Crate BV120HB

Don't know year made. i'm sure it's the last version of model. has black tolex covering, restyled logo. Came with Groove Tubes(6L6), 2 channels with independent EQ, effects loop with -12 db switch on front panel for effects loop. seperate reverbs for each channel(very cool).

I play Fender American Deluxe Strat, Ibanez 570 , Fender MIJ contemporary Tele(circa mid 80's). I am truly amazed at the excellent tones I get with this amp.All of my guitars sound great through this amp. I like to play jazz, traditional to smooth. I like to play blues as well. This amp has very good clean tones, very quiet. The distortion is the best I have ever played. you can go from classic rock to metal easy. Great articulation when soloing. Very rich sound.As many know, a prerequisite is to have a good cab.(I have a Peavey 6505 4x12).

Has been great thus far.

Have'nt needed to get in touch with company.

I have been playing for 20+ years. Studied jazz a couple of years(if you want to be a better, more confident player...learn theory). If lost or stolen I would absolutely buy again. I honestly feel that these are very, very underated amps. I have owned Marshalls(great amps), Peavey 5150(awesome amp), Randall(good amp), Fender(great of course). But in all seriousness, I would take my Crate BV 120 over evrything. I know this sounds arrogant, but I would put my skill up against many a player and I would take my Crate with me. Best piece of equipment I have played through.

its got your basic set up. two channels plus reverb. all tube etc....
i would give it a ten if it had a boost or extra channel.

this thing is my wett dream come true. i play alot of classic, southern rock stuff and this amp cant get the tones i need. the feed back on this thing is awsome. hold a note and it just goes to singing feedback. SWEET! i play through a peavy genaration s1 with active pickups. they work really well together. my other guitarist in the band hates his amp now that he has heard mine! lol

its a crate. they are build like tanks. so enough said about that

i doubt ill ever know the answer to this question. like i said they are built like tanks.

if this amp was stolen i would track down the bastard that stoled it and beat him with this amp. the amp will be find but he would be pretty fucked up after lol

My amp was made probably in 2004. It has two channels, dual reverb controls, has 4 beam type octal power tubes and 4 triodes. It has a tremendous range of voices by way of it's tone controls, and gets loud enough to rattle your innards through 4x12 cab.

It sounds great. Very sweet harmonic overtones and produces stunningly beautiful feedback on sustained notes. It has excellent transient response, but the power supply isn't quite ample enough to produce a dramatic dynamic range in relation to the note attack, but the splendid musical quality of the tone out of the speakers makes up for it.

It has great definition and chords are lush and the clarity even at full gain settings render clearly the sound of every note in the chords.

The clean channel is excellent as well.

It's a Crate. It will last forever if properly maintained and at least 20-30 years without it.
It's also very well built with chassis mounted powertube sockets and top quality potentiometers.

Crate has great CS

27 years stage and studio
Yes.
Great amp for way cheap.

I don't miss my Mesas, Marshalls, Soldanos, VHT combos, or any of the other amps I have performed with-well the VHT UL was better playing, but no better sounding.

Brand new 2006 model, came with Groove Tube 6L6s. 120 watts and 2 channels, it's set up pretty well. Has seperate EQs for each channel, which is usually a given unless you buy a 5150/6505. The amp does come with a footswitch for switching between the two channels as well as switching the effects loop on or off. There's also a decibel pad for the effects loop as well, which is pretty nice. I don't really feel this amp needs a 3rd channel, although it would be nice and my only real complaint is that the reverb section isn't switchable. It's nice having a reverb control for each channel, but sometime's it's nice to be able to switch it on or off on the fly (in the case of a solo). This is one thing the AT-100 has the hold very high. Maybe a treble boost for the clean too.

