How to get better tone from Crate VC 508?? Mods??

[WILLIAM CHAPMAN]

Looking for ways to make this "almost cool" sounding amp sound better [other
than new tubes and speaker]. The thing sounds harsh and flabby at the same
time. Any tips or mods appreciated very much. [Use for target practice?
Throw from 5 story building etc???].. BC

[Miles O'Neal]

Just curious - why do you eliminate new tubes and
speaker? DId you already try those? If so, what
did you use?

-Miles

[Joe]

Hello,
YOu might want to try throwing and amp modeling unit in front of the amp and
just using the amp for power.
Check out the Line 6 POD or Johnson J-station.
Let us know if you need help.
Thanks,
Music123.com
1-888-590-9700
"Miles O'Neal" <m...@rru.com> wrote in message
news:3AF814A8...@rru.com...

[PMG]

The guy wants BETTER tone, not POD tone

On Tue, 15 May 2001 11:38:59 -0400, "Joe" <ques...@music123.com>
wrote:

--
Can I borrow a bucket of worms
and a keg of gunpowder? --Froggo

[j...@freedom.net]

Talk about going from bad to worse, with that solution one could have the
worst of all worlds at once: bad analog and digital simultaneously. If the
508 has too much low end boom/mud I would look at what is has (if any) for
cathode bypass caps on the preamp tube bias resistors and depending on what
is there ether reduce the values of the caps or eliminate some altogether.
I wouldn't think the original speaker is exactly of the highest quality and
putting in one of the Weber replacements may help things. I don't know why
you asked for improvements besides speaker replacement, have you done this
already?

"Joe" <ques...@music123.com> wrote in message
news:tg2j7ec...@corp.supernews.com...

________________________________________________________________________
Protect your privacy! - Get Freedom 2.0 at http://www.freedom.net

[Thorny]

I know you said "other than new tubes and speakers" but I would start
with the preamp tubes. It made a pretty big difference with my
vintage club 30. Guess what? It is has all new tubes and speaker and
sounds much better.

Did you already try that?

Thorny

[PMG]

New preamp tubes will without a doubt make an instant difference, and
a cheap one too. Ask LV to spam you, and see his comments on the
various preamp tubes.

Pete

--

[Ann Adams]

I'm into the old Marshall sound. Also some old Randall and Hiwatt.

I've tried dozens of Crate amps - with some of the bigger ones cranked.
Crates have a lousy tone. I could never get a warm sound out of one. Also,
they seem very, very noisy.

PMG <avo...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:i1k2gtoil31uudop6...@4ax.com...

[Mark Huber]

I have to disagree with the poster below who made the blanket statement that
Crates have lousy tone. While I'd prefer old Fenders, Voxes, and maybe a
few of the "boutique" amps, I have to admit, the Vintage Club 50 I had for a
period of time could get some really outstanding tones from the clean
channel. **The Vintage Club line is worlds apart tonally from Crate's solid
state line.** I'll agree that the construction isn't the sturdiest and the
volume/tone pots are kind of cheap - but in spite of their flaws (and
assuming they last!), I think the Vintage Club line may turn into appealing
collectibles many years from now in the same way Silvertone, Danelctro, and
Supro are today. (e.g., Jimmy Page probably would have sounded just as good
using a Vintage Club on Led Zeppelin I/II instead of the Supro). I suspect
any rock guitarist who's honest and has good ears would agree with about
the Vintage Club clean tone being pretty good. The poster who said the tone
was lousy should probably define what an ideal warm tone is to him/her, say
what model Crate amp was played, perhaps provide more info on the guitar
that was used through the amp, and other variables.

I got rid of my VC50 because I didn't like the controls sensitivity and it
was becoming less reliable as it got knocked around. But the clean channel
tone was excellent.

Ann Adams <jacks...@juno.com> wrote in message
news:wmlM6.13167$a6.33...@news1.rdc1.md.home.com...

[Ann Adams]

I don't know about anyone else, but I've been playing for twenty years. So
when I say "warm tones" in the same post as Marshall Randall and Hiwatt -
then someone asks what I mean by [ideal warm] tones - I have to suspect
his/her perceptions.

It doesn't matter which Crate, no one asked which Crate prior to my posting.
All I know is some were small, some were big, some were solid state, some
were hybrid, some were all tube. I'm sitting here counting and I'd guess I
tried about 18-25 Crate amps. Owned three as a youngster, played with other
owners (accounting for 5 or 6 more - one currently), and demoed many in
stores. And none of them had anything that approached the typical wram
sounding tones that anyone who has heard Marshall Randall and Hiwatt amps
would recognize.

ANY solid state (or hybrid line for that matter) is worlds away from an all
tube line - regardless of the maker.

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Mark Huber <jmh...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:9du078$csg$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net...

[Aimish Wallace]

Agreed on the Vintage Club series. Had my Twin blow up on me one night in a
small blues club. Used a Vintage Club 30 to finish the night. It did the job
admirably- I simply cranked the clean channel which overdrives quite nicely,
used my volume control to clean it up. Stepped on a pedal for leads. Worked just
fine and though I had plugged into this model before in the store, I had never
used one on a gig or at a jam- I was pleasantly surprised.

Aimish Wallace