Crate BV120 f*** what ya heard!!

[jdr94]

I just wanna say that for the money its an awesome head. My suggestions would be a ge7 in the loop along with a sonic stomp. nice overdrive infront.

Many say it sucks and that they dont want a head that they gotta add pedals in order to sound good, but show me a guitarist who plays with no pedals/effects! So whats a couplemore pedals.

I picked one up for $135 (cause it had a busted knob, it turns just broken shaft) added my pedals and it kills! Ive owned a mesa recto, jvm410, and a v3.
thebv120 does well holding its own.

Anyone else share this view...

[warlok]

Absolutely! Loved mine when I had it. (It was even better when I got DonP to stop calling it the Blue Doodoo.. lol). It was my first all tube amp. Never used a OD. Liked it as is with the EQ. I had a rack DOD 31 band eq that I had laying around in the loop and a chorus and delay made the clean even better than it already was. I only sold it when I got my MTS amps and modules. Great amp IMO..

[jdr94]

yes! the only thing is i wanna change its appearance. I just spent a few bucks at home depot so hopefully i will return with a new look in a week or so...dammit i posted in tech. no wonder i couldnt find this thread lol

can someone move this to amps please

[Jayster]

I also love the BV120's, and I've owned many different amps/heads/combos/racks.... The only downside is the loudness, you have to push the head to get the full scope of tube goodness out of it(of course you can use a hot plate or whatever). I've owned about 6 BV120's and wouldn't hesitate to get another!

[jdr94]

yeah but who wants to play quiet lol.
heres my plans for my bv120. idk if i will actually follow thru cause im a slacker, but if i do it, 'll post it

[DonP]

More blue crap

I'd buy just about any tube amp for $135. Even if it sounded like Doodoo

Seriously, I've never heard one before. I just think the name is funny.

[jdr94]

More blue crap

I'd buy just about any tube amp for $135. Even if it sounded like Doodoo

Seriously, I've never heard one before. I just think the name is funny.

ha ha ha ha. yeah i like the sound and i still refer to it as blue doodoo every now and then. although mine is more like a black doodoo LOL

[toejam]

Never owned a BV120, but I had a BV60 head for awhile with KT66 tubes that sounded amazing!

[jdr94]

i wish i had a chance to play the 60. i heard they sound pretty damn good. theres actually a bv60 head for sale here locally, but they just want too much for it.

[paulbag]

I've actually got two of these collecting dust. Probably would've sold them by now but there doesn't appear to be much of a market for them and I don't want to give them away. I do want to fire one of them up while I have a friends ts808 and see how it sounds. When I originally purchased I was running a sonic maximizer in the loop and it seemed OK... but shortly after I added a g-major for my effects and it was downhill from there. Along with the blue doodoo comments my drummer used to say it sounded like a jar of pennies. Most drummers are dicks though...

[jdr94]

c'mon man, just give em away ill help ya out
the key is a good eq in the loop. push the mids hard in the pre then cut them in the loop. i know it seems silly and one would think it can just be done just by setting the mids in the pre but for some reason it doesnt work that way. putgin the sonic stomp at the end of the loop gets the highs crispy and the bottom end tight.

[warlok]

That amp was the first I ever used an EQ in the loop (or a loop for that matter.. lol) and it seriously was an epiphany. I got chills at the difference in tone and versatility.

[toejam]

i wish i had a chance to play the 60. i heard they sound pretty damn good. theres actually a bv60 head for sale here locally, but they just want too much for it.

It was a seriously great sounding amp. I think I got mine off ebay for kinda cheap. Sold it here to Levantin who's in Turkey... shipped it to one of his buddies in Illinois or somewhere, but I don't think Lev ever did wind up getting it.

[jdr94]

man i hope it was cause he chose to sell it to his buddy or somethin like that. ive dealt with levantin and hes a cool guy.

[zeegler]

I had one for a number of years as my main amp. I can see why a lot of people shit on them because they do have some major drawbacks. First off, unless you back the gain WAY off, they are very fizzy sounding. Secondly, they are not loud at all for a 100 watt amp (they are 100 watts, not 120). At band practice, my other guitar player would have his 5150 at number 3, and I'd have my volume at 7 just to keep up. Having said that, an EQ in the loop, with the level turned up would help out with both these issues. You can back off on the gain a little to keep the fizz at bay, dial out more of the fizzy frequencies with the EQ, and boost the volume.

They aren't bad amps, and if you get one cheap enough, they're a good buy. There are however much better options out there.