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The amp in question is a Crate VC-3112 i bought used last year. I believe it to be from the first generation of the VC or V line of crate amps, because it is honey blonde tolex with gold parts, and brown with gold trim. They guy i bought it off said he thought it was around 10 years old. Does anyone know how i could track down the exact age (for purposes of replacing the tubes, speaker, possibly having to get work done) ive tried contacting crate (saint louis music) to no avail. Also, if its 10 or so years old, would i need to get new tubes, speaker, capjob or other work? It seems fine, it runs pretty hot, but tube amps are supposed to i believe? The amp in question is a Crate VC-3112 i bought used last year.
I believe it to be from the first generation of the VC or V line of crate amps, because it is honey blonde tolex with gold parts, and brown with gold trim. They guy i bought it off said he thought it was around 10 years old. Does anyone know how i could track down the exact age (for purposes of replacing the tubes, speaker, possibly having to get work done) ive tried contacting crate (saint louis music) to no avail. Also, if its 10 or so years old, would i need to get new tubes, speaker, capjob or other work?
It seems fine, it runs pretty hot, but tube amps are supposed to i believe?You're right about it being an early model. I have the VC5212 in blonde tolex. I think they switched to black in the later models. I know you tried to contact Crate, but dId you email or call them. I've had success over the phone with them.
But, as far as having work done, I don't think the age will matter. I've had mine in the shop a year or two ago (Mine is about 10-years-old, too), and the tech had no trouble.
You can replace the tubes yourself with no problem. I 've been using matched sets of Groove Tubes (power tubes) for a long time. It seems to sound best using their EL84S power tubes and the ECC83 preamp tubes. If you're concerned, bring it to a reputable tech and have it looked over.Jeff. I don't remember if I used the serial number, but it couldn't hurt. As for a check up, tube amps need extra care.
Mostly just listening for changes in tone or funny noises can clue you in. If you play a lot, you have to change tubes more frequently. To be honest, I don't bring mine in for a check up unless there's a problem.
You're going to pay a bench fee, so it's worth doing preventive stuff on your own and only bringing it in when you find a problem that you can't fix. Read stuff by Gerald Weber. He's brilliant. He has books out and writes for Vintage Guitar Magazine.Jeff. Jeffrec since you own one.i know its an 8 tube amp (4 X 12AX7, 4 X EL84) but i have 2 questions1. Which tube is which, i seem to remember the 3rd 12AX7 is the reverb driver?
I knoe the difference between the pre and power tubes, but which tube does what? I wanna say the 1st 12AX7 is the gain stage, and the most important for tone, followed by # 2 and 3? I am assuming that is going left to right on the chasis. Can you clear this up?2. Have u ever swapped a 12AX7 for a 12AY7 or 12AT7 or a 5751? How did you like it if you did?-thanks again.
Yea i know u cant bias it. I recall hearing it was even self biasing, but do those exist?as for retubing, i know that i need to buy matched pairs for the power tubes, if possible a matched quad. I probably will eventually get jj's for the el84's.for the pre amp tubes though, ive heard the EH were best. Ive also considered NOS, and also going the route of using a 5751, 12AY7, or 12AT7 to alter the gain, headroom, etc.
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Ive also considered doing a mixture of the above, using an assortment of NOS and regular tubes, and possibly throwing in 1 or 2 different tubes. Hence i need to know which pre tube does what. I know one does gain, one does the reverb, etc. I dont which one is which tho.i also am going to look into a new speaker at some point. The original speaker is in there and id like to swap it out.currently it is running 2 EH 12AX7's, 1 chinese 12AX7, and 1 unlabled 12AX7, and 4 unlabled El84's, (no idea if they are stock) and the stock 'Crate Vintage Series E12' speaker (8ohm).
Bought it used in mid 90's. Really pretty good amp. Did have short comings, no external speaker jack, volume & tone control pots wen't that great. I did retube it myself.- it is' self bias' I put sovtek el 84 quad for power tubes. Can't rember pre tubes.
Kind of a pain but very do it your self. I can't rember if you have to pull chasis, I think maybe only for pre tubes.
I know on my Traynors now I have 2 pull chasis. I did do a speaker swp at 1 point to a celestion modern lead 70?
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It gets a bad rap on forms but I had it reconned in mid 90's for $35 out of shy town. I don't know what they did but I still havn't in a box, it was night & day. I did put th original speaker back in though because it had better low end with single coil pickups, - but was very loose or flabby in low end. In my opinion I would by a a macthed quad of sovtek regular el84's, maybe a balenced 12ax7 balanced for phase inverter, last spot on far left looking from back as I remember. Deal with pres later. Like I sid maybe find a can of ' de tox' to clean up those.ty pots they put in that amp & to clean tube sockets. Really thinkin about pull chasis for any tube changing because it is all pcb.
