Amp shoot out live metal content inside!!!

[jgcable]

My 80's metal band IMPULSE is loud and proud. 2 lead guitars, super loud drummer, loud bass player, lead singer and a killer keyboard player. 6pc and we all hit really hard live. We play everything from Skid Row to Motley Crue to Ratt to Scorpions to Whitesnake to Cinderella. You get the idea.
The last several gigs we have done I brought different amps. Most of these gigs didn't require us to mic the guitars. They were small 100 person shows. We used the PA for vocals and used amp power for everything else. We played as loud as the drummer but believe me.. he beats his drums to death.

Cabs used.... Marshall 1960A loaded with stock V30's.
Amps used.... 1995 Marshall JCM900 2100 SL-X
1995 Marshall JCM900 4100 Dual Reverb
Carvin V3 head
Peavey Triple X
Early Crate Blue Voodoo BV120H

All of these amps are stock. Marshalls are running stock EL34's. Carvin, Peavey and Crate run 5881's (6L6)

They were turned up.. they were turned down.. Some had pedals in front (Marshalls) for added gain. The rest were basically guitar plugged into the amp with maybe a delay in the loop but that's it.

In order of what I feel sounded the best and felt the best live from best to worst....

Crate Blue Voodoo
Peavey Triple X
Marshall 2100 SL-X with a Okko Diablo out in front
Marshall 4100 Dual Reverb with an MXR OD-GT out in front
Carvin V3

The Crate Blue Voodoo has a very pleasing high gain roar. It is very easy to hear live. The notes just jump off the fretboard because it has so much gain. The footswitchable effects loop is awesome. The clean channel is very good. Its not as powerful as the Marshalls but believe me.. you could get arrested if you turned this up to much. With my extremely loud band and not being mic'd the master volume was never over 6. I got compliment after compliment after the show. It was stage left. The Marshall 2100 SL-X was stage right. The Marshall was louder and easier to hear but the Crate just sounded SOOO much better for 80's high gain metal.

I am totally shocked at all the bashing this amp gets online. I would say that mostly everybody that has one or had one hates it. They say it sounds aweful and buzzy and every negative comment you can think of in regards to an amp. Maybe I got the only good one because mine ROCKS. Its the amp I am using live from now on. I really dig how it sounds. Its smooth... not grainy. I don't like grainy sounding amps.

The Marshalls would be great live but neither of them really start sounding good until they are turned way up and the volume they need to be at is way to loud for me to use in a 6pc band. Maybe if I was in a 4pc and the only guitar player it would be different. I would absolutely use the SL-X if I was in a Black Sabbath cover band though!!! Its so heavy and pissed off sounding. The 4100 is a high gain screamer.

The Peavey Triple X is just too hard for me to hear live. Can't explain that one. It sounds great at home. It just vanishes at the show. It also cleans up too much as its turned up.

The Carvin V3 turned out to be a disappointment. The guys in my band said... please don't bring that amp to another show. It just doesn't sound that good. It has a weird gain structure. I think it would be a fine amp for classic rock and blues. I think it tries too hard for metal.

Anyway... to all the Crate bashers out there... FLAME ON!!!

[DonP]

Interesting that you liked the Blue DooDoo the best

I've never heard one myself, but I can't believe they are all that bad. Maybe people that don't like them are playing at bedroom levels? Or with a different cab/speaker setup?

[Jackson8090s]

The Blue Voo Doo is a great amp, they came loaded with V30 cabs... all USA made. Marty Friedman use to push em back in the day , he ran a Tube Screamer in front of it and dialed the gain back. I still have one, same one you got. They made a 300 watt version too but those are hard to find...the only two I know of are overseas.

I don't get the hate either.

[lefty]

Yah, I've got the 60-watt BV. Always liked it, just didn't get a lot of use,
because I've got a bunch of amps I liked better. Great bargain in a US-built
amp...

[jgcable]

Yah, I've got the 60-watt BV. Always liked it, just didn't get a lot of use,
because I've got a bunch of amps I liked better. Great bargain in a US-built
amp...

curious... what amps do you like better and why?

[jgcable]

The Blue Voo Doo is a great amp, they came loaded with V30 cabs... all USA made. Marty Friedman use to push em back in the day , he ran a Tube Screamer in front of it and dialed the gain back. I still have one, same one you got. They made a 300 watt version too but those are hard to find...the only two I know of are overseas.

I don't get the hate either.

Funny you mention Marty Friedman because when somebody does online they are usually DESTROYED by many people stating that he only used the BV120 heads for power and that he used external preamps with them. Frankly.. I find that hard to believe. In his own words he used BV120's with a tube screamer out in front for shaping.
Why the heck would a player like Friedman use Crate BV120's for power and not just use a power amp? Doesn't make sense to me.
I saw Poison about 4 years ago and I was really close to the stage. CC Deville had 2 Crate Blue Voodoo full stacks on the side of the stage all mic'd up. He went over to them several times during the night and made some adjustments to them. His sound was amazing as usual.

I am actually glad 99% of the people online bash them because I picked up mine.. in mint condition and re-covered in a killer blue snakeskin tolex for PRACTICALLY NOTHING. I am looking for another one.

[Jackson8090s]

Funny you mention Marty Friedman because when somebody does online they are usually DESTROYED by many people stating that he only used the BV120 heads for power and that he used external preamps with them. Frankly.. I find that hard to believe. In his own words he used BV120's with a tube screamer out in front for shaping.
Why the heck would a player like Friedman use Crate BV120's for power and not just use a power amp? Doesn't make sense to me.
I saw Poison about 4 years ago and I was really close to the stage. CC Deville had 2 Crate Blue Voodoo full stacks on the side of the stage all mic'd up. He went over to them several times during the night and made some adjustments to them. His sound was amazing as usual.

