Crate BV150H Head

3 channels,EQ,more than enough power and perfect for what my band plays.

As with all heads this one reacts best with proper cab selection,find the right cab and you've found METAL bliss and rock heaven.This amp is by no means an acoustic clean channel wonder,but it will get the job done.I use dimarzio pups in my schecter,but I will soon switch to some Duncan livewires for a little hotter sound.

Had it over a year,not one problem yet.

Crate has always been real helpful over the phone,the techs like to talk about their product.

Been playing 5 years,just started a heavy metal band last year,like all you guys I've been through most brands,and I'm not gonna say this is the best amp out there,it sits very high in the metal ranking though.I would comfortably compare this head to any of the top named metal and rock heads out there.

I think this amp is from 2005. I play everything from death metal to thrash and this amp sounds awesome all the way through. its got 3 channels, the clean channel kinda sucks but if youre buying this amp you aren't buying it for the clean. channel 2 is more classic-rock orientated, almost like a black sabbath sound with more gain and clarity. now the 3rd channel is the beast. if you want something to rip your face off this is it. i just use the box distortion because its heavy as hell with tons of low end and crunch.

the effects loop works really well and has some kind of hum-balancing port in the back. sounds amazing with a 482i BBe sonic maximizer and any EQ. although the EQ for the amp itself is very reactive, you can get almost any sound out of it.

its not too noisy unless you have it cranked. alot of people ***** about feedback when talking about using active pickups andtube amps, get a Boss NS-2 Noise Supressor. its a tube amplifier, its going to make nosie unless you gate it.

this thing doesn't lack any power, its 150 tube watts. great for gigging. the only thing that sucks is it has 14 tubes, 6 6L6GC's power tubes and 8 12Ax7 preamp tubes. I use JJ/Tesla tubes because its a perfect match for this amp. however when it comes time to replace them (which is about every 2-2 1/2 years) its going to cost you.

I use a Gibson Flying V with EMG 81/85 set with this mainly. this amp definitely is for metal, don't buy it if youre into a clean channel because once again, the clean channel is dwarfed by the power of the rest of the amp.

the distortion is brutal, it will melt people 20 rows back. and very very clear, its kind of hard to make this amp sound muddy unless youre tuning below B.

this amp has been through hell. a buddy of mine owned it and i bought it off of him. it has been on the road and gigged many times. crate is known for making reliable amps, this thing has been frozen, burned, dropped, kicked, knocked over, and generally beat the hell but it still sounds perfect.

never had to contact crate for anything. service is through a local guy i know. but if you do buy this amp GET THE SCHEMATIC. if anything ever ***** up your amp guy will thank you for it, if you work on your amps yourself im sure i dont have to tell you.

This amp is truly the diamond in the **** pile. crate makes a lot of low-end gear that sucks but this amp along with the BV300 are extraordinary amps. i compare this and the 300 against Mesa Triple Recs, Marshall JCM 2000's, and Peavey 6505+'s. i bought it for $600 used, and thats a steal.

but overall its a great amp if youre into metal, but if youre looking for an awesome clean channel stay away. i mean you can find a decent one but its not going to be great.

but i definately suggest a 362 or 482i Sonic Maximizer, a Noise Gate of some kind, and an EQ. your tone will become the center of envy.

great amp, a little more uncommon these days, but definitely a gem.

The crate BV 150 head is great, i have been a crate player for years and this by far is the best of any amp head you can get any distortion you want with both distorted channels and the clean though it could use some work and reverb but this is not an amp head to play clean thru its for metal,rock,blues thats it. the effects loop is great and the hum elimanator comes in handy to.
so many knobs theres no reason you can't find a tone you like

i use a schecter damien FR,C-1 elite,and a westone dimension VI
BBe sonic max 411,alesis 3630,boss ce-20,digitech,metal master,death metal,and a electro harmonix metal muff with top boost

the sound is great using the crate cabs loaded with celestion 70.80's and V30's i use a combnation of both and for extra umph! i use a BV 120 head to with this amp makes a monster tone

clean channel could use some work

i have had this amp for 3 years now and it has never let me down.
i would gig this without a backup

customer support is great used them several times and everytime nothing but helpful and nice.

other than the clean channel being crap the amp is great but as i said up top this amp ain't for clean sounds its for metal,rock thats it you want clean channel get the BV 120 head it has great clean channel.

This amp made is somewhere around 2005 I believe. It has three channels with each it's own eq. I play skatepunk with this thing(Pennywise/bad Religion, etc). It's versatile enough for me since I mostly use the third channel(lead). It has channel switching. To be honest: the best channel switching system I've seen on an amp. It has buttons on the amp and a footswitch, which work at the same time, you don't have to switch between the footswitch or manual selection and above all, it's quiet! Very quiet, no pops or other noise.

It has an FX loop, which is selected on the amp or on the footswitch. It can be set paralel or serial on the back of the amp. It has fx send level and return level controls. A flaw on this amp is that it lacks an overall mastervolume, it has only channel volume controls. I don't use the FX loop so I have a patchcable in the loop and I use the FX send/return controls as mastervolume controls.