This thing is a monster! It has gain but not too much gain. You can saturate but still not overdo it if you pay attention. It's not like an AT-100 or XXX where you may experience too much gain. Also, unlike the XXX, the tone isn't very buzzy on the top end. I like the XXX, but the top end is a little to buzzy for my liking. Same with the AT-100. It has a a good low end punch, good mids and good highs. You can go from a light crunch to full blast metal in no time. I tested it with both my Les Pauls (one with the 490r/498T combo and another with EMGs) and my Silhouette and my Strat. The single coils retain their clarity and glassy sound (roll back the gain and the tone knob just a bit) and the humbuckers sound thick and right on point.

The clean surprised me. It's a very good balanced clean and very workable. The reverb section helps out very nicely here and I recommend it highly. The only drawback I can see is a treble boost (like the AT-100) but that can be worked around easily. The AT still has a better clean channel (more Fenderish), but this one is very versatile and takes a lot to start distorting out. This is my new main amplifier and I'm having a ball with it.

I really can't rate this part because I haven't had it that long. However, based on other Blue Voodoos that I've messed around with (friends' amps) these things tend to hold up very well. I would gig with it, religiously. I always recommend having a backup because you never know when you're going to need it. On the whole though, It's great!

Haven't had to deal with St. Louis Music yet, but a 5 year transferrable warranty sure is nice.

On the whole, this thing kicks some ass. It's versatile enough and has enough features to keep on satisfied for a while. The tone's damn good and holds up great at low and high volumes. There's only a few small things I wish it had (footswitchable reverb, boost for clean) but other than that, it's a great amp. Well worth the buy.

I bought mine brand new only a couple weeks ago, so its a 2006 or maybe 2005 model. I would like a 3rd channel but I think the amps has every thing you need I run a boss blues driver and metal zone off the clean channel when needed. The only problem I noticed is if you use the effects loop the reverb is multiplied rediculously.

I have a gibson explorer and '71 Strat with fat 50's in it. The explorer has factory pickups and I have a bad feedback problem with it. The amp sounds beautiful, gotta say for the money nothing sounds better. Sounds as good as a head that costs twice as much. Totally impressed from Hendrix and SRV tones to Slayer this think is just sick. Awesome. Crate has always had the best clean tone as well and this is no exception.

Only had it for a couple weeks so I am not sure, I am going to gig it without a backup so wish me luck.

Anyone who needs a powerful tube amp that sounds great and is totally affordable I would recommend this amp no matter what style you play, except country I guess. I would problably repalce it with the same amp if it were stolen or maybe the Peavy XXX head. But that is several hundred dollars more.

i got mine used, so i dont know if the douche that previously owned mine broke something or this is how they come. my effects loop is footswitchable, and my channels are footswitchable, but i can only do one or the other.

i play metal and use jackson guitars and a gibson explorer. the clean and dirty both sound great, but to not get drowned out by my other guitar player who plays a marshall mode 4, i need to run my line 6 constrictor, boss metal zone, and dimebag crybaby to the clean channel and turn the levels up on the pedals. this works for volume, but can get a bit buzzy but it doesnt feed back as much as when the gain is past 7.

no real problems with it. i've had to replace the tubes, but other than the used wear and tear from the previous owner, its my primary stage amp and has worked well so far.

never directly dealt with crate, but my guitar shop guy had to find some tubes for me and he had a little difficulty with them, but who knows just how credible that is.

pretty good for what i want. maybe down the road if i could afford it, i'll get a diezel or something. but for now i'm really very happy with it. the thing rocks if you take the time to adjust the levels and everything.

This is the HB model which looks better than the normal BV120 which was blue in color. The dials don't have any numbers on them though, so every setting theoretically goes to infinity (Spinal Tap style).

It has two channels, that's all I need. I use a Boss Metal Zone pedal on the clean channel and can get a great Dave Mustaine and Dimebag tone out of it. It has plenty of power and can easily overcome the volume of a drumset.

