Crate BV120H Blue Voodoo

I walked in to a guitar shop a few years ago not really looking for anything and i saw this head. I decided to give it a shot and it blew me away. I play grind and sludge. I never really use the effects loop and i switched out the footswitch that came with it to a single button mainly because i never used it and that i hated the fact that the footswitch cable has to plug into the footswitch aswell as the head that was always a problem unplugging it in the middle of a show. It's just your basic two channel all tube head.

I play an esp with emg pickups. Like I said I play grind/sludge so the fact that it produces monsterous gain is awesome. It lacks clarity and is extremely noisy when the volume is up any higher than 5 without my noise suppressor. With my active pickups the clean channel sounds extremely twangy and distorts anyhigher than 4 but 4 is loud enough it cuts through the mix nicely. The distortion is brutal as hell with the gain at 6 and presence at 8.

I have to re-tube it every six months because i play it almost every day at almost full volume. I don't have another head so every show i play there is no backup and i've toured with this thing and it never once went out.

i've never had to deal with them.

I've only been playing for 4 years but for those 4 years i lived guitar. I'm currently looking at new heads I was thinking about an engl powerball or a vht pittbull ultralead but for the price it is a great amp.

Not quite sure what year it is. It's the older model with the Gold Crate emblem on the front. Basic all tube head, 2 channels with seperate Eq and reverb for each. The Eqs also sweep at different points for each channel. Channel and effects loop switching on front and with footswitch. Also 12db pad switch for effects that have too much gain. Nice touch. Use the Crate FS. Others will give you strange combinations It's got what I need for what I do so I'll give it a 10. If it didn't have what I needed why would I buy it?

First, I am not a great guitar player. I'm actually the front man in my band, but I am a total gear whore and I can totally appreciate great tone when I hear it. I know tone is subjective, but what I've found is a good sounding amp will motivate even the worst guitar player to play more and get better. I have alot of guitars (I love guitars). 2006 Charvel San Dimas HB1 custom (VERY motivating), Ibanez S470, Charvel Model 2, Kramer 24 fret American, blah, blah, blah. Except for the Ibanez, they're all just 1 HB and a volume knob. That should give you an idea of what I like. My favorite players are EVH and Nuno. I'm also a Hair Band Junky. I also love Maiden, Dio, Priest and Ozzy. This amp will cover all of that and more. Not much of a "Nu Metal" drop D one finger wonder guy. I can get anything from classic rock tones to all out high gain destruction with this thing. The clean side is good but will get dirty at higher volumes (turn the bass down and the presence up a little). The distortion channel is not as loud as the clean side and needs to be turned up past 5 to really scream, but that seems to really allow the power tubes to get nice and warm. It could just be this particular amp and may be a bias issue, but in NO way takes anything away from this amp. It's really the only amp I've been able to turn up to 5. I really didn't like this amp with the Factory Groove Tubes. First I put in JJs and it really opened up. On a whim, I put in SED Winged Cs. WOW! I loved it before but now I really love it. I've tried alot of different 12ax7s in the pre amp and they all seem to be pretty close sound wise, but the Winged C 6l6s Rock! Marshall whores and Recto freaks should just go by their 1500 dollar amps and go away. 5150 guys would like this if it's tweaked right. That said, this amp has it's own sound. If you want another amps sound, buy the other amp. At 300 bucks this thing hangs with them all. At 600, it's still worth every penny. Depending on the pre tubes, it can be a little hissy with the gain cranked (about the same as the 5150), but it's a high gain amp and my rocktron Hush fixes it.

Haven't gigged with it, but I play every day and let whoever wants to play through it. I would definately use it on stage if my band would ever let me play guitar. I'v only had it for 3 months.

Haven't needed 'em, but the website is very helpful.

If I had to, I would definately buy another. I love this amp and would definately recomend it. They have discontinued this model but you can still buy a new one online from most places for 600. That's incredible for this amp. On Ebay they go for 300-400, but the prices are going up.

