Crate BV60H Blue Voodoo

1995 Crate Blue Voodoo 60watt Head and matching 4x12 slant cabinet.
2 Channel operation: clean & lead, dual reverb controls, effects loop.
I purchased this half stack in 2001 and haven't given up on it yet. The clean channel is very crisp and clear - one of the better clean channels I've played on/with. The lead channel could be a little bit better. The low frequencies (bass, low end, etc.) are a bit mushy/loose. You just have to tweak things and learn how to make little changes to get the sound you want. Not very hard. Besides, no tube amp is totally perfect.

Right now I have 2 Schecter guitars. A C-1 Classic with Seymour Duncans (JB, '59) and a Terry Corso Signature Model with Seymour Duncans (JB, '59). I also have an Ibanez RG7321 with stock pickups that will be changed soon. All 3 sound very good through this amp. The best I can describe my style is Iced Earth + old Metallica + any Megadeth + Iron Maiden. So all in all, your typical heavy metal. The clean channel on this amp shimmers. With the reverb set about halfway up and in coil-tap mode - throw in some chorus and you get a very "Master Of Puppets" type of clean tone. I do however plan on putting EL34 power tubes into this bad boy to tighten up the low end on the distortion channel, also hoping to add more compression with that change.

This amp has everything I need. I can definitely depend on it, but would never go long term gigging without a backup. You can't with tube amps.

I have contacted Crate about several minor, non-problematic issues with the amp. Mainly tech questions about tube models. Their representatives are very fast and friendly with the information you need.

I've been playing a little over 7 years now and have owned other amps by Crate, mainly their solid state amps. If this amp were lost or stolen, I'd find another one. I've tried and purchased other amps (Mesa Dual & Triple Rectos, Marshall JCM 2000 DSL, Peavey 5150, Peavey Triple X, Randall Warhead, Line 6 Vetta) while owning the Blue Voodoo and I always end up going back to it. Right now, I also own a Peavey 5150 (1992 model) which is a good amp in itself, but it is quite sizzly (scratchy) sounding. While recording this past fall (2003) I used both amps and the Voodoo sounded much better than the 5150. So I think you know which one I'm gonna stick with, right? Yep, the Blue Voodoo.

i have a 1995 Crate BV60H, matching 4 speaker cabinet, a BV120H and another matching cabinet (also a 1995) The BV60 JUST needed tubes, after ALOT of use, including multiple stage performance, transport, practice etc... I have a Fender Telecaster with lace sensors, and it has alyways sounded GREAT on this amp. With the correct strings on my matching Fender strat, you get precicely the same sound as Steavy Ray Vaughn. This amp has served and withstood abuse with no problems or complaints. After 8 years, i expect to have to replace tubes. No other failures. Crate made themselves one hell of an amp with tis one.

At less the price of a Fender Twin, and the same sound, its well worth it. I even got 2 extra speakers out of the deal. This amp is ALWAYS loud enough, and has an amazing punch

Pretty featureless, which is how I like'em. Just straight forward volume, tone controls, channel switching, reverb. Fifty watt head, nice and loud

I use a 68 Epiphone Casino with Duncans, a strat with active EMG's and a Les Paul with Dimarzio SUPER DISTORTION HUMBUCKERS!!!! As far as suiting my style, I can pretty much get whatever I need from this amp. Turn the gain down on the drive channel, you get early to mid seventies crunch. Turn it up and shake the walls. I'm not gonna say it sounds like this or that--it just sounds good to me. The clean channel has that sharp "snappy" crunch when you turn it up like a non master volume Marshall or Vox. I dig The Alarm and can come close to Dave Sharp's sound using the clean channel turned up using the Epiphone. I rate an eight because the only "10" I can remember was a VHT Pittbull CL/50. Records great and mixes nicely with other amps. I've got a Blue Voodoo 4x12 loaded with Eminence Legend V12's and an Avatar G212H with a Celestion Vintage 30 & Celestion G12H30. I play mostly in my basement and usually stand around two feet from the amp. The feedback I get is mostly musical except with the hollow body which you would expect anyway. With the solid bodies I can stand next to it on 8 and it won't feedback. The usual noise for a tube amp--I don't think you'll ever get away from that!

Had it about a month with no problems at all. I play it every day for at least an hour, sometimes hours on end. Big and meaty, I'd expect it to take normal travel abuse.

Never had to deal with.

