Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

[leftyguitartony]

Hi, My VC50H quits playing on the overdrive channel when it gets warmed up. It has original tubes. Could it be a tube going out or a problem with the board lossing contact as it gets hot? If it is the solder joint moving can an amp tech find and resolder it? Thanks, Tony

 

[RealtyViking]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

Do you use a foot switch or the switch on the amp?

Try inserting a 1/4 inch jack into the foot switch jack. Many times this can corrode over time and cause problems. A spray of deoxit in all of the jacks then plugging and unplugging a 1/4 inch jack a few times will help all of your connections.

If this does not fix the issue and you are not into electrical repair than a good amp tech should be able to square you away.

A new set of tubes would probably help your sound so it couldn't hurt to try if they have not been replaced.

 

[leftyguitartony]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

Thanks. I do remember reading about that on another post on another amp a while back. I had forgotten that fix. Can you recommend a deox? I have a local Guitar Center, I think they have thier own brand? Thanks for the help, Tony

 

[leftyguitartony]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

I think my Crate VC50H came with Sovtek's. should I use them? I am looking for more bite in the overdrive channel. do you have a recommendation? This would be for the power tubes only I think. Thank again, Tony

 

[RealtyViking]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

I use Caig, Deoxit D5 from tubesandmore.

Since I have a combo version it is a chore to change tubes. I love the way it sounds as-is so I have settled on the Sovteks and have been very happy. 12AX7s are relatively cheap though so if it is easy to change the tubes in the head version I would experiment more with this amp. I like the EI and Tung Sols.

 

[IanBallard]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

My VC combo used to have a "popping" issue when changing channels but I just went away and it hasn't done it in a while. I think these Crates had some heat dissipation issues and would cause some havoc in a few cases.

These things sound awesome and have gotten high marks for tone, but are a bit sketchy in their performance over time. You just have to TLC these things I guess.

 

[leftyguitartony]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

Hi again. I have a Line 6 Pod XT Live that I am playing through my effects in on my Crate VC50H. I think this is only useing the power tubes. None of the control panel knobs do anything when the effects jack is in use. I am getting incredible great tones. Is it because the effects signal is going through the tubes or would a SS amp sound just as good using Pod XT Live? Because if the Xt live would work as well with a SS amp I would save this tube head for the great cleans it produces. Thanks, Tony

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

Hi again. I have a Line 6 Pod XT Live that I am playing through my effects in on my Crate VC50H. I think this is only useing the power tubes. None of the control panel knobs do anything when the effects jack is in use. I am getting incredible great tones. Is it because the effects signal is going through the tubes or would a SS amp sound just as good using Pod XT Live? Because if the Xt live would work as well with a SS amp I would save this tube head for the great cleans it produces. Thanks, Tony

The reason that none of the controls are working is because you've plugged your guitar into the FX loop, which bypasses the preamp. Your signal path probably looks something like:
Guitar-->Pod XT-->Power Amp-->Speakers. You're basically just using the Pod as a preamp.

 

[leftyguitartony]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

That is right I am useing the Pod as a pre amp. the VC50H only has an effects in. What would I do with an amp that has a send and return? Can I just use the return and get the same results? Thanks, Tony

 

[leftyguitartony]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

Reply to Jessie's ghost quote. I hope you have achieved the ultimate tone. I also wish you well with your band. But, your attitude toward the majority(millions) of bedroom and basement guitarist in search of that magic sound is just shallow and concieted. I have been a fan and player for 25 years. I also have a career. You may find your cocky self playing in a cover band at the senior center soon before you have time to grow up. Everybody hears things differently. I truelly enjoy the search for new tones. Try to be helpful on this site. You are among people who enjoy the same things as yourself.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

Reply to Jessie's ghost quote. I hope you have achieved the ultimate tone. I also wish you well with your band. But, your attitude toward the majority(millions) of bedroom and basement guitarist in search of that magic sound is just shallow and concieted. I have been a fan and player for 25 years. I also have a career. You may find your cocky self playing in a cover band at the senior center soon before you have time to grow up. Everybody hears things differently. I truelly enjoy the search for new tones. Try to be helpful on this site. You are among people who enjoy the same things as yourself.

Are you talking about his quote in my signature? I think you're taking it waaaay out of context. But in my humble opinion, he's also right. The JB in my SG is too shrill when I'm playing by myself, but at band rehearsal it cuts through the mix amazingly well. The JB isn't the best pickup for bedroom jammers.

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

Reply to Jessie's ghost quote. I hope you have achieved the ultimate tone. I also wish you well with your band. But, your attitude toward the majority(millions) of bedroom and basement guitarist in search of that magic sound is just shallow and concieted. I have been a fan and player for 25 years. I also have a career. You may find your cocky self playing in a cover band at the senior center soon before you have time to grow up. Everybody hears things differently. I truelly enjoy the search for new tones. Try to be helpful on this site. You are among people who enjoy the same things as yourself.

Lighten up. We like to have fun around here. Don't take this stuff so seriously.

 

[leftyguitartony]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

Sorry I just read it wrong.( it may have been the beer talking)lol. I have an amp/effects question. When useing a Pod XT Live as a pre-amp, do the tubes still equate to why I am digging the sound? I have never ran the Pod through tubes before, just directly into the front of ss. Are true tube tone lovers only interested in what an amp does by itself ?

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

Are true tube tone lovers only interested in what an amp does by itself ?

Naw. I love my tubes just as much as the next SDUGF member, but I needs my dirt pedals.

 

[Rick330man]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

I have two of the VC50 heads. Some comments based on 10 years with these guys.

The first one I bought sounded amazing, so I looked all over for a second one. I finally wrote Crate directly and they hooked me up. That was 10 years ago.

