Crate Palomino V32 112 Combo

This is a 2005 amp. the amp offers two channels (clean and OD), Effects Loop, Pedal for switching BOOST on or off, and between OD and clean. The review before this one complains of the foot switch. He is correct. There is a slight delay when switching from OD to clean, but no delay from clean to OD. I can see where this could be a problem playing live. I tried a BOSS foot switch and it did the same thing. I agree, crate needs to fix the problem. The amp is a CLASS A amp, with EL84 power tubes. Comparing the components of the V30 series vs. the Palomino, there is a big difference in the control knobs. the control knobs on the V30 are very cheap ! they even wiggle. the Palomino has very solid high quality control knobs. You can tell the Palomino is better built. It also has a better speaker. The tech guy at crate says there's no difference between the two, I think he's full of CRAP ! It also has a Different Speaker(Celestion), Better quality controls and I believe it has tube reverb. I don't care for GOLD, i like the looks of the V30, but it doesn't sound as good. Believe me I know, I had a V30.

Well Well Well, I must say what a great sounding amp. I never knew what a tube amp sounded like until buying this baby. Oh, don't get me wrong, I have had many many tube amps. Everyone told me, BUY A TUBE Amp, You'll LOVE IT. So, I'd buy one and go hmmmmm whats so great. They'd say, turn that BABY UP !!, I'd say... oh yeah BABY !! my ears are BLEEDING. But, with this amp the amp always sounds good even at low volume. Its got a great OD channel unlike the FENDER HOT RODS. You would think Fender could make an amp that has great OD. they got the clean and reverb down, but really lack in OD. Marshall is the opposite, great OD not so great CLEAN. You wood think these guys with all the money they have could come up with one amp that has a MARSHALL OD and a Fender CLean and Fender Reverb, how hard can it BE !!! ANYWAY, this crate amp doesn't have a fender clean, but its still a nice warm clean, but not the head room of a lot of fenders. The OD reminds me of a Marshall, but a little smoother. The reverb is OK, but best kept low when using the OD. I like the amp a lot, well worth the MONEY. I actually played the MESA BOOGIE lone star special before buying this. Yes, i was willing to fork out $1700 for the lone star. But, I thought the CRATE sounded just as good or better.
the lone star does offer a little more in the cotrol department. This amp has a great warm tone with great blues OD, not metal. Thus, it deserves a 9, well done crate. TOOK YOU A WHILE, but you finally got it right with this amp. Your VOOODOOO line was really POOR.

About one year with no problems. No rating, I'll update in 5 years.

I emailed to ask for some info, since the manual is usless !!! The tech guy answered my questions, but didn't make too much effort in the replies.

As we all know, it difficult to find what you want. Its fun trying and buying amps if you have the BUCK$. We all know that when it comes to playing guitar, we want an amp with FEEL. Must capture all the nuiancess (spelled wrong, i think) from our fingers. I think its a JOKE that an amp needs to be played FULL BLAST to get great tone. I think this CRATE does a great job of obtaining great tone at low/high volume. I think the amp has great smooth OD that we all love. I think the amp sounds just as good as a $2000 amp. I know, I've had them. Man, I want another, just in case they stop building them.

The amp sounded great at Guitar center, actually discovered it test driving an Eric Johnson strat, bought the V32 palomino instead. loved the easy overdrive, while keeping the tone of the guitar. I play blues, pop and jazz.

Sound at home very different from sound at the Guitar Center. My amp right out the box, muddy, not articulate, single coil or humbuckers. very disapointing. Hum sounds like UFO landing in the room. No clean sounds at all

I don't think so, was playing it the first day I got it and after 15mins of play the control knobs were so hot I couldn't touch them. Called Guitar Center right then and was told to come in and exchange it. Tomorrow I will do that and hopefully bring home the machine I originally fell in love with. Own lots of custom strats, 335, LP, epiphone's, washburns....and multiple amps. I want this V32 to work out. Hopefully they all won't get so hot.

N/A, guitar center taking care of it

Been playing guitar 5 years plus, own Gibson's335,LP, Epi, Casino, Martin John Mayer, Fender John Matyer, Fender Eric Johnson, Fender 52 tele, Fender 54 masterbuilt, customshop 51 esquire, and a washburn J-6 jazz box. Amps= Fender blues junior / jensen speaker, a baseman, mesa boogie lone ranger... love the diversity of sound. I thought after test driving the V32 palomino I was in love for 599.. stood up agin`

This amp had the features that I was looking for, a small class A tube amp with enough power to play clubs, clean and overdrive channels with vintage tone, anything else is just extra frills to me. The real problem is that when switching from the overdrive to the clean it drops out for what seems like an eternity. This caused the amp to be useless to me and I returned it after one evening of getting acquainted. What a shame because this amp sounds great, a real disappointment. HEY CRATE, fix this issue and will go buy it again. I have to rate a 3 until this is resolved

This amp sounds great. I play country, rock and blues and this amp will do it all. The clean channel is very bright and pronounced and the overdrive channel can range from a little bluesey crunch to rock distortion. The tone is pheonominal. I love vintage tone like that of the old tube amps and this amp has it with the features of the modern era. Then you discover the drop out when switching from the clean to the overdrive channel and all this becomes meaningless if your desire is to use both channels in a gigging situation. My rating for this catagory is based solely on the sound of each channel individually discounting the switching flaw.

