I have this amp as well as a Vintage Club 50, both cost $250.00 around 10 years ago. I also have two boutique, hand wired Marshall clones, a 45 watt Plexi and a 15/20 watt. The Crates give them a run for their money and are ridiculously fun as these Crates are sleepers and a super value for the money. I switched out the speaker on the 30 and put in a Celestion G12H 70th anniversary and also replaced the tubes which improved the sound. The 50 is stock and it’s damn loud so I mostly play the 30, which is my living room amp. The rest are in the basement. If I had to sell all but one, i”d keep the 30.
i have had a vc50 twin for 15 years it puts every other amp i have ever had to shame,that includes an original ac30 and many fenders, blown one tube in all that time.
Great sounding amp. I see one for $250 used on Craigslist. I'm telling a youngster to get it. He's a good player, but needs a real tube amp. The amp is a '96. $250 a good price, I'd say.
ypu can get them for 200-225 used at Guitar Center if you go on their website and keep your eyes open. I just bought one for $200.00 now I have two of them. They are one of the best sounding amps ever made. I don't care what the amp snobs say....
Kudos on your video here! Excellent playing and I appreciate that you dedicated some time to showing what this amp does best... that is the clean as a whistle sound. I have one of these and I rarely change it from that setting. It does clean better than my 65 Twin Reverb re-issue. These really are ultra-high fidelity amps... excellent for recording. Someday the secret will be out on these and prices will go up. Anyone considering one, GET IT!!!! Then start listening to more Chet Atkins!
@crazyaxe48 Tubes are 4 12AX7A/ECC83 TAD Premium Selected preamp tubes (Very good gain, tight deep bass, fat mids and silky top end.) and 4 EL84-STR TAD PREMIUM Matched power tubes.
Crate tube amps, when taken care of, are excellent bang for the buck. Those with problems, are usually traced to factory crappy tubes. I have a stealth 50, (Lee Jackson model) puts any 50 watt Marshall to shame. Open up, check PCB joints, tighten tube sockets, and clean pots, and you are good. Excellent playing, tone is sweet!!
Great amp for small clubs. I have the original series Crate VC2112 20 watt 12 inch speaker reverb one generation before this one I think. I would say it is the best sounding amp I have ever owned, it has some problems though.The reverb is not useful, Mine has alway been too weak and more spring than verb. Also, there is some definite heater noise, could probably be fixed with some modification. but overall I would say pretty reliable. I have cleaned the pots etc. But still has original caps and runs great. The crate speaker is fantastic, thought it was an eminence, but I think crate was making their own speaks at this point.
It's got a pcb but its like an old school one where you could easily replace anything. They're not that old, early-mid 90s. I've got a 50 watt VC 5310 and it's badass. Though way too loud for me to turn it up past two or something like that.
A lot of Crate tube amp models sound really, really good. I've yet to come across one that is actually reliable. They ought to come with pins that you pull instead of standby switches...
I have the v30112 it doesnt have the crate name anywhere on it just a metal plate that says loud tech made in the usa.been playing for 30 yrs and I love it.all I need for a gig is a delay.my bugera v55 is the same way.great
I bought one of these new quite a few years ago, but have only really begun to appreciate just what I have! I had to spend a couple of hundred to get it in working order as it had some problems loosing power and volume, but now that that has been fixed, it is "my precious".. Your demo here is exceptional! You are covering a lot of ground showing just what this amp can do... I will be on the look out for another for a backup.. Why spend a ton of money when great amps are out there at reasonable prices!?
I spoke too soon.. I played my VC 30 tonight for about an hour and it is doing the same thing I have had problems with. It sounds GREAT for awhile and then the volume starts to fluctuate. If anyone has a REAL answer on how to fix this, please post or private message me. I love this amp, but I can't depend on it to gig out. Thank you!
mulemusic Hey buster.... Your problem is likely dirty knobs... or puking out tubes. I've fixed several of these critters... dirty pots are the #1 issue I see with virtually any amplifier.
mulemusic Not sure if this is till relevant to you...The problem is with the channel switch circuit, apparently it corrodes. If you put a footswitch in the FS socket it bypasses the corroded switch and the problem goes away...have the same issue with my VC50.
Thanks for sharing this and great playing by the way! I have this amp love the tone. The clean channel volume seems to go from quiet to window shaking loud very fast. If I breathe on the volume knob and it goes past 1, the jump in volume is insane. Anyone else experience this? Maybe this just goes with the territory for a 30 watt amp.
I was just watching a video on the Wampler channel and he had an amp with the same issue. Linear pot instead of audio taper pot, he said. Hope that helps!
The Vintage Club Series is What Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top uses , I have The Club 50 212,"GREAT AMP" The great days of Crate are gone ! They sold out to the Chinese, Now there are Crap amps, I bought one of the new Crate v33 amp, I plugged it in "SUCK" sold it a week later, a Beginner's amp! for someone that don't know tone.
