Crate BV50H

This amp was made sometime in the early to mid 90's by Crate. It was actually given amp of the year when it came out, even though it has the cheap brand name. It comes with three 12ax7's in the preamp and 2 6L6's in the power section, these can be swapped out VERY easily since it is a self-biasing amp. It is an ALL TUBE amp, and its incredibly loud.

It has 2 channels, clean and dirty, it also has a reverb and can be turned on via footswitch for either channel. It has all the basic tone controls plus a presence control and they drastically model the tone, this is what gives it such versatility. It also has a lineout jack for recording as well as the ability to handle just about any cab you throw at it.

I play a Gibson SG Special Faded guitar, and the amp goes through a VOX 4x12 cab.

The sound quality of this thing is where it really shines, with alittle tweaking that is. In the stock configuration with the 6L6's the bass is a little bit muddy and the highs are somewhat brittle, not the tight scooped sound the metalheads like. With the 6L6's in I couldn't even use my neck pickup because the bass was so over-powering. I replaced those 6L6's with some Svetlana EL34's and now this thing ROCKS!
The EL34's make this thing into a whole new beast! Before swapping the tubes the only kind of sounds I could get out of this was a much thinner version of the ACDC tone when played through the bridge, and in the neck position it kinda had that White Stripes sound of dirty rock with alittle more bass, but very hollow.
With the EL34's I get HUGE TONE! It is not like a Marshall or a Mesa, its unique and its AWESOME! The clean channel is crystal clear and EXTREMELY warm. I play in a ska/punk band, I also play some classic stuff and experimental rock. The clean tone is amazing for my styles, no distortion and so smooth sounding. The gain channel is also AMAZING! Great for the raw in your face sound. Before the EL34's there wasn't quite as much bite and it almost sounded thin, but now it is great!

I rate it a 8 for the 6L6 as the only real tone you can get out of it is a very bluesy and vintage style tone, not good for anything I play really.

With the EL34's DEFINATELY a 10, amazing warm sound, as long as you adjust the tone controls correctly. I keep my bass set to about 10 o'clock and mid and trebble at about 2 o'clock, trust me, this is where you get that warm thick tone, think Jimi Hendrix's clean tone on Little Wing, and the distortion sound is very similar to the distortion heard on Creep by Radiohead, very very thick and heavy.

Only problem I had with it is that when I swapped tubes it blew a transistor in the main board becuase the curcuit board that biases it was messed up. Other than that no problems and I have been gigging with it as well as two to three practices a week consistently for the past few months.

Over all I give it a 8 simply because I don't know if the problem I had was actually the previous owner or the amp itself.

Never dealt with them personally but when I had to get my amp repaired due to the malfunctioning baising curcuit, it seemed like the amp tech got the schematics and all the info he needed easily.

10 since my amp was fixed in a day.

Over all I would say this amp is GREAT.

Roughly $500-1000 cheaper than any amp that comes close to the quality of tone. More versatile than Marshall and better tone than Mesa... oh yeah and less than half the price of either of them.

Very reliable.

Easy to make drastic changes to tone.

Very VERY versatile.

Overall great amp for the price, and if price was no option, I would still play this amp.

Review of a Crate BV50H guitar amplifier: 50-watt RMS; all-tube; clean and gain channels; reverb on both channels. I've used this amp for over a year now, and am happier and happier with it, especially considering that I paid $125 for it used from a very honest eBay seller.

I'm no tube amp genius. No genius of any kind. I like sound, not theories or hypothetical ideals. I'm not a gear fanatic or techno-tweaker. Had a 1969 Fender Super Reverb, and sold it in 1976 to finance some harebrained scheme when I was going acoustic anyway. Have had one other tube amp, a Silvertone tube head with 6x10 inch cab. A very nice amp; clean, wonderful reverb. Like a Fender Twin Reverb, as I recall.

Anyway, this Crate Blue Voodoo is NICE. Made in mid-90s, I guess. Got it cheap in good condition; one broken pot shaft, which I repaired, and a missing gold cap for one other knob.