For the sound I get out of it, I'd have paid a lot more. I have a Crate Stealth that I thought was a "10" until I got this amp. Was looking for a VHT but you know what? I can live with the sound difference for the $1500 less I paid. Been playing for 25 years and have had them all. The plexis were great, but who can live in a house and use a plexi unless you're out in the sticks! My 1962 Fender Twin had a better clean (no surprise there, huh?) and my Marshalls were...well, Marshalls. I put this whole rig together for under $900.00 thanks to Avatar speakers and it sounds great. Looks real cool too. If it were stolen or lost I would definitely buy another one, and quick too. I really don't hate anything about it but as a guitar player, no sound really satisfies for long, right? Got a Morley AB switch and a Brian May amp on the way. This aughta be fun. 10 watts VS. 50.

I've tested the amp I'm about to review in every possible situations. I?ve used and abused the BV60H for 5 years now. I?ve compared this Blue Voodoo to a lot of other amps over my ten years of guitar playing. I decided to write a review because I was disappointed by the way other users reviewed this amp. Check this out, this one is going to be quite different from what you've read before!
The Crate Blue Voodoo was awarded Most Innovative Amplifier of the Year in January of 1996 by Music and Sound Retailer magazine and played a big part in winning Amp Line of the Year during 1996. This is the year where the BV60H was born. There are two distinct switch-able channels on the BV60H. It has a switch-able effect loop that contains two different settings: one for rack unit, the other for stomp boxes. The BV60H has 2 different reverb controls, one for each channel. There is no headphone jack, but you won?t find any on most high gain tube amp. The controls are the following: power switch, standby switch, master presence (I would appreciate to have one for each channel instead), reverb 2, reverb 1, (Channel 2: volume, low, mid, high, gain), (channel 1: low, mid, high, volume). Although it is named BV60H, it is a 50 Watt RMS tube head. The pre-amp section contains three 12AX7 and the power section contains one 12AX7 and two 6L6. The rectifier is solid state. Other than that, it is an all tube head. Even the reverb is tube-driven. The footswitch has 2 switches, one for channel switching, and the other for effect loop switching. I wish it had a third switch for reverb, but since the amp has two different reverb controls (one for each channel), I don't mind too much. A third channel would be a good improvement, but anyway most of high gain tube amp doesn?t have it.
I've used this amp at home for practicing, for home recording, and for playing in a band. It has enough power to play in a band. I play mostly metal music with this amp. It is versatile enough to get any metal tone I will ever need. So it is worth a 10 here: very versatile for what I use it for (and what it was born to sound like!) When I want to play another style of music, I play through another amp. If you want to play blues, country, funk, jazz, or old school rock, get something adapted to your needs, not a Blue Voodoo!

I run the BV60H through the BV412R 120 Watt mono/stereo 4x12s cabinet. Basically, I'm using two Jackson Professional series guitars with this BV60H: a Kelly with custom design Godin humbucker bridge pickup and stock neck pickup, and a Randy Road with stock pickups. These guitars perfectly suit my music style, as well as my BV60H. It seams that Jackson guitars and Blue Voodoo series Crate amp were designed to work hand-in-hand.
How about the noise? It is not noisier than any other high gain tube amp. If you get a descent guitar equipped with good quality humbucking pickups, and you are not sitting in front of your amp, you will not get excessive noise. At high gain setting with single coil pickups; witch I don't need to use with this amp, that's another story... but again, you must play with a guitar that fits your playing, music style, and your amp! With this setting, just one of my Jackson plugged directly into my Blue Voodoo, I can easily get any metal guitar tone I can imagine. It is quite impossible not to bring a great metal sound out of this setup; witch is really simple, and not too expensive. The equalizers section is very effective on both channels. The channel 1 is not distorted at all at any level or setting, just plain sparkling clean. The channel 2, witch I bought the amp for, gives one of the best distortions I ever heard. There is more than enough gain in this tone machine to melt your mind into pure metal! As I said earlier, any metal tone with really tight bottom end and screaming harmonics! This amp also sounds great with dropped tuning and seven string guitar. It always stays tight and this is what I love so much. I've tried a lot of different high gain amp, but believe me, if you play metal, you just can't find a better sound vs price amp! It?s worth a 10 here!

I can depend on it. I've played at a couple of gig without a backup and never had trouble. Now, I would get a backup, just for safety. The amp never broke down except for the time I had to repair the input jack, because I crushed it. If the amp had to be broken, it would have bean by now, trust me! The BV60H is almost a tank. I?ll give it a 9.

