Crate Question

[MikeO]

We all know about the GX-130C, but what other amps of theirs are similar? I know they did a lot of wrinkles with any given amp, so I'm guessing there is another amp, possibly a few, that are the same amp but minus the chorus, or a different wattage, etc. Can anyone offer any guidance?

[RaceU4her]

the gt3500 and vtx350 were supposedly the good ones but ive not played either. the gt's you can still find for a few hundred bucks last time i checked.

[maggotspawn]

The ones with the shape knob on the gain channel are generally good.
I had a G120C that sounded favorably to the GX130C.

[GuitarBilly]

The whole GX line that looks like this:



These are really well made and good sounding amps, the drive channel is pretty good as far as SS amps go.

[MikeO]

Is that little ribbon design in the upper right hand corner the visual cue that it's from the GX line?

[GuitarBilly]

Is that little ribbon design in the upper right hand corner the visual cue that it's from the GX line?

that's the original GX line. They change the look later and the later amps are hit or miss. But the original ribbons series sound great and are actually US made with pretty good build quality. Lee Jackson was the guy overseeing amps for SLM at the time (which made Crate and Ampeg) and he did a pretty good job with them IMHO.

[MikeO]

Lee Jackson was the guy overseeing amps for SLM at the time (which made Crate and Ampeg) and he did a pretty good job with them IMHO.

Like I said, WikiBilly. Or would you prefer Billopedia. Either way, as always you are a scholar and a gentleman. Muchas gracias.

[Devin]

Seems like I remember reading that either the Shockwave or Tidal Wave (maybe both?) had a channel similar to the GX-130C

[BroSlinger]

My first real amp was a GX130C.

The chorus and the clean channel were the best part. I never really connected with the dirt sound.

These are not mythical unicorns. They are budget amps. They will never hang with a decent tube amp. If you insist on SS, Randalls sound better IMO.

If you're deadset on old SS crate sounds, I would seek out the preamp and get a nice tube power amp or run it into the FX return of a nice tube head with a series loop./

[RaceU4her]

Yah the gx130c distortion channel is great at one thing and that’s the 90s Tampa sound

[MikeO]

If you're deadset on old SS crate sounds, I would seek out the preamp and get a nice tube power amp or run it into the FX return of a nice tube head with a series loop./

Good luck tracking down one of those, at this point the last time I saw one for sale was almost a decade ago.

[RaceU4her]

If you're deadset on old SS crate sounds, I would seek out the preamp and get a nice tube power amp or run it into the FX return of a nice tube head with a series loop./

Good luck tracking down one of those, at this point the last time I saw one for sale was almost a decade ago.

They pop up occasionally, think I got mine for $75

[MikeO]

Yah the gx130c distortion channel is great at one thing and that’s the 90s Tampa sound

That's basically what I'd like to add because I don't have that sound in my amp collection at the moment. But I'm trying to do it on the cheap, and the GX-130C sells for big bucks and I have been trying to track down the preamp for longer than I can remember. Hoping to find a good deal on something similar, since Crate did a few amps that were in that vein.

[RaceU4her]

Yah the gx130c distortion channel is great at one thing and that’s the 90s Tampa sound

That's basically what I'd like to add because I don't have that sound in my amp collection at the moment. But I'm trying to do it on the cheap, and the GX-130C sells for big bucks and I have been trying to track down the preamp for longer than I can remember. Hoping to find a good deal on something similar, since Crate did a few amps that were in that vein.

big bucks?? like $300?

[MikeO]

Yah the gx130c distortion channel is great at one thing and that’s the 90s Tampa sound

That's basically what I'd like to add because I don't have that sound in my amp collection at the moment. But I'm trying to do it on the cheap, and the GX-130C sells for big bucks and I have been trying to track down the preamp for longer than I can remember. Hoping to find a good deal on something similar, since Crate did a few amps that were in that vein.

big bucks?? like $300?

I don't see them in my neck of the woods often, and when I have, they've been in the $600-800 range, which is more than I'm looking to spend on a one trick pony like that. I haven't seen one go for $300 since 2008.

[MikeO]

If you find any GX-130C's for $300 please let me know, I'll be eternally grateful.

[Matt]

My first real amp was a GX130C.

The chorus and the clean channel were the best part. I never really connected with the dirt sound.

These are not mythical unicorns. They are budget amps. They will never hang with a decent tube amp. If you insist on SS, Randalls sound better IMO.

If you're deadset on old SS crate sounds, I would seek out the preamp and get a nice tube power amp or run it into the FX return of a nice tube head with a series loop./

Same, that was also my first amp bigger than a practice amp. Used in HS, did not like the dirt channel, of course I probably had no idea how to dial it in. I was very happy to trade it in toward my first tube amp, an Ampeg Reverberocket, followed by a Mark IV (that I still own 25 years later).

[RaceU4her]

If you find any GX-130C's for $300 please let me know, I'll be eternally grateful.

i had no idea they were going for that much, they were never more than $200 at least before covid. id say just grab a metalzone till you find one

[GuitarBilly]

^^^^

[Zozobra]

Would there be interest in a vh140c type 1u rack mount preamp PCB with a who gives a fuck clean channel?

[MikeO]

Would there be interest in a vh140c type 1u rack mount preamp PCB with a who gives a fuck clean channel?

Hell yes! As long as it didn't cost me an arm and a leg I'd be all over it.

[Zozobra]

I'd put the whole thing as a non-commercial open source project on GitHub. Rough build docs and pcb gerbers would be hosted there, so anyone can get their own board or group buys put together without relying on me.

I'll not lie, this is more advanced than any PCB work I've attempted, but I have approximate layouts to work from. The actual build itself will be fairly complicated, certainly more complicated than your common garden pedal pcb, although I don't need to cram it into a Hammond enclosure so it'll be a little more forgiving.

[exafro]

I'd put the whole thing as a non-commercial open source project on GitHub. Rough build docs and pcb gerbers would be hosted there, so anyone can get their own board or group buys put together without relying on me.

I'll not lie, this is more advanced than any PCB work I've attempted, but I have approximate layouts to work from. The actual build itself will be fairly complicated, certainly more complicated than your common garden pedal pcb, although I don't need to cram it into a Hammond enclosure so it'll be a little more forgiving.

That would be sick if you threw something like that together. I've been wanting to build the Aion VH140 preamp and maybe an Randall RG clone, but this would be much cooler, even if the complexity was a couple orders of magnitude higher.

[Zozobra]

You'll certainly get the aion board quicker pedalpcb do a Randall rred PCB btw.

I have some thinking to do about what the goal is and how best to go about it. Should it all be one huge ass board or should I go modular?

[MikeO]

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/msg/d ... 89917.html

First one that's popped up anywhere within three states of me in years, and the guy wants $800