Crate and Ampeg.....joined at the hip?

[CoolCat]

So I read somewhere Crate amps is made by Ampeg now, due to last years merger? any comments...just found this interesting.

LOUD Technologies owns Mackie, TAPCO and EAW, Ampeg, Crate, Alvarez, and Knilling orchestral string instruments.

http://www.loudtechinc.com/

A lot of Crate slamming and Peavey slamming around here, but I keep wondering about the Crate V series amps.
I agree I've never owned a good Peavey or Crate...but I never had money for a great Mesa or other boutique stuff either?

the V series Class A tube amps are getting good press...or is it Paid to Play stuff? Their about 25% cost of a Mesa Boogie?
http://www.crateamps.com/html/news_release.cfm?nid=27

 

[Farview]

Both Crate and Ampeg were owned by St. Louis Music for the 20 years before Loud bought them.

 

[CoolCat]

Are they built by the same group now, like consolidated in the same factory?

Seems Ampeg is highly rated and Crate..er...well.....say no more.
I just wondered if the Crates had a complete re-engineer kind of thing going on recently and improved by the Ampeg mfg.

 

[battleminnow]

What I have been told is that the Palomino amps (not sure about the whole v series line) are indeed being manufactured by Ampeg.

Pete

 

[ez_willis]

I agree I've never owned a good Peavey or Crate...but I never had money for a great Mesa or other boutique stuff either?

I have a Peavey Classic 30 that sounds pretty dang good, for the money.

 

[Anfontan]

I have a Peavey Classic 30 that sounds pretty dang good, for the money.

And the Classic series were simple to set you're sound-preamp, master & tones were like an early Fender, unlike lots of other Peavey models.

 

[jpw23]

I really like my crate GXT100....4/10 cabinet

 

[CoolCat]

What I have been told is that the Palomino amps (not sure about the whole v series line) are indeed being manufactured by Ampeg.

Pete

I haven't owned any of the tube amps and combo's of the past 10yrs.

just wanting to fish for any inputs on this V series (Palimino, seems the same except the tolex and gold emblem).

The build and construction on the Crate V, I saw was immaculate.Made in the US, beautifully constructed. (cosmetics QC passed with an A++)

The Epi Valve Jr. is cheap and cool too. but if I need an eq pedal and a cabinet there's added moola$$dinero.

I'll go see what deal I can get on the local V30 and read some more tonight.
Its no big deal, just hobby fun.

thanks for the inputs.

 

[Farview]

Seems Ampeg is highly rated and Crate..er...well.....say no more.

Ampeg's bass gear is highly rated. Their guitar stuff has always been a little suspect, except for the antique stuff and the tube amps designed by Lee Jackson. But even that stuff is a little strange.

 

[cephus]

I think it's a poor workman who blames his tools. I played a sub gig and used some kind of crate that had this cadillac badge thing on it and maybe a roman numeral or two and I thought it sounded as good as anything. I don't play with alot of distortion, so that may be why. It seems that when you pay more bucks, you get the ability to use soupy saturated distortion and sound less like shit than the cheaper amps.

I still think that tone sounds like shit on any amp. Just moreso on the cheaper ones. If you play cleaner, then you should be able to get the voice of God from any tube amp.

 

[Bondo]

Yup they are all under Loud now.

From what it looks like with the evolution of some of Crate's tube amps, the V series is the next evolution of the vintage club series. I own two vintage clubs, a 50w combo, and a 60w head. They both have a really cool tone if you know how to use them and what you want from them. I get everything from a nice blues to some high gain stuff, and on the head a more modern metal sound. These are of course their higher end amps. If you get one of their $250 dollar solid state heads or combos, of course it wont sound great, thoguh you should still be able to get a usable sound.

You know I think the problem might be, some people don't spend enough time getting a good sound. I was running the board for some baddle of the bands, and alot of people bitched about the guitar tones they had, and the fact that they couldn't be heard in the mix. These were all modernistic sounding metal type bands with what the thought to be very nice gear (lots of digital multi effect boards here, and other such garbage) and lots of fans who wanted to hear them. They all had so much compression and all their mids scooped out that there was no real sonic room for them or the rythm section. This along with the fact that they bitched about needing to be turned up even more for solos (this is a guitarists responsibility, not a sound guy's)which I did as best I could. So the conclusion, when the eventual winners came out, these four old dudes, the rythm guitarist was playing a Fender FM25. Thats a solid state 25W practice amp. I have one that doesnt work. He had a great tone, and every one asked well why does he sound so much cooler than me, and I replied, well he knows how to get a good tone, even with that amp. The moral: work with what you have, cause most amp will work if you work with them enough.

sorry end rant.

 

[Farview]

There is no way to get a usable metal tone out of the small solid state crate amps. It will sound good in your bedroom, but it doesn't mic up worth a damn. The clean sound are very usable.

 

[dave.....]

ampeg ?

i have a ampeg vh140c head that i run through a crate 4x12 cab.. i only use it when i play outside big gigs..... the tone is awsome clean or overdriven..... i agree w/ bondo. spend a little time working to get the sound you want out of what you have...... you might be suprised

 

[Micter]

I own the V32, V16, and the V8. I have a lot of cool sounding tube amps and seem to grab my V32 a lot for gigs and the V16 a lot for recording. These are really great sounding amps. Not really "clean" if that's your bag, though.