CRATE blue voodoo BV120H, anyone played one?

[shredmaster]

hey guys, what's up? i had a GAS attack lately and now it's with amps. i love my setup now. i have the rackmountable pod by line6...pod pro. from there i go through a BBE sonic maximizer to my mesa 50/50 power amp.

anyway, i have always played crate amps and love them!! i love the tone and crunch.

i was wondering if any of you tried out the blue voodoo head, and what is it like? i was thinking of selling my stuff and just using that. i'm not an FX head....i just want killer crunch. i get that now but i want to simplify my life even more with just a head. not sure if i would sell my stuff....maybe just pick up the head as well. what do you think?

[texshred777]

Well...I've heard people talk about Peavey's triple xxx as being buzzy, but it's nothing compared to the blue voodoo. That thing has no warmth to it at all! I hate those heads...I know it's a relatively cheap head and all..but if you're going to buy something...get something good. As far as between your current setup vs blue voodoo; stay with your current setup. Sure things will be more simple, but it'll sound like poo.

[shredmaster]

Originally Posted by texshred777

but it'll sound like poo.

hehehe. i was thinking that. it's a harsh sound....great for metal. thanks for the input.

[winterlong]

Great amp for thrash, but bad amp otherwise. The haunted use these things after all.

[texshred777]

Oh yes, I forgot...before someone else brings it up. Yes, Marty Friedman used them...technically. He used the power amp. He ran external preamps in to the blue voodoo(or black voodoo later on i think). And let's not even get into the sammy hagar thing. Point is..Marty Friedman had them, but didn't use the tone from them, only the power.

[shredmaster]

texshred...yeah, i agree. at the risk of maybe getting flamed, the fact that sammy hagar "used them" makes me want one less.

i have always loved the crate sound (at lower volumes) so i was wondering what was up with these. most rockers mod the hell out of their stuff as well. i have never owned a marshall and never will. the few that i tried out were garbage!!! i heard they have to be modded out. the few heads i tried sounded like an over-driven clean channel!!! screw that! i want metallica, megadeth....tone like that. i love that stryper sound...remember them! remember that sweet palm muting tone they had goin' on!!! that is what i have now and aim to make it better! anthrax has it here and there as well.

[texshred777]

To be perfectly honest...You've got the mesa 50/50 power amp...that's plenty loud, get a sansamp psa preamp. Those from what I hear do the 'thrash' or death metal sound better than most heads ever could. Hey...Marty Friedman still uses them, as well as the pod pro.

[Soloist]

I also love crate amps. I own a GFX212T and it is great, I have tried the blue voodoo its a pretty nice sounding amplifier I just dont like the eq placement on it (mainly the presence). The tone controls are extremely sensitive and it takes some serious eq-ing to get a nice warm sound (it is possible). Overall it is a good amp for the price but if I were going to get crate I would probably stick with their transistor stuff.

[Exotic Shredding]

Hey, the Voodoo is one of the best amps out there. Certainly in a class in and above man of these crap "boutique" amps and hi cost-hi name amps. I have been using the voodoo exclusively for 6 years now live, and for all recording. I also own a Crate Vintage Club, and have played extensively through most marshals/jmp, mesa/boogies, peavys, etc... The voodoo does it all. BUT...you need an EQ in its FX loop. Thats the key to the voodoo. My tone is unbelievably intense. Basically the attack and crunch of a dual rec. but with more emotion. You can feel the voodoo. It's highs are rounded and tight. Very smooth for leads even when totally set hotter than hell. I can pretty much match any tone i hear with the voodoo. It's incredibly versatile. Especially its clean channel. My band plays a mix of smooth jazz / light prog. for side gigs and the voodoo soars. When we play its super heavy progressive, and metal in the vein of Symphony X, Iced Earth, etc... I have always gotten compliments on how great the sound is. From shred, to blues and reggae, i have got the perfect amp behind me every time. I can't begin to say how awesome a time i have had with the voodoo. I just cant find a better amp in my opinion. Voodoo sounds great on its own, but i highly recommend an EQ in the effects loop. It makes a world of difference. The amp just comes alive. Its funny i hear soo many people tlaking about how the Voodoo lacks this, or needs better this, yet my amp totally stands up to all the talk and disproves it. The Sammy Haggar model is slightly altered. Not hte same as the Voodoo. Also, you MUST use the celestion voodoo cab, not the crappy american 12 from Crate. Anyways, for tone settings, or questions, feel free to email me. I would gladly send tone samples as well, but you gotta wait a week cause im going outta town. The voodoo is as the name implies, straight magic.