Didn't have it long enough to determine reliability. It appeared to be well built.

Never dealt with them but I hope they fix the channel switching issue.

I've been playing for 30+ years and I have owned and currently own numerous tube amps including Marshalls, Fenders, Univoxes, Pignoses and others. I have many different guitars including those I build to suit my preferences. This amp was just what I was looking for until I discovered the channel switching flaw outlined above. My overall rating for this amp would be a 9 if no for this issue.

You've read the list.

The Boost feature is terrific and works - put that solo right out there. Great that it's on the footswitch too!!

The OD channel actually sounds phenominal! Was so impressed - an actual, TONEFUL, multi-channel amp with seperate volumes and a boost active on each channel. No need for a bunch of stomps with this amp - perfect for the grab-n-go player. Very portable!

Plenty of headroom for all kinds of venues and cuts thru the mix live...really held its own on stage.

Only downside so far is access to the tubes - a bit hard to get at - probably have to pull the chassis.

Wonderful tones! Not 3-D, but really great all-around tone - very useful for the club settings (need a solid tone bed).

Strat/Tele sounded killer. Used for rock/country/americana. Could see use in blues and jazz settings too. Nice reverb. Pretty quiet even on the OD channel.

New amp, no idea. Will see.

New amp, no idea. Will see.

If you're considering the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, pick up the Palomino...much better amp IMO. OD channel is actually useful and sounds GREAT!! Plus the footswitchable boost on both channels - very useful!

Crate started stepping up to the plate with the Voodoo series and this one is an out-of-the-park hit. Should really give the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe a run for it's market-share life! I have the HRDx, bought before the Palomino hit the streets. Wish I'd have waited a bit longer before tweaking the HRDx (tubes, speakers, other mods) to get it 'right'.

Palomino is a great amp for the money! Interested to see how it holds up over time.

Made in 2005
Versatile enough for chicken-pickin' country to AC/DC.
Don't use, or haven't learned to use the OD channel live because it sounds good cranked and I use OD pedals or micro-amp to kick it into crunchville.
Reverb is the BEST. Out surfs even Fender - very rich and creamy.
Power is good for small to medium size clubs. Cuts through the mix due to accentuated mids / highs in tone control voicing. Be careful because the highs are much sharper than say a Fender blackface or DeVille. You should test it with your ears at speaker level or tilt it up where you can hear the actual tone because it sounds much darker at ear level five-six feet above the speaker than it does to the audience or mic. It won't hang with a 50 watt 2-12 Marshall, but even with less wattage it will surely hang with most Fenders other than a twin.

Use stock EJ strat, American standard tele and old Les Paul Juniors with P-90-s.

Clean sound is absolutely fabulous with the Strat and Tele. It will actually change your playing - makes you want to hang on to the notes because you can actually hear them ring. Very, very glassy. Tone blew me away.

Crunhes nicely when driven hard, but it has a surprising amount of headroom in the clean channel (loud and clean), which is a good thing. If you want crunch at a lower colume, use the OD channel or your stomp boxes.

Haven't had it that long, but have used cranked on several gigs and leave it on for a couple of hours at a time. It runs hot, but no problems so far.

I've been playing over 35 years and currently have a brownface '61 Bandmaster with 3-10s, a '79 50-watt Marshall 2204 w/2-12 Avatar Celestion cabinet and a Kendrick Gig-rig. They are all great amps and all do something different. Volume-wise the Crate and the Kendrick are about equal. The Kendrick has more of a "tweed on steroids sound" and the Crate takes the place of a blackface in my collection - it sounds better clean, and has better reverb(can't believe I said that, but it's true). Definitely the best $600 amp out there and sounds better than most amps costing over 4x as much.

From the Crate Website:

The V3112 is an enhanced single channel amp that operates in Class A configuration, and generates 30 watts RMS through a single 12" Celestion speaker. The Class A circuit essentially runs the Groove Tubes(TM) EL84's at full output at all times. For the tone and feel fanatic, this provides instant response, dramatic wolf tones and harmonics which are the hallmark of these classic circuit designs. The V3112 has internal spring reverb unit to produce a huge, wet sound, and quite possibly may be the best sounding 30 watt class A tube amp in the market.