I use this amp for recording and in bands and it has enough power for me. The only thing I hate about this amp are the orange lights in the back, it looks wannabe nu-metal.

A big plus on this amp is that it comes stock with Groove Tubes(pre and power), unlike Marshall and other brands that put cheapass tubes in their amps at the factory.

Disclaimer: No amp gets a 10 from me. 9 is an almost perfect amp, the perfect amp doesn't exist. 8 is very good, 7 is good, 6 is average. Now you can understand my ratings.

I use an Ibanez RG3020 with EMG 85 in the bridge position. I pay skatepunk like I mentioned earlier and the amp handles it perfectly. It's very quiet for the amounts of gain it has. I set the gain at 1 or 2 o'clock and it stays quiet, even if you turn it up max.

I use it with a Marshall 1960AV cabinet and also own a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV head. The Crate has a lot of low end, and I don't need a lot of low end so I turn it down. The low end isn't tight either. The amps has two controls for the low end: Resonance and Low. I run the low at 11 o'clock and the resonance at 1 o'clock. It gives body to the sound but isn't screwing up my sound.

The amp is pretty scooped voiced and that's why I run the mid very high, around 4 o'clock. I like a middy highgain sound so if you don't like mids you keep it around noon. I set the high at 2 o'clock on the 8khz setting.

The gain is not very saturated on this amp, so don't expect it to be a Dual Rectifier immitation or 5150 sounding amp, like a lot of people seem to do. Th gain structure is pretty rough and sounds a bit like a VHT UL, but with more low and without the tight lowend.

I like to use it together with my Mark IV to get some extra body in my sound.

The clean stays very clean if you keep the gain low, you can turn the volume all the way up and it stays clean, even with my EMG's. Rythm channel is allright, a bit marshally. The gain is more saturated than the lead channel but it lacks the bite of the lead channel.

Haven't had any problems with it. Still running fine. The amp feels good and seems to be well build(opened it up and checked it out).
Power tubes are chassis mounted and controls are also chassis mounted. Only preamptubes are PCB-mounted.

Mailed crate(st. louismusic) once for the manual, they mailed it within 15 minutes I believe.

I own a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV medium head and 2 cabs(1960AV and 212 with Black Shadows). I prefer the Blue Voodoo with the 1960AV, the V30's are nice with the Blue Voodoo, I personally don't like the Crate with the 212 with Black Shadows, it makes the amp sound harsh and scooped.

What would I do if it was stolen? I don't know. I got this amp second hand and they seem pretty rare, especially since they are discontinued. I probably would get me another amp with the insurance money. It's a very good amp, I like it a lot, but it isn't my main amp. If I found another Blue Voodoo(150 or 300) locally I would get it I think.

Unshure when it was made but I know it was in about 05.

Oh yes I cannot believe how many sounds that u can dial into this head. To the others that bashed it learn how to use a head. I play mostly Death Metal, Grindcore but also like jazz chords and other slower styles. Nothing this head cannot do for me.

3 channels. Yes the switching is clickless. Which to me alot of heads need to take lessons from crate on how to make a seemless switch. Effects loop is also a gain boost which is nice when u go for the leads.

Only feature I wish this had that they could have carried over was the reverb but for 40 bucks on ebay. Get a reverb pedal. or a good old quadra verb.

I just got it and gonna be my studio amp for the sounds that I can get . Sounds like 40 amps in one with the different eq settings that can be dialed into. I only messed around with it for about 1 hour and blown away.

No I am sure that I will use ever feature that this can dish out.

Power lets see ..YES my 240 celestion vintage 30s are ready to fly off the cab. Why someone would need a 300 is beyond me.

Got mine with the grove tubes . Yeah crap. Another note to the other ones that nalied this head. REPLACE THE STOCK TUBES . Run a set off JJ for the power and in the preamp. CHECK EUROTUBES that guy bob knows the end all to what u can run in these heads for the sounds u like.

I use 3 guitars . 1 my baby s540ltd with a dimarzio dsonic in the bridge . 2nd ESP mirage and a hammer with a jb seymour .The best low end sound I have ever heard. I use to have a XXX and crate 120. The XXX was so muddy but I did like the low end . While I said I only got to play aroung for a little while . I kicked the 10k on the 3rd channel I blew the paint of the walls on how low this punched me. I also run a 1 15carvin red line cab for hte punch . Believe me I have never heard a head deliver this much head room.

For metal this head blows away my buddts dual and for being a peavy fan also the JSX to me is the only head in this class that is a worthy competitor. Not a type of music that u cannot get with this head. Jangly 50s type R&B, Hendrix marshall buzz, Run the clean with a little grit and some nice southern diry boy country. Again to the haters learn how to really dial into a tone. Just because it does not say MESA MARSHALL or ENGL does not mean it is bad.

The noise very quiet. I was shocked that on level 6 and gain cranked it was still queit. And this I have to make note on . I bought it used and was trashed on the shipping the wood casing was destoyed 3 knobs were broken. And it still worked like a charm. Take that cheap imposters that haveno idea on how to build a sound tank!!

The sounds again I will say are endless. Get those grove tubes out I know 14 tubes as soon as u get , but trust me I am the pickest person with sound. Take the 20 min learn how to bias your head and get those groves out .