That V30 you have , Is a great sounding amp, What power tube & preamp tubes are you using ? Are they stock tube ? I had a 310 , I sold it "MAN" was that a mistake . I do like the low end response of the 212, Another Question are you using stock speakers
When you say TAD is that the name brand, Or is it Old stock tubes ? if it is Old stock , what brand name. Can you tell me the website you ordered from,I am looking for that sound ,Thanx. P.S. I thought the VC series had EL-34's. I have not looked yet on my VC50.
hey just a question to who ever wants to answer and i know it might be personal preference but which is more recommended the VC 30 or the Blue Voodoo 60 combo 112 amp? thanks
Some guy right in my neighborhood just posted a for sale ad online for a Hughes and Kettner Edition Tube 20th Anniversary combo. Weird name. The reviews were good, so I checked out some RUclips videos. Every single one just sounded lousy. One commenter said he tried that same amp along with his Crate Vintage Club, and kept the Crate instead. So, I pulled up this video. Sure enough, much better. Granted, H&K was a 20 Watt vs this 30W, but still... Not even close. Surprising. And the Crate is cheaper. So much for German engineering. Will snag one of these next time I see a used one for sale in my town. Good video.
I live in the states, I see they only take Euro cash ! I found a website called, Analog tubes.com I believe the prices are cheaper than Euro, ThanX for the info...
i had one. a black vc30. with a red gibson sg special. early nineties. man that amp was really nice. but it was made with shit electric components. got about a good year or two before input jacks, cheap channel select button, and junk pots started to go bad.
I have this amp as well as a Vintage Club 50, both cost $250.00 around 10 years ago. I also have two boutique, hand wired Marshall clones, a 45 watt Plexi and a 15/20 watt. The Crates give them a run for their money and are ridiculously fun as these Crates are sleepers and a super value for the money. I switched out the speaker on the 30 and put in a Celestion G12H 70th anniversary and also replaced the tubes which improved the sound. The 50 is stock and it’s damn loud so I mostly play the 30, which is my living room amp. The rest are in the basement. If I had to sell all but one, i”d keep the 30.
I love that clean sound on the beginning... NICE!!!!
i have had a vc50 twin for 15 years it puts every other amp i have ever had to shame,that includes an original ac30 and many fenders, blown one tube in all that time.
Great sounding amp. I see one for $250 used on Craigslist. I'm telling a youngster to get it. He's a good player, but needs a real tube amp. The amp is a '96. $250 a good price, I'd say.
Great tone man! I have a VC-3112 and it sounds great but your playing makes that amp shine even more! Great job!
👍👍
love the playing! great amp! kicking myself for not getting one when I had the chance... lesson learned!
ypu can get them for 200-225 used at Guitar Center if you go on their website and keep your eyes open. I just bought one for $200.00 now I have two of them. They are one of the best sounding amps ever made. I don't care what the amp snobs say....
Kudos on your video here! Excellent playing and I appreciate that you dedicated some time to showing what this amp does best... that is the clean as a whistle sound. I have one of these and I rarely change it from that setting. It does clean better than my 65 Twin Reverb re-issue. These really are ultra-high fidelity amps... excellent for recording. Someday the secret will be out on these and prices will go up. Anyone considering one, GET IT!!!! Then start listening to more Chet Atkins!
@crazyaxe48 Tubes are 4 12AX7A/ECC83 TAD Premium Selected preamp tubes (Very good gain, tight deep bass, fat mids and silky top end.) and 4 EL84-STR TAD PREMIUM Matched power tubes.
great tone, great riffin
Crate tube amps, when taken care of, are excellent bang for the buck. Those with problems, are usually traced to factory crappy tubes. I have a stealth 50, (Lee Jackson model) puts any 50 watt Marshall to shame. Open up, check PCB joints, tighten tube sockets, and clean pots, and you are good. Excellent playing, tone is sweet!!
Killer playing. Hope you are/still jamming somewhere!
Great amp for small clubs. I have the original series Crate VC2112 20 watt 12 inch speaker reverb one generation before this one I think. I would say it is the best sounding amp I have ever owned, it has some problems though.The reverb is not useful, Mine has alway been too weak and more spring than verb. Also, there is some definite heater noise, could probably be fixed with some modification. but overall I would say pretty reliable. I have cleaned the pots etc. But still has original caps and runs great. The crate speaker is fantastic, thought it was an eminence, but I think crate was making their own speaks at this point.
Yep my vintage 30 just won out over my Hughes and Kettner 20th anniversary edition tube. These crates are sleeper amps ppl don't see coming.
It's got a pcb but its like an old school one where you could easily replace anything. They're not that old, early-mid 90s. I've got a 50 watt VC 5310 and it's badass. Though way too loud for me to turn it up past two or something like that.
Shoot, you almost have a bit of that Garnet "Winnipeg sound" going on there. Amazing.
A lot of Crate tube amp models sound really, really good. I've yet to come across one that is actually reliable. They ought to come with pins that you pull instead of standby switches...