I never had to deal with the company. One of my friends is an electronic technician. Other than that, I had to change the tubes every 6-12 months depending on how much time I had it on, but I do this myself. I know the warranty last 5 years but I just can't rate something I had no experience with.

I've been playing for ten years now and I've owned much other gear: Peavey Envoy 110, Peavey Bandit 112 Transtube, Marshall Valvestate 8080 combo, Marshall 30th Anniversary combo, Marshall DSL401 combo, Marshall 4x12s 1960A/B cabinet, Rocktron Chameleon On-line, Rocktron Velocity 250, Tech 21 Sans Amp, Crate BV120HR, and BV412RVR. Now, I own my BV60H, the BV412R, and my GX15 (for ultra low volume practices). If it would be stolen, I would buy the Blue Voodoo again. I have compared it to a lot of other high gain tube amps. There are others that sound great too, but you can't beat the Blue Voodoo for the price, especially if you get it used! I wished it had a third channel and an independent presence for each channel but it's not too bad!
I will give it a 10. The sound is so good, and so addicting! I don't dislike any of its features. I've owned two other Blue Voodoos in my life, and when I sold them it was because I moved to an apartment or I was in need of money. I was quite depressed and unsatisfied with my tone. Now, I'll stick with the Blue Voodoo BV60H! <Blue Voodoo forever! >

im not sure when this peice was made. its a 2 channel (clean and lead) with dual reverb and 3 band eq per channel. basicly your average run of the mill head. the channels are footswitchable, theres an effects loops, impedence select (8 or 16 ohm) and 2 speaker out (main and secondary). i mainly used this thing for practice, as it sounded underpowered. i later found out the the lead channel is not routed through the pre amp tubes, rather a transister circuit. i wish it was all tube, and i wish it were stereo. oh yeah, the transformers inside are fuckin huge and the head weighs a ton

this was mainly used with single coil american strats. it suited my style, which is pretty much rock. its kinda noisy when in single coil, but only on distortion. the reverb sucks ape dick. couldnt tell you about the effects loop, cus i never use it. the clean channel is ok, sounds kinda thin. as does the distortion, but not of a magnitude that makes you want to light the head on fire and shit on the ashes. the distortion reminds me of peavey distortion, just not as thick. its like cutting a quarter of the sound out of a peavey head. since its only 60 watt, you have to turn it up to around 8 to get decent sound out of it. the only reason i bought this head is i was tight on money and i needed what i thought was a tube head. turns out, i should have done more hw before buying what i knew was a peice of shit to begin with. im selling this soon and buying a marshall dsl 100, cus i want all tube and at least 100 watts.

ok. crate? are you listening? FUCK YOU FOR MAKING SUCH A PEICE OF SHIT. iv owned it 2 months , and suddenly the power circuit decides it wants to short out costing almost 200$ (4/5 of what i paid)to fix. i needed to replace fuses, power tubes, re-bias, and some other shit iv never heard of before i could even think about selling it. if i had the money, i wouldnt even sell it id throw it off a highrise building and watch it explode as it hit the ground.

since i live in an area where sam ash, and guitar center are both 15 minutes away, it wasnt hard to find a good tech. how imbarrassing it was to bring this peice of crap into the shop though. iv never dealt with crate directly, but if their customer service is anyhting like this head, they all deserve to be publicly executed.

iv been playing 7 years, and i know gear as iv been through many many amps and guitars.the only real important stuff you need to know that pertains to this amp is the cab, cables, effects, and guitars. i use a marshall 1960a slant cab, monster cable wires, heavy gage speaker cables for head to cab connection, boss phaser (the shit), fender american strats, jackson dinkys, esp's. if your in a band and you rely on amps for you sound, and u use this thing, i hope you have another guitar player with you cus this simply will not cut it for anyhting besides practice. if it were lost or stolen, id be laughing all the way home because what a waste of my money this was. i should have bought a marshall dsl or a mesa road king( about 2 months pay). take my advice, spend the extra money, and get something good. please do not waste you money on a budget peice of shit such as this. in the end, youll regret it, as you get what you pay for...

