Crate Vintage Club 20 Combo

headphone jack, its convenient

and speaker out, which is cool too

and a punch button "adds heavier distortion"

its VERY loud, sounds really clean and has a wide range

and an awesome blues sound

warms up fast and never had any problems with it

if you like the sound of the amp its probably all you need

overall, its a well built amp and its the loudest combo amp anywhere near its size

and there's one for sale here, the one i'm reviewing/
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320300562847

three 12ax7s, two el84s, gain, tone, mid, "Punch" {mid boost} button, low, volume, ext. speaker, headphones, 12" 4 ohm speaker, 15 watts.

GREAT DIRTY, FANTASTIC CLEAN SOUND!

This little amp is LOUD!!

I play mostly clean, jazzypsychafunkadelic jamboliscious style music and it fits very well.

Grateful dead, Dinosaur Jr., Talking Heads, Phish, Wilco, Radiohead, Led Zepplin, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn. Get's close to them all when combined with a Johnson J-station amp simulator.

Not noisy

Beautiful Clean, Raw gritty distortion. Distortion great when a nice boost pedal is used.

I don't think it will do metal, at least on it's own.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE AMPS! Crate tube amps are so underrated!

I'm not sure what year this one was made. It has a 12" speaker, 2 EL84 power tubes and three 12AX7 pre-amp tubes (every other review on here only refered to two of these). I'm not interested in built-in effects and three different channels to muck around with. Just something that will play clean and that I can feed my pedals into to distort to my tastes. This fit the bill perfectly- one channel, gain nob, a boost button, three equalizer nobs, and reverb. The reverb on mine has never worked. It has a headphone jack that I never use and an external speaker jack that I haven't used as I use it mainly as a practice amp at home. I own a Crate V50 that I rehearse and gig with.

When I got the amp, it was very difficult to get a clean tone out of it. Had to set the gain at 2 (anywhere lower produced no sound and anywhere higher broke up to early) but was still left with less than a clean tone. I put in new EL84's and swapped out the 12AX7's for 12AU7's (electro harmonix tubes- about $70 for all). It is so clean I can barely break it up unless I put the gain up to 3 o'clock. Perfect for what I want as I use a big muff and and blues driver to distort it and a small stone, small clone, Ibanez delay and Beheringe ultra tremelo to muck with the sound. I bough low noise tubes and the amp is super quiet but with a warm clean tone.

This is a sturdy little amp. I've gigged with it but as I mentioned, I use it primarily as a practice amp. Outside of the reverb never working, it's always worked for me and it totes around nicely.

Never dealt with them.

I love this little amp. I bought it for $125 and dumped another $70 into it, so a very nice all tube amp with great tone for under $200 is a great deal in my experience. For my purposes, it works perfectly.

Got what you need. Really basic- my amp has no reverb and from trying another with reverb, no loss. Less is more sometimes. It does the vintage thing well.

I get the woolly blues tone I want. Don't care about clean, although I did try it with a 12au7 and that kind of moved it into a more of a versatile mode if you only have this one amp. With a lower gain tube in the preamp it'll really clean up, if that's what you want. I'm running a different speaker and cab so I get the sound output I want without driving the amp really hard, so I put the 12AX7 back in. This is a great club amp.

It's not a super flexible sound, but what it does I like.

Here's the thing- as built this thing runs way too hot. It was cutting out occasionally- might have some kind of thermal switch or something. I had heard that there are occasional problems with the input jack coming apart due to heat, but mine was OK. I pulled the chassis and remounted it as a head. I first tried it Fender style, in a well veltilated box with the tubes pointed down but it ran as hot as ever. Then I realized that because the tubes are mounted on the PCB, there are large holes around each tube. The hot air around the tube envelopes flows up (heat rises), right into the closed chassis. I remounted the chassis on the bottom of the head cab, like a Marshall. I repainted and relettered the control panel (it's now upside down), flipped the power switch over and lifted the chassis off the bottom of the cab with 1/8" thick masonite spacers to allow air to flow up through the chassis. Now it runs MUCH cooler, and is dead reliable.

SLM tech support was very helpful.

Been playing for about 4 years.
Great affordable small amp. I use it with a seperate 1X12 or 1X15 cab. One has a Vintage 30 for a nice basic vintage sound, the other a 1958 alnico Utah (!) 15" for a thick, dark tone. The amp as stock is OK but hot and has a crappy particle board cab. The original 10" speaker may not be bad in a bigger pine cab, but I went to bigger speakers in pine and redwood cabs. LOVE the tone now. Much prefer it as a head as I can get a totally different feel with a different speaker. If I found another I would buy it.