I have the v30112 it doesnt have the crate name anywhere on it just a metal plate that says loud tech made in the usa.been playing for 30 yrs and I love it.all I need for a gig is a delay.my bugera v55 is the same way.great
I bought one of these new quite a few years ago, but have only really begun to appreciate just what I have! I had to spend a couple of hundred to get it in working order as it had some problems loosing power and volume, but now that that has been fixed, it is "my precious".. Your demo here is exceptional! You are covering a lot of ground showing just what this amp can do... I will be on the look out for another for a backup.. Why spend a ton of money when great amps are out there at reasonable prices!?
I spoke too soon.. I played my VC 30 tonight for about an hour and it is doing the same thing I have had problems with. It sounds GREAT for awhile and then the volume starts to fluctuate. If anyone has a REAL answer on how to fix this, please post or private message me. I love this amp, but I can't depend on it to gig out. Thank you!
mulemusic Hey buster.... Your problem is likely dirty knobs... or puking out tubes. I've fixed several of these critters... dirty pots are the #1 issue I see with virtually any amplifier.
DeadKoby
Thank you! I will check out the knobs!!
mulemusic Not sure if this is till relevant to you...The problem is with the channel switch circuit, apparently it corrodes. If you put a footswitch in the FS socket it bypasses the corroded switch and the problem goes away...have the same issue with my VC50.
Pretty awesome brotha!
Thanks for sharing this and great playing by the way! I have this amp love the tone. The clean channel volume seems to go from quiet to window shaking loud very fast. If I breathe on the volume knob and it goes past 1, the jump in volume is insane. Anyone else experience this? Maybe this just goes with the territory for a 30 watt amp.
I was just watching a video on the Wampler channel and he had an amp with the same issue. Linear pot instead of audio taper pot, he said. Hope that helps!
The Vintage Club Series is What Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top uses , I have The Club 50 212,"GREAT AMP" The great days of Crate are gone ! They sold out to the Chinese, Now there are Crap amps, I bought one of the new Crate v33 amp, I plugged it in "SUCK" sold it a week later, a Beginner's amp! for someone that don't know tone.
That V30 you have , Is a great sounding amp, What power tube & preamp tubes are you using ?
Are they stock tube ? I had a 310 , I sold it "MAN" was that a mistake . I do like the low end response of the 212, Another Question are you using stock speakers
I have been gigging with one of these since 95. A lot of amps have hit my guitar room but this is the amp I always gave on stage
@crazyaxe48 Thats Truth!!! I have CRATE vc 20, vc 30 12 and vc 50 310, you can't compare with CRATE amps today
When you say TAD is that the name brand, Or is it Old stock tubes ? if it is Old stock , what brand name. Can you tell me the website you ordered from,I am looking for that sound ,Thanx. P.S. I thought the VC series had EL-34's. I have not looked yet on my VC50.
@crazyaxe48 hi, TAD is tubeampdoctor, german company :-))) enjoy!
P.S. stock speakers
how is the bass from this amp? couldnt really tell from the video. everything else sounds great
hey just a question to who ever wants to answer and i know it might be personal preference but which is more recommended the VC 30 or the Blue Voodoo 60 combo 112 amp? thanks
What are your settings? Thank you, I love this sound
Unreal! What r your settings? Thanks!
Sounds great! Is it stock?
Some guy right in my neighborhood just posted a for sale ad online for a Hughes and Kettner Edition Tube 20th Anniversary combo. Weird name. The reviews were good, so I checked out some RUclips videos. Every single one just sounded lousy. One commenter said he tried that same amp along with his Crate Vintage Club, and kept the Crate instead. So, I pulled up this video. Sure enough, much better. Granted, H&K was a 20 Watt vs this 30W, but still... Not even close. Surprising. And the Crate is cheaper. So much for German engineering. Will snag one of these next time I see a used one for sale in my town. Good video.
1791 BVR thank you
what tubes work well in it
I live in the states, I see they only take Euro cash ! I found a website called, Analog tubes.com
I believe the prices are cheaper than Euro, ThanX for the info...
i had one. a black vc30. with a red gibson sg special. early nineties. man that amp was really nice. but it was made with shit electric components. got about a good year or two before input jacks, cheap channel select button, and junk pots started to go bad.
I need u too help me play like that
How does this compare to the Crate Palomino v32?
Gibson- Epiphone
Fender- Squier
Ibanez- Roadstar
HOw do you change the tubes?
Curtis Everett the tubes are self biasing so you can just plug new el34s in and go
loud tech only made the v sereies in the usa for 3 years then came china and the palamino
I do
Bitchin' Tone...
100%
you sound soo much like Hendrix it's not even funny. haha
well done..
I own about 6 grand worth of guitar amps, this thing smokes them all, unfortunately its fairly unreliable.
Is $230 too much ? one guy is selling me his for that amount
zombee38 that’s more than fair imo
I’d pay that in a heart beat. Greatest amp I’ve ever owned!
Check out what I found on Facebook Marketplace. facebook.com/marketplace/item/402194620316601/
The guy is selling his for 100