The clean channel to me is were the gem of the amp is. I was able to get every kind of clean that I wanted. A nice bright sound that does not oomh out . The XXX to me for 900$ wishes it sounded as deep and dark. I am running the bass about 5 mids about 4 and highs about 7 withe eq at 3k and the ug and eek down. But heah to each thier own.

On to the distortion. Only a Rivera Knucklehead have I heard as a equal par. The cleanest distortion I have ever heard. A true beast. If u are looking for hte jack owen arsenal of blast . This is your nightmare. Settings on the crucnh channel I am running bass at 8 mids 5 and highs at 6 eq at 2.5 ug up to about 5 and eek at 7 Low end crunch for nice tones. The lead I am running low at 9 mids at 4 highs at 8 eq at 10k the deepest brutal soung I ever heard. How brutal u ask. Treats my speakers like a red headed step child.

Well If u made this far in my review . You would have seen that I recived this after a trash compactor had fun with it. So I have to return it and the good guys at guitar center are really trying to help me with this .But that also tells me that this head can take a beating and still sound amazing . I would run this slaved with a Hughes and ketner or JSX. For the best low and clean crucnch ., But yes I would trust this without a problem.

HA broken down. I feel like I just plucked a beat up old dog and asked it to run a marathon without failure. Great quality from the good people at CRATE.

Again. Replace these horrible groves.

You know I emailed them and called them on 3 different times of ownership of the company . When they were with ST louis, Loud they are amazing. I wanted the manual and a Footswitch and I got a email back from a tech when he was at NAMM and told that he would take care of me when he got back 9 am monday morning in my inbox 2 emails one the manual and the other footswitch with price and ready to go. Cheers to the tech support over there.

Nope no repairs . Will let u know when I get this one either swapped out or repaired from shipping.

I have the best amp guy in the world Accutech out of east hartford. And I have hitting him with every head and brand imaginable. So I am sure this will be a fine speciman for him.

No idea bought used.

I have been playing for about 5 years bass for about 18 and drums for about 22. SO I know alittle. I own a peavy xxx ,crate 120h and a marshall jcm . And sold them all. Will stay with this head.

Oh yes without a doubt but trying to find these heads is the really challenge.

I love all and hate none.. Be cool it was swapp biased for the 3l34s.

Serious to all if u can give this head a reall run and play with it for all that it is worth you will be quick to see how the crate name really was never tarnished only told to hate ir for some reason . Kind a like the french ...

Just bought this amp so I don't know much about it.You guys seem to have covered the features well.

Here's what I do know about it,I can't believe my ears!I grew up hating on crate because I was told too by other good guitarists.This amp is the rumour killer IMO.The distortion is bar none on chan.3,the cleans are decent enough to use,and chan.2 pulls off a good marshall sound.It has more headroom than my triple rec and cleaner than my Randall warhead at high volume.

I can bet there will be minimal problems,as indicated in other reviews.

Not yet.

I've been playing 5 years give or take,I would find another one of these if lost or stolen,and it's a pretty complete amp considering the fact that it's a metal beast.I would put this amp right up with Krank and Randall as far as metal goes.

Made in USA - three channels with independent eq and volume. Uses 6L6 tubes which are less harsh than EL34s.

Clean channel - one of the best clean channels I've heard
Rythym - nothing special but sounds as it should - this is where most players will spend their time
Lead-screams! This channel is incredible.

No reverb - serial or parrallel effects loop. Presence control.

Nice features.

This amp sounds fantastic. I've played in working bands for the last 15+ years. I've owned the following amps:

Marshall LM6100
Peavey JSX
Hughes & Kettner Triamp

This amp is as good as any on this list. The Marshall 6100 was excellent but noisy. This amp is nice and quite even in the lead channel.

The JSX was an impulse buy. There are 10 JSX amps for sale on ebay on any given day. That should tell you something -they sound like garbage. I hated the amp. The XXX cab made it sound even worse.

The Hughes Triamp was and is the Holy Grail of amps. However, I paid $485 for the Blue Voodoo. The Triamp was $1150. The value of the BV150H was the difference. If money is no object - go HK - if is a consideration the BV is the way to go.

I've owned 2 blue Voodoo BV60 heads in the past. Aside from one bad input jack - I never had a problem. I gigged with the amp, rehearsed with them - no issues. Same here. Made in USA

Never had a need - 5 yr warranty is nice. On one of my earlier voodoos I needed a new handle. THey sent it out pretty quick.

It's a great amp. You do not need 300 watts -ever. If you want a 3 channel tube amp - this is an excellent choice. Compare features and price and you'll be hard pressed to beat the BV150H

You know the features,so I won't bore you with them again.

This amp is mainly a heavy metal machine,if you run an EQ through the loop this amp does it all,for metal sound you can count on channel 3 for just straight plug in and go for metal.I'm sure that if you know how to tweak amps then you can't leave a bad review for this brute.This thing has all the headroom I could ask for and will drive two full stacks easy.

No problem yet.

I've dealt with these guys before and they wer very helpful.