I play blues: both fingerstyle and "normal" (but with fingerpicks on). I'm no SRV or Danny Gatton, but I'm not bad with either acoustic guitar or electric (the latter I'm taking up again after a long hiatus). I have a cheap but very workmanlike Johnson Tele copy (excellent neck and meaty singlecoil pickups, but HEAVY. Why do electric guitars have to be so heavy?) Also play a Big Baby Taylor with roundwound nickel strings (wound 4th) that sometimes has an old DeArmond soundhole single-coil in it, a straight acoustic Larrivee D-09 (best acoustic I've ever owned), and my "pride 'n joy": an Ibanez Talman TCM-50....the thinline acoustic-electric one with the dark-stained ash top, and the AP-2 active stacked humbucker. A HOT guitar.
So; that's my arsenal.

The amp is a head. I like the presence control: with it, you can take some of the shrill, biting edge off when playing the Talman, with it's high-output humbucking pickup. I replaced the adequate short 3-spring SLM reverb with a Type 9 Accutronics - 6 counter-wound springs in a 17-inch pan. Wow. What a difference. The only problem with my new reverb is that it takes up too much space in the bottom of the amp box, and being directly underneath the chassis' output transformer, it introduced an unacceptable loud hum. I tried various ways of shielding the tank, but finally just got RCA shielded cable extensions, and moved the reverb pan into the speaker cabinet.

Can't say enough about Accutronics - Sound Enhancement Products, Inc (SEPI). They are patient, expert, generous with their time and knowledge, which is considerable. They helped me select their best reverb tank for my amp, and led me through the troubleshooting of my installation. Thanks, guys.

I play the Blue Voodoo into a cabinet that contains two Celestion Rocket-50s, (8-ohm, parallel-wired) and has a closed back and a bass port through the baffle. Made it myself, and it's solid, but has some cosmetic....um..."imperfections". Works like a trooper. Almost too much bass. And volume. Did I mention that this amp is LOUD?

I had no idea that a 50-watt amp was that LOUD. It doesn't have a headphone out, so I patch a headphone amp into the "line out" jack on the back of the chassis.

The clean channel has straight volume, bass, mid, treble. There's a pushbutton switch frontside that controls channel switching (or you can use a footswitch).

The gain channel has gain, bass, mid, treble, master controls. On the right side, there is a presence control, and the reverb, which is default "on" unless you use the footswitch.

Pretty straightforward guitar amplifier. Capable of anything from chime clean to really, really nasty. I can reproduce Stevie Ray Vaughn's glassy bite closely, or dial in that nasty snarl that Jimi Hendrix got from his outfit. Clean to gainy and nasty.

I usually play the clean channel, with the presence turned to about flat; treble EQ'd to flat, and reverb at 6. A lush, dreamy sound, with a hint of growl. I've never heard reverb this rich on any other amp but my old Super Reverb.

On the back there are various speaker load jacks, I use the single 4-ohm cabinet output exclusively. There's a footswitch jack, line out jack, power amp in jack, and an effects loop in and out, which I never use. Wouldn't know how. I don't know shit from pedals and effects.

Way enough power. I would've gotten something in the 20-watt range, if I'd seen a deal good enough when I was looking. The Crate was cheap and cheerful, and stated to be in excellent condition, which turned out to be true. Lucky me.

It's an autobiasing setup, so assuming that you match pairs of output tubes, you can use either 6L6s or EL-34s. I prefer the cleaner, chimier sound of the 6L6s myself, but it's nice to know that one could try something new and different, even if you never do so.

It is HEAVY. Loud.

The guitars I use I mentioned above. I don't know how it would sound with a double-humbucking outfit, because I don't have one. The Talman guitar, with its active AP-2 stacked-humbucker is almost too much for the amp. I have to turn down the preamp volume slider, and flat both the bass and treble output controls on the guitar to prevent the entire deal from blistering the paint on the walls.

The amp sounds really rich, full, and deep. I didn't realize how much control one has over one of these amps....in the old days, I just firewalled all the controls on both amp and guitar, and counted on varying bloodstream levels of heroin to extenuate painful volume. Now, I've found that one can exert almost limitless control of tone, volume, sound, and style just by varying the guitar's limited controls, and the amp's more flexible and detailed shaping.

