Crate BV50H

Two channel, all tube, 50W head, FX loop, line out etc. Read other reviews for particulars. I use this amp in small clubs throughout Atlanta with a variety of bands. I play a range of music from blues to funk to hard rock and metal. This amp handles it all with problem. It's a very loud 50 watts, with surprisingly good tone. I've been playing for 25 years and own lots of gear...Marshall, Groove Tubes, Peavey 5150, Lee Jackson, Line6, Fender, etc. I've always poopoo'ed Crate, but I was looking for a compact, all tube head and this sounded great in the store with both Strats and Les Pauls. As far as features go, it's very basic, and I like it that way. It's easy to get a good tone out of.

I run this amp with the gain all the way up and use the guitar volume to clean up the sound. This amp is very responsive in that regard. Other reviewers slam the clean channel, but my guess is they haven't spent enough time tweaking the amp. While it can sound brittle when using the same setting you would on a Marshall, (everything full up), the Blue Voodoo head has EQ that really works. I don't run the treble up past 4. The best thing about this amp is the presence. While most presence knobs just seem to ad scratchiness, this one actually makes the sound more present, or in your face. Single coils sparkle and humbuckers get a liquid smooth character. With the gain full up, there is a bit of high end scratch, but backing down the treble a little pretty much gets rid of it. It's not as brutal as a 5150, but the tone blows it away, and toone is what it's all about.

Crate has an awful reputation for beaking down. I hope this one lasts.

The 5 year transferable warranty is nice, but that doesn't help when you have an entire venue waiting for you to figure out what's wrong with your rig. I pray this thing holds up!

If it were stolen, I'd probably buy another, but there is so much gear, and only so much time.

This is agreat amp for my sound, primarily classic metal, hard rock and experimental freakouts.
It has 50 watts in a dual channel amp head with foot switchable channels & reverb, an fx loop and line out.
The gain channel is very useful and can achieve most any gain type sounds, the clean channel is way to bright & harsh for my tatse (I prefer that compressed solid state sound like Mark Knoffler on "Sultans of Swing")
I use this amp for both recording and live jams, any setting above 3-4 is way loud, so there is power to spare.
Im running Svetlana EL34 in the power section and Tesla 12zAX7 in the preamp section.
This is an auto biasing amp and can utilize both British and American styles tubes (read; Marshall and Fender)

I use primarily a dual Dimarzio humbucker Charvel San Dimas II with a Wilkinson trem; a custom soloist style guitar with a hard tail bridge and a Tele Thinline '69 reissue.
Both strat types(humbuckers) sound great, but Ive yet to get a good clean sound for the Tele (again the clean sound is to harsh and brittle) The gain channel will please any hard rock, metalist even you scooped Eq'ers.

I cant comment here, as Ive only had the amp for about 3 months, it was bought as a store demo and is in great condition.
I did have to call Crate for a question regarding premature feeback of the gain channel at any settings above 2, which retube fixed.

When I called Crate (read; Jump thru hoops-Get a freaking website/email address people!!!!) They were not even qualified to answer the phone, much less the questions.

Ive been playing 20+ years I have owned ADA, Gibson, Fender, Traynor, Peavey and alamo amps.
If it were lost/stolen Id buy a boogie or the Blue Voodoo 2x12 combo.
I love the gain channel and hate the clean channel.
Gain channel can do it all, I just wish the line out defeated the power amp output, its sort of useless for us apartment dwelling recordists (sort of defeats the point of having a recording out, duh!)