For those who may have wondered if the new Crate V-Series amps have tone, mainly the Palomino V32, or 30 watt version, I will say that I am pleased, very pleased! I had my main amp in the shop and needed a backup amp until it would be ready for pick up. I also wanted an amp I could leave at home and keep my main amp at our rehersal location.I went to guitar center and first picked up a V16. It was fantastic, but after practice that evening, I immediately knew I needed the 30 watter.
The next day I went back and made the swap, went directly home and plugger her up. After getting familiar with the controls, I began to try out the clean channel and could not quit playing long enough to check out the dirty channel! I had a school (PTA) meeting to go to and had to wait until the next day after work. The dirty channel has the best distortion I have heard from anything besides a Marshall. It can go from mild bluesy grit to heavy metal! This beautiful looking amp simply fools you. You look at it and think; it looks cool, vintage, boutique, and imagine it is a mainly clean amp.
You also think; this aint no crate, no way, it can't be true!It has the required class A attributes such as attack sensitivity, and a really amazing clean sparkly tone in channel 1. Channel 2 just rips your head off with higher gain settings. I can't wait to hear the speaker after it has a few more hours on it. The reverb in the V32 is also great, however, the V16 reverb was seriously lacking.The strange thing is, this amp is worth more than my Marshall that was is in the shop (I have it back now). As far as tone, yes it is there, and yes I will begin to use this one instead of the Marshall for small club gigs. The weight difference Marshall 2x12; 67 lbs, Crate 1x12; 44 lbs.
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The Marshall will rest in place for rehersal unless we play outside which won't be anytime soon!I know this review is not as technical as others. All I can say is if you ever have a chance, and time to give one of these a try, you may just change your mind about Crate, or at least the V-series, and buy one. I have a Palomino V32 and like it a lot.I swapped out the stock groove tubes with JJ's.(It uses EL 84's,some people do not like these).The clean channel is one of the best out their.The crunch channel is as good as most out their(it has great hard rock crunch,NOT nu metal scooped crunch)especially after the amp is nice and toasty hot.If your looking for the best of both worlds in one amp,try this one out.The crate website shows Bo Diddley,Don Herron from Bob Dylan,Billy Gibbons(ZZ Top),and others using the V series crate amps. I had a Peavey Classic 50, and yes, the fuzzyness on the dirty channel was in that amp too.
It is a good amp, but it had its limits using high gain settings. While it is a true classic, it stops somewhere in the mid 70's gain wise. But, that can be subjective to what you liked in that era.
The V32 again, has a fantastic dirty channel. It covers 80's & 90's heavy metal with ease. I mainly cover 70's classic rock, some blues, and 80's hair metal stuff. This amp so far fits the bill nicely.As a bonus, I am pleased with the tolex color and gold hardware. I do like the Marshall black & gold look, but if I had the $$$, I would seek out a fawn Marshall combo. Different colors are not bad, and can be tasteful if not too gawdy.The footswitch is also nice compared to others. It uses a socket on the pedal so you can remove the cord for easier storage.
It switches channels and the boost function. Additionally, the V16 did not have a standby switch where this one does.
Maybe a minor detail to some, but a much needed feature for me. How does the V32's distortion compare/differ from that of a Peavey Classic 30?
I have a C30 and while I like it, the distortion does have that 'fuzzy, buzzy' character to it that seems to permiate every frequency. I have a Fender DRRI that I use for cleans (love it!) and would really like to find something of comperable size and power for overdriven tones.I never played a c30 and I'm sure their are some here that love it but if you go to harmony central.com(do'nt believe everything you read,TRY OUT the amp)the palomino v32 has out of 11 responses an overall rating of 9.5 and their is one reviewer their that you can download some v32 sound clips. The thing I find interesting about this amp is that it is very good at lower than bedroom levels on both channels, especially the clean channel.
It still retains the sparkle with the controls barely above a whisper. The dirty channel sounds closer to a Marshall at lower volumes, but then developes its own sound as you roll up the throttle.
It is still very, very close to the signiture Marshall crunch but with a boutique sort of distinction. I used it tonight and it makes my Marshall (shown in photo JCM602) sound like it is stuck in a rut! I still like my Marshall, but now just a little less if that makes sense.I know it is only 30watts, but it sounds and feels every bit as loud as the 60 watter. It can only get better as the speaker gets some time on it.
