thewrathofraf Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 does any one know anything about modifying crate blue voodoos? i have read that they r pretty easy to mod and i have some experience with these kinds of things but not enough to be confident in taking apart my main amp without getting some guidance and advice first. i was looking into installing a noise suppressor into it and maybe changing out some of the capacitors and tube distributors to higher voltage ones. and maybe making some mods to make it sound better, but i dont really know where to start on that area. thanks. -RAF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gripper Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 The only "mods" I have done to BV Crates is some tone/reverb section tube swaps (12AT7s and 12AU7s) and adding a bunch of blue leds to the chassis. What do you want it to sound like when you are done? I swapped the tubes to get rid of some of the METAL-type gain and betters clean channel. Crate BVs ROCK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewrathofraf Posted March 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 i really just want it to have a tighter, more defined low end and be a lot quieter in terms of excess noise. what tubes do you use in yours? and i agree....i love BV's.....truely incredible amps. -RAF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 Incredible??? well they are nicely built [at least the ones i have seen] but i wouldn't put them way high on the list. but thats me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 for the price, they're great... Maybe they don't compete with mesa's, but who got the money for those anyways?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 FWIW, unless the tubes you're currently running are total rubbish, there's not much that changing tubes is going to do to correct your problems. The low end is a consequence of the BV's design, and the noise is mostly a product of Crate's manufacturing practices, neither of which is going to be corrected by changing the tubes. Changing bias levels, frequency response and gain structure, replacing noisy components and reworking the layout are all possible, and might get you where you want to go - however, unless you've got the skills and know-how to do it yourself, it might well be cheaper to buy that Mezza. Just my $.02, and no offense towrds anyone, but if somebody is telling you that you can make a Blue Voodoo sound like an expensive amp by simply changing the tubes, they're doing you a huge disservice, IMHO. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, even with new tubes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 not even with silver wire??????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewrathofraf Posted March 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 ya new tubes really only help if the ones u have are shot. and mine are fine for now. i was just wondering if any one knew exactly what I would have to change in terms of electronics within the amp to tighten up the lows. just curious. -RAF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.