[musicdr]

I tried a blue vodoo side by side with a 5150.The 5150 blew it away.Similar price range.Need a noise gate though.Of course I've gotten fancy since then and gotten a triaxis and love it.Go to a store and camp out and AB a few amps to compare(sometimes its fun just to annoy the salespeople!) The crate sounded a little brittle and noisy.The 5150 sounded warm and noisy in a brutal sort of way.The triaxis sounds warm and relatively quiet.

[toshiro]

I owned a first issue BV120H for a few years, and I wouldn't advise buying one unless you really like the sound of it.. I stopped playing for one of those BV years, because I hated my tone. I held on to it because there's no resale on these, I payed $900 in '94 for it, and got $300 in '98 in trade in..

With an EQ it might be passable, but stock the midrange control is in the worse possible frequency. Turned up it sounds like mud, turned down it gets brittle. No mid-scoop thrash here, at all. The distortion sounds like pure diode clipping, as well.. 4 12AX7's don't normally put out that much gain at low volume, in my experience..

Clean channel is really nice, but if I was buying an amp for clean only it'd be a Fender.

The 5150, or XXX, would be a better buy, IMO. Seeing as you already have a 50/50 Mesa, a Hafler Triple Giant preamp, or something along those lines, might be a better solution.. I'd keep the pod pro and call it a day, though.. Tech21 doesn't advise playing the PSA-1 through tube power-amps, but those things do sound great! I'm gonna have to fight the GAS when the Trademark 200 head comes out in august..

[shawn]

the voodoo is a piece.

ive played lots of amps and i wouldnt even practice through it (well, practice maybe, but thats about it). the price is not far off from a decent amp, yet the quality and tone is light years away. ill be the first to tell you that crate makes good sounding solid state, very low end and low volume, beginner and practice amps -- but to step up to the big dog category, you have to step to big dog amp brands of which crate has no part.

[Soloist]

I dont agree that the voodoo is a piece, there are many high-end hi-name amps that have disappointed me a lot more than the voodoo. Though I do believe that if you are looking for that great sound that you are getting out of your solid state crate amp but you want something that is more performance oriented you might want to look into either the crate gfx22000HT (SS head w/effects) or the Peavey Ultra plus (not the XXX, the plus sounds better and has more options). I haven't tried a lot of tube gear but I always find that tubes have a more harsh sound than my crate SS amp (thats funny it should be the other way around). Out of the few tube amps that I have tried the Peavey ultra was the best followed closely by the mesa boogie nomad 100 then the dual recto triple channel (I would buy one but they are too expensive and they dont even have reverb).

[texshred777]

Well, to each his own. I dont dig it, you do. They dont. You do. That's cool.

-by the way, Im not a botique amp snob. I've tried botiques that sounded like ****...TO ME. I honestly gave a blue voodoo a run for its money...I sat by it for an hour and a half...and lets face it, it's not exactly a mesa mark four. There aren't THAT many knobs on it. In the end, it sounded decent when using the gain up to about 4 or 5 for rythm, and a boss ds-1 set with gain around 6 or 7 for more gain on a lead tone. It sounded ok, but for the money...I though $750 on an amp I definately was not satisfied with by itself was ubsurd.

[Exotic Shredding]

Has anyone heard the new Judas Priest stuff?? Jugulator and now Demolition? That's all blue voodoo. They both use Voodoos. Now damn, tell me that isnt as heavy as any of those big name amps? The Voodoo maybe be harder to actively bring good tone from, but when you know how, that amp truly comes alive. Yes, to each his own, but to all whos say the voodoo cant, i can can show it can. I will never use another amp. And hey, some people just really dont mind, or enjoy spending 2 grand on an amp thats dry as hell, has weak clean, and doesn't come with reverb? (ok ok, i use external reverb... but live i always just use the amp reverb)