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Average of 17 User Ratings
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Posted by slowpoke from Vista, CA on Dec 31, 2008
Experience w/product: I own it
Reviewer's Background: former professional musician
Reviewer's Play Style: rock/alternative
I bought two of these amps as most of us were under the impression that they weren
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Great for the money...
Posted by Artie Fisk from Hudson Valley, NY on Dec 30, 2008
Experience w/product: I own it
Reviewer's Background: Semi-Active Musician
Reviewer's Play Style: Pop/Rock/Indie
This amp has a very nice clean channel, but is a bit lacking in top end. So you need to hit the "presence" button (a knob with variable presence would be better), and this makes the amp NOISY. Mine often crackles even before any instruments are plugged in. The overdrive channel is not great, and when I want that sound, I need to use pedals in front of the clean channel. No footswitch is included with this amp anyway, so channel switching isn't a big thing anyway. The reverb sounds nice, but gets very muddy after about 2 or 3 on the dial. I use this with an Electro Harmonix Holy Stain in front of it as a tone booster and substitute for the reverb, and I get the sound I want. If I had it to do over, I'd get the V-18 112, since this amp is big, heavy, and LOUD, much more of those three things than I need. Still, for the money, it's great. Many people have done well replacing one or more of the preamp tubes, and perhaps I will try this.
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it cost less than a botique pedal
Posted by lao tzu from NC on Oct 27, 2008
Experience w/product: I own it
Reviewer's Background: hobbyist
Reviewer's Play Style: rock,blues
The value should be 7 out of 5. I bought a scratch and dent so it cost even less. Most people say it is loud, they are not joking. a level of 2 is way loud. The speakers are fine and don't need to be replaced the preamp tubes are weak and V1 should at least be replaced with a decent tube. Reverb is insane past two, but great at low settings. I got one of these and an 18watt 1-12. this has more features including 2 channels and an effect loop. If you don't have a tube amp I would definitely get one of these, scratch and dent if possible and 18 watts if you don't need the extra features.
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V33-212 Excellent Value
Posted by GuitarBuilder1970 from Bloomington, IL on Oct 24, 2008
Experience w/product: I own it
Reviewer's Background: 20yrs playin for fun
Reviewer's Play Style: Rock, Blues, Country
I was impressed with my Crate V33-212 right out of the box. It's big, its heavy, has a solid feel and looks good. It has a nice sweet sound on the clean channel, not too twangy and not too dull. The distortion channel is impressive also, it has its own gain and volume and can go anywhere from an almost clean sound to an "over the top" agressive death metal sound with the twist of a knob. I turn the gain up to about 3 or 4 for that ZZtop sound. Please note that this thing can get LOUD!! I mean really loud. Probably the loudest 2x12 combo I've heard, and I've been around my fair share of others in my days. We jam in the garage most of the time and keep the volume around 1 or 2, so if you have an apartment or close neighbors you may want to consider something smaller. Has a good amount of low end thump for an open back and can project the highest highs with ease. At first you'll notice a "pop" when you switch between the clean and overdrive channels, thats just the relay and will go away after it gets broken in a bit. I have a handfull of pedals that I run through the loop, or you can put them inline with your guitar. For the price you absolutely cant go wrong. I've had mine for a month now and no problems whatsoever. I also have the matching Crate V212B extension cabinet which works perfectly with this. I highly recommend this amp.
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Great Amp after simple Mod
Posted by Tubehead4life from Canada on Oct 19, 2008
Experience w/product: I own it
Reviewer's Background: Ex-Drummer, Tubehead, Recording Engineer
Reviewer's Play Style: Rock, Surf, Punk, Blues
I posted an earlier review about how this is one of the best bang for the buck amps. Many owners have agreed but mention the problem of the muddy dark sounding overdrive channel and clean channel hiss. Replace the preamp valves with JJ or other brand or NOS. The stock Sovtek preamp tubes have too much drive for the preamp and reverb. The dark lead channel issue, extreme reverb gain and clean channel hiss were all solved by replacing preamp valve 3 with a 12AU7 tube.(farthest from transformer and volume knob). This made 100% difference. By putting the 12AU7 only in preamp valve 3 position you maintain the tone, volume and other benefits and eliminate all the issues related to overdriving the preamp. The stock El-84 poweramp tubes are good and don't need change. No need to replace speakers as they sound excellent like this. There is no design problem with these amps (only a minor tube issue which is worth a few dollars and a few minutes work)and only 4 screws to remove on the side of cabinet. I use a NOS 12AD7 in preamp valve 1 and it sounds even smoother. This amps rivals many big dollar amps with simple tube rolling.
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