Crate Blue Voodoo

[Racerx2k]

...yeah, but how was the B52, cost-wise?

[zeegler]

...yeah, but how was the B52, cost-wise?

Did I mention...cheap!!!

I think it was $599

[nonamemx]

Not trying to bash crates, But I went in and looked closely at the power tubes on a BV120 at my local shop.


I could barely see the tubes lighting up at all. . .and the tubes had LIGHTS behind them. I couldn't tell that the tiny bit of orange in the power tube was its own, or whether it was a reflection from the light behind it.

Whats that all about?

[zeegler]

Not trying to bash crates, But I went in and looked closely at the power tubes on a BV120 at my local shop.


I could barely see the tubes lighting up at all. . .and the tubes had LIGHTS behind them. I couldn't tell that the tiny bit of orange in the power tube was its own, or whether it was a reflection from the light behind it.

Whats that all about?

Well, as far as I know, you really don't want your tubes to glow brightly. That's normally a sign of something wrong. As for the little yellow lights, it's just a gimmick. I'd like to take mine out, and switch them with a different color.

[dvara]

Blue Voodoos sound pretty nice. Trust your ear and dont listen to the disser's. If you like the sound, and it helps you to achieve YOUR tone, thats all that matters.

For the most part, Crate has always been a reliable amp for me. I run a pair of 120 combos in stereo out of a Digitech GNX 4, and my tubey snob friends hate to admit how good it sounds total cost of everything from GC, was like 1100 dollars, I got a nice discount on the Crates, because they were the straight up 120s with no effects, and they wanted to move em out.

If you like the tone, you go get your Big tooby Crate and dont look back

Tim

[GWARGHOUL]

I used to have the 60 watt 2x12 combo, the BV6212.

The reason the combos sound thin, is the open back design, and the crate vintage club speakers.

I hooked that thing up to a Marshall 2x12 jcm900 cabinet...

Fucking rocked.

It got stolen some years back, when I left them at my dads tweaker pad here in MO, when I moved to Colorado.

Blue voodoo is a great amp for the money. I think it has a lot of potential.
Get the right tubes, and the right speaker cabinet.
Also try a BBE sonic maximizer.

They have plenty of gain, with the right tubes and pickups.
They also have a very cool blues tone.
But are excellently suited for hard rock/punk.
WELL suited for heavy metal, with the right setup.
You can pull one off the shelf, and play megadeth and slayer tunes.

[wicked_lester]

The reason the combos sound thin, is the open back design, and the crate vintage club speakers.

Hmmm, my Vintage Club combo is open-back and has a stock speaker and it sounds anything but thin. I just liked the voicing better on the VC amps...much fatter and warmer IMO.

[Norton]

Ok,by soft,I meant not imsoheavythatihave89piercingsonmyfacetone.


Trebles are good for me.I gave examples.I want something like friedman-oliva kinda tones.Anyway,I think it will fit that.

[horns666]

Zeegs and Co.

I'm not a huge fan of the BV but I have definitely heard MUCH worse from amps that are more popular..

I discovered the BBE actually works quite well in the loop..That amp is actually one of selected few amps that actually benefits from that unit..and I tried it with a BBE 482..and I don't like that particuliar model..but yet it sure did wake it up quite a bit..

So much so..that a customer at CG was uncertain of buying the BV.I sugessted to the guitar manager to throw a BBE in there for shits and giggles..it worked..the dude bought both the amp and the unit..it was the deciding factor..

The four sets of ears present all agreed that the BBE truly works well with that amp.

Just thought I'd share that...maybe something to check into..that cheaper stomp should do..it's basically the same thing in a pedal format..

I like the old 422 series myself..much less "sizzle"..alot of amps don't really need help with highs really..I think.

[NextInLine]

I'll try to add a little non-guitarist, non-biased opinion here. At band practice on Saturday, my friend Kevin was hanging out while we jammed. He said to me during a break that Shawns guitar/amp sounded very thin and hollow. He also said that mine sounds "big". That was the word he used. Now, remember, this is coming from a guy who doesn't really play guitar, and doesn't know a thing about gear. Shawn plays a Peavey Odyssey with stock pickups, through a 5150 head/cab. I am by no means bashing 5150s since I know many, many people love them, and many pro players use them. However, Kevin's comment is pretty much the same as everyone else who comes to see us play. What does it all mean? Well, IMHO, it means that I know how to set up my BV120, and I'm running the right combination of guitar and pickups through it. It also means that Shawn likely doesn't have an ear for setting up his 5150, or he needs to think about swapping pickups, or guitars. Basically, I'm just saying that, there's a lot more to consider when your trying to get a good sound, than buying a brand X amplifier, and voila!! Some amps might be easier to dial in, or might be less sensitive to the pickups and guitar you're using. I remember trying out a Mesa Single Rectumfryer not too long ago, and I spent 20 minutes at most with it. I COULD NOT get a bad sound out of it. Granted, I couldn't get a truly awesome sound out of it right there, but I'll bet I could, given a few hours to mess around with it. By the same token, I could probably get Shawn's 5150 to sound MUCH better than it does.

On the other hand, the Blue Voodoo, seems to be more sensitive to what you're running through it. I can hear a huge difference going from my USA Rhoads, to my Xaviere, to my Lado, to my Weddington, etc. Even guitars with the same pickups, sound very different depending on the wood, construction, bridge, strings, fretboard, etc.

Another good example of how amps vary in sensitivity is my B52. Some people really seem to like theirs. I bought one because
A: it was cheap
B: curiosity
C: it was cheap
D: it's always good to have spares
E: it was cheap
After a great deal of farting around with the controls, talking to other B52 owners, trying different guitars, etc, I found that I could get an almost decent sound out of it. I couldn't get a sound that I would be happy with on stage, or even at practice, and the worst thing was, if you moved the controls at all, the amp went back to sounding like a huge pile of dung. The only thing I haven't tried yet, is using different speakers. Who knows, maybe that's the magic bullet.

My point is, some amps require more tweaking, where some are easy to get a good tone with, and some just sound horrible no matter what you do. I would say the Blue Voodoo is easy to get a passable tone, but requires a little more time, and experimentation to get a real killer tone.

this is one of the best posts I've read here on the JCF

[zeegler]

this is one of the best posts I've read here on the JCF

Thanks bro.

[horns666]

Zeegs..give the BBE a whirl..if you haven't already..

[toejam]

Heh. I just now won a Blue Voodoo BV60H off ebay!
http://cgi.ebay.com/CRATE-BLUE-VOODO...QQcmdZViewItem

[jgcable]

this is one of the best posts I've read here on the JCF

+ 1. A good read and I agree. Nice post..

[zeegler]

Zeegs..give the BBE a whirl..if you haven't already..

Heh, I did try it once, and it made it sound too tinny. Having said that, I should try it again, and mess with the settings a little more.