I've been playing for 2 years,I have owned Marshall,Peavey,Mesa,Crate,and I won't say this is the best of them or it's the end all of amps but it ranks as one of the top powerhouses in my book,The secret to this amp is a full stack and a ported 15 inch cab,then it moves into the metal God territory.This amp has many qualities and with the power rating is very versatile,if this were stolen I would definatley find another used.

Made in 05' it has three channels and more than enough power for 4 cabs,the rest is history.

OK to the guys that gave this a sub par review,learn how to dial an amp in,then discuss how bad they sound.This amp kills my JCM 800,my dual rec,and my XXX in power and tone,this amp is a metal monster and can do cleans with the top brands.For the money you can get these for,it deserves a 10 in almost all fields!I play schecter guitars with JB 59 pups.

No problem here!

Crate rules in support!

For the price you can find one used,if you can find one,this is the amp for any music,don't fall into the "well if it doesn't say mesa on it,or marshall,or engl bullshit way of thinking,crate put some quality in here,there's nothing it is lacking,I love it and so does my band!

Not sure when it was made. I bought it almost 3 years ago.
It has three channels which I use for clean, half-distortion and full distortion. I actually bought the amp because it has eq on each channel which is a cool plus. The midi cable for the footswitch makes it hard to interchange. The whole "eek and ugh" thing is cute but barely helpful for extra tone. (plus i always bump the footswitch button which turns it off when i switch to channel 3) Power is plentiful and the distortion will work great for heavier music. I miss reverb.

Great distortion sounds for heavier music, and you can almost get a decent overdriven warm tube sound on channel 2. Clean channel sucks. I have tried many guitars both gibson and fender with single coils and humbuckers and have never gotten a decent clean tone out of this thing. Not to mention the clean channel is incredibly low in volume. I have to crank it to keep it level with the distorted channels which means that it too becomes slightly distorted. That pretty much ruins the amp for me.

I've had a few hardware problems. The footswitch buttons stopped working twice. The jack on the footswitch broke loose. The shitty plastic buttons popped out of the footswitch (and the front of the amp) which are now missing for eternity. The jack for the footswitch on the back of the amp also pulled loose and one day will probably rip out with the footswitch cable. I took this amp on the road which I consider to be the ultimate reliability test and each time I returned from touring, I had to get something minor and stupid fixed. That to me shows poor craftsmanship.

Tried to call crate once and the number on their website didn't work. Their website also has no eq setting suggestions. I guess they couldn't find any good tones either.

I'm switching to a fender twin. I don't need a bulky cab to lug around nor do I have desire for the distortion anymore. the music I play now is all based around clean guitar sounds which means this amp is worthless to me. Plus like I mentioned above I miss reverb.
If you're looking for a good powerful amp to push some ripping metal riffs or lots of heavy distorted chords, this is totally up your alley.

This is an add-on to my review last year or so, I am talking about the grey coloured music mess amp.
sSince the features have already been discussed, I will move on.

Ok, after owning this amp for now over a year, I finally got to it :)
I have to admit that I got a bit disappointed in the last time with the sound, it was not getting bad, but I expected more, so I sat down and tweaked it for some hours.

Well, now I'm satisfied again. The amp definitively IS very versatile and good sounding, but you really have to work with the EQ to get it right, especially since you can choose Middle/High Frequencies in each channel.

Turned Eek! to about 6,5 to get a bit presence, Ugh! to about 4-4,5 to get more control of my palm muting (I hate muddy riffing!).

Channel 1: I turned Bass and Middle at 300Hz to about 3 and treble to 5 (middle) to avoid mud, since I play with humbuckers. I can split them, but that's not always an option and depends on the song. I use Gain and Level both at 5, and now it's a really good clean sound, whether I split or not. I will try to turn the gain up, until it is at the borderline of crunching, so I can work with picking strentgh. If you really turn Gain up, you get a nice crunch, but of course, no normal clean channel is left.

Channel 2: Bass about 5, Mids about 5,5 - 6, Treble about 6. Mid Boost at 500Hz. Gain about 6.
Great, fat, warm sounding tone for riffing and lead (usually switch to both humbuckers). Very accurate, open sounding, yet very heavy !

Channel 3: Nowadays use it for crunch. Gain about 3. Bass at 6, Mids at 4-4.5, Treble at 6 and Frequency at 6Khz (I believe especially the 10Khz are pretty useless ...) Nice moderate crunch/medium gain.
Turn down guitar volume to become clean.

As you see, in both distorted channels, the EQ is always not too far away from the middle. I believe if you have a good guitar, you don't need to use the EQ like a maniac, just for fine-tuning ...

A word about noise: This amp is very quiet. All this guys complaining about noise and/or feedback: Probably get a good guitar and learn how to mute your guitar correctly !

- no change there (look first review) -

- no change there (look first review) -

Well, I'm pretty satisfied (again) with the amp.
I think it needs some tweaking, so probably not for someone who likes plug&play. Anyway, I'm happy with it.

