decent with the matching cab. My buddy has the 1X15 combo version with the same head and it sounds pretty good with the additional 4X10 cab.

 

Its not the tone as much as the string touch that I don't like. I like string dynamics and that head just hasn't got any. Its either all or nothing and playing sensitive parts just isn't possible. I always have to use additional pedals to get some of that string touch. Again its not something I'd purchase new. Compared to the Ampeg I recently bought, it just doesn't compare.

[Verne Andru]

The best deal for a giggable Crate was the V33. I did a mod thread on that back in the Guitar form on the old version of Harmony Central. Here are a few of the links:

 

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-41/1113423-

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-41/1122228-

 

The V33 is a solid, 4xEL84 2 channel amp that came as a head or a 2x12. Because of some manufacturing muddle, they were blowing the heads out for $179. Out of the box the cleans were very Fender-like but the gain had a wet blanket over it. A bunch of us dug into the circuit and a number of easy and useful mods came out of it.

 

I went the Bogner route while others did a Soldano mod. I piggy-back mine on a 70's Yamaha G-100 210 and either use the Yamaha as a 2 x 10 speaker cabinet, or give the Crate and the Yamaha each a speaker and switch between them with a Bigshot.

 

You can still find V33's for under $200.

 

I also tricked out a Crate V8:

 

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/Forums_General/acapella-94/293573-supercharging-a-v8

 

That turned into a super sweet practice and recording amp that I wouldn't have a problem taking to a gig and micing. When I started with the V8 they were pricey, but there wasn't much else in the market at that point. the VHS line would probably be a good choice now that Crate's V series is history.

 

[MDMachiavelli]

I have a Crate Blue Voodoo and it a very good amp. I have had it for years and it has been through the ringer. Now its not as good as say my Vox, but back in the day when I didn't have the money for a Vox and was playing a different style of music it did just fine.

 

 

[Pine Apple Slim]

I've had a Crate Vintage Club 2110R since new in '93 or '94.

 

Still the amp I use the most.

 

Easily transportable, plenty loud for my use, and decent Voxy/ Marshally tube goodness.

 

[1001gear]

that's what I got minus R. Probably the reason I don't like it. got it at GC for 150 give or take. Needs a new power switch according the guys here. Still sits idle.

[Pine Apple Slim]

I took a look at my last settings from an oldies 60s Rock gig a few months ago. I was using a Gretsch 5120 with Gretchbuckers, Miced with an SM57. No pedals. I had a nice rhythm clean tone w just a bit of hair. Controlled everything from the Gretches master volume. Not Fender clean but complimented the other guitarists Fender very well.

 

gain-10 o'clock

treble-12 o'clock

mid-12 o'clock

fat switch- off

bass-10 o'clock

level-10 o'clock

Reverb-10 o'clock

[AJ6stringsting]

My 1986 Carvin X-100B was bought, so i had an amp to use at gigs while my Marshall JCM 800 was being repaired.

The X-100 B blew away the Marshall by a long shot. Legacy 1,2,3 and V3, are world class also.

Many of my fellow Marshall amp users and Mesa-Boogie fiends were very very impressed by the Carvin X-100 tones, power , versatility and volume

Carvin M22SD pickups are like a Dimarzio Evolution with cleaner bass, better upper mids and more head room .... the AP 11 are great single coil pickups.

[Mikeo]

I have owned a couple of Carvin guitar amps. One was called the X60 combo without the graphic EQ. I used that as a back up amp and it mostly sat in my car. The other was one that was short lived in the Carvin line up called the Vintage 33. I sold em both and they were nothing to write home about. I paid 100 bucks for the X60 used and the thing was in mint shape.

 

I played at the time out of Fender amps and they imo just sounded better.

 

The worst piece of gear I have ever owned was a Carvin R600 bass head and there 4x10 cab. Not much power to it and it can run 600 watts with at 4 ohms, per channel.

 

[Tom Mc1]

My first tube amp was a Crate Blue Voodoo 50 head. It had a pair of 5881's for power tubes. At the time, I thought it was a great amp but not near as good as the amps I use today. What was kind of cheezy was the blue back light that made the tubes glow. I've heard that 6L6 tubes can be used instead of the 5881s. Maybe that would have given it a better sound.

[Ultrastick]

I've had a Crate V 32 Palomino for a few years now and it sounds great: very nice highs and cleans with the best distortion I've ever had from an amp. Runs a little hot, so what.

[harryevan]

i had a '72 Silverface Twin for 37 years, but I had to give it up when I couldn't pick it up anymore (even after I swapped out the EV's for Swamp Thangs). I had two Crate Poweblocks for backup amps and, outside of a lack of reverb and vibrato/tremelo, they did quite well.

 

Clrean, high tones for tele-country, clean lows for Jazz, kick up the gain for de blooze. Even though I stepped down to an HRD, the two Powerblocks, each pushing an EVM12L in an open-back cube cabinet sounded great and afforded me a stereo rig, at150W per channel plenty of headroom). Working with ith the gain and level, you could get them to break up whenever, given who's drumming, room etc.

 

A bandmate has a Carvin 50 watt Bel Aire, though he mostly used an HRD (III) in the dives and now he's added a '68 reissue Deluxe, so now he has a real conundrum. The sparkle of the Deluxe, the overall nive tones of the Ccarvin and the workhorse of the HRD (for the dives. I guess what I'm getting at is that there are a lot of choices, tube or solid state, You don't need 100 watts anymore, just gotta be able get your break-point relative to the drummer, as well as have a back-up.

 

 

[Jisatsu]

I have an old Carvin 60 watt amp from 1982, it's like an X60 but with just one input not two. The clean tone is actually really rich and thick. The lead channel can get really heavy through a decent speaker cab, but is a bit nasally. Great amp for what I paid for it (about $150 in 2008). The reverb tank is pretty decent as well, and it sounds great in half power mode as well. I like Carvin amps for the most part, but you see a lot of dislike for them on the forums.