The blue voodoo cab that comes with this head in the half stack really sucks. If you're going to test out this head then try it out with a Marshall 1965 cab or a Mesa Boogie cab. I use a Mesa Boogie oversize 4x12 cab which I think it is the best sounding cab on the market right now and with this head you get a massive sound almost like a full stack. One of the reasons the Mesa Boogie half stacks sound so great is because their cabs are awesome.

I use Jackson guitars with Seymour Duncan JB/59 pickups. This Blue Voodoo can be used for almost any style of music if it's set up properly.

This amp doesn't have any buzzing or anything like I experienced with some amps I owned before (B-52 AT100 for example).

The clean channel is one of the best I have ever heard. It is sparkling clean especially with the Jazz pickup in the neck on my Jackson.

I have used it on gigs and after the show I almost always get comments about how great it sounds... although it's probably the guitar playing too :-P

I haven't experienced any problems yet and I have owned this amp head for over a year now.

The selector pedal was not included when I bought this amp because it was a floor model, Crate sent me a new pedal for free after I called them.

Overall I think this is a great amplifier head and the best value. I was looking for an amp for a while before I found this one and after listening to a lot of solid state amps I cam to the conclusion that there is really no solid state amp on the market that provides the warmth and "real" sound of a tube amp. Many people are intimidated by tube amps because they are more expensive and require maintenance but something you should realize is that you are sacrificing a lot on tone and a tube amp just has a lot more balls than a solid state amplifier. A 50W tube head is usually as loud as a solid state head with twice or three times as much power. And with solid state amps you also have to worry about clipping when you turn it up to level 10, with a tube amp you just have to worry about blowing the speakers!

2 channels - standard clean/overdrive options
FX loop with power boost switch, sadly neither the loop nor the boost are footswitchable
Tube preamp, poweramp

I use this amp for metal - both the brit-style 80s stuff and scandinavian melodic doom metal. I'm playing Malmsteen strats through it - one is stock except for a an EMG 9v gain boost miniswitch and the other has been turned into a SSH with Seymour Duncan Live Wires (lovely pickups by the way - get the Hot/Metal 18 volt version, and they beat the hell out of EMG 81s).
There is a trick to getting a decent sound out of this amp - put bigger power tubes in! This amp tends to be very grindy. The highs are generally too piercing, and the distortion tends toward the solid state sound. On a whim I put bigger 6l6s in there (ruby tubes) and the distortion opened up a lot! It now has tight crunch but with a fullness that is fun to play with. Also, turn down the highs! The mid knob controls higher frequencies than most amps, so you can get a superior tone by simply weighing in the mids and taking the highs down to about 10 o'clock.
HOWEVER, do not think that this amp will give you the quality of the commonly more expensive amps. It lacks the searing low end of a Boogie, the boom of an Engl, the creamy texture of a Fender, or the complex harmonics of a Bogner. Oh yeah, and it sure as hell ain't a late 80s Marshall! However, it is an adequate amp that is fairly easy to find used. Again, let me reiterate that bigger tubes are key to getting a good sound out of this thing. Of course, if you can only find BVs in the 600 dollar range, go with a Crank. They're a lot more versitale, and do what the BV tries to do (and only marginally succeeds).

It hasn't broken down yet.

Fairly reliable, ok sounding amp. To be honest, in hindsight I'd have gone with a Crank amp if I were to stick in this price range. I plan on upgrading to an Engl in the near future since it is much more suited to my needs.

Its a 120 watt tube sucker with 6l6's, perfect. And its Blue, i mean come on, thats pretty fucking cool.

Brutal, fucking brutal. This amp is as good as any Marshall or Mesa ive tried and its a hell of a lot cheaper. Honestly im not a tone nerd, all i want is a loud amp for little dough that sounds good, and ill do the rest. I dont give a fuck about the "brown" tone or the "mesa" tone or any of that other happy crap, its guitar, not rocket science.

I beat on it a lot and its still going, but ive only had it 2 months, so ill leave this alone.

I dont know.

