Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

[teleblooz]

I have the opportunity to pick up a used Crate BV 120H head for a very reasonable price. Since the amp is waaaay to big and powerful for my needs, it would be a buy it and hope to flip it fast kind of deal. I remember reading a bit about them and trying out a 60 watt BV head and matching cab when they first came out years ago, but that's about it. I know next to nothing about these amps and they seemed to disappear shortly after being released. I guess I could do a google search, but thought I'd check here with those who's opinions I trust.

The amp is in darn good cosmetic condition and looks to have fairly new tubes, but I have yet to fire it up and give it a go. Considering it checks out fine, here are my question's:
1. What is the overall opinion of these amps?
2. Are they at all desirable or would it be hard to move it?
3. How do they sound? Is it in the Marshall camp, Fender camp, a blend of those or something different?
4. What style of music are they best suited for?
5. What would be a fair price to sell it for?

Of course, I want to(need to!) make some money on the deal, but I would also like to provide a good deal to the person who buys it. I guess it boils down to if it's even worth considering. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[CTN]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

1. What is the overall opinion of these amps?
They are crap.

2. Are they at all desirable or would it be hard to move it?
Would you buy a box of crap?

3. How do they sound? Is it in the Marshall camp, Fender camp, a blend of those or something different?

4. What style of music are they best suited for?
Anything really really crappy (srsly though, they are ideal for really terrible local death metal bands who haven't got a clue how to sound good on stage). I once had the misfortune of playing through one during a battle of the bands thing where the entire backline was provided for the whole show. good lord it sucked. it was a bloated, fuzzy, inarticulate MESS. I kept fiddling between songs trying to get it to sound good, and just when I thought it might sound decent, I'd come in with the rest of the band and realize just how craptastic it still was. It had ok cleans, nothing to write home about though, everything else was piss-poor.

5. What would be a fair price to sell it for?
depends, how much would you expect someone to pay for a box of crap?

 

[teleblooz]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

Thanks CTN! I appreciate your honesty. I guess there is a good reason it's so cheap. I was on the fence anyway since it would be a buy and flip it quick deal and quite a stretch financially even at the cheap price. You're thoughts saved me a huge headache! Thanks.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

I've heard they're modifiable to be better. At best you'll end up with an amp that sounds a little bit like sort of possibly something British medium to high gain. Probably not worth the effort unless you're a Crate fanboy.

off u see did MRSAge, I m on tapa talk and auto correct is hating on me

 

[dominus]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

You can get good sounds out of them, but you will not be able to flip it quickly.



Not the greatest of sound on the live version, but I can't say for certain that they used it on the album.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

I'm gonna be honest, I'm looking for one. One of the old ones, and preferably a 60. I'm also not looking to pay any more than like $250 for it and partial trades after it. If someone's looking to sell, it's never going to be more than an unload due to getting better ampage. Sorta like a Peavey Valveking only not as good.

 

[CTN]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

don't do it Jon. get an ol' peavey ultra or a VTM or something.

Even a valveking is better.

or if you want a solid state thing, look out for an old Randall RG75/RG100 combo. they didn't quite react like tube amps in terms of soft clipping and OD tones, but the crunch, distortion and clean sounds were great.

 

[dominus]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

I've got a newer RG75 with a single preamp tube and it does bring the heaviness. I was able to get decent sounds out of a VK with an overdrive. I've seen Ultras going for almost as much as an XXX.

 

[synzzzer]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

There are three generations of the Blue Voodoo, some better than others. A lot of people like the second generation. I have the first generation sitting right in front of me. Here's what throws a lot of people who have never played one. The amp itself is a self biasing amp. That means you can put different tubes in it no problem. With all these amps being used and older you will find a lot of different tubes in them. When I bought mine it had 5881's in it. The BV is already a bright amp, but 5881's made it worse. I then put Mesa 6L6's in it, and got a great balanced (but overall bright) sound out of it.

Here's where a lot of people screw up. Now you have a bright 6L6 amp, they then put it through the wrong kind of speakers. I use a 4X12 cab with Vintage series Carvin (by Eminence) speakers. When run this way, it makes it sound like a hot rodded Fender. The original Blue Voodoo cabs came with Celestion Vintage 30's, and that mix isn't too bad. It helps bring out the lack of bass the BV has.

So the quick lesson is to check what type of tubes are in the amp you are looking to buy. And then try it through an American (Fender) style of speaker. That will help you get a good sound.

As far as trying to flip one, it's kind of hard. Namely due to their bad rep as you can see evidenced by CTN. But, with bad tubes, odd speaker combinations, and oddball problems you can see why they have a bad rep. Also, the sound is a little odd for some players. I can honestly say it's the brightest 6L6 amp I have ever played. I like bright. I play bright pickups, speakers, and amps. However, someone looking for that Mesa low end will hate the Blue Voodoo. It really is a love it or hate it amp. Even I understand it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.

As far as style of music, they surprisingly do Southern Rock really nicely. But they do have plenty of gain on tap.

The most I have seen the amps sell for is $300. I bought mine for $140, and it is the 120 watt, 1st gen. model.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[Toe-Knee]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

They worked well enough for marty friedman being boosted by a mt2 on the music for speeding album. However that man can make anything sound amazing.

The amps themselves are pretty bland sounding but they can be modded to be fire breathing monsters.

 

[formula73]

Re: Opinions on Crate BV 120H Head

In that live video, that's a BV300-one of the most underrated amps of all time, IMHO. They have NOTHING in common with the 60 and 120w versions. The 300 is a 3 channel Ampeg SVT and anybody that says he's played one is likely confused or lying. There are only about 70 of them in existence.

I actually had one but at 85 lbs, it got a bit heavy for my lower back. I sold it to a friend who still owns it...a bassist lol