I stopped taking in stuff last winter. The impatient customers were one of the reasons why. My last amp I worked on for the general public was a Bugera with a very impatient teenage owner. It needed parts I didn’t have. I wholeheartedly understand this predicament. Sometimes you do dodgy work the best you can to make people happy.
Not being in the amp repair business and being retired from all forms of intrusive activity I don’t mind spending time to make a less expensive mass production marketing whiz kid amp into a reasonable tone full amp. Simply watching Lyle and listening to Lyle’s comments pointing me in the direction required to make cheap not sound cheap and making reliable what came from the factory unreliable. Thanks Lyle!
Here from the hindsight brigade lol. Perhaps a larger washer too? Great video sir. Learn something new from each one. Appreciate you opening your world to ours. Cheers!
Good, quick fix. Those poor amps, at least you showed it some love. I am a new sub and a newbie DYI 'amp builder'. 2 working 5F1's to my credit. It is a pleasure to watch you work and talk. I know enough to follow you. Thank you for your video output. Keeps me engaged and learning.
At 4:40, an *outside-tooth* star washer under the head of that screw would prevent the wires from trying to kick out from under the screw as you tighten it. Lots of old solid state hifi gear has grounds like that, and I've probably installed thousands of toothed washers over the years to insure the grounds stay tight and secure, both mechanically and electrically. Unfortunately, in cases like this here where the bolt (machine screw) passes through a metal spacer, the anodizing on the chassis tends to interfere with the connection of the spacer to the chassis. Some manufactures paint or anodize the chassis first and then bolt a "floating" spacer between the chassis and the circuit board, or they may have riveted or press fit the spacer to the chassis after the chassis has been anodized, which is a terrible way to ground something; and some companies paint the interior chassis after the spacers have been mounted which usually leaves paint around the opening to the threads where the foil trace or ground tab is supposed to sit on and make contact with the spacer. I've also seen black anodized or painted nuts and bolts used to make the grounds! Duh.... If the customer is patient and willing to pay you for the time it'll take to really get it right, cleaning the chassis directly under the spacer and around the bolt hole where it passes through the chassis is a good idea. Not practical or economical for this cheap amp and this particular PITA customer......
I let impatient clients fix their stuff themselves. Not worth sacrificing what could need a quality job. Your solution here is well thought out and makes perfect sense for this situation!
Good job! People when you take your amp to a repairer be patient. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out what's wrong with them. Plus there may be other customers ahead of you.
Yes, of course, be patient. However, when you're told 2 weeks and three months later they haven't looked at your amp, I'd say a little impatience is called for. I'm not taking about Psionic Audio, it's my local hack. Of course, I fix my own stuff now.
I was one of those that was convinced A Crate BV was a better value than a Marshall or Mesa in the 90's. Boy was I wrong. I went through a BV60H,BV120H that had the Blue graphics and Gold Logo as well as a later black and brushed aluminum logo BV120. Each had to be serviced at one time or another in the brief 4 years I owned them. Lifeless gain channel and did not play well with od's or dirt. The Clean was Big and Loud and the Reverb was better than average. I ended up using them as power amps with an Art and Digitech Rack gear for tone shaping. My tech at the time told me quit bringing me these amps and so I went onto a Marshall DSL which by comparison sounded infinitely better for what I wanted an amp to do and oddly enough never needed too see a bench in 6 years of ownership. Now I know why my amp tech fired me from bringing them back to him and boy he did me a huge favor.
It's actually refreshing to see what gremlins live under the hood of popular mass produced valve amps. I do tire a bit of seeing the same recap and bias videos on pre-71 point to point amps. Yes everyone is doing them across youtube.
But not everyone is doing them well. :( I don't show biasing here as my method is too dangerous for people to emulate from seeing a video. But I try to feature a mix of amps from vintage to everyday workhorses.
I gotta say though, when I saw this amp, as a 17 year old, that marketing BS got me man. It got me good. It looked kickass for the time. Definitely not the worst sounding amp in the world.