I got the last one from Musiciand Fiend on closeout. I got the matching cab for it for $350 used. Now they only have the black one and that 300 watt monster.

i buy my amp in 1998 since now i never change, it s very versatile for any kinds of music dependes of the guitar.
groove tubes --tubes

It sounds great for me i use a gt3 effects pedal for only effects for distorcion a use a mesa boogie v1 bootle rocket pedal, it sounds great whith crate, i play whith a prs custom made.

great amp, for me i not spend more money for a mesa boogie

2 channels, four 6L6/5881s, four 12ax7 preamp tubes, switchable effects loop, and a built in reverb, not too many features just basic features

I use a Gibson LP Studio,Epiphone Nuclear Extreme LP Limitied Edition, and a PRS Tremonti SE, the amp pretty much suits my style perfectly, I play Metal,like Godsmack, Metallica, 40 Below Summer, In Flames, old Creed,Alice In chains, and so on. I desire great clean just as much as I do a great distortion, and let me tell you, the clean on this amp has great character, it is crisp clear, and it has balls!!! It is a clean channel with balls, nice twangy sound too, I'd take it over a fender twin anyday, I don't know about the Mesa Lonestar clean though since I've never played through it, but have heard it's great. The distortion is out of this world, just great all round distortion, nothin else to say about it, it's just brutal, and has a nice ballsy recto tone, love it.

Don't own it yet, but have played through it many times in the local guitar store, and I'm going to buy it within the next month or so. It feels like it's very well built but u never know.

I useta nown some crates but never dealt with the company, but they do make great amps

I been playin for a lil over 2 years, I practice literally 6 hrs a day so that adds up, so i know good tone when I hear it, I just live and breathe music, The only thing I dislike is there isnt a gain knob for the clean channel to get a pushed sound, I dislike it cuz that might suck for some people, but if u dont care for that sound then I cant see what you wouldnt like except for the 2 channels instead of three, but a new 3 channel BV150 just came out cost a few more bucks but it's even better, it has much better versatility

2 channel (clean and distorted) dual reverb controles, effects loop,
120W tube head. THis amp can get alot of tones, but i wouldn't mind another channel, a la TSL or Triple recto solo.

I plan an Ibanez SZ520QM and it sounds awsome. I have play numerous other guitars, from Rg570s to les Pauls, and they all get the same great metal/hard rock/punk tone i am looking for. THe possible gain is far more than anyone could need, thoiugh i have a few problems with sharp treble if the EQ isn't right. SO i set the EQ right. The distortion can sound a bit staticy, that could just be my sttings though.

the amp has never had a problem (though the handle is falling off) and i have retubed it once in a few years of owning it. STill sounds great. THe footswitch, on the other hand, is crap. Get a metal cased mashall one or something (unless they have changed since i bought mine) the plastic POS i got broke in less than a year.

Never delt with them

been playing 8 years (i think) this amp has been my main rig for most of my giging days, but i am looking at a triple recto for more grind/versitility. Great amp for straighforward setup or for your first stack/tube amp.

This amp doesn't really have a lot of features. It mainly has your basic settings that most amps have. Two channels - clean,distorted. low,mid,and high e.q. settings. presence. two reverb selections one for each channel. It just has your basic stuff, but thats all you need.

I two main guitars I play are a (Gibson Les Paul 55-77), and an (Ibanez rgt42) both with factory Humbuckers, Though I plan on replacing the Ibanez humbuckers with some emg's. I love the sound of this amp. the dirty channel has a great warm tone without being too bassy, and a great high tone that doesn't rip your eardrums out. The clean channel is crystal clear with a very very natural sound. (a bit on the raw side, but that's one of the things I like about it. I mostly play metal, and this amp is perfect for my style. I also like to dabble in a bit of country accented rock. It's great for all styles. I do have one complaint though. The feedback on this thing can get pretty bad when you crank the dirty channel up. At first i thought it was just my guitar, but then when I plugged into my buddy's fender combo, the only feedback I got was your typical Les Paul feedback. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm Hoping I can tame down the feedback with a mixer or a guitar e.q. pedal. All in All I think BV120hb produces a killer sound.

