Crate BV120H Blue Voodoo

I love this amp. Years ago i had a marshall jcm 800 30 watt head, It was power with EL34s good sounding amp. But i have to say that my Crate BV120 amp is better on sound and the way it is buit in my book. This amp comes with 6L6s as you no. But i'm running GTE34Ls power tubes in it now and in the pre amp four GT12AX7s. This amp sounds so sweet with the EL34s tubes. I do not like 6L6s power tubes. I can make this amp sound like a Old marshall plexi if i want too. In my book the Crate BV120 amp Is the very best in can get. For any one who wants a new amp Ck. out the Crate BV120 head you will lt alot and later on go With s good EL34 power tube if you want too. O to say about power of this amp this kicks hard with 6Lss really well But with the GTE34Ls power tubes it kick even harder. Yhis is one Load amp. The more you crank it up the better it sounds. That is all i need to asy about this amp. Thanks Crate for the very best amp you can get. Mark

My guitar that i play with is a Ibanez. This guitar has very good feel and sound for rock blue you name It is a great guitar. It suit my music style very well, For has noisy not bad at all. I love clean channel alot being i have EL34 power tubes it is very clean. The more you crank it the better Sounds

I had to put this amp the shop i think three times, But is was not alot to it. The support very very good. Ha Crate has the best warranty out there a big five year warranty

I have been playing about too years now. At the time for a new amp i really wanted a Marshall amp, But i played a Crate BV120 and it was all over with.

This amp is the shit. I am the same guy that reviewed the Carvin MTS3200 a few days back, I sent that back and waS supposed to go on a big amp testing spree, when I heard that one of my local small music shops had just got one in. I had tried the BV60 head before, and I thought it sucked ass, but I just said "Fuck it, I'll go try this out and see." Man, Am I glad I did that. If your a metalhead who loves simplicity like me, this amp is for you. It has two channels, dual reverbs, 4 6l6's and 4 12ax7's and 120 watts. It has seperate EQ's for each channel so you don't have to worry about a midless clean (If your a metalhead ).

I use an Ibanez S540LTD with a DiMarzio "Super Distortion" in the bridge. Man, with that pickup and that amp, you'll get the tightest fattest fuckin' distortion that ever lived! The amp is not noisy at all at high volumes. Don't get me wrong, this amp is not just a metal amp, that sucker has the lushest, roundest clean tones and sweetest reverb, it didn't distort when I put it high (and my band plays loud, AAHHH!) I usually set my clean channel with bass around 2 o'clock, treble around 11 o'clock, and whatever mids it takes to warm it up. The distortion on this amp is just MAMMOTH!! Really tight!

Haven't had it long enough,bro.

Haven't had problems yet.

The sound is all that matters. The simplicity is an extra bonus!

Update of an earlier rating. Others have described it well.

Clean channel great, clean till about 7. Loud as hell, with 2 4-12 cabinets, it could fill Shea stadium. Butttttt, and heres the hitch. The lead or distortion channel is too muddy no matter how you adjust the controls. It's so muddy that it gets lost in the music, it's still loud, but unrecognizable. Even with the tube substitution to 12AT7 in preamp it still sucked. I rated this a 3 only for the clean channel.

Didn't have long enough.

Crate was really helpful in trying to solve my dilemna and their lead tech Jay put in alot of time trying to help. Hats off to crate. Also, the Music and Arts centers in the Baltimore/Washington area, were very helpful. They eventually returned the head for a full store credit after all tries failed. I don't know which company decided to let the head be returned, but it was a great gesture. Of course I ordered another Crate amp the same day a BV-6212 and it is fantastic. Anyway, it's nice to know that customer satisfaction is still a priority with these 2 companies.

No I would not buy it again, but I have bought from the 2 companies since.

This amp is great for classic rock. 2 completely separate channels, right down to the reverb. Effects loop w/ pad for rack mount effects as well as stomp boxes. This amp has all the features I need and more, (POWER), all the power any one needs, with 4 6L6 and 3 12AX7A fuses, who could ask for anything more? Not me, would'nt trade it for a marshall, I have friends with marshalls who would like to do just that!!!

Like I said, classic rock band, 3 peice, so I need all the punch I can get. The clean channel is sparkling clean at half volume (if you can stand the volume), the second channel can pick up were the first one lets off and get dirty, or really crunchy, whats your flavor? If you want metal, you got that too. Massive metal, no problem. I play a YAMAHA RGX612A through my BV, and what a team, they seem to accent each other perfecly.

Its a little early to tell, I have only had my BV for 6 months, so maybe I could better answer that question in a few more months. But as far as a back up, no way, I trust this amp, its AMERICAN MADE, can't get any better than that!!!

I have never had a problem, but if I did, it has a 5 year unlimited warranty, to bad it does'nt include the tubes, oh well, some things are to good to be true!!! The place that I bought my BV has a service center next door that services CRATE amps, and the service man, a good freind, has never had a BV amp in for anything other than fuses being replaced.

No, I would not buy another one, how would I explain that to my wife, it took to much sweet talking to get this one. The only thing that might be its downfall is that its big, but thats the price one has to pay for great sound. I compared it to marshall, close but no cigar; mesa boogie, close but not enough punch; fender, close but not enough crunch; peavey, oh well they were out to lunch. The only thing I wish it came with was a person to carry it. I purchased the full stack, but only play out with half, the other half is just for a keepsake, if you know what I mean. If you have plans of purchasing a BV, consider celestian speakers in your cabinets, its a little more expensive, but well worth it!!!

This is a 2 channel all tube amp, with channel switching and reverb. The clean channel is just that and loud enough for any situation. The lead channel is distorted and muddies beyond recognition to fast for even my heavy metal friends.I use this head when I need ass kicking volume. I usually use the clean channel because of the heavy distortion. Some more on that later.

The clean channel is incredibly sparkling and loud. It will dirty up nicely if you can stand the volume. This channel is great. But the lead channel gets much to dirty to fast. This is where I have used support from Crates techs. At their suggestion I have replaced the 12AX7's in the preamp section with 12AT7's to try and clean up the distortion a bit. I mean this distortion was so heavy you couldn't make out chords you were playing. I play 60's and 70's music and I need more of a piercing lead than a muddy distorted lead. I use a PRS CE22 and even with a Strat sound the distortion is muddy. I haven't used it out since I changed the preamp tubes, so I'll update later.

Have only had the head for a month no problems yet.

The guys at Crate were very willing to help me tweak the head to my tastes. The warranty is 5 yrs on electronics, 2 yrs on speakers and 90 days on tubes.

I'll let you know after more tweaking.

2 channels Clean and Distortion clean very loud and clear Distortion very loud and Distorted, very distorted
Extremely powerful on the top end like the Blue Vodoo 60 but very powerful
**pretty cool it lights up in the front check it out next time your in Guitar Center very inexpensive for the quality

compares to Marshall this crate has metal parts where Marshall has plastic
foot petal available effects loop 16/4 oms rating main/extention jacks fuse on the back

Very reliable, hasn't let me down yet, i crank it every time, i take advantage of it's power it will power any need for any show

Company is very helpful/no questions asked 5 year transferible warrantee no questions asked, they just fix it all crate employees are musicians themselves

i wouldn't buy it again, i already have one... i don't think that i will ever sell it. it compares to any amp, very loud, has features that Marshall doesn't have craftmanship is better than Marshall, hand made in USA