Played a couple amps today

[dd12939]

I got a chance to play a few things today that I hadn't tried before, which is always nifty:
First, a Krank Revolution 100 Head. I really liked it. It says something to the effect of "Amp you can play with no effects" and I could see myself playing it with no effects... well, maybe a reverb. In all fairness, I could play a lot of amps with no effects. I didn't turn up too loudly, but got some air moving. It had more gain than I could ever probably use, and depending on the settings and the amount of gain, it did a convincing vintage rock sound as well as the crushing modern high gain sound. The real secret to the gain channel, IMO, was the presence knob. It changed the character of the sound COMPLETELY with just a little tweaking. The clean channel was also top notch. I would love to own this amp. Played a ESP Viper 30th Ann. with EMG's. A lot of amp, but a hefty price tag too - $1600 for the head.
Crate V-30: Nifty little 1x12 combo amp. I'd heard good things about them before, but had never laid hands on one. I played a Fernandes Ravelle with a JB in it. As I was about to plug into the DSL401, Scott the salesdude said "play the 30 instead - it sounds better" And it did! I've spent a lot of time with 401's before and the V-30 really does sound a lot better for a lot less cash. The clean channel was really sweet and got some cool breakup when Scott came and cranked it. Pressing the boost button yielded some sweet AC/DC-esque tones. The gain channel was surprisingly good too - It had more than enough gain (though in a much less "bonecrushing" way than the Krank) and had a myriad of tones depending on how the controls were. My favorite was a Tool sounding crunch I got out of it with the mids cranked up and the gain about halfway. The V-30 is a lot of amp for $750.

[jmcorey]

Hey dd,

Thanks for the report. Those crate V amps are underrated for sure. Can you get the over the top harmonic humbucker sound from its OD channel, you know, the kind of "gwahhh" sound that you get from an overdriven Marshall?

Thanks...

[krankguitarist]

Oh yes, the krank rocks .
I ended up picking mine up for 1000 on ebay, so it wasnt quite as much of an investment for me...

Those class A crate amps are damn good for the money too. I'm thinkin bout pickin up a V16 one of these days...

[xerxes]

is that the crank head that dimebag was using?


also, the crate amp is a very cool amp indeed....i dig my classic 30 more though.....

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

It says a lot about an amp when Dimebag Darrel, Mike Amott, both guys from Shadows Fall and both from God Forbid all ditch their trusty old heads for it.

I need to play a Krank and see if they really are that great. Sounds like they are, so far! Thanks for the review.

BTW, Xerxes, Dimebag used the Krankenstein, not the Revolution 1.

[Quencho092]

maybe they liked the sound of their endorsements with krank

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

maybe they liked the sound of their endorsements with krank

Thing is, everyone except Jon from Shadows Fall was endorsed by the amp company they were with. Amott and the guys in God Forbid with Peavey, Matt from SF with Marshall, and Dime with Randall.

[xerxes]

i read, though, that originally it was the revolution 1 that he used, then he customized it (90% sure)

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

That could very well be true! I don't know about that, but I know he was touring with the Krankenstein.