I am actually glad 99% of the people online bash them because I picked up mine.. in mint condition and re-covered in a killer blue snakeskin tolex for PRACTICALLY NOTHING. I am looking for another one.

Exactly! A video exists on YouTube one of the guitarists for JP (I think it was KK don't hold me to it) using one I his home studio. Yeah they can be had dirt cheap these days.

...I think the hate exists not because it's crap, it's because they paid 5x as much for something that does practically the exact same thing with a 'boutique' name and probably feel like fools, so they have to make someone like you feel like shit because they got fuck'd for 6-8g's for a full stack LOL , there they are with their Engl's and Mesa's with the same preamp tubes, tubes, FX pedals , processors, speakers that you got at a fraction for what they paid for it... go ahead and throw on some exceptional chops and that's all they have left to shit on you for... that or its some broke kid.

I believe the real magic is in the players hands anyway, the last thing I'll notice is your gear when listening to someone who can really play well. But I'm not THAT guy, I'm drunk party lvl player HA-HA!

[toejam]

Yah, I've got the 60-watt BV. Always liked it, just didn't get a lot of use,
because I've got a bunch of amps I liked better. Great bargain in a US-built
amp...

I had a BV60 head with KT66 tubes that sounded pretty monstrous! Sold it to someone here a long time ago.

[Nightbat]

What I got for info back when, these amps seemed to suffer in reliability

Nowadays, with the boutique stuff, whenever you hear people reviewing amps, things can only seem to get more superlative-iter
whereas the 90's, commenters worked mostly on trying to make every new amp to come out as even shittier than [insert whatever make/model came before]

[catzodellamarina]

Good info you gave us.
I have always wanted to play shows in a row with different amps. I only own 4. My home rig (Zinky BlueVelvet 50 combo & ADA 212 w/EVH Sheffields) sounds so good when I'm sitting in front of the cab. Many times I have wanted to take it out to a gig but I'm too lazy to pack it up. My live rig sits in the band truck ready to roll. This fall I will get off my ass and try all 4 amps I have.

I owned a Carvin V3 for 15 min or so. I too was not pleased with the live sound. I recall it lacking depth and failed to get a good chugging sound when muting and playing rhythms.

[lefty]

curious... what amps do you like better and why?

For home studio playing, I like low powered amps owing to the small space I have to deal with.
So I go for my Mesa Express 5:25 Plus. Good flexibility, graphic EQ, solo boost, and power output
options make it a good fit for me. Other amps I use at home are a Peavey XXX 40 FX combo
and EVH LBX. Tons of gain on both, and I can get a good sound at low volumes...

For playing with the band, my go to amp has been a Splawn Competition EL34. I've had it
since 2009 and it seems to fit me like a glove. More flexibility on the Splawn with the 3 'gears,'
OD1 and OD2 switching and solo boost. But I'm strictly a hobbyist these days, given the paucity
of gig opportunities up here, and we're all senior citizens anyway. None of us want to stay up
past midnight anymore!

[mrhiwatt]

GLenn Tipton used one in that video. It was about making the British Steel album.

[Jackson8090s]

GLenn Tipton used one in that video. It was about making the British Steel album.

Thanks I should have went back and looked it up, would have taken 2 seconds... forgive my laziness

[VitaminG]

I've never tried one but the folks that have Blue Voodoos seem to love them and hang on to them.

Funny you mention Marty Friedman because when somebody does online they are usually DESTROYED by many people stating that he only used the BV120 heads for power and that he used external preamps with them. Frankly.. I find that hard to believe. In his own words he used BV120's with a tube screamer out in front for shaping.
Why the heck would a player like Friedman use Crate BV120's for power and not just use a power amp? Doesn't make sense to me.

I reckon that's from internet experts seeing that old ADA MP1 ad and making the assumption that he was still using them by the time the Blue Voodoo came out.

By that reasoning, Paul Gilbert must have only been using the power section of the Laney amps he used forever.

It's funny, the nostalgic nature of the internet. Remember how JCM900s were all steaming piles of shit that used transistors for their gain, and the best sounding Marshalls were JCM800s (with a TS in front, more transistor clipping)? And then when the DSLs & TSLs came out, they were overpriced shitty fizzboxes. Now, JCM900 are fantastic old Marshalls and anyone who can scrape a few hundred together for an old DSL is playing through a proper tube amp, a "real" Marshall

[catzodellamarina]

It's funny, the nostalgic nature of the internet. Remember how JCM900s were all steaming piles of shit that used transistors for their gain, and the best sounding Marshalls were JCM800s (with a TS in front, more transistor clipping)? And then when the DSLs & TSLs came out, they were overpriced shitty fizzboxes. Now, JCM900 are fantastic old Marshalls and anyone who can scrape a few hundred together for an old DSL is playing through a proper tube amp, a "real" Marshall

So true! Seems that some stuff that was meh.. back in the day is now respected. When I was very young, my friend had an original TubeScreamer that we thought sucked because it didn't sound kickass like a MetalZone. So he traded it in at a local music store for a mic stand, because we needed it.
In my current band, about 15 years ago we got rid of a bunch of "uncool" stuff laying around. THREE items I wish we could have back: Kramer Baretta with Klein? Lips graphic, Peavey VTM head, JCM 900 4500 head.