I like lots of styles and sounds - as long as it's based in that classic American Twelve-Bar blues structure. And this amplifier can do almost any of it, from Kenny Wayne Shepard's deep nasal snarl, to Stevie Ray's glassy, nasty drive. Clean, too. Fender Deluxe clean.

I detect no hum, but the presence control, when pegged, adds some hiss. Both Clean and Gain channels can become unpleasantly piercing if you don't back the treble and presence off some. At higher volumes, or with the guitar volume control at max, you can get some snarl on Clean. And on the Gain channel, with Gain and Master well up, you can get a real snarling growl, like a Marshall. Not my favorite sound. I like the cleaner sound with an undertone of breakup.

And my reverb. A simple mod, cost me $39.95 with shipping for Accutronics' best commercial reverb. Highly recommended, if you like that sound.

Overall, I can't imagine a better amplifier for me, but I don't have vast experience, either. Take it with a grain of salt.

I'm using the amp just as I received it. Pretty good tubes, a stout chassis, big transformer. No problems, but I don't play it over half-volume, because I can't stand it anymore. Been clean quite a while, and loud sounds, like big tube amplifiers or straight pipes on flat-track racing motorcycles don't thrill me now.

In terms of reliability, I think you could "rely" on this dawg to break all the bones in your foot if you happened to drop it.

I haven't had a single problem with it, other than my fumbling around to find a place to fit an oversize reverb tank.....and you can't blame that on the amp.

The pot shafts feel sort of.....flabby? Like they are made of a flexible plastic, which they actually are. And that might be good. The more rigid ones can break instead of bend, if you're rough with your equipment.

Usually, once amplifiers have been used for a while, the ones that were going to break or shit early have already done so. And that can happen to the best of them. My Crate BV-50H seems solid, and I play out with it in casual venues fairly frequently. I do keep a couple of spare 12AX7 preamp tubes on hand, and a spare pair of 6L6GCs, just in case. Since I don't have a worldwide tsunami of screaming fans to satisfy at high-dollar concerts, I don't need a backup amplifier.

I know Crate amplifiers have a Maico-BreakO reputation, but this one is solid, sweet-sounding, and very nice to play blues through. A perfect blues amp, in my opinion.

I've only talked to Saint Louis Music (Crate's parents) a couple of times. Once to ask for the input and output impedances of the reverb section, so I could match another manufacturer's piece to the Crate spex. The only time was to order a few replacement pot knobs, just to have on hand. Both times, the folks I spoke with were pleasant, knowledgeable, and efficient.

Can't say fairer that that.

Been playing too damned long for how skilled I am. I'm 56, and started playing when I was 17....I heard Jorma Kaukonen play Embryonic Journey onstage at the Fillmore in 1966, and that changed my life. Literally. I loved Moby Grape. The Yardbirds. Cream. The Bluesbreakers. John Mayall. John Renbourne. Howlin' Wolf. Muddy Waters. The

Sometimes - in my delusional back-eddys - I think that if I hadn't been introduced to heroin (like a mouse is introduced to a hungry cat), you'd never have heard of Stevie Ray Vaughn. But then Eric Clapton did all right for himself, didn't he? Hmmmmmmm. Maybe I'm just not that great a guitar player?

Naw. That can't be it.....

If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably call my sponsor, go to an NA meeting right quick, and then pray for the creep who stole it to develop a painful introduction to bad karma.

Yeah, I wish I still had the Fender Super Reverb. Especially considering that I sold it to finance a trip to some overseas destination where heroin was really, really cheap....I'd buy the Crate again, though. No hesitation.

Do I wish it had tremelo? Sometimes.... Do I wish it had 100 watts instead of only 50? NEVER!!

I wish it had a nice reddish leather cover instead of the rather sterile blue tolex, but that's not important, really. And I don't really like the shiny plastic plaque that says 'Crate' on the front, but actually, I'm developing a sort of grudging pride in my low-budget, blue-collar amplifier from a generally under-respected manufacturer.

