V50-112 Review

The new V50-112 two-channel combo loudly announces the new generation of Crate’s all-tube amplifiers. With dual 6L6 fixed biased output tubes, this bad refrigerator produces the sort of sparkling cleans and warm, thick overdrive that can only come from tubes pushed to their limit.

Features:	9.5
Sound:	9
Reliability:	8.5
Impression:	9.5
Overall rating:	9.1
Users rating:	10
Comments:	1

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: speedinc, on october 06, 2008

Purchased from: Motor City Guitar

Features: My wife bought me this amp for my birthday. I needed a class A amp for my clean tones. it's a Brand New amp 2008. it's got two channels, one is more of a bright clean, and the other is a dirty type of clean. It uses 4 12AX7 preamp tubes and 2 6L6 power tubes making 50 watts of clean power. it's got treble, mid and bass controls, as well as one volume for each channel and a gain for the dirty channel. It has REAL spring reverb that sounds fantastic! I play mostly modern and classic rock, and I primarily use a Mesa Triple Recto, but I wanted a good clean amp for recording and shows, and just playing at home. I use a Gibson Les Paul Gothic, a Vox wah, and a AB/Y switcher to Switch from the Mesa (set on modern distortion or Vintage) to the Crate V50. This amp has all the features and sound that the high priced clean amps (bad cat, DR.Z, Fender)have. // 10

Sound: Well my style ranges from classic rock to modern rock to blues, and this amps does it all very well (as far as the cleans for rock goes). The dirty channel is good for blues. I wanted a clean tone similar to Slash, lots of bass, good mid and treble, and lots of reverb, a good deep english type of clean with lots of presents, and that deep tube tone, and that's exactly what this amp is. Even the dirty channel is more of a bluesly dirty clean channel. It would also suit country music very well. If you used some good pedals you could get a good distortion out of it, if it was to be you primary amp. I've played on fenders, bad cats, and Dr. Z's and this has the tone I've been looking for 1/8 the price! // 10

Reliability & Durability: It seems to be built pretty well for the price. I just got it so I can't really say how well it'll hold up, but I take good care of my stuff and I expect this amp to be my clean amp for a long time to come. It doesn't look quite as good as a Dr.Z but, it doesn't cost nearly as much. For what Crate has put together I would expect to pay at least $900 for the quality! // 9

Impression: Well for the last two years I've been trying to decide on a clean amp to complete my rig. Everything that has the sound I'm looking for is at least $1000, except the Crate! It has the perfect tone for my cleans; a deep english clean with good reverb! It could also do twang, and dirty and blues very well too! If this tone is what your after, or you want a good tube amp, and have some pedals to go with it for your main amp I highly recommend this badboy! For the money nothing comes close! // 10

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: Tyler Durden, on september 12, 2008

Price paid: C$ 250.00

Purchased from: Axe Music

Features: The new V50-112 two-channel combo loudly announces the new generation of Crate’s all-tube amplifiers. With dual 6L6 fixed biased output tubes, this bad refrigerator produces the sort of sparkling cleans and warm, thick overdrive that can only come from tubes pushed to their limit. It pumps 50 watts through a single 12" speaker, creating a muscular low end perfect for club gigs and recording sessions. Presence control, spring reverb and foot-switchable boost make sure you can dial in your custom tone from anywhere. Lesser amps will blow their fuses in fear when they see you plugging into a V50-112.

- 50 watts RMS
- class AB, all tube circuitry
- 1 x 12" speaker
- two channels
- 2 x 6L6 output tubes, fixed bias
- spring reverb
- footswitchable boost function // 9

Sound: My main rig: Epiphone Les Paul Standard with Seymour Duncan P/U's (Jazz in neck, Screamin Demon in Bridge), to my Cry Baby from Hell, Boss DS2, Marshall JH1, DigiTech Deathmetal, Ibanez LU20 Floor Tuner, then into the V50. I play everything (thus 3 distortion pedals) from Zeppelin, Tragically Hip, up to Killswitch Engage, Dimmu Borgir. No matter what I play, I can dial in my tone for any genre. This amp sounds stunning on clean, and loves my pedals. The gain chanel on the amp itself I really don't use, but it has a nice crunchy tone. I jam in my appt (volume at 1 tops) and with my drummer (volume 5-6) and sounds great all the way through. Not noisy at all, with or without my pedals. For what I paid, it was a steal. The clean chanel is in line with Fender, honestly. The Presence is just an on/off so you can't manually contour it (I honestly don't even use it) same with the mid-rage boost, it's on/off (and again I don't use it) The reverb is out of control, I can't go over 3/10 otherwise it's just too much, but on 1-2 it's really nice. Overall, I am very pleased with the sound, but cannot give anything a 10. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I don't gig yet, but I haul it back and forth from jamming to home and it's in perfect shape. it's heavy but all tube combos are, this one weighs in around 50 lbs. it's less then 6 months old but I haven't had any issues yet. I would gig with this, either stand alone or mic'd to a PA and it would sound great either way for sure. You could easily play a small venue with no PA. // 8

Impression: Iv been playing over 3 years now, self taught hobbiest guitar player basically. I play a lot of covers and am working on my own material. This is my first tube amp and I absolutely love it! I was looking at a number of tube amps (Vox, Fender, Peavy) and for the price this one kills the others. It was very cost efficient for my use, and sounds amazing overall. I used to jam on a Fender Deluxe 50 watt tube with 1 x 12" and my Crate sounds better - honestly. If it broke I would fix it, if someone stole it I would buy a new one without second guessing. If you are looking for a good tube combo at a competitive price, go test one out - you wont be disapointed! // 9

Comments

[Tyler Durden]

I just wanted to update my review:

I have recently bought a few new pedals - a Carl Martin Classic Chorus and an EHX #1 Echo.....both these sound great with this amp. Only problem I encountered was the effects loop. For some reason when I have my Chorus in the loop, I can hear a cycling sound when not playing, but if I put it in front of the amp after my wah, dist, od pedals, it sounds great. So - the effects loop is a little shotty, and otherwise useless to me - but I still love this amp!!!!