Jump to content

Does anyone stiil play through a Crate amps anymore?


Blues101

Recommended Posts

  • Members

I dont see any Crate amps on anyones set ups and was wondering if anyone still plays them?

 

I've had nothing but bad luck with them and could never get the tone I really wanted. But I did play through a Blue Voodo that was moded at a music shop that sounded pretty damn good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Crates seem to have a lousy reputation as amps that people like the sound of when they've been playing for four months before graduating to a "real" amp sound. I'm not entirely sure how much that is merited, seeing as some people swear by them, but I know I've never been tempted to go out and get one.

 

I do know a few guys who really like Crate's more upscale stuff and have no desire to go elsewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I have a Palomino (the 30 watt, made in USA 1x12 one) and I love a love it. I switched out the speaker for a Hellatone 60 (broken in and relabeled Celestion 30) and put some JJ's in there and I love it. I just gigged with it everyday for the past two weeks and it never let me down and always sounded top notch. I use it as a clean then rely on my Keeley BD-2 and Barber Direct Drive for overdrive. The overdrive on the amp is really nice and use it when I don't feel like bringing my board along with me. I was dead set on buying a higher end boutique amps but when I compared how good the clean and dirty was on the Palomino to anything else, nothing stood up to it's versitilty and quality sound. I really love this thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I have an ancient Crate TD50C and I personally love it. For practices and shows I still use my Classic 50, but a lot of the time when I'm just sitting at home I'll plug into the Crate. It's got great cleans, surprisingly. Really, really great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I have a Crate Vintage club50 2x12 and I like it a lot. Gets Fender-like

sparkly cleans and breaks up nicely. Don't care for the drive channel or

the spring reverb, but I use a Big muff and Holy stain pedals anyway.

Made in St. Louis, must be 80's or 90's model.

 

crate4.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I use a Crate V33H 30 watt head over a Palomino 2x12 cab (two Celestion seventy-eighties). The clean channel is great, and both the presence and boost work well. The reverb is not outstanding, but it is serviceable. The gain channel sucks. It sounds like a wet blanket has been thrown over the cab. I either run pedals for my distortion/overdrive, or use a Texas Ranger to boost the mids and clean up the gain channel.

 

I paid $300 for the head and I am happy with it. If I had paid more for it I would be unhappy about the condition of the gain channel. Since I play mostly blues it doesn't really matter to me. As long as Ihave a nice clean to work with, I can make things happen. I also have a Bugera 6260 2x12 combo and I have been running them either side by side or A/B. I haven't decided on my final plans for them, though. At 120 watts the Bugrea is crazy loud and, for most of my gigs, running a 30 watt head seems to be enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Crate solid states are horrid IMO. BV series really isn't that bad for a tube amp. Some sound real nice when modded. The only Crate amp I have ever really liked was the GFX/GX series. They are perfect for early Van Halen tones on the cheap when dialed in right. No joke. Check out JFRocks dot com and his "Vin Heuton" videos. I stumbled across that site, and the next day picked up my GX-1200H head. Pair that with a JB'd guitar and it's "Brown Sound" for sure. VH lead tones aren't that great, but rhythms are dead on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

100010514m.jpg

550981.jpg

 

This was my bass amp for a couple of years. Alright but the cab couldn't handle much, very deceiving. Got sick of it after a while and started working more predominantly on guitar, so I sold it. I think the guy I sold it to had just started on bass and was playing through a little dinky practice amp. He was really really stoked to get it. I showed him all the cosmetic damage and he didn't even care to try it out. He got away like a bandit on that deal, like $350 or something. Good riddance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...