I like Crate. They are what they are. They dont have a bad sound but I think they fall short of creating a top shelf product. The features would be more of a positive if they took 5 minutes to explain why they added the frequency select. What or why the heck it means and maybe gave a couple of sample settings. The front panel of this amp is a dichotomy. I am supposed have a command of the frequency options yet there are two knobs labeled EEK and UGH, another appeal to my intelligence??? This amp is pure marketing hype. It does what it does sure and it produces a decent sound. But you guys that are saying it replaces the Mesa are simply out of your minds. I am 2001 3-channel Dual rectifier owner. If ANYTHING this amp is closer to the MARSHALL when brought through its paces which I did at high volumes. The footswitch could not be a cheaper piece of junk that slides all over the place. It shows no follow-through on Crates part and how many guitarists out there have feet 2 inches wide??? Take some notes from Mesa.

I give it a 5 here because I don't want you to think that I am some jerk trying to drive the rating down. To me it is a 1. I would never buy this product. I played it for a competition. I researched it. Downloaded the manual, played it in stores, and then I had 25 minutes with it before the show. I played it with a LP classic with EMG 85/85 pickups and a bad horsey wah. I cranked it. It actually squeeled at me a couple of times and I know it squealed (EMG's are silent) Made a big click on channel switching. I found it odd that something so loaded with tubes would be so hard to dial the harshness out of. Clean was ok, Distortion cranked was decent. Brutal? When I run my mesa like I ran this unit all of my clothes move. That is how much air the Mesa and Mesa cab pushes. There was no thud or brutality in this amp compare to what I am used to. I found myself wanting to put a distortion pedal in front of it because it sounded more like a big dry FART...to me. It is an average amp.

I am sure it is reliable as anything else on the market. I have played crates that looked like someone threw it into a fire and they still worked fine

An average product. Buy a used better product with your money.

3 Channels...read the rest of the reviews, prettys traight forward.
A little Reverb would be a little nice aswell.

I played through this thing though all sorts of different guitars, different pickups (EMG's, DiMarzios, Seymour Duncan, etc. ) and I absolutely for the life of me couldn't get ANY sort of good tone thought this thing. The closest I got was pretty alright on the high end, but the low end was horendous ---- I really don't understand people on this board are praising it so much.

I read the reviews here before considering purchasing it, and I was pretty shocked with what I heard when I finally got the chance to plug into one.

I plugged into a Mesa Dual, Mesa Solo and a Peavey XXX to compare tones, I'm going to purchase my Peavey XXX tomorrow. I strongly suggest you do the same or AT LEAST give some other amps a serious go before you consider buying it. I was with it for a good hour, hated it.

I went to try the Voodoo as I've had success with my GX1200H Solid State Crate Head over the years (money was never there for a tube) and if the Blue Voodoo is anything as reliable as the GX1200H, then it should be built like a tank

Crate's always been good.

If you're looking for reliability and good customer support, fill your boots.

If you're looking for an Amp that sounds great with tones of tone, look else where. But give'r a try, to each his own.

I don't know when it was made but i bought mine in August of 04. This head is perfect for me. It has 3 channels. 2 of the best amp distortion channels i have ever heard and a pretty sweet clean channel as well. The only complant i can make is there is no built in effect. At least a reverb knob would be something but i just run my Crate GFX 1000 through the effects loop and i get a nice combination of effects. I use this amp at every gigs and practice and it delivers every time. The amp has more than enough power than i need but i also mike this amp with my bands PA system so some people may need more but I think it's more than enough for the average player.

I used to use Jackson Kelly's exclusively but i recently purchased a LTD EC-1000 with EMG 81s and the sound is absolutly pefect. I still like the sound with my Jackson's but the LTD and the Blue Voodoo make a great team. I play mostly hard rock to heavy metal. Im not really into the death metal stuff but this amp will definetly work for that style of music. It has a tremndous amount of gain especially on channel 3. The amp does have a little bit of a hum to it when you are on the gain channels but a noise gate will take care of that no problem. I have played through Marshall's, Carvins, XXX's and god knows what else and this is the best i have found yet.

I've had the head for about 6 months and i have had no problems. It gets moved around quite a bit and bumped into and it seems to be pretty solid.

I have been playing guitar for 13 years and i am sticking with the Blue voodoo as long as they make them. If it was stolen i would hoefully get it replaced but if i had to i would definetly buy another one.

Don't know the year it was build. This is a unique, grey-colored amp from a music mess in Germany.
Except from that, features are the same as already said in the other reviews ... I'm not really missing anything, except probably a really good crunch channel. More on that later ...
Tested the slave out, but the sound isn't that great IMO. This is a full-tube amp, pick it up with a microphone!

I'm using it with a custom build guitar, which is basically a Les Paul-type with a bolt-on neck and Dimarzio-Pickups.
In the band I'm playing somekind of Heavy Rock with female Vocals, but apart from that, I'm basically into every kind of Rock/Metal, and the amp does very good on each of those ...

Channel 1: This is the clean one, but you can get it crunchy with higher gain settings (about 7 or so). I had a bit trouble because the channel was too "fat" for my taste, so I finally switched the bass and the mids at 300 Hz almost completely out, and now I'm satisfied with it (probably try it for yourself). I guess I like a more "stratier", thin clean sound, but I'm too lazy to split my Humbuckers to SC's while playing ... anyway, it does a good job, although it's no Jazz Chorus. Dial in more gain, and you get a nice crunch sound, but then I haven't got any real clean left, but if you can live with that, you'll be fine. Personally I need & want a "clean" clean sound, so I usually use the Channel 2 for crunch ...