The clean on this amp is very chimey and clear. Especially with a single coil guitar. A Strat or Tele sound fantastic on this amp. Best clean I have heard in a sub $1,000 amp. The overdrive is similar to a Marshall but has its own characteristics. It has plenty of gain for hard rock or even metal. Very versatile amp that can cover a lot of ground.

The boost feature is great for breaking into a lead. It cuts through very well and is just the right amount for getting on top of the mix. It boosts the volume +10db @ 900 Hz only. Not sure what the previous reviewer was talking about.

The precen

No problems yet. Too early to tell but the 5 year warranty is pretty good insurance.

Took 24 hours to return an email question. I guess that is pretty decent but no other experience.

This is a great amp for the money. I compared it to a Hot Rod Deville, Hot Rod Deluxe, Peavey Classic 30, and a few others as well. The sounds this thing puts out simply blows them a away. Even the clean stomps all over the fenders, which is simply unheard of.

However, after all the praise their are a few drawbacks. When switching from overdrive to clean there is a slight delay. For most applications this is not a huge deal but for recording it is unacceptable.

And they do have some rattles at high volumes. I realize that any combo is going to have few rattles and buzzes its just the nature of the beast but to my finely tuned ears it is annoying.

But all amps have their quirks and these two are pretty minor. All in all this one hit the mark and gives you great tube tone for not a lot of bills.

Bought it brand new from GC here in Indianapolis.
Very easy to use, it also has a 'boost' feature which bypasses the tone stack to give you a volume boost. Simple but effective.
Cons are that the eq (tone stack) could be more versatile -- I don't care for the frequency of the highs, and the bass is a bit woofy. Just being nit-picky here.

I build and modify effects and preamps, so I've had the opportunity to play through a ton of different equipment. This sounds very good - especially for the money. Rather than me tell you what it sounds like, here is a mp3 soundclip you can download:
http://www.indyguitarist.com/soundclips2/crate-palomino-32.mp3

So far so good. The crate tube amps are known for rattles. Let me tell you how to fix it...it's an easy fix and suprises me that Crate doesn't do this.

Note that if you know nothing about electricity, or tube amps, don't do this. If you are unsure how to drain the caps, don't do this. If you even have a hint in your mind that you aren't sure, take it to a nearby tech and tell him to do the following suggestion. **NOTE** tube amps CAN AND DO STORE voltage, even when unplugged, as much as several hundred volts which could very very easily kill you. I'm not responsible if you hurt yourself trying to do this!!

Disclaimer aside, open up the unit by unscrewing it from the cab. Drain all the caps and any areas that are known to store electricity. Where the screws went through the cabinet and attached to the case itself there are brackets holding a nut. This is what is rattling. Simply take some hot glue or similar substance and glue the nut so it doesn't rattle.

**note!** Did I mention that working on tube amps is very very dangerous and not to do this if you are not a qualified tech? Well then don't do this unless you are a qualified tech! Take it to your local tech w/ a case of beer and a glue stick and tell him to get busy.

St. Louis music is a very good company to work with.

I actually prefer the tone of the v16...but the v32 has an effects loop which I need. Also, I didn't feel like tearing the v16 apart just to install one. I go through amps like I change underwear, more out of fun than anything else..I can usually get my tone on just about anything, but the Crate is very responsive and is a great value. Good tones are definately possible with this amp.

come on guys-does anyone play out
yes this amp sounds amazing

but when you go form the overdrive channel back to the clean there is a terrible drop-out-which renders this channel changing cabability with this amp in a gig setting-utterly useless!

i sugeest we all call crate and ask them to improve the relay mechanism--so that this the channel changing is actually useable
i really am amazed that no one caught this yet--
u guys should get a little better and picking this stuff up
I mean this is your hard earned money

i am really bummed because i love the sounds in thi samp
i was going to sell my marshall dsl for similar reasons and more ,to buy the polomino- but the the crate has a worse drop out than with my marshall-which occurs when going from clean to dirty ( on the marshall)