All tube (3 ECC83s and 2 6L6 ) 50 watt RMS.
I love everything about this amp, even it's smell. So I decided to modify it and create super modern monster amp.
Now it has 5 foot switchable channels:
1. Clean
2. Clean boosted
3. Drive
4. More drive and
5. Supper drive
Different reverb settings on clean and drive channels with foot switchable reverb level boost on clean channel.
Built in very low noise cooling fun (switchable).
I moved reverb tank and it's output section far from power transformer (no more 50-60 h interference), also changed 22k resistor on the circuit between reverb return's ground and active to 35-40k for more sensitivity. Added 2 bright red LEDs on the front panel for the channel switching indication.
WOW!!! what an amp.

I play custom made Patrick Eggle with Chris Kinman AVN 63 in neck, middle and Kent Armstrong's Motherbucker at the bridge position, also it has Shadow hex piezo bridge. I'm using Marshall 4x12 cab with Celestion G12 century vintage speakers.
I play blues, jazz-fusion, world music, hip hop, R&B, rock.
This amp handles all styles perfectly. From clean to very heavy. Fender, Marshall, Boogie, all in one.

I can depend on it, never broken down YET !

They are very helpful. I needed a circuit diagram for my modifications and I've got it in one week (I live in UK)

I have been playing 35 years. I also own Boogie Mark IV, Marshall TSL 100, Laney LC Mark 30 and Peavey Delta Blues.
It will never be stolen (it is one off) or lost - I love it too much !
It has everything I want except noise reduction on drive channels. So my other amp of choice will be Dolf Koch's Multitone or Powertone which is also four times more expensive.

All tube 2 channel amp with footswitch. Can be used for anything from country to metal. The effects loop is pretty good, too.
It's 50 loud watts, autobiasing for 6L6 or EL34 powertubes.

This amp is my favorite amp to use in the recording studio. I use it with whatever guitar is required for the gig. I play all genre and style of music. Country, jazz, metal, blues,folk, you name it.

It's seemingly bulletproof.

Crate is there for you.

I played for 32 years touring and gigging. The traveling bug kind of left me, and for the past 10 years I've been doing mostly studio work.
I'd always keep one of these amps handy. It's compact, has great tone for all styles, and is loud.

I first off wanna say that this is a killer amp! I'm not sure what year it was made, i think mid-90s, and is now discontinued. Its got 2 channels, clean and overdrive. Has built in reverb (rather weak at that) and features a line out and effects loop. Of course being part of the Blue Voodoo series, it is all tube. The head can power both stereo and mono cab arrangements.

This amp is a very versitale amp when it comes to variety of sound. The clean channel is pretty decent, but its strong point is the overdrive. The overdrive channel on this thing could kill small animals, or soothe your jazzy soul ;) I can make this thing shred some serious metal, but it is also capable of less gainy Chili Peppers and stuff like that. I use a ESP/LTD Stephen Carpenter Sig. Series with 2 humbuckers and a single. The single can produce some very good bell like tones with this amp, and the humbuckers just scorch on the overdrive. I pretty much love this amp. (By the way, i am using the Blue Voodoo Slant cab with the Crate Vintage American 30s)

I got it used, but so far nothing has gone wrong. I can't really say much as of now, although it has lasted several jam sessions with friends. I would prolly gig without a back up. It is the second crate i have had, and i have never had problems

Havent dealt with them. It is the second crate amp i have owned and i haven't had to deal with any customer support people.

This is a very strong, loud amp that is an excellent value. If you can't afford the 60 watt or 120 watt model, find one of these used, you won't be disappointed. Good luck with the jammin everyone!

This amp was made a few years ago..it is discontinued. The amp is very versatile...I play all styles of music. It has two channels and channel switching. It has effects loop and a line out.
I never use the loop or the line out. I use the reverb lightly.
I use this amp for gigging and recording and rehearsals. It is loud as all hell.
It is all tube and features cool blue tolex. It's compact. It's auto biasing and can take a variety of tubes but it prefers EL-34s and 6L6s...

I am playing a Custom Shop Jackson Super Strat. The clean channel is awesome and the distortion channel slays. The amp can go from country to metal to jazz. I use humbuckers and single coils.

This amp is definitely very reliable. Crate hasn't had to repair one of these in over two years, and they have only seen a few out of the thousands that they sold.

Crate was awesome when I called up for tech advice. They dug up the schematics and helped with the tubes, telling which socket was which to what. This allowed me to get the amp sounding awesome. The warrenty is 5 years, but I don't need it.

