Crate BV120H Blue Voodoo

Two channels, separate reveb for each channel, master presence. yadda yadda yadda

I read all the reviews yesterday on here because someone offered to trade me a BV full stack for one of my guitars. I'm kind of an amp whore, so I went and tried it out and then traded. I think people that say it sounds terrible are a little harsh. I went straight from getting the amp to a show. I play blues, and funk. I was able to dial in a great tone in about a minute. My other guitarist is a TWIN REVERB till he dies kind of guy. He was impressed with the tone I got out of it. I was playing a thinline tele on the crunch channel with a solo boost pedal. After everyone left the venue last night, I stayed for about 2 hours with my other guitarist just playing around with it. It is a fairly versatile amp. The other guitarist said he's be willing to buy one, if it didn't say crate.

But to the credit of the critics on here, It IS super bright on the clean channel, but if you half know how to use the eq on the amp and on your guitar you can still dial in a great tone. The gain knob on the crunch channel IS super sensitive, it's all about finesse when turning it. And the big gold letters that say crate on the head and cabs ARE way cheesey looking, they are coming off. And I'm sure it'll sound better if I put new tubes in it, just common sense.

I've only had it less than a day, so I hope so.

Owners manual is right on crate website. pretty easy. They also email schematics right away. I don't know how the warranty system is.

I have a Fender twin, Marshall JCM2000dSL, Fender Hot Rod Deville, Line 6 spider II, Vox Valvetronix 30, Gibson Mercury. They are all great amps. This amp will hold it's own in sound against all of them. None of them are the same, not better, not worse, just different.

I'm happy with my trade.

Features for the BV120 are just about right for most. Clean and dirty, with independent eq and reverb per channel. Like many I would love a master volume. Other than that, its got enough options for me. I don't use many effects, so don't really know how well the effects loop works.

This is my second review of this amp, and my opinion has changed little. I just want to touch on some things not stated before. The Blue Voodoo's main problem is that it says CRATE in big gold letters on the front. I removed the logos, the social experiment began. In a dark bar or theater, where I play, most can't tell the amp is blue. All they see is the backlit tubes. Kind of funny how many times after shows guys playing mesas, marshalls (your logo here), would complement how much they liked my tone. Both clean and dirty. Most times I was running a Gibson Les Paul Standard Premium Plus into a Bad Horsie into the amp. They might say, "Is that a Hughes and Kettner?" or something. I'd say no. Wow. Can you say backpedal? Why do people hate this thing so much? I use an ESP Eclipse, the LP, a Music Man Silhouette and a couple of Jacksons (Not because of Marty Friedman). They all sound unique but pretty stinkin' good. If you are a fan of boutique stuff, GREAT! That does not mean everything else is bad. If you like your friggin' dual rectifier, GREAT! Stay on the band wagon. Some people here have given this amp an honest go, and didn't dig it. That is cool, its a free country. You can tell those guys most times 'cause they say something like "It's not for me". They don't say you will burn in hell if you like this amp. If you haven't given it an honest try, be quiet.

Regular service, new tubes after 2 years. My foot switch jack does strange things sometimes, but other than that, no issues.

Company was hard to deal with.

Been playing for 14 years. I own a Vox as a practice amp, and have owned Marshall JCM series stuff and an Ampeg VL1002 in the past. If it was stolen I would buy a new one. I love that it sounds good for what I play, and its got a nice clean tone, unlike a lot of other high gain tube amps. I don't really hate anything about it, but would like it to have a master volume and why did they make the head a half inch longer than any other head? I like my Marshall 1960, and it doesn't fit well. I wish I had a Laney VC30, they sound cool and different, like alot of Laney stuff. I wish I had a Mesa Mark IV, yes I can like Crate and Mesa. Crate is an unremarkable company for the most part, but the BV series were great amps for what they were. Nice tight crunch with plenty of gain, and a very usable clean channel.

I have the BV-120H head.I think it is a 1990 model.I play blues-rock and i think it is very good to that.I use this amp for big gigs cause it is very very loud.Idont like tha fact not having a master volume knob.

The sound of the clean channel is very good and clean but without bass.If you want bass you have to put the volume in 5 and the eq knobs to 0 and then turn them on slowly until you will have the desirable sound.I use fender and gibsons .