My friend owns one of these and hes taken good care of it over the years (he bought it new), gotta say its not a bad amp. But he is the only person I know or have met that owns one lol. I do NOT see this on any stages (not since the 90s or early 00s, I think Sammy Hager used one of these). Not sure what the reliability could possibly be like with it being a Crate. But hey my buddies works just fine after all these years.
Yep! Marty Friedman was usually standing beside the Blue Doodoo stack with his Jackson Kelly! I'm remembering blue lights though ,not the orange lights shown at the end of this video.
Fake tube glow. SMH. What are your thoughts about using a brass machine screw in place of the steel one and then solder the ground to the screw after tightening?
In my previous comment I mentioned having seen numerous amplifiers, including solid state hifi gear, where black anodised bolts and machine screws were used to make chassis ground connections. Hard to see it clearly on this small phone screen, but if you look at the separate floating board with the output tubes, it looks like the board is mounted with 2 black anodized or painted screws that appear to be passing through ground points on the circuit board. A very very stupid way to ground things.
You remind of a man (What man?) Yeah, the man with the power. (What power?) Oh, the power of voodoo (Who do?) Yeah, you do, you do (Do what?) Remind me of a man...
A bit embarrassing, but a Crate Blue Voodoo was my first tube amp. My next most embarrassing was after that, I got a Mesa Boogie! Hey. We all had to start somewhere. 🤷♂️
I started out with my mom's hand me down 1959 Supro Dual Tone. I eventually bought myself a gently used Fender Vibrolux Reverb with my paper route money. I still have both of those amps. My aunt, & uncle owned a music store so I wasn't really allowed to buy junk like Blue Doo Doos but Crate did make some okay sounding tube amps. Two of my favorite amps I almost tried to not resell & take home were the Champ 12s and Champ 24s. I dearly loved both of those! Old Marshalls were great too. That 1959 Supro is what got me started fixing amps. I melted part of my finger to the B+ terminal in that Supro while troubleshooting my restoration work. I wasn't dead, and most of my finger was still attached so..... Ballpark 450 Volts freewheelin', no load. It sure did hurt really bad tho. I worked as a lineman and as an industrial electrician. That DC B+ tube voltage is a lot nastier than most AC mains voltages. 480 is sketchy. It's hard to zap yerself with 480. It's 277 to ground so that part's really super easy. I have seen more people die or get very seriously injured from 120 Volts AC than anything else.
You don't need any blue voodoos on your bench? Well, ain't you fancy. My bv120 (lightly modded & sounds phenomenal!) wouldn't be caught dead on your bench.
triage repair is important for people to see, learn and understand when you have to do it!! this is great lesson stuff Sir!! thank you!
I stopped taking in stuff last winter. The impatient customers were one of the reasons why.
My last amp I worked on for the general public was a Bugera with a very impatient teenage owner. It needed parts I didn’t have.
I wholeheartedly understand this predicament. Sometimes you do dodgy work the best you can to make people happy.
ok captain obvious
@@BenState you sound like one of those customers
Not being in the amp repair business and being retired from all forms of intrusive activity I don’t mind spending time to make a less expensive mass production marketing whiz kid amp into a reasonable tone full amp. Simply watching Lyle and listening to Lyle’s comments pointing me in the direction required to make cheap not sound cheap and making reliable what came from the factory unreliable.
Thanks Lyle!
Here from the hindsight brigade lol. Perhaps a larger washer too? Great video sir. Learn something new from each one. Appreciate you opening your world to ours. Cheers!
"That sound you might hear in the background is my eyes rolling in my head."💀 Nice work.
Good, quick fix. Those poor amps, at least you showed it some love.
I am a new sub and a newbie DYI 'amp builder'. 2 working 5F1's to my credit. It is a pleasure to watch you work and talk. I know enough to follow you.
Thank you for your video output. Keeps me engaged and learning.