It fits right into my amp collection- I have a little Danelectro practice amp, and a (sigh) Silverface Twin Reverb. You can tell I'm not a Mesa kinda guy.

i have no idea when the amp was made i bought it at a pawn shop. very versital if u know how to use ur vol and tone knobs. lol most of u are dumb idiots and dont use them and u sound like crap. but sooner or prob later u might find out dispite me saying this now that u will want to use them they are there for a reason. its got reverb which i disconnected and turn up all the way and use as a presence and its got a punch button which i never use. and u gotta use a booster pedal for some slight compression and boost for more gian or it will sound muddy unless u use absolutly no bass. but u need punch from the bass. so use a booster pedal. it will rock u.

somewhat noisey but who cares when ur playin in a rock band u cant here it. plays ne thing as long as u know how. u can get ne sound from country to jazz to metal seething metal. single channle delivers all u need.the distortion can be really butal wih the right guitar pickups and tubes and a booster pedal.

stong its been dropped many times and it still rocks.

dpnt need it.

great get one u wont regret it. i've played through some many top of the line amps and u dont need those features just u and the one channle can rock every day and all night long.

you all already know the drill:

*all tube. I know little about tubes, so I'm not sure what kind.
*single channel
*no f/x
*gain, volume, and low/mid/high knobs

nobody has mentioned the "punch" button yet, but I personally think this option is pretty cool. give a bit of boost, but not too much.

wish it had some old-school reverb built in or some tremelo or something. Crate nailed the vintage vibe, but decided to leave this one dry for some reason.

I play out occasionally and this amp works REALLY well for lead stuff and fills. it just drips with blues tone.

after reading the reviews, I think I may be using the wrong guitar for this amp. I am a Strat player and have always felt that I'm not getting 100% out of this amp. maybe the single coils are not suited for this thing. don't get me wrong, I get great tones, but sometimes the sound is a bit "muddy". now I know it's likely due to my guitar. I may look at getting a different guitar with humbuckers.

I can't get this thing nearly as clean as I would like either. It overdrives really easily no matter what. again, this may be due to my guitar.

but for bluesy-type sounds, this thing really comes alive. you can nail an SRV sound if desired, but you can also get a cool indie/punk type sound if you dial in just right.

the only effects I use with this thing is a reverb unit and a Route 66 compressor/OD pedal. I don't use the OD side...only the compressor side. it really swells up the sound in lots of great ways, but tends to give me too many highs.

this amp lacks a bit of low end, in my opinion, and could use more.

you can depend on this thing. crates are tanks. I can't ever see this thing dying.

never called crate

I've been playing about 15 years. if something were to happen to this amp, I'd likely try another brand/style. mainly to try to find a great clean channel and something with built in effects. I hate pedals and hate dragging around a bunch of gear.

I'm not saying that I don't like the amp, but I would likely get a Marshall AVT since these really appeal to me for some reason.

I will continue to use the Crate, mainly because it's the only amp I own and I got it for free. I don't blow lots of money on gear and I usually try hard to get what I own to work for me. I will probably have this thing for many years to come.

Covered many times. It has high, mid and low knobs. Gain, volume and a mid range punch button. Single channel no frills. Plug in and go amp plain and simple.

I primarily play two guitars, a Les Paul and an Ibanez Talman with a Dimarzio humbucker. The LP sounds a little chunky and unclear through here but the Ibanez screams. I play mostly classic rock sounding stuff a little faster. Not punk but not far from it. This amp sounds great cranked up. It breaks up really well and will give you instant feedback if you want it. I plug it into my 4x12 cabinet and it's loud enough to play small venues with except there's no clean channel with the amp cranked like that so it's pretty much limited to recording. I will be using this amp for recording future songs.

Well I used to play with this amp at college parties and the like. My brather played with it. The guitarist in his first band played with it. We all had to mic it to the PA but it still was lugged around through different places and different bands for years. Not to mention I loaned it to a local coffee house for their open mic stuff for about a year. All told after literally years of abuse the volume pot is pretty scratchy and the tubes needed to be replaced. This doesn't surprise me at all and overall I am impressed it make it this far with zero maintenance.

When I first bought it there was something loose and I sent it in. They fixed it and shipped it back. No big deal.