So Far so good.

Haven't delt with them yet. No reason to.

I've been playing guitar for around 5 years. I know (still wet behind the ears), But I know a good tone when I hear it. This Head has it. If it was stolen or lost I'de want to buy another one, but I'de probably buy something else just because I would have already owned it at one time. Im always up for change. When I bought this Amp I compared it to a marshall Half-stack, I don't remember Which one specifically, but I prefered the sound of the BV amp. It just has more of a modern sound. I give this amp a 9.

I bought this amp second hand, and it was perfect. The band I'm in plays hard rock/ metal, with alot of guitar work, and it's perfect. This amp can cover anything that's needed. Shame about it not having three channels, but it's easily made up for. Screw the mesa loving whinos who complain about this amp. Currently, this baby goes up against a dual rectifier, and she doesnt just keep up, she roars her way through to the front of the sound. This head has enough meat to feed the 5000, and more if need be. She's being gigged alot, to audiences ranging between 150 and 1000 people, in alot of different venues accorss the south east (uk), and hasn't faltered yet! Does exactly what it's meant to, just blows people away.

At the moment, I'm using jacksons (PS2's, one with the bog standard jacko pickups, another with an 85) and an epiphone les paul as a backup. Using it through a marshall 1960 cab, it sounds unbelieveable. I can only sing praises for this amp. The clean won't be distorted at higher volumes on a single coil, and the distortion? again, sod the mesa lovers, this will roar like a bear with its plums caught in a trap.

This amp, in all the time i've had it, has never broken down. I've serviced it every 4 months or so, and she works a beaut. I always carry a backup with me (not literally carry, as this alone weighs about 50 lbs!) and my backup is another crate, GX212, as that definately wont shag itself out on you. Still, it's never been needed.

I've emailed crate 3 or 4 times, and i've got a reply within 2 working days each time. Not needed a repair in all the time i've had it.

I have been playing guitar nigh on 5 years, plus about another 6 or 7 on drums and bass, and am studying at the sussex academy of music, so like to think i know a good amp when i hear one, for recording, or live sound. This will suit any player who gigs, plays in his/her front room, or just practices with a band. I would happily order another from america if I lost it, and am currently looking for a BV60 to use as a backup for this beast. I love everything about it, and hate the way it leaves so much headroom that just has to be filled every now and then. To compare it to a mesa would make the mesa lovers have a field day of retorts, so i wont. This is in a field of its own, for those who don't want to pay mesa prices, or marshall prices, but want an amp that'll kick arse. I prefer it (help me) to the dual rectifier. Just that damned rip in the tolex with the duct tape covering it... heh, always good!

2003 model. Two channels, effects loop, reverb. Has the ability to use the effects loop as a channel boost....a very nice feature! I use the amp to rehearse at our studio and to gig (usually small clubs and the fair circuit in the summer). We primarily play rock and metal and the Voodoo is perfect for that. I'm giving it an 8 because I'd like to see a third channel.

I'm so sick of hearing you morons knocking the flex wave circuit on this amp. Distortion comes from overdriving a circuit which causes clipping. Tube clipping is technically no different from solid state clipping. What makes an amp great is the fact that a tube driven power section adds additional gain to the circuit as well. That's why you have to crank a marshall or a boogie to get it to sound good (if you don't crank the power section there is no additional distortion from the power amp). If the pre-amp was so damn important to the sound then everyone would be using Marshall valvestate amps (valve states use tubes in the pre-amp sectionn and a solid state poweramp). You stilll get all of the fine characteristics of a good tube amp on the blue voodoo. DON"T LISTEN TO ALL THE TUBE/BOUTIQUE SNOBS OUT THERE!! I've been playing for about 20 years. I make good money and can afford any amp I want. Had a Boogie Mark III, sold it. Had a Boogie dual recto. Hated it (the features of the amp were phenomenal, but it sounded HORRID). Owned a VHT. Nice but VERY expensive. Owned a Marshall Dual Super Lead, nice in the feature department, but was weak on the gain. My point is, that everyone expects something different out of an amp. Don't be an idiot like I was and buy a Mesa because they are cool and "everyone" uses them. The blue voodoo sounds great to my ears and that's all that matters to me. Obviously it sounds good to the ears of Sammy Haggar, POD, Marty Friedman, BioHazard, Sepultura, and Blue Oyster Cult, because they all use them as well.