I think this amp was made in 1996, not sure though. It is a 50 watt, all tube Blue Voodoo head. My local Crate dealer tells me that Crate doesn't make the 50 watt head anymore, only the 60 and 120 watt, which were too expensive for my budget. For tubes it uses 3 12AX7s in the preamp and 2 6L6s in the power amp. You can also swap out the 6L6s for EL34s thanks to the Voodoo's auto biasing, but this revue is based on use with the stock 6L6s. It has two channels, channel 1, which is clean, and channel 2, which is the lead channel. Channel 1 has controls for volume, low, mid, and high. Channel 2 has controls for gain, low, mid, high, and master. There are also controls for master reverb and master presence. Channel 1 and 2 are foot-switchable, as is the reverb. There is an effects loop, with send and return jacks on the back panel, but no control for mix level. Since I hardly know how the effects loop works and I don't have any effects, I've never used it. Along with jacks for 4, 8, and 16 ohm speaker enclosures on the back panel, there is also a lineout for plugging into a mixer or recording console. No headphone jack, but I've never seen one on a head anyway. Through my 4 by 12 cab this amp can get damn loud. Playing by myself in my living room I set the lead channel at about 1. More than enough power for a band situation. The amp is versatile enough to cover from classic rock to metal. Very powerful tone shaping controls. On the side, it is one the best looking amps I've ever seen. It's covered with a cool dark blue Tolex and has gold appointments. Very striking. Features I wish it had? None really. I bought this amp because it matched what I was looking for.

I'm using an Epiphone G-310 with this amp, which is a pretty cheap guitar with it's stock pickups still in it. Still, I can get some good tone out of the amp, even though my guitar isn't worthy to be plugged into it. It suits my style nicely, which is something of a classic rock kind of thing. I play everything from Ozzy Osbourne, Collective Soul, Aerosmith, B.B.King, Led Zepplin, Bon Jovi and a whole lot of other stuff, and the BLue Voodoo can handle it all nicely. The clean tone sounds amazing, especially for blues with a touch of reverb. It seems to distort a tiny bit when using a super-bright setting, but I think that might be the speaker cabinet and not the amp. Besides that, the clean channel has great headroom. The lead channel on this amp smokes! As I mentioned before, the tone controls are very powerful, and this is especially apparent in the lead channel. Blues, rock, metal can all be dialed in easily. I like this amp because it doesn't have a whole lot of knobs, but the controls it does have work very well to shape your sound. You can dial in some pretty exaggerated reverb with this thing, more than I'd ever need. I usually leave it at around 2 or 2.5. Super quiet operation.

This review is based on about two weeks of near solid playing, so I can't really comment on it's reliability. I know that it has one of the best warranties in the biz; 5 years on electronins, 2 years on speakers, and 90 days on tubes. Plus, my old Crate GX-15, which albeit isn't the greatest sounding of amps, has never given me trouble, and it is at least 5 years old, and I've used it at tons of jams up on bust! But I'm getting off track. The point is even Crate's super cheap amps are realiable, so I'm assuming that their top-of-the-line amps are too. I'd gig with it without a backup, partly because I can't afford a backup, but also because in my experience Crate makes a good realiable amp. No breakdowns yet.

I've already mentioned the warranty. Never had to get it repaired. An authorized service center is just 5 minutes away, and the guys there are really great. I've never actually dealt with Crate themselves, except for filling out their questionnaire on their website, in which I requested a catalog that I never did receive.

I've been playing for about five years. My first and only amp (besides the Blue Voodoo) is as mentioned before a Crate GX-15. Along the way though, before deciding to get the Blue Voodoo I tried out a Marshall Valvestate, a Peavy Bandit, a Crate Vintage Club 60, and a Mesa Boogie DC-30. I chose the Voodoo because it was the best sounding amp for the money. For the price of the VIntage CLub 2 12 I got a head and a Crate 4 12, plus it sounds better than the VC. It completely blows away the Valvestate and the Bandit. The Boogie was the only real competition, but I didn't have that king of money, and the Blue Voodoo sounds 95% as good as it anyway. I would definitely but it again if it were lost/stolen. I really love the versatility of it, especially in the lead channel. Just one last thing I'd like to share. You have to get a Gripmaster. It's a liitle thing for exercising your hand muscles, and it really works!