I used to have a problem with that amp.The channel switch was changing crazy .(from channel 1 to 2),I coudnt found what it was so i went to a technician and now i have only the clean channel using stomp boxes.From then i have no problem with the clean channel.

i bought this amp from e-bay so i have no warranty.

I have been playing guitar for 20 years.For jamming with my band i use a fender SCXD.This amp is very heavy and if you have a problem with your back choose another one.

Michael, your brother Jeff says hello and to be good!

Jeff

Follow up to my 2/26/05 review of this amp.

The main point I wanted to make was about the tubes. In my 2/26/05 review, I recommended using a 5751, a lower gain tube in V2. V2 is the drive channel, and the gain on it is way over the top. I've found that a 12AU7 in V2 with the gain set at about 7 to 7.5 gives me a really nice on board drive channel. I've never been a fan of stomp boxes. With a 12AX7 in V1 and a 12AU7 in V2, I've got a beautiful clean and a really nice on board drive.

Playing with the phase inverter also impacts your tone. A 12AX7 there seems to make the clean channel a bit shrill. A 5751 or a 12AT7 in V4 (phase inverter) tames the shrill highs and allows you a broader sweep to play with.

Some reviewers commented on the amp's high plate voltage. Mine runs in the 465 range.

I've used lot of different 6L6s in this amp including JJs, SEDs, Sovtek 6L6Bs, Groove Tube 6L6GEs and others. I'm sticking to the JJs.

This amp sounds fantastic with the right tube combinations.

This amp gets babied. It has gone five years with no problems at all.

The Crate from this era offered the best customer service I have ever dealt with in the music business.

Own 15 amps and 26 guitars acquired over 30 years. A properly set up Blue Voodoo is a great amp at a very reasonable price. Well taken care of, it will give you years and years of great tone. It is that simple.

Crate Blue Voodoo from about 2000 or 01 from what I can gather. Blue tolex, brass logo, sort of cheesy looking, but in a good way even with the goofy orange lights, whatever they're for.

Basic 2 channel configuration, though no master volume on the clean channel. Separate EQ per channel, with FX loop and footswitching ability. Only 8 and 16 ohm speaker usage strangely, 4 ohms would have been nice. Sure its not a deal killer, but one of my speaker cabs is 4 ohms, thus unusable. 100 Watts tube (NOT solid state at all) you know, the basic deal.

The lack of a master volume on the clean channel is mystifying, but when you hear how the two channels are voiced, it seems that Crate was going for the "two amps in one" idea where really the two channels have little to do with each other tone wise and not great for going from clean to dirty on this amp. It obviously can be done, but the lack of master volume on the clean channel means that its basic level once you get the tone you want, dictates what you set the "dirty" channel's master volume. Inconvenient, but I've just quit looking at this amp as a workhorse kind of amp and more of a specialist, which its definitely more suited towards. No sub modes per channel, just set the gain and go. Kind of simplistic.

The EQ doesn't seem terribly versatile in that its effects are pretty subtle and more extreme tweaks make a difference than "dialing in" your tones. I use it more in terms of all the way cut, all the way boost or just in the middle, as those seem to be the only way it makes a difference sound-wise. At least its got channel independent EQ, thats something.

The opposite is true of the gain pots as the smallest tweak can result in a big difference in tone. rather annoying. changing the effect of the pots and using sub mode switches would probably make this better.

Initial impressions were lackluster to be frank. It was decent, but felt cheap and sounded kind of flat for lack of a better term. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed, but after playing with the thing for a while, I began to learn some of its nuances and how to really look at how to use this amp. First off, as I'd mentioned earlier, it feels like Crate was trying to jam two quite different amps into one chassis using the channels as the separator. Yeah I know, this is pretty common, even my Marshall DSL 100 attempts this same idea, but still retains enough similar voicing between the channels that you can really use it as a true versatile workhorse kind of amp going clean to dirty and doing the rhythm/lead thing as well. This one can do it sort of, but its not its strength and its tone is better suited to finding your one tone from it and use the channel switching more in a "lead/rhythm" fashion only.

