Crate Vintage Club 20 Combo

this is THE greater lil'amp ever played (well, the vox AC is way cool too and the Fender Blues Jr. comes in third) but keep in mind it's a single channel small amp. Not many features, but loads of "olug and play-ability". Weak reverb does not hurt anyone... It could have a footswitch to the booster...

I use a custom handmade strat, Brasilian rosewood body, brasilian rosewood neck and Pau-Brasil Fingerboard with three Fender Custom shop Texas Special AND a Custom handmade tele, ash body and maple neck, with a Fender Vintage Broadcaster (bridge) and a Gibson '57 (neck). I usually play the blues, but some rockin'stuff (lynyrd skynyrd, Gov't Mule, AC/DC) and even some '80s rock (guns, van halen, whitesnake...), but, specially for the '80s, I don't care for sounding just like the bands. I like it vintage....

Well, this is a single channel cool lil'rocker. No questions about its sounds. full punch, great tone, whole bunch of ballanced midles, enough bottom for a small amp (not a bassman...), wonder clean sounds, warm crunchy drives. Absolutely perfect for blues, old school rock and many other styles. Adding some stompboxes, I think this one may be suitable for virtually any style, but it's obviously better using its vintage side.I have the original speakers on it, wich sonds cool enough even for a bassman Jensen Addicted (as I am)

Oh! the amp is pretty quiet, even with some drive, but it's not meant for metal heads, so keep the gain below the middle for best performance...

never needed to screw a single bolt. Nothing at all for the last 2 or some years... so it's pretty reliable... Oh! i like it loud and it has its stock speaker, so I have to go for a 10.

Here in Brasil (with an "s", if you please) we just cannot rely on the customers support of ANY brand/manufacturer. So I just cannot rank the Crate support, for there is none, and it's probably not their fault.

I used it for something like 2 years now. It's the second best amp I've ever had (the best was a Bassman tweed), and a had lots of them, from fender Bassman to peavey 5150, through Hudges-Kettner, Trace elliot, other Fenders... It rocks! ya want a good "ole style" vintage tone, go for it. You want a versatile blues little hot devil, go for it. You want clean sounds with tube compression and bite, go for it.

For now, it's my very own signature sound.

not good for fuzz, metal of any kind, people who want modern crystal-clear solid-state sounds (not me), people who wants to have a bunch of different sounds (flextone-like amps users).

Really basic version, no reverb, with original 10" Crate speaker. Bought used at Guitar Center for $70. Pretty beat up, thus the low price. After reading the other reviews, it appears I'm not missing anything without the reverb. I like things simple an this is as simple as it gets.

into a Blues vibe with an Epi Sheraton, mildly overwound humbuckers. Makes the sounds I need. This little amp is a total sleeper- sweet clean, fat grind. A nice alternative to my Twin Reverb. A really hot little recording amp.

When I got this home and plugged it in I noticed a weird, non-amp smell after it warmed up. Looks like it took a beer and some other assorted drinks, and maybe a little hamster pee. I pulled the chassis and cleaned it with some spray contact cleaner and while I had it out cleaned out the pots, retensioned the socket pins and Cramolin treated the inputs (this stuff is great). I stuck the original old tubes back in just to see if it still worked, and it sounded great. Left everything as is. I need to do a tube sweep but for now it satisfies without offending. This little amp is built like a tank. Definitely gig-worthy (through a PA) and possibly without backup.

this thing is OLD. Not their problem anymore, and haven't needed any help with it.

Why isn't this little gem famous? This amp is a STEAL even at twice what I paid for it. I'll be looking for another. Super portable package with decent looks (not mine, pee stains are not yet stylin')

Early nineties manufacture. After some modification, the amp's very versatile. It's a single channel tone monster. It's got an external speaker jack and headphone jack, both of which seem pointless to me (for recording through different cabs it's cool.) Part of the beauty of this amp is it's portability. Plenty of volume, it cuts through plenty. The tone controls are very responsive. It's got a mid boost button that I don't like the sound of. I kinda wish it had reverb, but I ain't sweatin' it.

