Dating a Crate Amp

[BluesNRock87]

The amp in question is a Crate VC-3112 i bought used last year. I believe it to be from the first generation of the VC or V line of crate amps, because it is honey blonde tolex with gold parts, and brown with gold trim. They guy i bought it off said he thought it was around 10 years old. Does anyone know how i could track down the exact age (for purposes of replacing the tubes, speaker, possibly having to get work done) ive tried contacting crate (saint louis music) to no avail. also, if its 10 or so years old, would i need to get new tubes, speaker, capjob or other work? it seems fine, it runs pretty hot, but tube amps are supposed to i believe?

[Jeffrec]

The amp in question is a Crate VC-3112 i bought used last year. I believe it to be from the first generation of the VC or V line of crate amps, because it is honey blonde tolex with gold parts, and brown with gold trim. They guy i bought it off said he thought it was around 10 years old. Does anyone know how i could track down the exact age (for purposes of replacing the tubes, speaker, possibly having to get work done) ive tried contacting crate (saint louis music) to no avail. also, if its 10 or so years old, would i need to get new tubes, speaker, capjob or other work? it seems fine, it runs pretty hot, but tube amps are supposed to i believe?

You're right about it being an early model. I have the VC5212 in blonde tolex. I think they switched to black in the later models. I know you tried to contact Crate, but dId you email or call them. I've had success over the phone with them.. But, as far as having work done, I don't think the age will matter. I've had mine in the shop a year or two ago (Mine is about 10-years-old, too), and the tech had no trouble. You can replace the tubes yourself with no problem. I 've been using matched sets of Groove Tubes (power tubes) for a long time. It seems to sound best using their EL84S power tubes and the ECC83 preamp tubes. If you're concerned, bring it to a reputable tech and have it looked over.

Jeff

[BluesNRock87]

when u called them, did u use the serial number?

as for getting it repaired, im just wondering if there is any sort of 10year checkup type of thing one needs, ive never owned a tube amp before.

[Jeffrec]

I don't remember if I used the serial number, but it couldn't hurt. As for a check up, tube amps need extra care. Mostly just listening for changes in tone or funny noises can clue you in. If you play a lot, you have to change tubes more frequently. To be honest, I don't bring mine in for a check up unless there's a problem. You're going to pay a bench fee, so it's worth doing preventive stuff on your own and only bringing it in when you find a problem that you can't fix. Read stuff by Gerald Weber. He's brilliant. He has books out and writes for Vintage Guitar Magazine.

Jeff

[BluesNRock87]

thanks a ton

[Jeffrec]

thanks a ton

Anytime. Good luck

Jeff

[seafoamer]

Always beware when dating a 'solid state' amp. The break-ups are never good.

*punches self in face*

[BluesNRock87]

jeffrec since you own one ....
i know its an 8 tube amp (4 X 12AX7, 4 X EL84) but i have 2 questions
1. which tube is which, i seem to remember the 3rd 12AX7 is the reverb driver? i knoe the difference between the pre and power tubes, but which tube does what? i wanna say the 1st 12AX7 is the gain stage, and the most important for tone, followed by # 2 and 3? i am assuming that is going left to right on the chasis. Can you clear this up?
2. have u ever swapped a 12AX7 for a 12AY7 or 12AT7 or a 5751? How did you like it if you did?

-thanks again

[Rich_T]

Always beware when dating a 'solid state' amp. The break-ups are never good.

*punches self in face*

ba dum ching... thats where i was going with this thread too... sorry about the hijack ah, you love it really!

[BluesNRock87]

bump (to jeffrec)

[Gearjoneser]

Those came out around 92 and may be the best thing Crate ever made.
Just retube it like Jeffrec said, and you'll be good to go for a year or two.
Unless the seller tells you he JUST retubed it, it's a good idea to just pay the money and do it, so your amp will sound like new again. Don't worry about biasing, because I think you can't bias those.....just pop the new JJ's in there.

[BluesNRock87]

yea i know u cant bias it. i recall hearing it was even self biasing, but do those exist?

as for retubing, i know that i need to buy matched pairs for the power tubes, if possible a matched quad. i probably will eventually get jj's for the el84's.
for the pre amp tubes though, ive heard the EH were best. ive also considered NOS, and also going the route of using a 5751, 12AY7, or 12AT7 to alter the gain, headroom, etc. ive also considered doing a mixture of the above, using an assortment of NOS and regular tubes, and possibly throwing in 1 or 2 different tubes. hence i need to know which pre tube does what. i know one does gain, one does the reverb, etc. i dont which one is which tho.

i also am going to look into a new speaker at some point. the original speaker is in there and id like to swap it out.

currently it is running 2 EH 12AX7's, 1 chinese 12AX7, and 1 unlabled 12AX7, and 4 unlabled El84's, (no idea if they are stock) and the stock "Crate Vintage Series E12" speaker (8ohm).

[BluesNRock87]

To GJ - what distinguishes these earlier VC amps from the newer V-Series? You said they were possibly the best crates ever, why so? and why arent the new v-series (seemingly a clone) as good? im just curious

[s91five0]

Hello all, I would like to ask a question about a crate blue voodoo bh120h amp head that just bought. Can someone help me with dating this amp. The serial number is AWVDC60011. Thanks all

[babies]

had one !! bought it used in mid 90's. really pretty good amp. did have short comings, no external speaker jack, volume & tone control pots wen't that great. I did retube it myself.-- it is" self bias" I put sovtek el 84 quad for power tubes. can't rember pre tubes. kind of a pain but very do it your self. I can't rember if you have to pull chasis, I think maybe only for pre tubes. I know on my Traynors now I have 2 pull chasis. I did do a speaker swp at 1 point to a celestion modern lead 70 ? it gets a bad rap on forms but I had it reconned in mid 90"s for $35 out of shy town. I don't know what they did but I still havn't in a box, it was night & day. I did put th original speaker back in though because it had better low end with single coil pickups, --- but was very loose or flabby in low end. In my opinion I would by a a macthed quad of sovtek regular el84's, maybe a balenced 12ax7 balanced for phase inverter, last spot on far left looking from back as I remember. deal with pres later. like I sid maybe find a can of " de tox" to clean up those ****ty pots they put in that amp & to clean tube sockets. Really thinkin about pull chasis for any tube changing because it is all pcb.