All tube. 120W.
Made in the 90's as far as i know.
Versatile? Not this head. It's simple as it looks, and you won't get much more of it.
Clean channel with Bass, Middle, Treble and Volume.
Gain channel with Bass, Middle, Treble, Master.
Overall Presence.
Seperate reverbs.
Effects loop - send, return.
Output impedance switch 8/16 ohms.
Bias control - internal.
Power - much power, will do whatever you do.

I wish it had sam shape, contour controls for the Gain channel.

Line out.

It's a basic, big tube head made for hard rock, punk and metal. Not very modern :P

Tested it wit Ibanez SZ320QM/stock pickups, OLP John Petrucci/DiMarzio FRED on three different guitar cabs - all with 4x12" speakers:
1. Celestion Vintage 30s - these speakers are definately NOT for the head's type of sound, believe me.
2. 75W Celestions in a Slash signature Marshall Cab - quite nice, really. Metal type, heavy, good bottom, tight and almost sweet... I repeat - almost. It makes a difference - remember.
3. Some Celestions in a Marshall JCM900 cab - something in between...

I play instrumental rock. Satriani sounds nice to my ears. Petrucci's Suspended Animation is okay, too. Also I'm Megadeth/Marty Friedman junkie. Pink Floyd, Anathema... Something in between.

The amp sounds good for rock a la Kiss, AC/DC and metal. It sounds a bit thin. Trashy. Screamy. Saturation on a larger gain setting makes the sound a bit smoother, but just a bit. It's a bad ass head for a rocker. Clean has a strong, very loud sound - louder than the gain channel!

It doesn't suit my music style.

Is it noisy? Just little. I've played quiter amps. Fine on this one.

The clean channel stays clean at high volumes on all settings.

The distortion is not brutal, but rather raw. Can be savage.

The head did not make a single impression on me. I don't think of it in terms of a legendary, beautiful tube sound. It sounds good, but that's it. Don't get me wrong - i think some people may love it.

If it fits all of your needs and likes, it might be a 10 for the sound. I'm giving it 7 because it's nothing that special or versatile to give it more.

One more thing to mention here is the reverb. Huuuuge. The same on every setting. It's a very, very big hall. No matter how much do you set it, it sounds the same, it's level changes and that's where your control ends. Didn't like it at all.

Built well, looks very solid, but i didn't own it long enough to tell...

Didn't have to deal with them.

I've been playing for 9 years.
If it was stolen... I think that's not what i'm looking for.

Again - I wish it had more control over the tone, especially on the gain channel!

I wish the reverb was... Different, sweeter.

Not a very special value for what it has to offer! It's just expensive. Looks nice, plays well... I think it's not worth the price.

Made around 2000
2 channels.
Blues to Death Metal sounds (and I do use the variety).
Separate reverb for each channel.
Nice effects loop setup
120 watts all tube.

I love the distortion in this amp. I can get anything from blues to rock to saturated heavy metal. Even with gain on full and volume at 10, there is not much noise at all. I have a lot of different distortion and overdrive boxes that I like to play with, but I keep coming back to this amps gain channel for every type of overdrive and distortion I look for...the tone is great for me.

The clean channel is not bad, it gets pretty loud, and breaks up pretty early...at about volume of 3. For breakup I actually prefer my gain channel with the gain at about 0.5 to 1, and volume on 10...great tone their. I can get some good breakup on clean channel, but would prefer more headroom for a clearer clean.

Again, distortion is thick, brutal, with virtually no noise...and that is hard to find.

Well, I bought this used, and had to have the input jack replaced. Also, my effects loop does not seem to work at all. I have been using the same tubes for 6 months now in a cold basement, and that seems to work well.

I giving this a no opinion because this amp was used.

Have not dealt with support...this is used with no warranty. Just go to their website for authorized support...I just took it to a local guitar center...

18 years experience...if it was lost I would replace it. In fact, I need a smaller combo for local gigs and I intend to purchase the combo version of this amp.
I run ibanez guitars with dimarzio pickups (FRED, Paf-joe, evolutions) as well as a fender squier with single coils. I even have a cheap Jackson that sounds good through this thing.