This amp sounds good with all my guitars, but it does seem to favor alnico humbuckers especially. I've got a jagmaster I installed DeArmond Gold Tone pickups in, and this amp just loves that guitar. Tons of sustain and smooth grind with that combo. I generally scoop the mids out and use the pre and master volumes to get my sound. Now here's the kicker, I liked this amp okay until I put a boost pedal in front of it. With the booster this thing came alive! I don't care what kind you use, the increase in db's is what's going to sweeten the amp. It's very sensitive to tube choice as well so it's a good test bed if you're into tube swapping. I'm running mine with a chinese 12ax7 in v1 and a g.e.12ax7 in v2 with a couple russian groove tubes el84's in the power section right now. The finishing touch for me was replacing the stock speaker with an alnico 30w Jensen, and that has put this into the boutique sound realm for me. It's like a little chunk of high-gain marshall with a splash of vox thrown in. A very rich sounding tone issues forth when you get it dialed in. It'll do a good clean sound, but it's the overdriven sound that is sweetest.

I've never had any problems with this amp, period. I've had it about four years.

I've never had to contact the company about this amp. Although I wish they would release the schematic.

I love this amp. I only liked it at first, and not that much to be honest. But I knew it had potential as an all tube el84 powered amp. After changing out the tubes and the speaker, I'm completely satisfied with it. If it was my only amp, I'd be fine with that. As it is, the crate is second banana to my bassman with a 2x12 alnico jensen cab. If I could justify it I would by another one in a second.

Dont know what year mine is but they stoped making them in 1996. From what i know, it sounds pretty kick ass. The amp is very versatile. If it isnt for you you might be an idiot. haha sucks to be you. I play Jazz, Blues, Classic Rock, 80's Rock, Alternative and Zakk Wylde Brutal Metal. And it can do any. takes a while but is great. Single Channel all you need just like Zakk (JCM 800 Rules). Pretty Damn basic and straight forward, but thats how it should be. it has Reverb not the best but alright.

I use a early late 80's-early90's Jackson and can handle lots of music. stock crappy pickups but what can i do,eh. It most certainly suits my music. sounds like a JCM 800 with out a Presence Control. I have been Thinking about Scrapping the Reverb (since it not the best) and adding a Presence control. some Noise, just buy an EBTECH trust me they are great for ground loop hum (single coil, pedal, etc, most noises). Can make you squirt its like (Oh, The Brewtality) maybe add a full frequency booster by EMG of Seymour Duncan. or a Overdrive pedal With the Just the OutPut boosted.

Just FULL TILT BOOGIE DAMN STRAIGHT CAN BE A BLODDY AND BRUTAL AS A ROBERT RODREGUES AND QUINTIN TERITINO FLICK!

Tank 10 not much else to say

dont need it

Kick ass buy one or if you cant then you should steal one. haha be like my a Pirate AARRRGGGHHH

Just got my Crate Vin-20- quit making in 1996. This amp is hot little bomb!All tube- 1 channel with reverb- headphone jack and extra cabinet jack.Not fancy- just good clean loud tube sound! I play in a regular gigging club band- blues, classic rock, some country- it will be fine for small- med clubs- mic it for bigger gigs. So nice and small- easy to carry- plus classy old style cream colored tolex- oxblood red front. Looks like 60's model fender amp!

I use a 58 & 59 Les Paul with an old Ibanez TS-9, plus a Boss chorus-Amp is very quiet- will be a real pleasure to record with. Gets a strong Duane/Dickey Betts Les Paul sound. Reverb is a little weak, but we're here for tone brothers! Has a master volume and a boost switch that pumps up another 5+ watts or so. But keep it clean and run a good quality distortion pedal- you'll be real happy.

Had it less than a month, but using it every day- these Crate amps are as strong and dependable as anything out there. From what I've researched- these don't break unless you drop them.

Crate customer support is great! Fast and friendly when I called for an old owners manual & tube chart. Folks- these aren't rocket science- they're built tank tough, but anyone can replace the tubes, and there's little else to go wrong. Any service center can work on one.

I've been playing over 30 years-had big rigs, lots of rack junk- but this is really the best sound with limited effects pedals, for club or recording work. Love the look and small size, and large full sound. Ain't fond of the reverb. It's like a $1500 boo-tick amp in sound, but keeps more cash in your pocket. I'm looking to buy a 2nd as a back up. Yeah, I'd grab another if this one was lifted, in a second! Hey gang- smarten up- quit lugging all that big amp junk and get yourself a real nice little "hot potato", go wail, take the money and go home. Mic it if need, but this lil muther really cooks! I've got a bunch of other amps and guitars at home, but this is what I'm taking out to play from here on out. Crate amps are full U.S.A. made by folks who make Ampeg- good quality, and did I mention great tone too? Buy one- you'll love it!

