i'd like to know wich are your favorite high gain tops cuz i've been arround in several guitar stores for a while and i want some new stuff i HAVE to test.
i'd name 2 : engl savage 120 and vht pitbull UL.

i'd also like to know what u think about the crate blue voodoo 300watts top. i read some previous post where some said that crates suck and i wanna know if u think that the high prized tubes of crate are also bad in ure opinion, cuz i like em very well.

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jack from cannibal was using the 300w blue voodoo on two crate 4x12's loaded with v30s when they came here a few weeks ago. i think the blue voodoos are actually worth buying compared to the crate s.s. shit. i like them, but some people don't, they just don't have the distinct sound of a marshall or mesa head.
the engl savage and vht pittbull ul are great heads too.

some other high gain tube tops you should check out look at are:
ashdown fallen angel
rivera knucklehead
bogner uberschall
mesa rectos
peavey 5150,5150 II, and triple x
marshall jcm 2000s
marshall m4(not exactly a tube top but you might like it)
h&k triamp
line 6 hd147(not tube)

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the best and my favorite : Soldano SLO 100

Framus Dragon
Framus Cobra
Marshall JCM900
Hughes & Kettner Triamp/Zen Terra/DuoTone
Diezel VH-4
Engl Savage 120 and richie blackmore's/ltd's
Engl Powerball/Fireball

and the only top from mesa I liked since a long time, the new Mesa Boogie Stiletto Deuce, I think I was one of the first to play one around here, I liked it better then the road king. more versatile and alive, I'm not a big fan of the 'stock' mesa tone, too high gain, too less tone.

u guys know why they are selling the bv300h wich is comparable to the vht UL(maybe even better) for about 1700$ instead of arround 2400$. why is crate so cheap although it is an all tube 300 watt amp with awesome sound?

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because it just doesn't sound as good, 'awesome' is relative when you talk about boutique amps, the crate just isn't one of them IMO.

the crate's I've played wheren't that great, I've played some of their tube tops, but not the BV. so I can't speak for that one, the rest I've played where also relatively cheap for what you get, but they didn't sound all too well, I've compared a lot of amps at the same place (http://www.musik-produktiv.de) world's biggest music store.

wattage isn't even important though. a mesa 20/20 sounds better as a 50/50 too.
I don't pay attention to it really, I've played 50 watt tube amps that sounded at least twice as good as 100w marshall jcm's.

in know that the old crates were inferior to the "real" tube amps but since the bv300h is build with the ampeg technoligy it hasnt any disatvantages. and trust me the sound is comparable to a bogner or a diezel but it only costs the half of their prize.

btw if u played a 300 watt amp u know what watts are good for. i know that the diffrence between 100 and 150 is irrelevant but we are talking about 300 watts. this amp has a headroom u can only dream of. maybe the most powerful amp i've ever played. even at low volume it blows u away. and as far as this amp has nothing to do with the old crates cuz of the completly new technoligy i can't understand why it's so "cheap". there must be something else.

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I have played 300w tube amps, 2x200 tube power amps too. what is your point.

and why do you care for wattage that much? you should care for tone instead of watts and headroom.

wattage doesn't mean shit, look at the mode four, it sounds like ass.


a 100w tube amp is plenty loud and has more then enough headroom, a 300w amp has to go loud before the powertubes break up because they are beeing runned really cold at lower volumes.
it uses 6550 tubes, which are not my favorite power tubes, but at least they use GT tubes, not china crap like most amp manufacturers, EL34 (jcm's etc) just sound better imo, its basically a bias change but it matters so much for the tone.
EL84's are my favorite, they break up fairly easily and when ran hot through modding they just sound so much warmer.

Crate does not compare to boutique amps IMO, have you played it next to a diezel? I doubt it. it probably sounds like the 150w blue voodoo, but I'll try it soon enough and see for myself, I doubt they make a load of 'okay' amps and just one killer amp.

I've played new crates too, also the BV150H and I didn't like it, the sound was just not really good, plently loud but it lacked its own identity, sounded like a crate that wanted to be a JCM and a (single) recto at the same time.

but hey, have you played ampeg guitar amps? shit. they should stick at making bass amps, for sure.

everyone has got a different ear for tone, but I think every sane man would hear how much better a VH-4 is then a blue voodoo 300w.

I don't think its a bargain for what you get though, I wouldn't need more then 100 tube watts, not even on stage, I haven't ever had my stereo tube power amp above half of its volume and it allready blew everyone away, theres no use for 300 watts unless you play in big places withouth a PA system.
It's easy to explain, the louder your turn your amp the better it sounds (if you've got a descent tube amp that is) a 50w tube amp's power tubes will break up earlier making it sound much richer at lower volumes then for instance a 100w tube amp.