So far so good.

I hear their support is excellent. Haven't needed them, but it's nice to know it's there. Better than most "boutique" amp companies. As an example I tried to get support for a VHT that I owned. What a freaking joke!!!! Don't own a VHT unless you are good with a solder gun, because "authorized" VHT service centers are non existent and they (VHT) don't return your calls.

Been playing on and off for about 20 years. I still consider myself pretty much a hoobyist, but I do gig a couple of times a month. I can't imagine losing a half stack, but if it were stolen I'd probably consider another (maybe the new larger one). The only thing that could make this better is an additional effects loop, and a third channel.

Bought in a pawn shop in 2002 for $300! Have owned lots of amps, this one will kick your ass. This sucker weighs a ton! Use with Telecaster & 4 X 12 Fender cab. Sometimes will use POD 2 in effects loop. Way more power than you'll ever need unless you are playing in an outdoor stadium venue in front of 50,000 people. Definite overkill for club gigs and the like, but I keep it turned down.

Clean channel is very articulate and buttery fat sounding. I use only a pinch of reverb. Distortion channel is totally atomic, especially when cranked. Use with standard American Strat & Tele guitars

Not so hot, especially the one I got. Since it was used, I don't know this head's history or how many hours it was cranked. After owning it for a few months, it suddenly went dead...tubes would not light up. Needed work on power supply & a new tube. (Another $149). Now that its fixed, we'll see how long before it takes a crap again.

The folks at Crate were helpful in finding me an authorized local repair station.

Been playing 35 years, all sorts of guitars, basses, amps, too numerous to list them all. If lost or stolen, I'd be pretty upset, but have my eye on a Fender Pro Tube Series "Pro Reverb". I doubt I'd ever be able to replace this head at the bargain price I got.

2 chanell, tube driven effects loop, line out for recording. wish it had one more channell, but theres a new bv head with 3 chanell & every feature you could dream of. ill be buying one as soon as i get the cash.

sparckling clear to death metal & everything in between.i play mostly metal. great low end vintige tone with new metal sound. clean chanell is exceptionally clean with great warmth & can also be set to be bright as well with a few turns of the knobs.

had it for a year with no problems at all & it still has the same tubes. still sounds as good as the first time i played it.

dont know & it doesnt look like ill need much.

this amp can do anything you want it to. i would most like to say this amp has incredible tone & will let the tone of youre guitar & pickups shine through while still maintaining the incredible tone of this amp shine through. i love this amp & so far every friend that has played through it loves it to. they all want one now.

This amp has standard features, two channels reverb an such...Don't muss it up with alot of useless bells and whistles!!

The DeVry technical(go to a real school!!) guy should go back to school he's just trying to say something bad for the sake of saying it. I also studied (Long Beach State/Computer Science major)and I know that all amps have some transistors even marshalls. If you set your sounds up right and know what your doing you can get very good sound from this amp at all levels. As for his "tone deaf" students. I studied music at Duquense University(Music/sound recording major) and I don't believe a student or that "wanta be" has better ears than me!!
I'm buying this amp and using it for everything from Jazz to Metal and believe me it can handle it perfectly. By the way Groover Jackson was in on the designed of this amp(need I say more).

I have owned three Crate Amps. One of them fell off a bridge into water after a car accident that totaled my van. After letting it "dry out" it powered up and worked with no problems for many more years!