I bought this on ebay because it appealed to my sense of the absurd. Someone had somehow acquired an empty Top Hat box and stuck a Crate Vintage Club 20 in it. It had the Top Hat speaker and I was looking for a small amp for the occasional gig with a function band. I figured it would be worth $300 and if it sounded crappy, I could just resell it. It's actually turned out to be almost perfect. I wish I could keep it clean at just a smidge higher volume, but we all know the #1 wedidng request is "turn down", so... It's probably the upgraded speaker, but it's got a very full tone with nice bottom. I put some chicken knobs on it and many guitarists have commented on my "boutique" amp. At some point, I'm hoping to upgrade the reverb tank. I've heard that these are prone to breaking down, but I haven't experienced that in the past year over the course of 40 or 50 four hour gigs.

I bought this amp 6 years ago when a local guitar shop was going out of business for $300 Canadian. A very basic amp, so to rate it out of 10 for features is not entirely fair, but for me, I'd say it to be a 8 out of 10. I will down grade it because although it tries to give you some cool features (headphones and line out) it's not really executed very well. But for what I play (blues, jazz, rock), it's perfect. For features, it's pretty straight forward: gain, level, treb-mid-bass, reverb, and mid-boost. It's a 15watt tube amp, so it's pretty loud for it's size (and weight!!), I'd say louder than a Fender Blues Jr (and heavier) and slightly smaller.

I have a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Melody Maker, and when this amp's level is cranked and the gain is low, it sings beautifully!! I like to set the level to 10 and the gain to around 2-3. I play at work in a 5,000 sq ft warehouse, and it is plenty loud enough. At maximum volume, don't try hitting a power-chord though, as the speaker will crackle under that kind of pressure. But for cutting through the band on a solo, or a good blues or rock riff, it's perfect. I'd stay away from the gain going beyond 5, as it's too dirty. Better to get a good stomp box if you want real distortion. This amp is all about clean to semi-clean sound with beautiful tone. If you want a totally clean sound at high volumes (beyond 7-8) then this amp is not for you. Better get a Club 30 or bigger. At home, it's plenty loud and plenty clean. Don't use the headphone jack. It's very static-sounding and hard to listen to. Line out, you have to unplug the speaker, so it's a bit of a hassle (my speaker wires are soldered on, read on below). Again, for what it is (tube 15watt, driven hard) I'd say the sound is just perfect!!

Well, I bought a floor model, and only after a month I had serious issues. The sound was breaking up and was getting unacceptable buzzing, at first only at higher volumes, but then even when playing at home you could hear it. I had to take it in twice, eventually getting all new tubes and speakers, but after that, all was fine and no problems for the 6 years after this. The tech at the shop told me that when you buy floor models, you never know what you'll get, and that's so true. As my only amp, I play this amp cranked quite often, and I've never had problems ever since (except power-chords at max volume!!). To rank, I guess it's not fair to downgrade Crate's rating because this was a floor model, and not new out of box. I'll still take it down a few notches....

I've never had to deal with them directly, but through the local authorized repair centre. It took about a month to get the speaker, but no questions asked, just a receipt and a general description of the problem. I'd say replacing my tubes and speakers is a good show of faith from Crate, considering the dealer was no longer around, and I did buy a floor model, and they could have blamed me for it.

Overall, I'm very happy. Recently I got the itch, after having this amp for 6+ years, to get start looking for another amp. I auditioned a couple of Fender's (Blues Jr, '65 Deluxe Reverb) but for the price, I think I'll keep my Crate. The reverb's a bit weak, that's my only big complaint, especially comparing it to the Fender amps. But for pure tone, looks, and uniqueness, and price, you can't beat my Crate

single channel amp with pregain, low mid and hi, post gain and reverb level, with two EL-84 tubes and 12" speaker. tank reverb. it is pretty perfect for what it is, except it is a single channel, so I distortion box comes in handy. speaker out plug disables internal speaker, I have driven 4 - 12 cab no problem with it, man then it has bottom end.