2 channels, seperate reverb for each channel, prescence, effects loop, auto bias

i play a 1980 fender american strat with dimarzio hs2 pickups, A Fender 62 reissue strat, with stock pickups, an epiphone les paul extreme, with Dimarzio tone zone in the bridge, and a Evolution in the neck, A Charvel 3a with emg 81s, and a Fender mexican tele, with Emg T pickups. I play straight into the amp, because anyone with a brain knows that every pedal you put in the input path, costs you gain and tone. I use a sansamp pedal in the effects loop however. I play blues, classic rock, and neoclassical metal. The amp overall i would say, sounds great. but you gotta do some tweaking to get good tone. I mainly use the clean channel. I have EL34s in it right now, and it gets killer tone, but i occasionally switch back to 6l6s for a while. on my strats, i usually set the tone knobs 3, and 4, otherwise, its way too bright.and its normally in the neck position for blues. on the amp, i keep the highs almost all the way down, low all the way up, and mids about half way and reverb at about 7. I play through a crate 412xs Cabinet, and a custom built closed back 2x12 cabinet, loaded with nothing other than celestions. I really get some good tones out of this setup. i love cranking the shit out of the clean channel and getting that warm el34 breakup.The distorted channel is not bad either. it really dosent have as much bottom end as i would like it to, with the 6l6s but with some el34s it definitely gave me the deeper tone i wanted out of the distorted channel. i get some really good harmoincs wiht the presence cranked too. Bottom line, This amp is by no means a silver face super reverb, or a plexi. but for what it is, its definitely a killer amp. Especially for what i paid..

haha.. heres the dilemma. Crate mass produces everything. so its all about the allmighty dollar. So the use cheap parts to make their stuff. I bought this amp from a local repair shop for $75 because it was not passing signal, and he didnt feel like screwing with it. (pc boards are a bitch to work on) After i looked at it, i noticed that he took out a capicator, and 2 plate resistors, so i bought those, put them in, and still no signal. no big deal. so i got out the oscilloscope.. and there was no grid voltage on the first preamp tube. so my first instinct was "blown power supply" and sure enough. one of their cheapo resistors was open. a 150ohm 5watt resistor.. something that simple. so i replaced it with a nice wire wound resistor, and life is good. If you want to own a crate.. make sure you have some experience in electronics and amp repair.. you just might need it some day

They are very good. i ordered the schematic, and it was here in 4 days. but, i think its stupid how they feel the need to charge $15 for the schematic, and dont allow them to be posted on teh internet. like sombodys gonna steal their design...lol

its a great amp for the money. loud as hell, and sounds great.. but a little bit of knowledge in tube amps goes a long way with crates products. ive seen 3 amps besides this where they had proiblems wiht power resistors... cheap bastards.. lol

I believe this model was made sometime in 1997. It features 2 channels with reverb for both. The amp boasts 50 watts power and can get descently loud when coupled with a 412 cabinet. Both channels have tone shaping abilities. There is a prescence nob but it just doesn't seem too active, you can't really tell the difference when it's at 1 or 5, or 5 to 10. *shrugs*

I think these amps were specifically made for Hard Rock and Metal tones, judging by the distortion types. Hell, Marty Friedman of Megadeth fame used to endorse these.

I play on an Epiphone Les Paul Goldtop w/P90 pickups. I played this head through an Avatar G412 Enclosure (GREAT cabinets, at great prices IMO) I play mostly Hard Rock, Blues, and Metal. The clean channel on this amp is great for blues when pickups are in the neck position. However, when in the bridge position, the amp is simply much too bright, and is actually why I really don't like this amp a whole lot.

In addition, the amp can be noisy, even when standing a good distance away with your back facing the cabinet. This can also get annoying; along with the brightness. The distortion channel is your run-of-the-mill distortion types, it basically sounds just like any other Crate distortion channel, only with more bass and just sounds more "fuller". In the distortion mode, you can get a pretty good crunch, but the eternal hissing of the amp really gets frustrating. And no, it's not my cabinet.

I haven't had any real problems with the amp thus far. However, seeing how it is a tube amp you'll have to replace the tubes every year or so. I could probably gig with this, even though I really wouldn't want to.

Never had to deal with Crate.

Like most tube amps, the this thing weighs a ton and isn't exactly a lot of fun to drag around to practices. I've been playing for 8 years now, and being one of my first tube amp experiences, I must say I'm disappointed. The clean channel is great for blues, and the reverb is great for both channels.

However, I didn't like the response and the overall "sluggish" feel the amp gave off. Perhaps that's what tubes amps are? Furthermore, the distortion channel seemed to lack a bit. I wouldn't say the distortion is "brutal" by any means, but it can get the job done.