I only recently put new tubes in this amp. I hadn't really looked at it in a few years but as I have been looking for a combo lately I read other reviews on it and thought I should bring it out of retirement. I put in new JJ 12ax7's and El84's and fired it up. No problems except the noisy volume knob. I cranked the gain and the volume and then screwed around with the highs mids and lows to see the range. I then decided to really see what it could do and plugged it into my 4x12 and even though I just went through band practice I cranked out a few more songs and loved it. It sounded great! Without a clean channel though it's usefulness is limited. I usually play through an Ampeg Reverrocket 50w head and it never really gets cranked up anywhere I play. It's so loud that I never get to utilize it's full potential. I also use an ADA Rocket 10 for recording. After checking this vintage club out again I am planning on picking up either a vintage club 30 or 50 to take the place of the Ampeg at smaller venues. I just would like enough power to maintain a clean channel and get the overdriven sound of this amp.

easy to use. 1 channel, bass, middle, treble, gain, volume, mid boost.
a 20w Class A all tube amp, 10' cab, have exp cab jack, headphone jack.
12AX7x2, EL84x2

I use Epiphone Les Paul Standard Limited Edition Sparkle Blue with Tak Matsumoto Type Burst Bucker.
This amp haven't clean sound, but a pure rock tone. I play all music style. Pop, Rock, Metal...etc. when gain set it max, and volume over 2, it start to hiss, but if volume over 5, the tube sound is very good.
my setting is Les Paul Standard -> Maxon OD-9 -> Vox Big Ben Overdrive -> Keeley DS-1 Ultra -> Keeley BD-2 Phat Mod -> Metal Monster-X -> DD-3 -> Maxon CS505 -> VC20
very tube sound, and when I open OD-9 & BD-2, it's almost Tak tone like.
a liitle problem, treble too much when treble over 7. and boost button makes sound worst...so I always set it off.

no

buy it on ebay

It's a good pratice amp, I will buy a better one like V1512 or V32 when I have more money

I purchased the VC20 new over 10 years ago. Wow, what a great little tube-crakin' amp. I am a professional guitarist and have done everything you can imagine with this amp from many live performances to lots of studio work. I was in Guitar Center poking around looking for a new sound. I must've plugged into 15-20 different amps. I was prepared to spend a couple thousand or more for a "SERIOUS" amp when I walked in. Luckily, I plugged into this VC20. I laughed at the fact that I immediately fell in-love with this little $200 amp. This Crate VC20 is a straight forward, 15 watt Class A, EL-84s all-tube, single channel, sweet sounding amp. No more - no less.

I play whatever style or sound is requested of me. I prefer Rock, Classic Rock, and Blues. Keep your Gain at 2-3, scoop your mids, and set your master volume at 7-8. If you need extra volume, Mic the amp and let the PA do it's job. I have played infront of 20,000+ people with this amp....Never be ashamed of great TONE. An Ibanez "Tube-Screamer" or even a Marshall "Jack-Hammer" does great with this amp. I agree this amp works much better with humbuckers than single coils. If you like to run multiple amps...this amp must be in your line-up. Seriously, with the Crate VC20, you're looking at a Marshall JCM800 in a small combo amp that you can take anywhere.

Again, I have owned this amp for over 10 years and have driven it for all it is worth every since I have owned it. I have yet to replace anything. It has never even been opened up. NOTHING!!! ALL ORIGINAL!!!! My Marshalls can't even do that!!! What more do you want?????

I've never had to...for anything. But I hear that they are great to work with.

I have played with some of the world's best guitarists and I have used some of the best gear made...period. I am extremely happy to say that the Crate VC20 is heavily considered to be one of the best I have ever played through. I have yet to play with another guitarist that hears my tone and then sees my VC20 that has not had to pick his lower jaw up off the ground. TONE, TONE, TONE!!!!
GET IT? GOT IT? GOOD!!!!!
Honestly, I have lots of toys and great gear with any name on it you want. But at the end of the day, isn't TONE really the name of the game?

1 10 inch speaker.. all tube... blonde covering "vintage look"

I play a california series strat through it " mostly bridge posititon"and, A standard tele" with hotrails" I play lead guitar at church and would highly recomend this amp... Im in Australia right now and am getting it shipped because "I crave the tone" Although I dont paly much blues, I think thats what this amp was made for... The strat just comes alive and, Its perfect for lead work. It can get a bit raspy at higher volumes. So for "bigger" venues I go with the 30.

hadnt broke yet.....

never dealt with crate personally.

Ive been playing for 9 years and I got lucky when I bought this amp.. Id seen it sitting in the back of this music shop and eventually bought it... I paid 800.00s for a line6 flextone 2 and I just dont play it anymore.. It cant touch this crate. This amp just has FAT KILLER tone and I hope to have it for a long time. Its an overall bargain, versitile, tube amp.