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Talk to me about Crate amps....


ShredAstaire

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I got one...it works nicely and sounds good. I hear a lot of bad stuff about them though....did I just get lucky and get a good one?

 

What's your experience with Crate amps?

 

I have played on a couple of the V series (V22 I believe) and it was decent, sounded pretty good. A lot of people mark them as just shredders amps, but given your name, I would say it is great :)

 

I like 'em just need to pull the trigger on one.

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LOL...the funny thing is that i'm not a huge Shred fan....i like my name though cuz I thought it was clever...hehe....i can deal with shred in small doses. I never knew Crate was known for shredder amps...interesting.

 

My Blue Voodoo has a killer Bluesy tone AND can get some nice chuggage out of it when needed for my more metallic riffin....that said, i do play it out of a Marshall Cabinet but i'm not sure HOW much that changes the sound....

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LOL...the funny thing is that i'm not a huge Shred fan....i like my name though cuz I thought it was clever...hehe....i can deal with shred in small doses. I never knew Crate was known for shredder amps...interesting.

 

My Blue Voodoo has a killer Bluesy tone AND can get some nice chuggage out of it when needed for my more metallic riffin....that said' date=' i do play it out of a Marshall Cabinet but i'm not sure HOW much that changes the sound....[/quote']

 

I chuckled when I saw your name, I thought it was clever as well. That's at least what I hear, idk how true that is, but it is what I hear. I like 'em the V Series has some decent tones, I might go buy one soon from a local music shop, but the guy is a

d¡ck

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I got one...it works nicely and sounds good. I hear a lot of bad stuff about them though....did I just get lucky and get a good one?

 

What's your experience with Crate amps?

 

Hi Shred

 

I owned a Crate G60XL in the early nineties and it was a great amp for clean (at low volumes mind you) and the distortion was liquid like and fluid[cool]. Cranked up it lsot it a bit and was out of contol but as a practice amp it was the best metal amp I ever owned, other than my Peavey JSX head.

 

I hadn't used/played one for years until I went to a shop and investigated their acoustic amps. I bought some for the school I teach at Lucy, my friends/colleague were so impressed with the sound of violin and Classical guitars through these, we bought some more.

 

Matt

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I dunno. I've seen demos of a few and they sounded pretty good.

 

On the other hand, I'm diametrically opposed to transistor amplification (for guitars, at least,) and if I'm going to drop some dough on a new amp it's going to be something with tubes.

 

If I want good SS, though, I'll probably go for a Crate. Better than this lousy Marshall.

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I had a few Crate amps many years ago. I thought they sounded pretty good for the price I paid.

 

I would imagine that the only problem some might have with them around here is that they are an affordable "lower end" amp... so they get snobbed. I've never looked at their more expensive models, but the ~$100 models I purchased back in the day were decent.

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I dunno. I've seen demos of a few and they sounded pretty good.

 

On the other hand' date=' I'm diametrically opposed to transistor amplification (for guitars, at least,) and if I'm going to drop some dough on a new amp it's going to be something with tubes.

 

If I want good SS, though, I'll probably go for a Crate. Better than this lousy Marshall.[/quote']

 

 

What Marshall do you have?

 

The V series from Crate are all tube

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Yeah....that's what I thought Jantha...i'm not a regular gigging musician anymore, but I did use that amp for many a show a few years back....like I said...I never had an issue with its performance or sound but have heard many people bash on em....I think you're probably right....low cost = shitty amp to many people.

 

Perhaps I should change the name of this thread...there doesn't seem to be any hate for Crate here just yet.....

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I believe Crate amps used to be built in the USA and had a great sound and reputation, the company was sold, production moved to Asia and the amps are made cheaply nowadays. Not the same sound.

 

They might be good for the price but I have heard some guys say they are not to be trusted on the road, some amps even get damaged during shipping because parts inside come lose, especially the transformers.

 

These cheap tube amps may sound good but once you compare them to a good tube amp then you realize the difference, of course price is a factor.

 

If you are happy with your amp that is all that matters.

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The funny thing about Crate amps is their name. Back in the late 70's/early 80's, they were built into wooden cabinets that actually looked like shipping crates. A guy I used to jam with back in highschool had one; I can't say whether I remember how it sounded but he had a badass red Ibanez Destroyer that I wanted.

 

crate_amp.jpg

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They might be good for the price but I have heard some guys say they are not to be trusted on the road' date=' some amps even get damaged during shipping because parts inside come lose, especially the transformers.[/quote']

 

I've heard this a lot anecdotally too, though never from the source.....makes me wonder...that said, i'm not taking mine on the road much! :)

 

 

If you are happy with your amp that is all that matters.

 

That's key!!! I agree with that 100%.

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I have read stuff online but also in person.

 

A professional guitar player that lives 3 blocks away from me has an endorsement by Crate, he used to love the amps when they were making them in the USA but now he won't use the new ones even though he gets them for free.

 

He said last time they sent him an amp he had to send 2 amps back before he got one with no issues.

 

He records sometimes with a Crate V5, the model that was still made in the USA and gets incredible tones from that 5-watter, if you look on eBay you will see that model is sought after.

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