Channel 2: The British one. Goes from moderate overdrive to some heavy, modern-marshall-like distortion. The adjustable Midrange is veeeery nice, you can go from heavier sound to more vintage sound just by switching it to a higher frequency.
When using it as crunch, I usually run the gain on something between 3 and 4 (the volume's fading a bit if you go deeper, so probably adjust the level). This is no real crunch IMO, more something like a low-gain sound, but anyway, it's great. With more gain you easily get a fat, heavy, warm british sound, great for Rock or Moderate Metal. I usually run the gain on about 6, that's enough for me.

Channel 3: The American one. Well, this one's heavier, although it hasn't really much more gain or is THAT brutal I think, but if you wanna rock, you're right here! I usually run the gain on about 6, it is getting a bit noisy if you go higher, but I have no need for that anyway. The higher frequencies in the midrange sound a bit strange and harsh, so I usually stay 'bout 6Khz, that gives me a perfect Rhythm & Lead - Sound; heavy, smooth & still defined. I like playing full chords & stuff in distortion, so I have no need for muddy sounds ...
Bad point is, I think, the channel sounds stupid if you dial the gain down and use it for crunch ... better do that with Channel 2.

Anyway, great sounds. Usually I'm running the volumes on about 4-5, that's enough.
If you need clean & real good crunch, it could get a bit tricky, but I am happy. Don't think that amp isn't made for real crunch.

Leaves to say that I'm running the amp with a 2x12 Marshall cab in the moment, so I'm curious when I pickup the fitting Crate 4x12 next month ...

No problems so far, haven't gigged with it yet. Don't think something will brake, if you take care a bit.

Since I bought it in Germany, I got 2 years warranty from my local dealer ...

E-mailed Crate once, and they replied one or two days later.

Again, an 8 :)
I'm playing for about 4 years, and owned Hughes & Kettner, Marshalls, Peavey, but this should be my main map for a long time I think.
Compared it to a Peavey Triple XXX (too much gain, lifeless) an Engl Powerball (didn't like the clean), and this one made it

Well this head has the same features as the reviews below. It has 3 channels which is amazing for the price of this amp. With the features this amp has, this is one damn versitle amp. But it ain't no Mesa Road King. So it gets a 9.

I use a Custom Shop Fender '72 thinline and a Gibson Les Paul Junior. Basically this thing sounds great, all of the channels kick ass. Basically the 1st channel does its job of being clean, or slightly overdrived like AC/DC. The second channel is sort of a British distortion and can be tweaked to fit your style. Now the third channel is what changed my mind about getting a Mesa Rectifier, it is the best distortion I have ever heard on an amp of this price range. I give it a 10.

I just bought it so I wouldnt know. But since this monster has 6 power tubes, it would be a pain to replace the tubes. But since Marty Friedman uses it, it must be reliable.

I really have never dealt with Crate, so I cannot say.

I've been playing for 9 years. If it were stolen, I'd cry because I wouldnt be able to afford another one. I love the fact that it is very versatile and sounds great. I wish it had reverb although(i think...). I compared it with a Mesa Single Rectifier, when I tried this one out, it was over. I think this is going to be my main amp for a very long time.

2003 mfg . Features on this head are GREAT! The EQ on each channel is a perfect touch. I give a big "atta boy" to the engineers at Crate for this design . I've had Fender, Mesa Boogie, Marshall, etc... A lttle bit of everything over the years . My buddy bought it new , and had it for 3 months till he got in a hard spot . I got it for a 80 Gibson SG & $100 ! EAT YOUR HEART OUT !!! I play a lot of Acoustic and have a CA125D I usually play thru, but I bought a rack of effects so I could use my new Crate 1200H Solid State . Then when I hooked this bad boy up I was blown away on the clean channel with no effects hooked up yet. The rich warm sound of 13 tubes you can really feel comfotable with. I'm going to hook up my rack next to really hear what happens with the Exciter, Enhancer, Compressor/Limiter/Gate, Acoustic pre-amp proccessor, Parametric/Graphic EQ, Dynamic Proccessor, and with 2 tube proccessors I can only imagine what doubling the power sound is gonna do!!! Good thing my neighbor owns a Music Shop and pays no attention to me, but he did come over 2 days after I got it , and said "what the hell are you running over here now ?" I have a Peavey 412H w/ 12" Celestions in it, and it came alive. I will have to listen to the BV412 & BV2-15 combined as I think that's what I want to run. I give the features a 10 for a head.

I play a lot of acoustic, and can't get over the rich warm tube sound on ch1. I play a 61 Les Paul & A NEW Washburn Idol with humbuckers in both thru ch2 & ch3. I will agree with an earlier comment of ch3 being Mesa boogie on steroids! I play a lot of late 60's, 70's, mid 80's music and ch1 & ch2 suit my style. I use ch3 to get that Metallica etc.. sound, and the Blue Voodoo gets anything you want done. The very low hiss that I've longed for has finally arived! I will keep this head until I die, and I hope someone that can really appreciate it's capabilities will get it when I'm gone. I'm 43 and feel we both have quite a few good years left in us. The distortion on ch3 is totally BRUTAL! That's all I can say about it. I haven't had any of the channel's volume past 3.5 yet, BUT I WILL.