Warranty is great and support is there if needed but I'm telling you this amp will take a beating that most amps would die from and keep on going.

I have studied at two universities Duquesne University as a music\ sound recording major and at Cal State Long Beach as a computer science major. I changed majors after two years of music school and I now have a degree in computer science. I have been playing for over 20 years, worked as a sound engineer for 6 years and now for the last 3 years as computer programmer. I give this amp such great marks because it does just what you need and has a better range than any other amp out there!

2 Channels, reverb yadayada.

Great clean sound. I was really impressed given the sales pitch for this amp was along the lines of hard rock / metal. Distortion channel provides any kind of sound you want, provided you take the time to listen and turn some knobs. It can be harsh, but also mellow - like bluew rock.

Don't listen to the idiot below who goes on about the transistors in the distortion providing the sound. That'd be his good ol' DeVry POS degree talking. Take my advice buddy, get your money back and get a real degree. I have a BSEE from PSU, and have studied amplifier design. It's common in any circuit design to use transistor for a variety of reasons. Just because you see one on the circuit board doesn't mean it's being used for the overdrive channel. This thing uses 4 12Ax7 tubes for the preamp section. You can actually see them through the grill on the front of the head. This guy is a total moron.

This thing is a tank.

2 channel amp,clean and distortion, reverb.
sounds good you can play tool on it with a strate, since tool
uses marshall and gibson, fucking loud as hell. ive onley screwed around with it in shops but i plan to buy one for recording and to replace my 212.

sounds nice since most of crates exprience is in the solid state area
nasty ditortions. good cleane and dosent kill your sustaine.
suits my style just fine nice and clear and not pushing bass all over itself.

well lets put it this way you can beat the shit out of it and itl come back for more.

Been playing for 4 years,own a couple of custome fenders, stat,abd a tele with a SD humbucker bridge. Ibanez RG 470. Digitech RP2000. and 2 Crate GFX 212s (one is Borrowed) ,crates kick ass(no mesa boogie ass) but they kick afordeble ass.
I wish i had a mesa boogie triple recto and a PRS Ce 22.
Oh if any one has bad things to say about crate they can eat my ass.

PS to your worst nightmare. Groove tubes uses Sovtek tubes exclusively for 80-90% of their tubes. They don't manufacture their own tubes (I beleive they may have one or two made to their spec's though). In all fairness, they also do use Tesla and some other good brands.

Sorry to "Your Worst Nightmare" but this amp really sucks. Its a decent beginners amp but it really lacks in tone. The distortion is over the top but its very "transistor-ish" and good reason. the distortion is from TRANSISTORs, not the tubes. Yes, it does have a complete tube preamp and and tube power amp, but the distortion is coming from Crate's Flexwave circut. Take them both apart and you'll see what i mean. I've been playing SERIOUSLY for close to 20 years and was featured in Guitar Players best of amatuer talent back in 1985 after only 4 years of playing. Just because you've been playing for a long time doesn't mean anything. I teach kids who have only been playing for a few years and are complete tone freaks and can hear the difference between a PAF with nickel covers to a PAF without them. The Voodoo is very cheap sounding. I currently use a Boogie Triaxis and its a complete tone machine. the Voodoo only has varying degrees of sterile distortion - from weak floppy to full blown metal pedal buzz. Its a good amp for heavy metal heads who just want full blown hard grinding distortion and really don't care about tone. i used to be a metal head, then i grew up and became a musician. by the way...i am a graduate of DeVry technical so i know about circuts, so don't try and say that i don't know what i;m talking about.

