Members Jonvolution Posted February 15, 2019 Members Share Posted February 15, 2019 Hey everyone. Looking to upgrade one (or both) of the transformers on my 2004 Crate V8 tube amp. This is all I got for info on the transformers: - Output Transformer: SLME 94-252-01 (071-10200-000-0) - Power Transformer: SLME 94-252-01 (070-10002-100-0) Several Crate's (and a few other amps if I'm not mistaken) used the same transformers. At this point I'm looking to get the last bit of glory that I can squeeze out of my amp. Already changed the OpAmp, speaker, tubes, and clipped two capacitors. Verne Andru style. An upgraded output transformer could get me better low frequency response and overall efficiency. There may not be anything out there, but I've come so far that I have to find out for sure now lol. If anyone knows anything please let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted February 15, 2019 Members Share Posted February 15, 2019 Hey everyone. Looking to upgrade one (or both) of the transformers on my 2004 Crate V8 tube amp. This is all I got for info on the transformers: - Output Transformer: SLME 94-252-01 (071-10200-000-0) - Power Transformer: SLME 94-252-01 (070-10002-100-0) Several Crate's (and a few other amps if I'm not mistaken) used the same transformers. At this point I'm looking to get the last bit of glory that I can squeeze out of my amp. Already changed the OpAmp, speaker, tubes, and clipped two capacitors. Verne Andru style. An upgraded output transformer could get me better low frequency response and overall efficiency. There may not be anything out there, but I've come so far that I have to find out for sure now lol. If anyone knows anything please let me know! It might give you better lower frequencies., but I am not sure. I did not see anything out there either. It's not as popular as other 5 watt amps so maybe nothing has been made for an upgraded transformer. Here's what others are saying http://www.verneandru.com/WebApp/PagePreviewer.cfm?do=Supercharged-V8&template=VerneAndru.com http://www.tdpri.com/threads/want-crate-v5-schematic.145636/ The good folks at Mercury Magnetics or Heyboer, might be able to help you out too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted February 15, 2019 Members Share Posted February 15, 2019 Some amps are worth modding and some aren't. Not sure if you'll have much luck getting that amp to sound any better then it does. Its a Hybryd which is part tube and has and op amp in the preamp section so the Sterile sounding SS is going to dominate the sound no matter what you do for the tubes. The transformer sure isn't going to make any difference. If an amp has a classic design you can sometimes find a boutique transformer which claims to have better tone. Of course in many situations its purely a placebo effect. They charge a premium for some transformer they claim has better sound, then by the time you get done wasting money on the transformer and having it put in, its unlikely you'd ever admit it didn't do a dam thing to improve the tone. If you are convinced its something you want to try, then you'd need to find a schematic for the amp. Supposedly its a class A amp using an EL34 tube which gives it about 5W. I'd think most any amp with a similar design would have a comparable transformer. Whether a replacement actually improves the sound is questionable. Low wattage amps typically have low cost, low quality parts including replacement transformers, but you might get lucky and find something like a Hammond that might fit. Again without a schematic to see what component values are used you'd be guessing. There is a long thread that talks about increasing the Op amps rail voltage to get a better sound. Again, I'd need to see the schematic to judge that idea. I'm not a fan of Hybrid amps at all. My Music man uses a SS front end and power tube out and its not much better then an all solid state amp for tone. The SS preamp dominates the sound and all the tubes do is provide the clean power. What little power tube saturation you might get at high volume doesn't compare to the SS tone in the front end. Its no different then using a SS guitar pedal before a tube amp. if you use a gain pedal, the pedals going to be producing all the saturation, not the amp. Maybe that crate of yours has a Hybrid design that's better then others. I know how many Crate owners love their amps but to me I don't hear it. To me they are just another budget amp without much redeeming tones. The best sounding Crates I heard were the first ones made back in the 80's, the ones that had cabs that looked like a Crate. We had a lead guitarist who used one of the 100W versions with a spare cab and could nail the cover tunes we did back then. Any of the newer ones whether they be SS or Tube haven't impress me. Even the bass amps like the one I own are pretty bad. Awful sounding tone stacks. They Boom at certain frequencies and the EQ is useless in preventing it. The PC mount pots on the SS amps are junk too. All the ones I've come across get scratchy in no time and cleaning is only a temp fix. I had one guy show up at a gig with a 30/50W Tube combo. He went on an on about how much he loved the sound of that amp and even carried it in a hard shell case. When I heard it, all I could figure was the guy had a tin ear had no experience using other amps. That thing was the nastiest tube amp I've ever heard and I repaird them for a living so I got to hear a huge variety of them. Like I said, maybe that model is one of those better models, but given its only a two tube design with SS mixed in, I wouldn't waste my time trying to mod it. Save your money and when you get enough, sell that thing and upgrade to something that has the tones you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t_e_l_e Posted February 