Surprise I'm bucking the norm again. Well broken in 70/80 Celestions...

[Bob Zaod]

So my Crate Palomino which is about 25 years old or so came stock with 70/80's. I have owned the amp I'd guess about 10 years. I rescued it from a garage for around 150 bucks. The thing had been rode hard and put away wet and that's putting it nicely. Not only was it so dirty that you could barely recognize it but it had more cold joints than Tommy Chong locked in a walk in freezer.

Fast forward to recent times and I have tried (not sure why, the thing sounds spectacular) so many different speakers in it and none of them sound as great as the heavily used 70/80's in it. I've tried V30's, ET65's, Legend 1258's, Greenbacks, G12T-75's and a glut of combinations of the aforementioned and none of it captures this amps magic like those crappy 70/80's do. I have owned amps and cabs with 70/80's in them many times and have never liked them much but this pair somehow is perfectly matched to this amp. Makes me wonder if Obeid Khan designed the circuit around the speaker.

Anywho this amp holds a special place in my heart because I put so much of my time into it. Excuse my crappy attempt to get the background out of the pic. I still gotta do the Oxblood grille one of these days.

 

[RaceU4her]

those amps always got a lot of praise, if i saw one for sale cheap locally id buy one

 

[FuzzyAce]

Great amp! My first real tube amp was a variant -- the Vintage Club 50, 1X15 combo. Man, that thing had such a ballsy clean/crunch sound.

 

[Stratzrus]

Regarding the speakers, I've noticed that some things can work well with one thing but not as well with others. I have a Gibson Les Paul Junior Special Plus with a pair of 490/498 humbuckers that sound great in that guitar but sounded meh in other guitars I tried the same pickup pair in.

I can see how there might be something special about how those speakers combine with that amp.

Congrats on finding an amp that has proven to be a keeper over the years!

 

[dronerstone]

Great amp! My first real tube amp was a variant -- the Vintage Club 50, 1X15 combo. Man, that thing had such a ballsy clean/crunch sound.

Oh yeah, I remember them! Both the Palomino and the VC can sound pretty darn good, and ballsy is the appropriate word, I guess.

They have a certain attack/power that makes them sound much more expensive than they are.

Unfortunately, only the smaller Palominos pop up used over here - for real cheap, most of the time.

Apart from production issues, bad solder joints, etc, Crate had a few definite sleepers in their line-up.

 

[Bob Zaod]

Apart from production issues, bad solder joints, etc, Crate had a few definite sleepers in their line-up.

Yeah I was told by a very good amp tech and buddy of mine it was the soldering technique they used. I think it was called wave soldering where the whole PCB gets soldered pretty much all at once. All those Crate amps from that era were soldered that way and it caused them to have weak joints down the road. After I reflowed all the cold joints though that amp has been as rock solid as anything I've ever owned.

As far as how they sound, I agree and will add they have like a Vox AC30 that want's to be a Marshall JCM800 2204 vibe going on, but it really works and never gets farty or ice picky even at extreme settings.

I call it the King of Sleeper Amps.

 

[dronerstone]

Yeah I was told by a very good amp tech and buddy of mine it was the soldering technique they used. I think it was called wave soldering where the whole PCB gets soldered pretty much all at once. All those Crate amps from that era were soldered that way and it caused them to have weak joints down the road. After I reflowed all the cold joints though that amp has been as rock solid as anything I've ever owned.

As far as how they sound, I agree and will add they have like a Vox AC30 that want's to be a Marshall JCM800 2204 vibe going on, but it really works and never gets farty or ice picky even at extreme settings.

I call it the King of Sleeper Amps.

That description fits to a T. Very cutting, yet not shrill, and very much up the "British" alley of amps. Surprisingly bold though, in a good way. Straight shooters.

 

[la szum]

I have a couple Crates in the house.

Still have the Palomino 2 x 12 that I bought with the V32 head. Also had
the V32 Combo that I sold and shipped to Washington State and was
destroyed. Should have just kept it.

The Crate solid state stuff is kind of shit. They made some great tube amps
over the years. Reliability is a roll of the dice, though.

 

[dronerstone]

I have a couple Crates in the house.

Still have the Palomino 2 x 12 that I bought with the V32 head. Also had
the V32 Combo that I sold and shipped to Washington State and was
destroyed. Should have just kept it.

The Crate solid state stuff is kind of shit. They made some great tube amps
over the years. Reliability is a roll of the dice, though.