The reverb is actually pretty good, seperate reverb knob for each channel. Distortion can go from crunchy to heavy but not super fuzzy.

Distortion sounds pretty good, clean channel highs are brittle at high volumes.

Only had it for a few months.

Never dealt with them

Can't beat it, $300 used for this 100 watt tube head...

2 channels: clean and distortion, 2 reverbs and a presence control. that's good enough for me.

I'm playing over an Ibanez GRG270B with stock pups. At first the amp sounded very muddy no clarity whatsoever. Clean channel was ok, way louder than the distortion channel. Distortion was actually pretty good but as I said, very muddy and fuzzy when gain was more than 7.

After a while I wasn't satisfied anymore by the sound. So, i put 4 TAD 6L6GC-STR's in the poweramp and 4 Electro Harmonix 12ax7 in the preamp. => WOOOOW, this amp's tone has gone from "good" to almost perfection. I play mostly hardcore/metalcore and it just sounds amazing. I haven't tried it with a better guitar yet cause mine is crap, but i bet a good guitar with EMG's or duncans will improve the sound so much more. And it's already near perfection for me! I'll give it a 7 because sound wasn't so goo dbefore I changed tubes.

No problems so far. Could probably drop it and it'll still work great.

haven't dealt with Crate so far.

Overall it's a pretty good amp even with the stock Groove Tubes in it. But it sounds way better if you change your tubes like I did.

All the features and power a guitar needs for just about anything.

I am writing this to follow up on my 2/26/05 review. My basic review is unchanged: great clean; good distortion; and the amp can be tweaked with the right combination of tubes.

I have gone to JAN Philips 12AX7WAs for V1. These tubes deliver a very nice, detailed clean in these amps while maintaining their character when overdriven. Like I suggested before, V2 is best driven with a 5751 instead of a 12AX7. A nice one will give you just enough taming while not robbing the amp of its character. The JJ ECC81 (12AT7 equivalent) I had in V4 was fine, but it tested electrically weaker and of inferior quality to better 12AT7 offerings. I upgraded to a JAN Philip 12AT7. I stuck with it, but I also was pleased with the results I got using a 5751 for the phase inverter.

The other testing has been with the power tubes. I have experimented with both JJ 6L6GCs and SEDs. Both sound good. The JJs have less bass. The SEDs give you more of a Fender kind of clean.

I have enjoyed experimenting with this amp and seeing and hearing what it can do.

Had it a year. No problems at all. And I have owned 7 Crate amps at one time or another. They have been reliable.

Having owned 7 of their amps, I have on occasion needed warranty service. On those few occasions, Crate was great about honoring their warranty and making available to me whatever service was needed.

I can't stress enough how good their service has been. Many companies talk about their warranty but then do everything they can to not honor it if you ever have a claim. They invent bogus exceptions. They allege that you abused the amp. They'll always tell you the problem is tube related and not covered by the warranty. Then they'll make the actual repair but charge you a fortune for the "tube" repair. This kind of dishonesty is unfortunately becoming more of the norm.

Crate, on the other hand, has been exemplary. They have never resorted to some of the dishonesty I have seen from other amp manufacturers. They have honored their warranty consistently without playing games or hardball. I hope they never loss this quality. As long as they continue to back their products, I'm going to continue to buy them.

I've got 10 amps and something like 22 guitars, which I have accumulated over about 25 years. I didn't need this amp, but the $479 blow out price was too good a deal to pass up on. It is a good sounding amp. For the money, this was a fantastic deal.

Amp has 2 channels with separate reverb and master. Has effects loop with footswitch for channel switching. I play in a rock and metal band, plenty of gain and plenty of volume, loud enough for any gig.

This is an excellent amp for rock or metal. Some say it is just for metal but just turn down the gain to around 3 or 4 and it sounds great also. It really has a great sound for metal and has a nice thick midrange. I play through a 5150 cab and it's real thick sounding. The clean channel is excellent, just watch the highs. The reverb on the clean souds different than other amps, real nice and deep. I don't know why some people really rag this amp, didn't you play on it before you bought it? If the amp was in a Marshall chassis all you would hear is how great it is. I've had many amps Marshall DSL 2000, both versions of the 5150, VTM 120, triple xxx, classic 30, several fenders. I've been playing 25 years, this isn't a bad amp.