If you're going to buy a tube amp, save your money and get a nice JCM 800 or a 5150. Skip the blue voodoo.

ok this amp was made around 99 or so. it has 2 channels and reverb for each channel. 60 watts. effects loop. the stuff most amps have

OK here we go. i run a ESP KH-3 straight into the amp. the distortion is very twangy soundin. not very thick at all. pretty noisy. does fit some sabbath though. the clean sound is nice though. even with my emg 81's its very clear and i crank some reverb in and sounds awsome. i really wish it would have sounded better for the money i paid for it back in the day. i have played it at loud volumes. the distortion really thinnned out. like i said i dont like this amp but it might be right for you. palm mutes aint chunky either. dont buy this if ur lookin for serious crunch and distortion. if u want some twang distortion then this is ur amp or if u want alot of noise

ok reliability wasnt a factor until a few months ago. my amp decided to fry literally. the entire circuit board went out. i gigged with it once and i did move it around a little to practice or jam with some buds. its gonna cost 280 bucks to fix it and im not payin that. im gonna sell it to the music store. oh well things dont last forever

never delt with them and dont plan on it

i have been playin for about 4 years or so. im just now seriously starting to play and im getting to be a beginning shredder. if this thing was stolen i wouldnt miss the damn thing. i hate this amp. im selling it anyway back to the guitar store. the only thing good about it is its clean channel. i wish this thing had ALOT more "thick and wet" distortion. i really liked the boogie sounds and thats what im gettin. a mesa dual rect or triple rect triple channel. but u cant compare that to those b/c of price and quality. if u need a boat anchor this would work fine. if u want brutal tone and crunch go for a mesa. save up the extra couple hundred. well worth it.

The features are pretty standard.2 channels... equalizer...volume...presence...and reverbs for each channel. it has an effects loop but i never used it because i like to run my boxes through the input. no headphone jack. 2 power tubes and 4 preamp tubes. i mainly use it in my room till i go to gigs or somewhere i need loudness at.

i use a parker p-38 with a seymour duncan invader in the bridge...a jackson dx10d and a very old eterna by yamaha. it doesnt seem to have a punch to it. it is very buzzy at high gain but when u put the gain at 5-6 it sounds good. the clean is great. very bell-like. it doesnt distort till about 6-7 on the voluume. the overdrive channel sounds like crap though. no matter how high u put the low end...the sound still sound like a twang. the tone is good but not good enough for a tube amp. i have a marshall valvestate vs265 2x12 that is discontinued. it got taken over by avt's. that combo smokes my crate like a pothead does to weed on broadway. the only way to make this amp a monster it if u run a metalzone with the boss equalizer through it. now that sounds good. but otehr than that. they worst thing bout the sound is the distortion channel.

reliabilty...hahahaha. it sux. 2nd day i bought it..the reverb stopped workin. on both channels!!! i didnt bother to fix it cuz i dont use revrb that much. but still...junk. i bought it new...not used. the power tubes dimmed out and sounded like crap 3 months after i got it. that pissed me off. it is built solid though.

pretty good. they gave me advice on a question i asked them the same day i e mailed them the ques.

i have been playing for 4 years. i used and heard marshalls, mesa boogies, and fender. this amp doesnt seem to cut the cake for me after using these amps. it sounds too much like a low punch solid state amp. if it were stolen i would be mad cuz someone had the stupid idea of doin it and that i lose 400 dollars. i wouldnt miss the amp. i would get a marshall avt150h to start over with or wait and get a plexi. i wish it had just more ballz.

I tour with 2 tribute acts, Mr.Crowley and Ozzy tribute, and Paradise City a guns & roses tribute. I use a multi-effects in the loop on the head and get a great tone.

I use pauls and strats with emg's. I have a whisper quiet rig when it's cranked up to 8 1/2. After that the low end gets a little mushy.
I rarely use the clean channel, I just use the guitar volume knob. I run the gain on about 3 1/2 to 4 and it just KILLS. Great tone, plenty of sustain. I only use a pinch of reverb and some delay on my multi-effects. I also use a 4 band parametric that is on the multi-effect also.

I use it every weekend without a back up. I change tubes about every 6 months because I play VERY loud 3 or 4 nights a week on the road. The only time it broke was when a "sound man" knocked my whole rig over and fried my effects loop. Other than tha it is a real trooper.

I've e-mailed them twice and never heard from them... ASSHOLES.
But they make a great amp.

I bought the head and 2 blue cabinets for $800. It was used , but mint. Since I've had it on the road for over two years almost evey single weekend it has gotten pretty beat up but still sounds GREAT. If I had to I would definately buy another one. I've played many heads over the years and it truly is the best all around head I ever owned. I've never had a head where I didn't have to turn the gain almost all the way up to get a good distortion. I've never had mine past 4 and it's almost too much.