Clean channel: A lot of people really laud the clean and I just don't get it. Its kind of flat and boring at lower levels and not really tubey at all. Since there is no separate gain and master on this channel, you can just set it for whatever volume you want as long as you keep below 4 or 5 on the knob. After that it stops getting louder and starts breaking up and here is where this channel starts to shine a bit. Once it starts breaking up, it gets a nice edge to it that you can control with your guitar's volume. Once the volume pot is dimed, it sound fantastic. Great crunchy classic distortion. Again, the frustration is once you're there, there isn't a way to switch it off easily as there is no sub mode to this channel, unlike my Marshall DSL which has a clean and crunch on its first channel. This really kills its versatility as you really have to do it all with volume on your guitar AND you have to have it at its loudest output to get this sound as there is no master volume. Annoying. That said, it does sound good when used this way, quite good.

Dirty Channel: Its been stated over and over again that the distortion here is just out of control and I have to agree... Sort of. At lower gain settings, its got a nice crunch with a good sustain. Once you go beyond 3, it starts really saturating and once you get past 6, its SUPER saturated and becomes almost useless except for long sustained leads. I think thats why so many people call this a "metal" amp, as its clean channel is great for rhythm once you crank it and going to the next channel gives you super saturated leads. Of course, then you have no cleans. Ugh. Anyway, with a bit of care, you can get great distortion from this channel, for me its in the 2.5-3 on the gain setting, with a relatively high master volume level to match the clean channel.

Overall on the sound, it does have a few serious negatives. First off, its unbelievably noisy at higher gain settings. Even with a noise gate in the loop. Also, it seems lack some lower end. Compared to my DSL 100, its a bit thinner and lacks the cajones of the Marshall. I pretty much play with the bass pot maxed out all the time and its still not quite heavy enough. Conversely, my DSL 100 is a bit too bass heavy on the clean channel. Still sounds good, but its missing it a bit. EQ in the loop helps with this, as does a sonic maximizer. I will also add that changing out some of the pre amp tubes with lower powered ones might seriously help the tone as standard 12AX7 tubes really overdo the distortion a bit. I'm interested in replacing one or more with 12AT7s, which are about half power. Maybe even a 12AU7 in one position (about 15% power of the 12AX7). Power tubes are fine with 6L6s though might do well with EL34s. I'll have to try that at some point.

Seems reliable. Its heavy as hell physically. Otherwise, I can't say. I've had varying degrees of success with some of the Crate stuff I've been forced to use.

Never dealt with Crate. They have a reasonable web presence which is nice. I have no clue how to bias the thing and looking online hasn't been helpful. I'm guessing its "self biasing" as I can't seem to find any thing else that says otherwise. I'd love to find out how though so I can try EL34s in place of the 6l6's. I'm not sure it'd make a big difference, but it might add those needed cajones to the bottom end.

I also own a Marshall JCM2000 DSL 100 and a '65 Fender blackface Bassman amp. I run the Blue Voodoo into a Marshall 1960 with Vintage 30's mixed in with the GT75s. Its about as versatile as the Fender bassman for me, which is to say, not terribly, but it serves a role and is pretty good for dirty sounds with a nasty edge. To me it doesn't really compare to the Marshall as the Marshall can hit just about every tone I want and also manages the cleans in a much better fashion than the Blue Voodoo. The Voodoo can get more saturated that the DSL, but its only decent for traditional leads as its just not as heavy and sounds a bit weak for rhythm or riff work. It also does SOUND different than the DSL which is good. They don't need to be the same amp. The review that someone made here earlier that said they A/B'd the DSL 100 and the Voodoo and said they were no different seems suspect. Yeah, you CAN get the same tone if you dial them that way, but the DSL can go to sonic areas the Voodoo just can't and the tones the Voodoo can do that the DSL can't just aren't very appealing to me. The Voodoo is also a VERY quiet 100 watts. Just something to think about if you're counting on it for live situations without reamplifying through a P/A like in an outdoor setting. You might not cut it. Not that it can't get loud, but it seems no louder than my Fender (50 watt), and DEFINITELY quieter than the Marshall (same wattage).

I like the fact that it does have its own voice and isn't just trying to sound vintage or modern or whatever, and due to its relatively poor opinion by the average tube amp snob, its cheap and a great amp for people wanting to enter the tube stack world and create their own signature tone instead of just trying to mimic *insert name here* who uses a Mesa, or a Marshall or a Soldano, etc...

Works well with the effects until the distortion gets too high. Then everything just sounds weird, but at lower gains, its just groovy.