OK let me be the next moron to say "I thought I would never own a Crate". Just the name says it all. "Hey I just bought a new CRATE!" Your friend's response...Oh. Well it does rhyme with GREAT. Brand new 2005 Crate Palomino. Other amps I own are Marshall 1987X, '71 Fender Twin, Vox AC30CC, Vox AD50VT, '65 Fender Bassman, etc. Always looking for great tone and this amp delivers. It is built in the USA. (what something not made in China?) but I don't think the build quality is that great. The amp section is all built on a circuit board and all components are mounted to the board. This includes pots, jacks, tubes, everything. This always scares me because if a simple thing like a jack breaks you are in for a major repair and a hard to find part. The pots and internal parts are not the best quality. It all works, it just doesn't look like it's going to last. Some might prefer a Greenback or Vintage Celestion speaker but the speaker is fine. The amp now comes with Groove Tubes for the 4- EL 84 and Sovtechs for the 3-12AX7s. I'm not a big Groove Tube fan but at least they opted for a better set of tubes. BTW the EL84 Groove Tubes are the "R" type which are Russian made and not the best. Previous to this Palomino I went through 3 before I got one that worked without problems. One had a horendous loud noise intermittent noise, the other 2 had snap, crackle, pops, most likely tube related issues. (note: these were of the first shipment and now they have come with Groove Tubes) I almost gave up on this amp but the tone keeps bringing you back. The cabinent back in made out of masonite. (cardboard). Not good. The gold hardware, although kind of cool looking, I'm sure in a year or so look pretty shabby. I would prefer chrome metal. The tolex is fine but I see discoloration in the Blonde, almost like it was dirty right out of the box. Maybe this is the custom "aged look". I doubt it. It comes with a pedal switch for Clean/Drive and the Boost. I would love to have the "Presence" on the foot switch too. The internal speaker is pluged into a jack on the back of the cabinent so you can disconnect it and use this jack for extenal 8 ohm speakers if you want to. It also has a line out, line in. Pretty basic controls, standard stuff, straight forward design. The buttons for "boost", "presence" are suspect. Time will tell. One smart thing CRATE did was leave their logo off the front of this amp. The logo on the front of the amp is a gold "V32" which no one knows what the hell that is so they have to assume it some cool esoteric amp. That fine by me. I can live with being a Crate person if no one knows. No endorsement for me thanks.

I play a stock '04 American Strat most of the time. I also use a '76 Strat with SD Hot Rails a Epi Les Paul sometimes. I have a ton of guitars but these are the ones I gig with. I play 5 hours a day, sometimes more. A lot of local shows and recording and practicing. The tone is what this amp is all about. I don't think it's made particularly well but it does have a great sound. It has the "boutique" amp chime in the clean mode and a great singing harmonic crank sound. I have not taken this amp on stage yet so I'm not sure if it's enough for live gigging but it does make a great recording amp. What I feel is the best part of the sound is the way it breaks up or the harmonic distortion. It seems to distort at musical frequencies. This adds a feel and response to the strings that enhances my playing. In other words it just feels good. The sound of this amp is seductive. (Did I really say that?) I really do enjoy playing through this amp and I have a hard time pulling myself away to get other work done. It keeps calling me back. That's a pretty good endorsement.

I don't have a whole lot of confidence after going through 3 amps to find a good one. I have not be gigging with this amp yet. I don't trust it. It's going to be doing some studio until it earns a little confidence. I am hoping that this thing won't come apart in time.

On the postive side, St. Louis Music is in America. (St. Louis I think) This is the same company as Ampeg so I think I'm in pretty good shape. They do have an toll free number and when I called I got connected to a real person quickly and they answered my questions. In addition there is email support and lots of info on their website. In addition the amp has a 5 year warrentee, 2 years on the speaker and 90 days on tubes. I really couldn't ask for better support. Kudos to SLM.

I a pretty wide variey of music. Funk, Blues, Soul, R&B, Classic Rock, Alternative, Grunge, whaterer. I have been playing for about 40 years. (Crap that's a long time, I should be a lot better!) I have lots of gear and I'm sure this is not the last amp I will buy. The bottom line is this amp sounds good. Really good. There are better amps out there but this one hits a good price point and delivers on sound. The clean sound has that chime and presence of an expensive "boutique" amp and the crank sound has it's own quality that grinds and sings with the best of them. I am keeping this one and keeping my fingers crossed that it last a while.

This is a huge step for Crate which made an attempt with previous all-tube amps with much disappointment. Higher quality switches than previous models and better finish throughout. I played mic'd, but in the back is a full array of inputs and outputs for those that don't. It has more than enough power for my use. One evening I realized our sound guy did not mic my amp up. No one seemed to notice. I have yet to use the overdrive section simply because I use stomp box pedals. I tend to like amp designs that are subtle. I think gold and cream color makes the amp look cheap and gaudy moreso than vintage, but in the end it's the inside that counts.

This thing is awesome! I use a Custom 32 PRS, Fender Nashville Tele, Japanese Custom Shop Satriani Ibanez. I've previously played on a Roland 100 W steady state and a Marshall 50 W tube. This thing punches out a fuller, cleaner, and more gorgeous sound than any of the other two. I can finally hear the textures of my PRS come out in stunning detail. I use a stomp box distortion (Full-Tone) and it comes out nice and clean.

I have always been reluctant to buy Crate because of reliability, but I have seen the same amp used by our church youth band for a year without a single hitch.

Never used it.

For the price, there's nothing like it. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's probably right there in between a Fender (because of the performance and so far reliability) and a Mesa Boogie (because of the value).