Re: Univalve and Crate Palomino
I know we are all tweakers and speakers and tubes are a common amp upgrade. There is definately nothing wrong with that.
I've had my V32 for a couple of months now and while I am sure that upgrading the tubes and speakers will make it sound different I have to admit that straight out of the box I have no complaints. Remember this comes from a Mesa Triaxis/2:90 and Marshall 2203 owner that has owned quite a few cool tube amps.
The Palaminos are a funky little amp. I can't remember the specs on the V16s but the V32s with the dual channels and boost really do have the goods. I front end mine with a stock and current TS-9 and I get 6 different gain choices with a cool combination of Vox and Marshall type tones. The cleans are very warm and remind me a lot of the Supro 115 combo that I own that dates back to the mid 50s. The pushed tones are very smooth with a good dose of mids and the amp really blossoms under your hands if you get it up a little bit.
Where I was really suprised was how the amp sounds front ended. It's not quite a nu-metal amp the way I dial it in but with the gain on the distortion channel at about 11 oclock, the boost on and a TS-9 at 10, 10 and 12 that little sucker hit a Marshally STP type of thing that was very addictive and very thick and soupy. The other guitar player I played with one night in particular had a Marshall AVT combo and the Crate literally tore the AVT up without a problem.
I know they are Crates and I saw the PCB and while it's not an amp with killer production values it really has a lot of guts and heart. It's not as versatile as my Mesa rack and the 2203 is a hard amp to keep up with at full bore but even though I own those other amps the V32 is an amp that I just love to play out on. It really does hold it's ground with it's other "friends" here at Chez Roberts.
Enjoy it Matt, thats a cool little amp.