While I do have a fondness for this amp due to its original voice, its looks, etc... Its not a great amp by any stretch, just a pretty good one. Its better than several others I've used, particularly considering its second hand price but its the weakest of the three I own. Its nice for a straight ahead in your face setting that doesn't call for a wide array of sounds. Just find your tone and thats it. For me, its lack of versatility that way keeps it from really competing with the greats and as long as you keep in mind it ISN'T a top amp, you're fine. I guess you do get what you pay for, and $350-400 used is pretty reasonable for what you get. Its overall score for me considers that factor. At $650.00 and up, it would only rate a 5 or 6.

The amp was made around 2002 and has a lot of features, perhaps it need a gain pot in the clean channel to obtain the crunch, a better reverb tank and a switch in the lead channel to make the distortion versatile...

First of all, stock tubes makes the amp sound very horrible!!!
I replace v1 and phase inverter with jj 12ax7, v2 & 3 with Ecc83EH and EH 6L6's.
Then, stock crate cabs (with unnamed speakers) are awful and I had a chance to play it with a very good legacy cab with celestion v30s.
Now the amp sounds better, but not that tone monster.
The problem is that this amp has not a compromise, Hi-Fi iper-sparkle clean or too overdrived and fizzy distortion.
The crunch is absent, if you put the clean channel at a volume that can pull down the walls.
Lead channel do not produce any kind of crunch also at gain 1 and guitar pot rolled off, when the minimum distortion seems the clean channel with a behringer overdive.
This amp lack of that "fat", rhythm is confused in a tons of gain and there is not too "balls" in the malm muting.
This thing is perfect to play leads, every note goes out and take a breath, good attack but not "wooff-y", also is very OK for who put a pod in the clean channel, cause it stays always clean.
Eq section is also not that special, presence breaks the ears, too much icy highs, middles are not warm and never scooped-able and bass buzz at high volumes.

During the leads, if stopped, a shot of feedback breaks every glass; to compare, I had tried a mesa dual recto and it perfectly mutes down also with full gain/volume and the guitar in front at the cab (also produces a wonderful crunch with third-lead channel with gain at 4)!!!

I don't like this amp at all, some says that thing changes very well modding the amp with el34's, darking up the sound and making it fatter... I do not tried yet... I say it need a expert can make a good work also in the preamp.

Very reliable amp, never broken in thousand gigs, but tubes has short life by high plate voltages than wonderful old vintage amps...
Very good transformers and pcb also.

Never used

This amp is overpriced, there is a lot of alternatives as koch, laney, earforce, or fabulous amps/cabs as Brunetti, Masotti and some other very high quality italian amps!!!

Ever since I heard Marty Friedman fire up one of these amps, I have wanted one. Recently, I had an opportunity to by one for a killer price so I took the deal. All gain stages are one hundred percent tube driven. It has two channels, a distortion and clean channel with independent tone and level controls. Included is a simple yet effective effects loop with the ability to reduce incoming effects levels by -12dB, which I found quite nice. As far as power goes, it has more than I can use. With a 4x12 cabinet I can overpower anyone else in my band and still have crystal clarity. One thing I that should be noted is that the GT tubes that come with the amplifier are only rated at 50 watts. This indicates that the amp is actually a 100 watt amplifier, not a 120 watt amplifier. Thankfully, it would appear that almost all of the power of this amp can be utilized without excess noise or clipping.

I use several different guitars and effects with this amp. Primarily I play my Ibanez RG-300A with my Pod XT Live. To be completely honest, I didn't get that killer tone I thought I get when I first plugged this amp in. The gain on the distortion channel was out of control and had a very rigid hissing treble sound which is not my style. The clean channel sounded very cold and lacked the punch found in many other tube amps. Come to find out, this has nothing to do with the amp! I would like to make a recommendation, buy this amp and IMMEDIATELY swap the tubes. The difference is INCREDIBLE! I ended up replacing V1 with a JJ 12AX7, V2 & V3 & V4 with EH 12AX7's and all power tubes with JJ 6L6's. Wow! What a difference! This thing sounds phenomenal now! The clean is incredibly warm/harmonic and the distortion is much tamer than before. My only complaint is that the distortion channel still has an insane amount of gain. I might recommend trying a 12AT7 in place of the 12AX7 in V2 to reduce some of the gain and fatten the sound up a bit. Overall though, I am extremely pleased. Just FYI, biasing the tubes in this amp is a breeze.