I haven't had it that long so I won't rate it.

Never dealt with Crate but I hear they are alright.

I got this amp in a trade for a triple xxx, I also got the crate celestion vintage 30 cab with the trade, I would buy this amp if I needed a decent amp, they are selling cheap on ebay. It can do any kind of rock from 70's to this nu-metal crap. I'm more into 80's sounds and it does these sounds great, think Lynch, Ratt, any kind of 80's metal. There isn't anything bad I can say about the amp

DO NOT BUY THE CRATE CABINET WITH THE AMERICAN VINTAGE SPEAKERS LIKE I DID!!! It is the worst sounding cabinet I have ever heard. I thought it was the amp when I first brought it home and just couldn't believe how bad it sounded. I switched guitars, pickups, cables, everything. Still the weakest, thinnest sound ever. Then I tried switching with a friends cab one day. Oh My God! What a difference a cabinet can make. I eneded up buying a cheap B-52 cab and it still sounds 100 times better than the Crate. I have heard the Crate cab with e the celestions is good though.

don't know what year it was made,i have two blue voodoo amps,two channels,one is gain the other clean,footswitch,nice light show changed the color of mine to red and purple,it has everything you need-thats the bottom line!!!!!
i play acid 60's,70's,80's,90's and the new stuff they call music! LOL-its all good
100 watts if that isn't enuff power,i'm losing my hearing,and yes,with a pair i run them in stereo

first off,when you get a used amp,and you don't have it checked out,you really can't submitt a opinion,it could be bais hot or cold,who knows until you have it checked out,any used amp is gone thru of mine,first off,groove tubes are way over-rated!!i put some JJ 6L6's wow what a difference,even against a brand new BV 120,side by side test,the preamp tubes is a players personel taste,i like the jj's,so need less to say,they both are tubed with all JJ's Tubes,these amps are a bargain,you tweak'em a little,they are simply awsome,i play with guitarist friend{true story}a true mars/hall die hard,he plays a old marshall super lead,we just changed heads,played thru the same cab,and i quote-THE CRATE MAKES MY MARSHALL SOUND LAME-i about had a heart attack,if my amp tech was'nt there to comfirm this,i would say i was hearing things,but this amp carries the water,it does everything you want it do

when they are new, St Louis Music puts a 5 year warranty on it,for a rocking tube amp,i have bought both of mine used for 1 for 300.00 dollars the other was 350.00,other than retubing them,they are work horses,they are tube amps,tubes themselves can go bad,you should see what kind of protective fuses they have,that some of these high priced amps don't think of,they were built for the drunks that load them everynite,my amp tech loves them,easy to work on if you have too,crate did there homework when they built this one

before i bought my first Crate,i called the company,put them thru the ringer,aways nice,aways had the right answer,no BS

first off here,you can't go wrong with these amps,they are just as heavy as any other 100 watt tube head i ever had owned-borrowed,rented you get the point.if you don't like the sound of the amp,change your cab,it may not be the amp,i don't care for most cabinets out{i don't care what they say on them Mars/halls-boogies-carvins etc} there except for Genz Benz G Flex's,some cab designs hav'nt changed in years 40 years or better,i learn the hard way,i have given away just about all my cabs except the GB G flex's,if you want a great amp,and not go broke buying one,even new these a bargain,used is a steal,you can't go wrong,oh yea couple guys say there clean channel suks,change your tubes,then your cab,now i been playing guitar since around 73,guitars,yea i got the les pauls{4} the strat-only 1,2 BC RICH Bich's,1 335,this amp walks and talks,just remember-the guitarist makes the amp,not the amp makes the guitar player,you can buy one of these,save yourself lots of money,and have everything you need,unless you are one of them guitarist that chase the name brands,a fool and there money are soon parted-ROCK-ON!!!!!!!!!