At 4:40, an *outside-tooth* star washer under the head of that screw would prevent the wires from trying to kick out from under the screw as you tighten it. Lots of old solid state hifi gear has grounds like that, and I've probably installed thousands of toothed washers over the years to insure the grounds stay tight and secure, both mechanically and electrically. Unfortunately, in cases like this here where the bolt (machine screw) passes through a metal spacer, the anodizing on the chassis tends to interfere with the connection of the spacer to the chassis. Some manufactures paint or anodize the chassis first and then bolt a "floating" spacer between the chassis and the circuit board, or they may have riveted or press fit the spacer to the chassis after the chassis has been anodized, which is a terrible way to ground something; and some companies paint the interior chassis after the spacers have been mounted which usually leaves paint around the opening to the threads where the foil trace or ground tab is supposed to sit on and make contact with the spacer. I've also seen black anodized or painted nuts and bolts used to make the grounds! Duh....
If the customer is patient and willing to pay you for the time it'll take to really get it right, cleaning the chassis directly under the spacer and around the bolt hole where it passes through the chassis is a good idea. Not practical or economical for this cheap amp and this particular PITA customer......
I can remember wanting one of these when they first came out... Reallllllly glad I didn't get one.
I let impatient clients fix their stuff themselves. Not worth sacrificing what could need a quality job. Your solution here is well thought out and makes perfect sense for this situation!
Wow - this was very informative. Thank you for walking us through your very thoughtful, expert process.
Ha ha! The Blue VooDoo gots its own sound man, next up, the Peavey Valve King! cool vids.
Thanks Lyle. You bring a bit of sanity to amp repair. Don't tell my tech i said so, kay?
But i'm getting closer to understanding when he's feeding me BS. Props, my friend.
Nifty repair Lyle..Love it..Got him out of trouble, if he's in a rush to gig...! Ed..uk..😀
Good job! People when you take your amp to a repairer be patient. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out what's wrong with them. Plus there may be other customers ahead of you.
Yes, of course, be patient. However, when you're told 2 weeks and three months later they haven't looked at your amp, I'd say a little impatience is called for.
I'm not taking about Psionic Audio, it's my local hack. Of course, I fix my own stuff now.
I was one of those that was convinced A Crate BV was a better value than a Marshall or Mesa in the 90's. Boy was I wrong. I went through a BV60H,BV120H that had the Blue graphics and Gold Logo as well as a later black and brushed aluminum logo BV120. Each had to be serviced at one time or another in the brief 4 years I owned them. Lifeless gain channel and did not play well with od's or dirt. The Clean was Big and Loud and the Reverb was better than average. I ended up using them as power amps with an Art and Digitech Rack gear for tone shaping. My tech at the time told me quit bringing me these amps and so I went onto a Marshall DSL which by comparison sounded infinitely better for what I wanted an amp to do and oddly enough never needed too see a bench in 6 years of ownership. Now I know why my amp tech fired me from bringing them back to him and boy he did me a huge favor.
Owned my 120 head since '95, no issues. Changed tubes once and switched to Svetlana 6550's.
It's a firebreather.
That customer is exactly the type you need to charge an extra hour rush fee.
Blue that voodoo that you do so well!
Sure...sure, Mr Fancy Pants. Drop in them special effects and go all George Lucas on us with your Industrial Light and Magic wizardry - 11:00 ;-)
I'm hearing some potential for a signature sound right there.
Mmmm, I love it when everyone's patience has run out before they even turn up at my door.
What is the appropriate amount of patience?
It's actually refreshing to see what gremlins live under the hood of popular mass produced valve amps. I do tire a bit of seeing the same recap and bias videos on pre-71 point to point amps. Yes everyone is doing them across youtube.
But not everyone is doing them well. :(
I don't show biasing here as my method is too dangerous for people to emulate from seeing a video.
But I try to feature a mix of amps from vintage to everyday workhorses.
Loved this amp when I was 16 hahaha. Those lights!!!
Why would you buy a BV if you didn't love hanging out with the repairman?
I gotta say though, when I saw this amp, as a 17 year old, that marketing BS got me man. It got me good. It looked kickass for the time. Definitely not the worst sounding amp in the world.
My friend owns one of these and hes taken good care of it over the years (he bought it new), gotta say its not a bad amp. But he is the only person I know or have met that owns one lol. I do NOT see this on any stages (not since the 90s or early 00s, I think Sammy Hager used one of these). Not sure what the reliability could possibly be like with it being a Crate. But hey my buddies works just fine after all these years.
