Former guitarist in our outfit used to run a Strat through a Crate "All-Tube Vintage 30" and got a very nice sound out of it. Beyond that, no experience with 'em.

Kniferide wrote: They own Ampeg.

Not for a couple years now. Yamaha bought Ampeg from Loud in 2018.

Pretty sure Crate is dead as a brand at this point.

Garth wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 11:55 am

Kniferide wrote: They own Ampeg.

Not for a couple years now. Yamaha bought Ampeg from Loud in 2018.

Pretty sure Crate is dead as a brand at this point.

That's good.

If you want an old solid state in this class, I'd say Randall > Peavey > Crate.

Krev wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 3:59 pm If you want an old solid state in this class, I'd say Randall > Peavey > Crate.

I figure if no poor crust punk band hasn't made a Crate amp cool at this point, then they must be really dogshit amps.

Krev wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 3:59 pm If you want an old solid state in this class, I'd say Randall > Peavey > Crate.

This is true. I had a good friend who owned a Randall 1x12" combo finished in snakeskin pleather that looked like something from David Coverdale's wardrobe. It was actually a pretty decent sounding 80s SS amp.

I got this monstrosity as my first "real" amp in eighth grade: By sophomore year of high-school that square-wave perfecting piece of shit had been replaced by a silverface Pro-Reverb and a '61 Gibson Scout.

Geiginni wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 4:25 pm snakeskin pleather

Yessssssss

This was my first amp. It was pretty bad, but loud, and had reverb.
Crap

I think the 70s ones that actually look like a crate are for pedal steel.

Kniferide wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 5:17 pm This was my first amp. It was pretty bad, but loud, and had reverb.

Ha. This was my first amp, too. It was indeed crap, and noisy as hell. I tried plugging things into the service on the back... bad choice. Pretty sure I gave a Zoom 1010 irreparable brain damage.

Geiginni wrote: I got this monstrosity as my first "real" amp in eighth grade:

... and this was an amp I used in our practice space with my longest-lived high school band because the bass player had it. It got replaced in my sophomore year of HS with a Fender Blues Deville, which was also kind of crap but still a significant upgrade.

Crap, WF Powerblock and being amps that 13-year-olds can destroy with little of value lost to the amplifier world.