It's a great amp, and sounds great if you are a great player. If you are not, it sounds like crap. I've been playing music since 1971, guitar since 1980. I have plenty of other amps....the clean channel on this amp is as good or better than that on my VHT 50-12 and Ultra Lead. It's as good as the clean on my Marshall JTM-30. The lead channel is really good if you put good tubes in it. How can someone hate an amp that requires you to play great before it sounds good? I suppose if you don't have the talent to play great, then one would hate it, because they would sound like ass playing through it.

This amp was born in 1995. Its 2 channel and has reverb and presence.
It supports channel switching and reverb via a footswitch. It also has a F\X loop. I play through a 412 celestion equiped crate cabinet.
This baby rocks perfect for home or small club. You can get all sorts of tones from this by just messing with the settings.

I mainly use 3 guitars a lp copy, a 80s kramer with a floyd and single
humbucker duncan buckshot, and a fender tele. They all have different tone and the amp realy distiguishes them apart. I use a DOD fx7 processor/preamp in the fx loop and it works great. Very low noise and
very responsive power. The clean channel is very loud and will get gainy at very high settings. The lead channel is insane i floor the gain then adjust with the guitar volume. Its impressive for 50watts I would recommend a 412 cabinet

I have had it for several months no problems yet

Ive been playing off and on 4 15yrs and have had several amps carvins,carver,crates and fenders. I wanted a tube head I tried sovtek, marshall, and when i found this for the money its a no brainer. If it were stolen I would try and find another. the only thing I dont like about this head is the size its a mini cab and it looks lame on the top of a 412. This head still has a crate distortion but its warmer then the solid state heads and has the tube feel and response. its not a marshall but it has its own sound that is dam impressive for the cash.

BV50H. 50 watts of all tube power, 3 12AX7's and 2 6L6's. I don't know what model year it is and I really don't care. I bought it for $499 with two 1 12' cabs. It has 2 channels. Channel 1 is the clean channel... volume, low, mid, and high adjustments. Channel 2 is the overdrive channel... gain, low, mid, high, and master volume controls. It has reverb and a presence knob which is surprisingly useful. It really does change the sound. It came with a two button footswitch for the channel select and reverb. Has a line out for recording, effects loop send and return, two 8 ohm and two 16 ohm speaker outs. This one has the blue tolex covering with gold corner covers and crate emblem... very nice looking. The orange power light and standby light really set it off. It's kool to be able to look back while playing and see the tube glow too :) Controls are straight-forward which is great. It has what it needs and nothing else.
I'm just using the amp for practice right now with hopes I'll be playing gigs in the next few years. It has PLENTY of power. With the volume on 2-3 it'll shake this place... could be those two Celestion Vintage 30's too... hehehe :) I play Creed, Nirvana, Alice in Chains... you get the idea. This can handle them all.

Like I said, I play mainly hard rock and older grunge stuff. It is a little noisy but that's a tube amp for you. Not very noticeable though. I play mostly with my stock Raven RP 300 LP copy (by the way, you should check out the Raven guitars... these things are very very nice) and this combo really rocks! I have a Peavey Raptor I that has a Seymour Duncan JB Junior in the bridge and it'll blow your head off, no lie. This thing has TONE, not just loud noise. The distortion is great and has TONE. Yes, tone is important for a metal head too. Anything from blues to hard rock... probably most metal too. I'm gonna forget all my distortion pedals. You can get the metal palm muting "chunk" out of this easily. Roll back the volume of the guitar using distortion and it cleans up nicely... very useful. I haven't had the chance to turn up the clean channel and see if it distorts. Like I said though on volume 2-3 it's LOUD. Sounds amazing with my Raven using neck pickup on the clean channel. The reverb is pretty good. Could be a little better but it works for what I need.
I'm running the BV50H through two Crate 1 12" speaker cabinets with Celestion Vintage 30's and this combo will shake the house down. Tons of bass if you need it. The eq actually changes the tone unlike alot of amps. Just mess around with the eq and you'll find almost any sound you need. And yes, you can scoop the mids :) But remember, if you have a crappy guitar, don't expect miracles!

REMEMBER TO LET THE TUBES WARM UP! IF THEY AREN'T THEN IT'LL SOUND KINDA CRAPPY...