Great job on an impossible amp.
Crate Blue Voodoo 120 I had one back in the day man that amp loved tube's crap money money! Give me a Marshall
I've fixed two of those blue voodoos. Those little lights behind the tubes are totally useless. They reflect off of the mirrored back cover panel.
just wondering if u have ver worked on BV 150H? im really looking for Schematic, u dont have to happen a schematic lying around don't u?
Sorry you had to deal with that one but it was worth that ending! 😂
I have that amp went to turn it on and would not power up. Still trying to see what wrong no idea.
As much value as the customer willing to pay for .
I remember the 90s when you would see full page crate blue voodoo adverts in guitar maga.
Never was that impressed
Yep! Marty Friedman was usually standing beside the Blue Doodoo stack with his Jackson Kelly! I'm remembering blue lights though ,not the orange lights shown at the end of this video.
Fake tube glow. SMH.
What are your thoughts about using a brass machine screw in place of the steel one and then solder the ground to the screw after tightening?
I loathe brass hardware. Too soft and prone to breaking.
In my previous comment I mentioned having seen numerous amplifiers, including solid state hifi gear, where black anodised bolts and machine screws were used to make chassis ground connections. Hard to see it clearly on this small phone screen, but if you look at the separate floating board with the output tubes, it looks like the board is mounted with 2 black anodized or painted screws that appear to be passing through ground points on the circuit board. A very very stupid way to ground things.
You remind of a man
(What man?)
Yeah, the man with the power.
(What power?)
Oh, the power of voodoo
(Who do?)
Yeah, you do, you do
(Do what?)
Remind me of a man...
Pants magic pants
Why would they bother with those leds? Real tube glow isnt good enough? :)
A bit embarrassing, but a Crate Blue Voodoo was my first tube amp. My next most embarrassing was after that, I got a Mesa Boogie! Hey. We all had to start somewhere. 🤷♂️
As long as the tense is past...
I started out with my mom's hand me down 1959 Supro Dual Tone. I eventually bought myself a gently used Fender Vibrolux Reverb with my paper route money. I still have both of those amps. My aunt, & uncle owned a music store so I wasn't really allowed to buy junk like Blue Doo Doos but Crate did make some okay sounding tube amps. Two of my favorite amps I almost tried to not resell & take home were the Champ 12s and Champ 24s. I dearly loved both of those! Old Marshalls were great too. That 1959 Supro is what got me started fixing amps. I melted part of my finger to the B+ terminal in that Supro while troubleshooting my restoration work. I wasn't dead, and most of my finger was still attached so..... Ballpark 450 Volts freewheelin', no load. It sure did hurt really bad tho. I worked as a lineman and as an industrial electrician. That DC B+ tube voltage is a lot nastier than most AC mains voltages. 480 is sketchy. It's hard to zap yerself with 480. It's 277 to ground so that part's really super easy. I have seen more people die or get very seriously injured from 120 Volts AC than anything else.
That captive washer seems a little under sized for the task too.
impatient customer + cheap amp = dirty job ... indeed
120 or 300
Is there a bias pot to adjust this amp??
I would think so but this amp was months ago. I don't remember much about it
Thank you for your effort. After an in depth inspection, the pot reveled itself..! LOL!
A lot of poo poo’ing on crate, which some is fair. But kinda easy to work on compared to a 4x priced Mesa messy!
Mesas are worse.
The Crate VC series was actually very good.
@@PsionicAudio I didn’t mean you per se, but the comments. The Stealth series designed by Lee Jackson aren’t too bad either… all things considered.
What was it you said a day or so ago ?
Oh yeah. Too far down the road of suck to waste too much time on
Blue Doo Doo
LOL
Remind me to never take my amp to you! On second thought you will never have to remind me. I'd like to hear the customers version of this story
I'm truly sorry that fixing this guy's amp quickly and inexpensively bothers you so.
I honestly can't believe that Crate is still around.
These amps are old
They're not, unfortunately.
Lol
You don't need any blue voodoos on your bench? Well, ain't you fancy. My bv120 (lightly modded & sounds phenomenal!) wouldn't be caught dead on your bench.
Well yay for you?