I haven't had to have it serviced, but have no worries about it as my neighbor has the best tech in town! I have a new Crate GLX1200H & a Peavey 400 for backups, but may sell 1 as I really don't feel I'll need them. I've always owned a few crate amps & heads at a time, and they are "WORKHORSES" made to be played loud & often! I have my tube stuff checked out once a year & all the potensiometers sprayed real good, and have only changed tubes once in my Marshall because it was gigged 4 to 6 nights a week at almost full volume. I never neglect my equipment so it has never let me down. It's gottin kinda weak so I had it serviced. It's just like changing a cars oil, and if you keep it tuned up it won't let you down! I feel that the 13 tube design will cause it to hold up well.

I've dealt with Crate a couple of times thru a service center, and they've always paid while under warranty. My neighbor is an authorized service center so I've never had a problem with service for over 25 years. Crates 5 yr warranty is the best in the business in my opinion.

I've been playing for about 30 yrs and owned about everything, but this is the first Crate I owned that really had that BRITISH SOUND! I'm able to compare it to Marshall, Fender, Mesa Boogie, and it has the real grind a rock-n-roller wants. I wish I had a BV412 & BV2-15 to go with it, and I will now that it's settling in with me. It has the Trace Elliot kind of sound that I've been searching for! I feel that the 13 tube & monsterous transformer will hold up forever. Thank You CRATE !!!

I play mainly heavy metal-Thrash-Artillery, Vio-lence, Testament, Slayer- to Death metal and neo-classical. It has about 3 channels I believe (played it in GC). The 150 watts is mind blowing, I can't see how a person could play this full blasted but the good part is, it sounds amazing as hell on lower volumes to cranked considerably. When Looking at a amp, I stuck to mainly distortion settings and the EQ. I looked through Mesas and Marshalls, but this Head takes the cake and is my holy grail.

Im using a Jackson RR-1 custom with a emg-81 pickup in the bridge and a stock in the neck. This thing let out NO FEEDBACK at all, I was stunned. I was bored of the same old recto sounds and everybody keeps switching on the same old boat, I decided to get a more different sound and feel. Well, this thing blows the triple and dual out of the water as it has more of a lively feel to it. The crunch on 3 is astounding. You can dial in different frequencies and countour the sound to any distortion you desire. I had this about 2 at first (the volume) and I was stunned, cranked it to 5.5 and I was blown away. Its the most brutal and to my knowledge, underrated head ive come by. I didn't play around with it to much, but with a little tweaking I got distortion dead-on to Dying Fetus, Decapitated, and then tried it out more to get that thrashy testament/forbidden kinda sound and it took no time.

The thing looks sturdy as hell. All tube, nice design.

n/a

If it was stolen, id either re-buy this or go rackmount and get an ada. This is the ultimate head for people into metal.

Made in 2004. It's versatile enough for my playing style. 3 Channels and 150 watts. It Has an effects loop, I've never used it. It has a lot of preamps which is handy for getting lots of different distortion settings out of it. I use it in small gigs and practices with my band in a garage..lol. It definetly has enough power for me. The sound projects and doesn't sound awful at low or high volumes. The volume is really well balanced. Tube amp that kicks the shit out of all other Crates except....the BV300H. It doesn't have lots of effects like; Wah; delay ect but I'm not looking for that. This does have a lot of different preamps which give you a lot of different amp tones. It is very versatile for my style of playing...aggresive fast heavy metal.

I use a Jackson JX10D with 3 Seymour Duncan Blade humbuckers (I don't know if they are called Blades but they look like single coil but they have 2 straight coils in each pickup) I play all kinds of...metal. Heavy metal, death metal, power metal, and metal you can think of is all i really play. It has a low feedback because of humbuckers. I tried it with a cheep Squier strat and it buzzed like crazy, but that's becuase that crappy guitar is made in some country with a name nobody can pronounce. It sounds great at any volume. The loudest I have ever played it, is about 5 on master and 7 on channel 3.
Channel 1: A good clean sound. I don't use it much, I usually use the clean channel is after a song because I don't want all the feedback of a distorted channel so I switch to clean. It sounds really thick and full though. Has a lot of bass and the power really backs up the high notes even when you play it on clean channel. If you turn up the gain you can get sounds like AC/DC.

Channel 2: A more vintage gain setting (sounds like older Marshalls) If you crank the gain and turn down the volume on the guitar you can get a great crunch. With the right settings it sounds like Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Guns and Roses, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.

Channel 3: My favorite channel. It has monstrous gain. Sounds like a Messy Booger Triple Rectal Frier hehe, Peavey Triple XXX, or a Marshall TSL100. It is very distorted and has a crapload of gain. The different preamps let you get sounds like Metallica, Slayer, Black Label Society, Pantera, Children of Bodom, Disturbed, and Megadeth.