Haven't had it long enough to tell, but it seems very reliable. I've had a Crate GFX 15 for over a year and it's never given me any trouble. But that is solid state and this is all tube... we'll see but I don't expect any problems. I won't rate it since I don't know...

Never messed with them but I've heard both good and bad. Since it was used I didn't get a warranty but I don't care. I love this amp. If I have to deal with them I'll submit another review. But right now I'll just won't rate them.

I don't think that Crate makes this head anymore but if you can find one then I woul suggest you buy it. I've only had it for about a week now but I've fell in love with this thing. I don't think I will need anything else. If you steal it then I will kill you, bring you back from the dead, and kill you again. If I could find another then I would probaly buy it too. I doesn't sound like a Fender or a Marshall... it sounds like Crate. I love it but some people will only go Fender or Marshall. If I had a million dollars I might too, but for the price I paid you can't beat it! It does what I need it to do and that's all I want :)

It has 2 power tubes (6L6s) 3 preamp tubes(12ax7)
It was made sometime a few years back, I suppose. It wasn't made yesterday and I don't think it was made in the future.
It's good enough for what I play. Drop key rhythms. Kind of like death Metal, but not really.
It has two footswitchable channels and a footswitchable reverb.
It has an effects loop and a line out. No headphone, but 4 speaker output jacks, one pair each for two 16 ohm cabs and one pair for 8 ohm cabs. They are wired in parallel so you can use a single jack from each pair for either 8 ohms or 4 ohms.
It has all that I need in an amphead. If anything, I wish it had a lifetime free pass to an Amsterdam brothel and a plane ticket to Holland.
I use the amp wherever an amp is needed. No amp has enough power for me. If it had enough power, I would rule the world with that power.

I am using it with a butchered Yamanez/Ibanhaw..not really sure what it is, but it has three pickups, 1 humbucker and two single coils. Of course it's noisy. If it didn't make noise it would be broken. It's gets really noisy when I turn the knobs clockwise. It gets less noisy when I turn them counter-clockwise.
The amp can make a tremendous variety of sounds, but that only depends on what sounds I am making with my guitar.
The clean channel seems pretty clean until the power tubes overdrive. You ask how brutal the distortion? Well, let me tell you. The distortion murdered my neighbors and skinned their lifeless bodies, butchered them with a chainsaw and fed the remains to my cat when I left it alone with them. I'd say that's pretty brutal, wouldn't you?

Except for the input jack being tempermental and fucked up,(because some idiot bastard stepped on the guitar cable when it was plugged into the jack), it is very dependable. The tube driving the reverb started singing it's own song once, but that was the tube, not the amp. After replacing the tube, the amp was back to it's normal self. I've also played it fully cranked for hours without it acting funny.

Never dealt with Crate. The warranty is long gone.

I've been playing a long time. If it was stolen, I'd just press the little transmitter I hang around my neck, and the 4 sticks of dynamite I have placed in the back, would blow that motherfucker, cocksucker, bitchbastard theif to little chunks.
But seriously, I'd buy a bigger one. I love it because it's blue and has orange light behind the switch. I also love it because it has the word "Voodoo" on it.
I hate nothing. I compared this amp to amps by Bogner and Matchless and Dumble. This amp kicked their collective asses for my purposes. Those amps are for pussies.
I'd like to share my collection of animal skulls and dead insects.

two channels, footswitch. Your basic rear panel stuff with nothing really extra.

i play a prs custom 22 and a warmoth strat with grande pickup's mostly with this amp. Clean channel is ok, decent head room with single coils, breaks up nice with humbuckers. It sounds dry to my ears without any character. It doesn't take what comes out of your fingers as well as other amps, but does respond well to pick attack. The overdrive channel is very versatile. goes from bluesy dirt to shred metal. Good sounding overdrive channel, its not a marshall, but then again you don't have to shell out the dollars like a marshall. Its all about if you like its tone or not, it doesn't sound like crap by a long shot, but i would prefer something with a lot better reverb, and something that responds to my touch a little better.

no problems yet, and i have had it for 4 years.

Solid little amplifier. No frills, just a simple versatile guitar amplifier. Major complain would be that the reverb sucks on this amp royally.

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!