Besides, I wouldn't spend 2.335,00 euro's on a Crate. for that kinda cash you could get a Brunetti, a H&K triamp or a really badass Engl.

if its 1700 usd over there, yeah, then it IS cheap in comparisson. but still, you could get better sounding amps for that money IMO.

anyways, everyone likes a different tone, the Crate's I've played all didn't appeal to me, but if you like it, go ahead and buy one, its the cheapest way to get 300 tube watts, thats for sure.

pls go play it. this thing is so diffrent to all those crates out there. if there wasn't the crate label on the amp i wouldn't had believed that they build it. and i never said that watts have something to do with the sound but with the power the notes come out of the speakers. the appearance of the amp is so strong. u think it wakes up and beats u up every second.up to my mind it's one of the best amps that are out there atm if ure not fixed on 6 chan amp with tons of versality. and ye i played it next to a diezel a vht UL and a bogner uebershall and it killed em all.


the crates were shit before they got the technoligy from ampeg for their own amps. they sounded awful cuz they were non tube(in thepreamp) and were crappy build. i know that ampeg amps suck.



then play it asap and tell me again if it's so easy. hmm if u played the new bv 150 tops ... i haven't played them but maybe they sound like they big one cuz its a pretty similar amp.

im really impressed maybe i sell some gear of mine to get one. its a very cheap solution to get an overwhelming sound and i think most of the guys haven't recognized it yet cuz crate had a VERY bad reputation in the last years and not for no obvious reason.

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$1,700 american isnt cheap buddy, especially for a used one, they go new for $2,000.
i have a hard time beleiving you've ever played a deizel, soldano, bogner, vht, rivera, engl. because the bv's arent hot shit at all compared to those nice botique amps, for under $1,700 you could snag a way nicer head. if you absolutley love the bv's tone, buy a bv120h used for like $400 somewhere, then if you feel that you need higher wattage(which you won't) then you can just drop another $400 on a decent tube poweramp.
i do like the blue voodoos,hell i have my buddies chilling in my basement, but they're not even close to being the best amps out there.
don't be one of those kids that thinks tubes + high wattage= best amp ever. i'm all about having high wattage, but if the amp doesnt sound like the $2,000 i'd be spending on it then it doesnt matter how powerful it is. because you can make any setup louder.
50w tube is fucking loud, and very clippable.

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i tried the amp again for about 3 hours( they nearly threw me out of the store) and i finally found out that i like the savage 120 more. but if u run the crate at very high volume it sounds very nice.i finally realized that the volume has to be so damn high cuz of the high wattage. if u run it at lower volume the amp doesn't use all its sound ressources wich is pretty sad.

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and thats exactly what I tried to explain

I haven't found one around here yet, but I know a store in Germany who has the 300. the 150 didn't appeal to me though, so I guess it won't be 'my kinda' amp either.

I'll just stick to my rack setup

A 300 watts of tube is dumb. The high you turn up[ a tube amp the better the tone gets, and there is no need for 300 watts. And if you are playing small place (which if you are playing out at all, you are) you most liking are micing your amp which means you can only turn it up so lond before the sound guy yells at you. There is no need for 300 watts, ever. You can gig with 30 watts if you know what youre doing.

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it's all about the origional bv120h and bv60h versions.
the 150 and 300 just don't have the "blue voodoo" sound, and for the price of a new one.... well the 300 goes for like $2,000 and the 150 goes for like 1,300.... in american. but the origional bv120h's i believe are now being discontinued and they are making newer 120w versions to match the 150 and 300. but imo they have the best overall tone, and they go like $700-$800 new!.... trust me 60w-120w of tube power should be plenty, when i play my buddies bv120h (competing with a loud drummer, another guitarist,a bassist, and vox) i don't even have to crank the volume past like 7 or 8(but i do .). and like dead said, most tube amp distortion sounds better when cranked up as much as possible. 300w of headroom would mainly benifit the clean channel, and even then 120w should give plenty of headroom.

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they do have a solution for the high wattage tube amp to be run full bore and still stay quiet, take a look at a THD Hotplate. they allow you to run a head at full and keep the volume to the cabnet at manageable levels specially for small gigs and to avoid the speakers breaking up, if the tone of a 300 watt tube amp is better then that of a 100 or 150, best look into one of these, but it is right that there is no need at all for a 300 watt tube amp in any place at all imo...

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$2,000 on a crate 300w tube head + a couple hundred more for a thd hotplate style peice of gear.... at that point you might as well just buy a way nicer amp like a vht,bogner,soldano,engl, ect. and get great tone.

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