A good basic amp for heavy metal. clean channel is horrible and the distortion is very over the top solid state / stomp box sounding. A good amp should sound great without any extra effects or eq's.

lets start by saying whoever says this amp has no gain is tone deaf and should quit TRYING to play the guitar NOW! Ive been playing since I was 12 and I am 30 . I own 14 guitars from Jackson, custom mades to washburns and in betweens. Ive owned it all Marshall, Boogie, Randall. The Crate is just as good and better than most. I currently run my voodoo in stereo with my touring rack of stuff. Every serious lead guitarist should own a Furman PQ3 for tone. Got mine from Dimebag himself. For the people saying its noisey........Buy a good cord and a good guitar you wouldnt have that problem.Probably trying to sound like Squirt Hammet with a junkass strat.You need quality equipment for quality sound you stupid fucks.Also I gave it an 8 overall cause yeah most people say it isnt versatile.True....but its like women , you test drive them before you buy them. You know what your getting before you take it home to meet the folks. dont buy a nose to the grind over the top distorted amp unless you play metal.I wouldnt buy a marshall plexi for a PAntera sound dont buy Voodoo for A Skynard sound. If you have one of these you can make it sound pretty much the way you want to with a eq through the efx loop. Definately get rid of those shitass Sovteks that come in them,Groovetubes the way of life. Put some KT66's in place of the 6l6's. Trust me. Remember .......shit in = shit out.Learn your instrument before going to a board and running your jaws.P.S. 5 year warranty.never used mine and its been to hell and back.
Marshall=no balls,goodtone though, Soldano = too expensive for average amp, 5150 = noisey cheap ass made amp, boogie= good, crate = gring(best for the money)

120 watts at 8 or 16 ohms, dual reverb, dirty and clean channels, all tube

I've got an ibanez x-series guitar (best guitar i've ever played, including guitars many times its price) I play funky type metal, and the dirty channel has a pretty decsent distortion, but it produces huge amounts of noise. the clean channel is pretty good until you get to about 3 then it starts distorting which sucks.(it doesn't seem to really get louder after 3 or 4 either, ive got it running into a marshall 1960a, so i don't know what the deal is on that)

its never failed me (only had it for a month) and its got a 5 year warranty so i imagine its pretty reliable

customer support bit the big one. I asked them how to hook my speaker cabinets in series to equal 8 ohms (so i don't blow the head) and they couldn't tell me, i left a message for a "product specialist" but he never called me back

I've been playing for about 6 years, ive used peavy, sovtek, randall, and marshall heads, and sounds better than all of them, but it produces quite a bit of noise so a noise reduction system is a must, i t doesnt work to well for me because i like to use a clean channel with my metalzone pedal, and the clean distorts too quickly and doesn't get loud enough for me.

I love this amp! I'd give it a 10, but it's not blue. The blue color just makes it look cooler. The store didn't have a blue head in stock and it would of cost more than $600... blah blah blah...

Basic head, 2 channel with seperate tones, seperate reverb, presence, FX loop, 4 12AX7 preamp tubes, 4 6L6GT power tubes, 120 watt... NOT BLUE!

I'm using a Les Paul copy with EMG 81 and 85's in it. I play hard rock/metal. It's the perfect tone for me. It's got a dark "bassy" tone, but also hits some highs too. It's got a great distortion on it too. I don't use a distortion pedal cause the amp's is so cool.

I've only had it a couple months, I've never had any probs yet. I doubt I will either. US made, so I don't have to go far to get it fixed.

Never had to deal with them.

I used to play a little Marshall 1x12 Valvestate, this is so much better (duh). Marshall is overpriced and the distortion isn't THAT great, or at least none of the Marshall's I've played.

I've never liked Crate amps before playing this guy. Now, Crate rules!!!

2 channels, seperate reverb for each. Effects loop. I use this amp all the time: when I play live and when I practice. Wish it had an overall master volume for each channel, though.

It sounds great. The clean channel is beautiful and the distortion is so heavy. The reverb sound pretty good. It sounds even better if you put it under some compression. The really high notes get a little weird when you crank the gain up.

I've had it for about half a year now, but I bought it used and its pretty old, but it has given me no problems.

I haven't had any problems, so I haven't had to deal with the Crate company.

Great amp. Wonderful tube tone.