I use the Crate BV412SVB cabinet with it. It's got 4 sweet Vintage 30 speakers. I'm no blues or slow song guy but whatever style of music you play they sound great. Crate reccomends the BV412SVB and BV412 RVB for the 300 watt version of this head I would be afraid to use a 280 watts cab, even though they reccomend it......

I would never use a backup at a gig or practice. The only thing is that you have to replace tubes. I haven't had to yet. It comes standart with Groove Tubes which is a bug plus!

Never had to deal with them. I hear they are not pleasant. But seriousl what customer servide is? They might be bad, but I think the worst customer service award goes to the phone company or cable company....but that's a whole different story...hahaha
I have absolutely no problems with this amp

Overall this is a GREAT amp. If your looking for something with lots of effects; Flange, wah ect. Get a Crate GLX or GTX combo. This amp is very versatile for getting different types of tones one any channel.

I detest this amp. It's pretty straight forword in its controlls.
Nothing special exept it's a 3 channel head.

The worst tone, or lack there of I have ever played. The first two channel BV amps were cool, but this thing is weak, tinny, and Soo much gain it's inaudible and harsh to the ear.

I don't own one. Ive played them several times at guitar center because i liked the older BV heads. This is not at all good like those older two channle heads. But after playing them several times I would never own one

I would love to have one of these things to throw of a tall building!!
Horrible amp. It's SO weak, absolutly no balls, no gurth, no tone. Just too much gain and shrill-ness. I'd rather play solid state.

This bad boy was made in 2003 i think. It has 3 channels in which i use all three in my band (semi-pro touring). Excellent EQ options available especially if you want to find a place for your sound in the mix with two other electrics, bass, drums and vocals. The Ugh and Eek power amp dampening controls are pretty cool as well. i find there is easily enough volume for any gig, i don't think i ever used it above half way! I use an Ibanez RG420 with a dimarzio tone zone in the bridge and an air norton in the neck (v.nice combo). I plug the head straight into my Marshall 1960av (Vintage) i don't think the cab does the amp justice tho. At some point i need Vintage 30s! No effects at all.

Channel 1 is the clean sound, it reminds me very much of a boogie duel recto but with more colour to my ears. Depending on how you set it up you can achieve many different tones from a powerful punch to a deep mellow sound (my fav!). Its not really reason i bought the amp but ive ended up loving this channel. I dont think the tone zone is really the best pickup for clean tho. as you turn the gain knob up you get a nice cruchy sound (plexi-ish). the switchable eq frequencies are excellent on all channels.

Channel 2 is supposed to sound like a marshall, and i suppose you can hear a definite british quality to it but it sounds tighter and warmer. i use this channel for that 'just breaking up' sound which it really excells at. because i keep the gain down i have to crank the volume, this really sweetens the sound and overall makes it a gorgeous channel. Think 'thursday' on thier album war all the time on the lower gain moments. Nice!

Channel 3 is very meaty in general and is probably my fav channel. There is so much gain on tap i dont know what to do with it! i want to say it sounds like a duel recto and it is slightly similar but to my ears a recto sounds slightly fizzy at times which i dont like. the crate just sounds better to me, but thats just my opinion! the best part of this channel is if you turn it up to half way and beyond. it starts to roar and turns into a beast. this cranked sound that this amp made when i first tried it nearly brought me tears!

Good so far

N/A

Dear god its good!

- Amp was made in 2002-2003
- 3 Channels, Clean, OD2, and OD3
- 150 Watts of all tube goodness!
- Effects Loop, with separate send and return levels
- Slave out with level control
- Presence and Resonance controls
- Footswitch controls channels, and loop.
- I play in a cover band, and we play everything from Whitesnake to Coldplay
- Although I just picked it up on Saturday, it seems to be quite versatile and easily covers a wide range of sounds.
- This amp would have enough power for anyone.

- I am currently playing three guitars; an Ibanez JPM 1000, an Ibanez RG520, and a Gibson SG/'61 Les Paul Reissue.
- This amp is well suited for a hard rock/rock/metal style of music.
- Very little if any "noise" at all
- Amp has a wide range of sounds...Each channel has a separate adjustable midrange switch...Channel 2 is more of the Marshall JCM 900, "creamy" distortion...It's a really thick sound that cuts through, and is perfect for lead work...Really sweetens up with a hint of effects.
- Channel 3 is a Mesa Boogie on Steroids...This is the balls out Crunch that will knock people on their asses..This amp IS brutal distortion!

Like some of the new Crate products, there have been a couple bugs in it...The first one of these I received blew a fuse...However, Crate simply shipped me a brand new one, which they inspected and gave a clean bill of health to before it left...No problems to date...

Crate's customer service is really good...I've had other Crates before, and any time there's been a problem, they've eaten the cost...5 yrs transferable warranty...

Have been playing for 16 years, and I have gone through about 10 amps that I thought were "the ones." I think I have finally found "the one." If it was stolen or lost, I would call my insurance man, and get the cash for a new one...Only thing I hate about it, is that it's so damn heavy! LOL...Compared to Mesas, Marshalls, Riveras, Carvins...This one has everything I love about each of them in one neat box...Only thing it should have come with were a few day laborers to carry it around...