15, 2019 Members Share Posted February 15, 2019 why would you want to?custom wound (better) transformers will be expensive, i doubt that you get any other after market transformers with your needed specs with better quality why are you not just searching for an other better amp for you? what is it that brings you to hang on your crate v8 if you don't like how it sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted February 15, 2019 Members Share Posted February 15, 2019 Some amps are worth modding and some aren't. Not sure if you'll have much luck getting that amp to sound any better then it does. Its a Hybryd which is part tube and has and op amp in the preamp section so the Sterile sounding SS is going to dominate the sound no matter what you do for the tubes. The transformer sure isn't going to make any difference. If an amp has a classic design you can sometimes find a boutique transformer which claims to have better tone. Of course in many situations its purely a placebo effect. They charge a premium for some transformer they claim has better sound, then by the time you get done wasting money on the transformer and having it put in, its unlikely you'd ever admit it didn't do a dam thing to improve the tone. If you are convinced its something you want to try, then you'd need to find a schematic for the amp. Supposedly its a class A amp using an EL34 tube which gives it about 5W. I'd think most any amp with a similar design would have a comparable transformer. Whether a replacement actually improves the sound is questionable. Low wattage amps typically have low cost, low quality parts including replacement transformers, but you might get lucky and find something like a Hammond that might fit. Again without a schematic to see what component values are used you'd be guessing. There is a long thread that talks about increasing the Op amps rail voltage to get a better sound. Again, I'd need to see the schematic to judge that idea. I'm not a fan of Hybrid amps at all. My Music man uses a SS front end and power tube out and its not much better then an all solid state amp for tone. The SS preamp dominates the sound and all the tubes do is provide the clean power. What little power tube saturation you might get at high volume doesn't compare to the SS tone in the front end. Its no different then using a SS guitar pedal before a tube amp. if you use a gain pedal, the pedals going to be producing all the saturation, not the amp. Maybe that crate of yours has a Hybrid design that's better then others. I know how many Crate owners love their amps but to me I don't hear it. To me they are just another budget amp without much redeeming tones. The best sounding Crates I heard were the first ones made back in the 80's, the ones that had cabs that looked like a Crate. We had a lead guitarist who used one of the 100W versions with a spare cab and could nail the cover tunes we did back then. Any of the newer ones whether they be SS or Tube haven't impress me. Even the bass amps like the one I own are pretty bad. Awful sounding tone stacks. They Boom at certain frequencies and the EQ is useless in preventing it. The PC mount pots on the SS amps are junk too. All the ones I've come across get scratchy in no time and cleaning is only a temp fix. I had one guy show up at a gig with a 30/50W Tube combo. He went on an on about how much he loved the sound of that amp and even carried it in a hard shell case. When I heard it, all I could figure was the guy had a tin ear had no experience using other amps. That thing was the nastiest tube amp I've ever heard and I repaird them for a living so I got to hear a huge variety of them. Like I said, maybe that model is one of those better models, but given its only a two tube design with SS mixed in, I wouldn't waste my time trying to mod it. Save your money and when you get enough, sell that thing and upgrade to something that has the tones you want. I owned a Musicman 65 watt HD 210 combo. It was my very first amp. They were a Leo Fender Hybrid. I always thought it was brittle sounding. About 4 years later I traded it for a new Fender Twin Reverb. Cost me the amp and 125 bucks. Clapton used Musicman amps for a short while. This might be the 130 watt version.Mine was like this with EV Speakers. https://reverb.com/item/1276001-music-man-210-65-76 [ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"-307179510585347942.jpg","data-attachmentid":32475853}[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted February 22, 2019 Members Share Posted February 22, 2019 Yes, he used a 130W combo when playing with The Band in the Last Waltz movie. [ATTACH=JSON]{"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\t670.jpg Views:\t1 Size:\t56.7 KB ID:\t32480264","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"32480264","data-size":"full","title":"670.jpg"}[/ATTACH] Other famous artists who used them Was Mark Knopfler on the Dire Straits doing, Money for Nothing, Blue Oyster Cult, Don't Fear the Reaper, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Eddie van Halen, Albert King, Ted Nugent, The Who, Tom Morello of Audioslave, soundgarten, Hanh Jr, Roy Orbison, Andy summers of the police, Hall and Oats, Dan Folgelberg, Joe Walsh on the Hotel Calif album, Mearl Travis, Hank Jr. Blues Brothers, Chet Akins, Mick Ronson, Little River Band, Keith Richards, Bonie Raitt, Rick Neilson, Elvis, and besides hundreds of others, plus my all time favorite Johnny Winter on all his later albums. [ATTACH=JSON]{"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\t91.jpg Views:\t1 Size:\t131.3 KB ID:\t32480265","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"32480265","data-size":"full","title":"91.jpg"}[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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