#2 did not sound as good as # 1. It sounded shrill and lacked the presence and detail that I got out of the first one. I found that dropping the phase inverter in #2 to a 12AY7 got me just to the same sound as #1.

Beware: these eat EL84s because they run them at close to 400 volts on the plates. One of mine runs around 385. The other runs around 396. Both of my VC 50Hs came stock with Sovtek EL84 power tubes. You really need to run 7189s in these amps or your power tubes will have very short lives.

These amps take very well to Sylvania or GE 5751s in V1.

 

[beggar_guitar]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

I had a VC50 head at one point and it had a similiar issue. The above post concerning plugging a 1/4 inch cable into the jack fixed it for me. It worked just fine with a footswitch.

That was a great amp. It had a matching 4x10 cabinet. Sold it a few years back to help pay for an engagement ring.

 

[ant_riv]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

I have a VC50H also.

The effects loop jack is a stereo jack with one side the input and the other side the output.

In order to insert an effect in the loop, you will need a 'y' cable that has a stereo 1/4" jack on one side and two cables on the other side. The stereo jack goes into the 1/4" effects loop. One of the two cables goes to the output of the effect, the other goes to the input of the effect.

If it doesn't work on first try, reverse the cables and it will work.

I really like my VC50H!

 

[Rick330man]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

I use Caig, Deoxit D5 from tubesandmore.

Since I have a combo version it is a chore to change tubes. I love the way it sounds as-is so I have settled on the Sovteks and have been very happy. 12AX7s are relatively cheap though so if it is easy to change the tubes in the head version I would experiment more with this amp. I like the EI and Tung Sols.

Here's a friendly suggestion. Let me start from the premise that you are selling yourself short by sticking with the Sovtek EL84s. They sound decent, and they sound better in this amp than in any other application in which I have tried them. That said, I've run JJ, Ei and Tesla quads in these. Each sounded noticeably better than the Sovteks. Unfortunately, the JJ and the Ei quads each suffered casualties. One tube from each quad died a premature death, which I attribute to the VC50H's extreme plate voltages. To their credit, the Sovtek EL84s have held up where the others have not.

How do you get better tone with reliability? Answer: buy a matched quad of NOS Reflektor 6P14P-EV. They are surplus Soviet Union military tubes rated for 5000 hours of service life. They sound very, very good in these amps. I was so impressed the first time I stuck a quad of these in a VC50H that I went back and bought 4 more matched quads. I expect to play my VC 50Hs for a long, long time.

Warning: the last two letters do matter. A regular 6P14P will not survive. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the Soviet era tube designations and suffixes. You must use the "K", "EV" or "ER". Of the three, the EV seems to be the most musical. The "ER" is rated for 10,000 hours, but I have repeatedly heard that they sound too stiff in guitar amps.

Suggestion: buy the tubes from a vendor who you can trust. I have purchased all of mine from Jim McShane. He's never sold me a dud or steered me in the wrong direction, and he is meticulous in his testing of tubes.

These are beautiful sounding heads. I hope these suggestions help folks out as they strive to find that perfect tone.

 

[Rick330man]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

TIme to bring this thread back to life - some 3 1/2 years after the last post.

My two VC 50 heads continue to sound good. I recently went a year without using them. When I cranked VC 50H #1 up, my GE 5751 in V1 died. I replaced it with another one. VC 50H # 1 is now running a 1980s GE 5751 in V1; an Electro-Harmonix 12AY7/6072A in V2; a Sovtek 12AX7A in V3; and a JAN Philips 12AT7 in V4, the phase inverter. The Soviet era 6P14P-EVs continue to perform well.

VC 50 head #2 is set up: V1 - GE 5751; V2 - JAN Philips 12AT7; V3 - Sovtek 12AX7A; V4 - GE 12AV7. A quad of Sovtek EL84s is holding up fine and delivering very respectable tone. I'd love to run Ei or JJ EL84 in these, but they don't hold up to the sky high plate voltages.

VC 50 #1 recently started switching from the clean channel to the drive channel on its own. I cleaned all of the 1/4" jacks with Caig De-Oxit. Problem solved.

I'd like to hear from others using these heads/a,ps. What tubes are you using in each position?

 

[Troybuilt79]

Re: Crate Vintage Club 50 Head

TIme to bring this thread back to life - some 3 1/2 years after the last post.

My two VC 50 heads continue to sound good. I recently went a year without using them. When I cranked VC 50H #1 up, my GE 5751 in V1 died. I replaced it with another one. VC 50H # 1 is now running a 1980s GE 5751 in V1; an Electro-Harmonix 12AY7/6072A in V2; a Sovtek 12AX7A in V3; and a JAN Philips 12AT7 in V4, the phase inverter. The Soviet era 6P14P-EVs continue to perform well.

VC 50 head #2 is set up: V1 - GE 5751; V2 - JAN Philips 12AT7; V3 - Sovtek 12AX7A; V4 - GE 12AV7. A quad of Sovtek EL84s is holding up fine and delivering very respectable tone. I'd love to run Ei or JJ EL84 in these, but they don't hold up to the sky high plate voltages.

VC 50 #1 recently started switching from the clean channel to the drive channel on its own. I cleaned all of the 1/4" jacks with Caig De-Oxit. Problem solved.

I'd like to hear from others using these heads/a,ps. What tubes are you using in each position?

I also have 2 of these. My main 212 combo that I use for gigging has 4 sovtek el84s and a tung sol in v1, jj ecc83 in v2 and 3, and a usa 7025 in v4.
My other head I have 2 tubes removed for practicing purposes. I use 2 harman e84ls. And I use all jjs in the preamp. I'm having serious issues with this amp nowadays though. My clean channel doesn't work at all and it sounds fizzy. I already found a broken resistor I changed last week. I think it's falling apart lol