Re: Crate solid-state, I personally think their Power Block mini-head is fun. :)

Nowadays it might not seem too special anymore, but it was released about 20 years ago. Tiny, lightweight, 150W. Plenty volume in there.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

more cold joints than Tommy Chong locked in a walk in freezer.

 

[gonzoknife]

I had a Palomino V30 and I miss it. I sold it when I was in my gear flipping era. I keep thinking about getting another and there are several on CL but they're too far for my lazy butt & busy schedule to drive for.

 

[la szum]

Re: Crate solid-state, I personally think their Power Block mini-head is fun. :)

Nowadays it might not seem too special anymore, but it was released about 20 years ago. Tiny, lightweight, 150W. Plenty volume in there.

I forgot about that. Hauled one many a night as a cheap backup. Think I only had to use it once.
I also saw one in the wild a few weeks ago when I auditioned for a band. The other guitarist in
the band was using one.

Can't say it made me feel like I was missing out, though.

 

[laxu]

Yeah I was told by a very good amp tech and buddy of mine it was the soldering technique they used. I think it was called wave soldering where the whole PCB gets soldered pretty much all at once. All those Crate amps from that era were soldered that way and it caused them to have weak joints down the road. After I reflowed all the cold joints though that amp has been as rock solid as anything I've ever owned.

Afaik a lot of PCB based stuff uses wave soldering in its production so it could have been just Crate's process that was bad rather than anything with the tech in itself. I think even Mesa has wave soldered PCBs.

I do agree with the notion of amps being designed around a particular speaker. Which is why if I buy a head, I usually check what the stock cab uses as a reference. For example when I had the Victory VC35, I saw an interview with its designer Martin Kidd and there he recommended an Alnico Gold for it and he was right - that combination made it magic. Similarly my BluGuitar Amp 1 ME loves Greenback type speakers.

 

[dronerstone]

Afaik a lot of PCB based stuff uses wave soldering in its production so it could have been just Crate's process that was bad rather than anything with the tech in itself. I think even Mesa has wave soldered PCBs.

I do agree with the notion of amps being designed around a particular speaker. Which is why if I buy a head, I usually check what the stock cab uses as a reference. For example when I had the Victory VC35, I saw an interview with its designer Martin Kidd and there he recommended an Alnico Gold for it and he was right - that combination made it magic. Similarly my BluGuitar Amp 1 ME loves Greenback type speakers.

For some reason, Blug's amps seem intriguing to me, but even though they're usually very affordable on the used market over here (speaking of 400-600€) I never dared to buy.

Maybe someday?

Used prices might drop a notch once the "AmpX" (?) is released into the wild.

Regarding soldering, I remember horror stories about US-made Fender tube amps from the late 90's/early 2000's even. Two techs have (independently) cursed about cheap PCB's that would bend from the ascending tube heat, thus developing cracks and loosening solder joints.

 

[laxu]

For some reason, Blug's amps seem intriguing to me, but even though they're usually very affordable on the used market over here (speaking of 400-600€) I never dared to buy.

Maybe someday?

Used prices might drop a notch once the "AmpX" (?) is released into the wild.

Those price ranges sound about right. The original "silver" Amp 1 is usually the cheapest, it's generally more saggy and loose than the Mercury Edition afaik, with a bit different voicing.

I don't think used prices for the Amp 1 range will be affected by the Amp X that much. Amp X is significantly larger and more expensive so the two lineups will be pretty different products. There might be briefly a bit more Amp 1 units on the used market but that's about it.

Regarding soldering, I remember horror stories about US-made Fender tube amps from the late 90's/early 2000's even. Two techs have (independently) cursed about cheap PCB's that would bend from the ascending tube heat, thus developing cracks and loosening solder joints.

The original Marshall DSL401 combo is probably one of the more notorious examples. That thing ran so hot it that it ended up with a lot of cold solder joint issues to the point it was discontinued well before the DSL heads were replaced with a revision.

 

[Bob Zaod]

The original Marshall DSL401 combo is probably one of the more notorious examples. That thing ran so hot it that it ended up with a lot of cold solder joint issues to the point it was discontinued well before the DSL heads were replaced with a revision.

It's funny you mention that. There's a local 401 combo for 400 bucks right now and I was considering it. I mean, if it's working well right now wouldn't that mean the issues were resolved at some point?

 

[laxu]

It's funny you mention that. There's a local 401 combo for 400 bucks right now and I was considering it. I mean, if it's working well right now wouldn't that mean the issues were resolved at some point?

IMO it's the worst of the DSL series even in working condition. I don't remember if these models also had the bias drift issues the first gen heads had. I'd pass on it.