I use this amp all the time and have not had any problems with it. It may simply be that I preform regular maintenance. However, I can tell you that it appears to be built very well. I am a hardware engineer by trade so I see electronics and electronics components day in and day out. Though I didn't perform a detailed analysis of the amps quality, I did notice that all components seem to be more than sufficient rated and the printed circuit board looks to have thick clad and proper layout.

The warranty expired on this amp before I even purchased it. Therefore, I have not had the opportunity to, nor will I ever have the opportunity to deal with warranty work. I have, however, had the opportunity to deal with the manufacturer via email contact. I asked them for schematics to assist with tube replacement and bias adjustment which they promptly sent with no questions asked. They were very helpful.

I love this amp. I will always own one of these. For the price, it's quality and capabilities are unbeatable. I honestly believe that with the proper tubes, settings, and effects that you could tailor this amp to meet any style and any sound. Overall it just kicks some serious butt!

I'm not sure what year it is, but the Blue Voodoo's came out in 96' or 97' I believe. I'd say the BV120 is a 6 on versatility. It has two channles, clean and overdrive and comes with a footswitch pedal. Also included are Effects Loop, Headphone Jack and Ext. Speaker Jack. You can also plug this amp directly into a digital recorder and the BV120 will "emulate" a mic'd amp for your recording. I use this feature with my BOSS BR-900CD. For a head amp it's pretty much got everything you need except a butt load of effects like the AVT150.

I'm using a Samick Avion with an SH-1 Classic at the neck and an SH-13 Dimebucker at the bridge. This amp is very suited to my music as it is a friggin' GAIN MONSTER!!! I almost want to say that it has too MUCH gain. Most amps you turn the gain all the way to 10 for the "ultimate" crunch your amp can push. On the BV120, I have all the gain I need and then some at 5! I can talk all day about how great the crunch and gain is, but as for the clean I think Crate could have done a little better. I just can't seem to get a good feel and tone on the clean channel. It just sounds flat. The reverb sounds nice, but I'd suggest buying a Chorus or Reverb pedal to beef up your clean channel. Finally, in regards to sound quality, as with any head amp, you should really have a quality cabinet. If you're gonna stick with Crate, then make sure you've got the Vintage Celestion-30's.

This amp is pretty dependable. Definately road worthy and durable. I would definately use it without a back up because i KNOW it wont fall apart on me. I haven't even really pushed this thing yet. At 4, the paint on the wall starts to chip, at 6 your ears bleed and at 10 your face melts off. (In other words, this amp is pretty frickin loud) Has never broken down but it's a tube which means regular maintenance. If you want an amp where you just plug in and play and never have to worry about anything else, the BV120 and ANY tube amp for that matter is not for you.

Never had to deal with them but i've heard nothing but nice things about them. The warrenty is no longer valid since i bought this used ($310).

Been playing for over 12 years. Amp-wise, I own a Marshall VS100 half stack and a Marshall VS265. If my Crate BV120 were stolen, I'd definately be pissed. Overall its a great amp with a lot of power and i LOVE the way it shreds! I'd definately buy another one if i had to. Bottom line is this: The gain on this amp is a frickin BEAST and will not dissappoint anyone in that area. Second, where else are you going to find a 100 watt head with these features for under $400 (used)??? Crate can make pieces of crap just like any company, but they also make great amps as well. The BV120 is one of those great amps. A lot of musicians are starting to realize that they can get a very good quality head amp for so cheap. Since the demand for these is starting to rise, the cost has slowly been going up. Better hop to it and get one soon!

All you need for basics of great, simple tone...

I use many guitars thru this baby and love it! You gotta switch it over to EL34Ls and Tung-Sol 12Ax7s and have it rebiased...But I like the tone better than the JCM800...With 6L6s (and I tried several) it was just too buzzy sounding and not in the cool Mesa Boogie way, but in that awful Crate standard tone from that practice amp we all had...This thing can be great, it just needs a little workover...

No problems yet...

Awesome...They sent me a few schematics that helped me mod it...

Awesome...I know people shake their heads, but this amp can turn many heads...I dolled mine up with a white fusion paint job (head and cab) and replaced the Crate logos with tractor parts face plates...Now everyone wants to know more about it...Oh yeah, and you gotta play it through Celestion Vintage 30s...

Get over the Crate name and pick this bad boy up....