Anyone check out the new Crate V100 head?

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MrMcSick

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I haven't had a chance to play any of the new v series crate's but they seem to be getting good reviews. This sounds like a killer deal to me, an all tube head with 2 channels with seperate eq's and a half power switch for $320. I am thinking about picking one up with their 2x12 closed back cab so I don't have to lug around a 4x12. What's everyone think?
 
at this price i would be extremely cautious...some of crates amp sound rather nice i.e the blue voodoo...but it's lower end amplifiers tend to be horrible...try it out...but dont set your hopes on it being an amazing deal
 
I have the new Crate V100 head. I also bought the V2x12B cabinet. You can't build this cabinet with two 12" speakers even if you replaced the speakers with your own desired brand you'd have a good deal. The speakers that are in the cabinet are decent and have a good sound. The head is HUGE!! It is like 30" wide and is actually wider than the 2x12 cabinet and weights in at a massive 40lbs. The quality inside looks pretty good and the EL84s make this amp sound decent. Crate has started to come around and build some decent stuff again. Don't let price fool you. Have you seen that alot of rocker's are going to Crate again. If it's good enough for Reverend Willie G Gibbon's and his desire for a precise sound then I'm good with it too. My only complaint is the head is very large, but you CAN get good sound out of the mix.

Danny
 
I have the V33H and the V212 which is a very nice setup and plenty loud enough to gig with and superb for using in the recording studio So.... Ya, I'd say get it;)
 
I would be a little wary of buying it. I have the little 1x12" combo (V18) and it is pretty much worthless. SO many issues I don't even know where to start. Reverb? Uck. Speaker? plastic worthless peice. Sound quality? pretty bad. Even after a tube and speaker swap which helped a little. Then again, for what I paid, I am not worried at all. Thats the good news. The new crate's are (or older ones? ) are pretty darned cheap. INterior build on them is as well though. You get what you pay for, buth if their amps even come close to meeting their spec's you might be getting a little more than you pay for :)

Also is the 100 watt head using EL84's like mentioned above? If so, how many of them little suckers are in there?
 
I don't have any of these Crate V series amps, but was helping my stepson look for a tube amp. So I stopped at a music shop and tried out the V33 212 combo. I'm no conisseur of amps, but that thing sounded like crap. I've got a Peavey classic 30 which sounds great. I'm always looking at peavey classics just for the heck of it and I think you could get a much better amp (even a Classic 50) for about the same price; head or combo, whichever you prefer.
 
I too am a huge Peavey fan and have used Peavey since the 70's and they make good equipment, well for the most part, I had three VYPYRS go bad in four weeks but that's another subject. As I mentioned above I own the V100 head and the 2x12B cabinet. I purchsed the cabinet for $129.00 and I will agree the speakers are a little fragile. At low volumes they don't sound to bad. The gain in the amp sounds crappy when it gets past 3 and the speakers don't break up very well but the clean side is decent and it has a nice break up at about 2:00. My Peavey Valve King sounded farty too when I bought it but with a little "tube" surgery and a new Eminence Texas Heat it came to life and is now one of my better amps. Same is true with the Crate V series, we can't expect a $3,000.00 sound out of a $200.00 amp come on guys. Yes I put a new set of JJ12ax7s in the head, kept the EL84's stock, it is biased a little cool so turned it up just a pinch and replaced the two Crate cheapo speakers with another set of Eminence Texas Heat speakers, now it sounds alot better. People say yes now you have a bunch of money invested in a cheap setup. Not really I have a total of less than $600.00 invested in an amp that has a good Marshall type sound. Plus we need to keep in mind that it's not always the amp, it's what guitar we are using, the style of pick ups in the guitar and most of all the guitarist playing ability :-) It's in the hands
 
The v100 head has el34 not el84 tubes.

I picked up a used B-52 AT-212 instead. Played it and a bugera 333xxl 2x12 and a valveking 2x12. The b52 blew both of them away in both sound and build quality. Its basically a poor mans mesa recto if you ask me.

It has 4 6l6's 4 12ax7's for the preamp 1 for reverb, 1 for effects loop, 1 for phase splitter and a 5ar4 rect. 100 watts all tube. nice vinyl covering, metal knobs and footswitch and even casters. Also has a knob on the back where you can switch it from tube a, tube a/b or solid state which is absolutely amazing. I am very happy with my choice.
 
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