As I have had some time to play around with the amp, I have found that the presence and boost switches used either separetely or together give you a wide range of tone varation not usually found on class A amps. The low mid boost does exactly that while the presence helps bring out the glassy tone at higher volumes. I have but one thing not desirable and that is the switch between channels.
It is not as transparent as other channel switchers in that is has a delay. It wont reallt be a big problem, but the other switches for boost and presence do not act this way.The honeymoon is still going on! I've heard MANY great reports on the Palamino V32.
It's time to go see what all the yakkin is about for myself.In keeping with my previous post, I did in fact, test drive one today. Check it out- I brought my R8 along with me for the demo at GC, but was too lazy to bring it in and dink around with check-in at the door, so I left it in the trunk and grabbed a 'faded/satin burst LP Std w/50's profile' off the wall for the deed.I warmed up the Palamino and let it rip.after I picked my jaw off the ground 5 minutes later.
I was stunned.yeah, I bought one before I left GC today.' Dammit, Jim, I'm a realist, not a gear worshipper!' I've had boogs, a few various good Marshalls, Soldano, rack rigs, etc over the years, (and played thru a ton of other stuff) and quite honestly, this amp has me more excited about playing guitar than I have been in quite some time.This is my cheapo mini-review:First, I haven't spent a lot of time 'dialing it in' so to speak. I just put all the tone controls on 5, presence sw.
Out, and gain on the dirt channel I played with between 80% and dimed.I have not tried it with my Tom Anderson or my P90 LPDC, (nor have I tried any of my fx or OD's, etc with it); but I used my R8 and my Tokai NES-120 thru it at rehearsal tonight, and it sounds fantastic. I went 'bare'. No stompboxes, fx, etc. Nada; just two guitars, a cable and the amp. Just flippin' great.The clean is a great asset to this amp. Simply great.
Lotsa headroom here, and yes, this is DEFINITELY a giggable amp.The dirt channel has a nice, Marshally snarl to it, tons of gain, is NOT buzzy and the amp in general sounds HUGE at low levels. Crank it up, and it doesn't wuss out at all; neither does it lose that 'huge' aspect to its sonics.Lotsa substance here, and, well. It gets a bit Voxy when you crank it, esp when you use the volume boost (which is something I require for boosting solos onstage- but many amps don't offer this feature). The manual states the they have boosted 900Hz about 10db for the solo boost. I'm not exactly sure its voicing in this mode is 'my sound' for solos; but it is VERY effective, and I will have absolutely no problem tweaking it so it suits me.The tone section's voicing is great, and very useable; not to mention that just offhand, I usually require a seperate bank of tone controls with each amp channel; but with this amp it's not necessary. The designers of this circuit obviously took this factor into consideration, and did a great job to voice the single circuit to serve each channel so well at the same time. Very nice.The Celestion speaker in it is reasonable, & sounds solid; but I'm considering a G12H30 in it's place just for grins.
I have no idea what iteration the stock Celestion speaker is.I have some 2x12 RAM cabs with Fane Crescendos; and a few 4x12 Marshall cabs onhand that I want to put through their paces with the V32. It should drive them very nicely.I also noticed the speaker baffle is plywood, not MDF. Another plus.I played this amp for about 30 minutes before I went to my rehearsal, and then used it there for about 4 hrs straight.All in all, the V32 is a very impressive, yet simple package. This thing smokes my Traynor YCV80Q, which is a great amp in its own right; but as I heard someone say- 'the V32 is quite possibly the best under $1k combo you can buy.' I can't say I disagree.
While I can't say anything specific about the Palomino amp, my V-series 1512 combo also has excellent tones. Goes from gritty cleans to Marshally crunch.I've had it for about 4 years and durability is near perfect (thread on the handle is unraveling from use). I also use it with an external 2 x 12 Celestion Vintage 30/G12H30 cabinet with outstanding results.
I think the Crate folks know exactly how to build a toneful tube amp at low cost.I think for someone on a budget or needing many different amps, this series has really high value. I'm sure at some point the PCB construction will limit its lifespan, but that's no different than a lot of big-name brand amps in the stores. Plus, I've already gotten plenty out of it for a few hundred dollars. I've got a Traynor YCV-80, Cybertwin, Princeton Chorus and the Crate, as far as clean tone goes the Traynor and Crate beat the others. The CT is useful cause it can get close and has all the effects.
I don't care for the Traynor's overdrive, a Line6 Crunchtone pedal takes care of that. I can't describe what I hear like allot of others around here, can only say it sure sounds good to me.Next project is to make a cable to connect the Crate to the speakers in the CT. It's cab is deeper and is better for deep tones, can't wait to hear that!
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