Crate Blue Voodoo BV-120H All-Tube Guitar Amp

Next to his guitar, perhaps the biggest investment a guitarist will ever make is his stage amp. Eventually, the serious musician will eventually work her way up to the coveted "half-stack"; a rig where the power plant is housed separately from the speaker cabinet. Part of their Blue Voodoo Series, the Crate company offers a bright, powerful 100 watt all-tube head with their BV-120H.

We played two different electric guitars through our test model (A Gibson SG 1962 Reissue and an Ibanez Artcore AH73 Semi-hollow Electric), which was fed through a 4X12 angled Marshall cabinet. Any signal processing was done using a Korg PX5D Pandora's Box multi-effects processor. We first tested the BV-120H using it's natural voice, and then with the signal through the Pandora's Box.

American-Made in St. Louis, MO, the BV-120H is a visually stunning amp. Encased in black vinyl, its black steel mesh face sports the Crate logo in gold tone finish. After the quartet of matched Groove Tubes have finished warming up, their fiery, red-orange glow can be seen burning inside. With a second mesh screen in the rear of the head, all the tubes receive unobstructed airflow for maximum cooling.

The BV-120H's features include, of course, an all-tube preamp as well as an all-tube power amp. Also included is a "Presence" control to enhance the upper harmonics of the guitar. An effects loop allows outboard effects to be connected between the preamp and power amp section, eliminating the need to apply them directly to the signal chain. Each channel also has its very own reverb controls, rather than both of them sharing the same one.

Around the back, two output jacks feed the 100 watts of tube power to two external cabinets. The speaker output is adjustable to handle 8 to 16 ohm loads, making it able to propel several different speaker cabinet configurations. Another jack accepts any remote foot switch with a 1/4 inch TRS phone plug to facilitate channel switching during performance. Finally, a Line Out jack allows the BV-120H to be plugged directly into a mixing board or external amplifier.

The sound of the BV-120H can vary widely depending on the type of tubes installed. Our model came equipped with Groove Tubes, and have a matched set of 12AX7-type tubes powering the preamps, while the main amps are driven by a matched quartet of 6L6/5881 power tubes. Channel One (the 'clean' channel) of our test model had a very open, full-bodied sound with some serious sparkle. Tenderly-picked arpeggios came through bright and well-articulated while crashing barre chords come through with great bottom-end punch that can be quite ear-jarring if the Treble and Presence are a little too much.

Channel Two (the 'overdrive' channel) sounded, well, okay, with a nice, thumpy bass and a full-bodied midrange, but still came across glassy and almost ear-piercing. Furthermore, the stock distortion of the BV-120H isn't all that great, either. With the gain halfway up, it gives a great vintage Marshall sound reminiscent of AC/DC. The problem is, as the gain increases, the clarity and definition of the tone decreases, making for a mushy, muddy mass of sound.

Using the Pandora's Box through the clean channel, however, we were able to get a huge variety of awesome distorted sounds, ranging from the psychedelic fuzz of the 1960s to a tight, crisp thrash metal sound. The strength of the BV-120H seems to lie in the warmth and character of its clean channel, which in our model, made a great foundation upon which to build just about every guitar sound that could be conceived.

As far as the guitars went, the Ibanez AH37 Semi-Hollow Electric sounded the best through the BV-120. The resonant tone of the hollow maple body helped to add a fat, warm, airy tone to the sound of this amp, while the mighty and venerable Gibson SG, with it's much-sought-after tight mahogany tone, sounded almost sterile with way too much treble through this thing (REVIEWER'S NOTE: Both instrument had stock, passive humbucking pickups; the Ibanez's with ceramic magnets and the Gibson's with alnico magnets).

The Crate Blue Voodoo BV-120H All-Tube Guitar Amp lists somewhere between $1,100 to $1,400 (about average as far as 100 watt tube heads go), but can be obtained used for around $700 or so. As with any tube head, it is suggested that any prospective buyer try several of them with the instrument that will be primarily played through it, since each set of vacuum tubes (called "valves" in England) has its own tonal characteristics. In fact, even two identical tubes can sound very different.

The Crate BV-120H is a really nice, eye-pleasing tube amp with some very convenient and versatile features, not to mention a striking stage presence. In our test, the sound tended to be treble-heavy (almost glassy), and had to be equalized accordingly. Tonally speaking, it sounded warmer with the semi-hollow guitar as opposed to the solid-body. And any limitations caused by the on-board distortion were easily overcome using a quality effects processor. Personally, I would recommend this head to anyone, but take a little time to listen with patience and prudence for as long as it takes to find the one with the tone of your dreams!