I use a 3 single coil strat. it fits my style perfectly. it is quiet, has only one channel, but sound great clean or has a nice smooth tube distortion, which can be driven pretty hard, but it is not a metalheads amp, too smooth, not enough edge or bottom end.

pretty clean, potentiometers are old and a little dirty (because they were cheap to begin with. also, reverb is a pretty weak( unbalanced), I think there was a mod from crate to increase the tank reverb level, kind of factory recall, I am not sure.

I purchased this amp new over ten years ago for around $200.00
It blew my mind then and now. I haven't really played through it for about 5 years. I unpacked it tonight, and plugged a stratocaster straight into it. no effects, not distortion box. this thing rivals any old fender amp you could ever lay your greedy hands on, except it has balls. its like a cheaply built boogie.

I really like this amp; it works well for what I do, which is play rock and blues with my buddies in relatively small rooms and venues with drums, bass, and vocals. It's loud enough to hear over all of that but you really have to crank the level control to its higher echelons. The headphone jack was useful when I was a less experienced player; I didn't have to worry about keeping the neighbors up. Its set up is relatively simple and straightforward. It has controls for volume level, gain, treble, bass and mid, as well as a boost button, which, if I remember what the guitar shop saleman told me, increases the output another five watts. It also has an external speaker jack and the aforementioned headphone jack. I believe the speaker is a 10". The only thing I wish it had was reverb. The fifty watt model has it but I don't know why they didn't put it on the VC20.

I've been playing through this amp for six years now and I think I've coaxed every possible noise from it by now. The mid-range frequencies are what really stand out for me. I was able to get nice
Bluesbreakers-era Claptonesque tones from it almost from the get go. It has a warm,smoky quality to it. With the gain turned up somewhere in the middle, and the knobs tweaked just so, I've been able to do a pretty good impression of the Kinks. I've dabbled in mellow, jazzy tones as well and this amp handles them nicely. If you really experiment with the knobs you can conjure some nice gritty, ballsy tones too. However, with the gain turned all the way up, chords lose their definition, more so than a lot of other amps I've used at similar settings. Also, the bottom end is not as tight as I would like it. But, in amps as with women, you can overlook a flabby bottom end if there are other qualities to make up for it. One other quibble I have is that the amp never really does get very clean. There is always a certain coloration that seems to muddy up the crystal. Nevertheless, this amp has a really nice vibe

I have only had one problem with it. About three years after buying it I had to replace the jack plug, but I bought it used so I don't really know what the previous owners did to it. I've never changed the tubes and it still sounds good.

I've never dealt with Crate's customer service support. Since I bought the amp used, there was no warranty.

I've been playing for over seven years now. Besides the Crate VC20 I also have a Carvin Bel-Air 50watt combo, a Marshall JCM 800, and a 100watt Tube Works Tube Driver. I've seen a few of these VC20 amps around and I'm thinking of getting another one just because they pack so much bang for the buck. If mine was stolen I'd go out and buy one immediately. I was really lucky to have picked it out of a whole stack of other inferior amps when I bought it. I didn't know much about gear back then. It happened to fit into my price range and it was all tube, so I picked it up. The guy at the music store raved about it and now I know why. Since then, I've played a lot of small amps like this but none of them really compare. Usually, they're cheap solid state amps with really harsh distortion, not smooth and bluesy like the VC20.

One 10 inch speaker, Blond tolex, one channel, hi-mid-bass controls, gain, level, external speaker jack, headphone jack. All tube, class A.

This amp is something else. With single coils it sounds cheap and thin. Both cleaned up or with gain imposed. But here is the rub, with my pho-335,with the gain on 3 and the level up towards 5, this thing growls, groans, and screams. Not with my Les Paul, but with the 335 only. It's funny how such a limited amp that sounds like crud with a Strat-Tele, can sound so great with the 335. I would give it a rating of one for any other guitar used but with the 335, I have to give it a 7

I used the external speaker jack once and upon pulling the chord out, the jack remained in the on position. I slapped the chord plug into it and pulled it out again, and it's good to go.

Over all rating? Only worth considering if you plan on replicating a BB or a Chris Cain tone. Otherwise, skip it. I love it though,and gig with it.