redux of a redux.

[DummyLoad]

back in 2013 i picked up a crate 1D sand-state amp from the 80's that just sounded like crap. i punted the SS stuff and stuffed a KT88 SE circuit in it. sounded OK - not spectacular, but OK. sold it in february 2013 to a friend who bought more for nostalgia than the tone. fast-forward 4+ years i get a call: do you want to have that crate back? me: SURE!.


so, i hacked out all what i had done (basically the AX84 SE high-octane) and decided to start fresh. a fenderish front end with a cold biased first stage, the PR tone stack, and a driver/CF to push the big bottle. sounds much better than it did, but the cabinet is just too small for a 12" to sound decent - i play it through a 12" JBL K120 in a larger cabinet and it sounds really good. nothing to write home about, but very respectable.

thinking about chopping it to turn it into a head. i'll post some pics later.

[DummyLoad]

2nd shot

[shooter]

Very nice P2P work, the layout is great!

[DummyLoad]

thanks!


--pete

[Tony Bones]

Very nice looking work. A rags to riches story!

[PRR]

> i picked up a crate 1D sand-state amp from the 80's

According to eBay, you should put the sand back in this rare/very-rare collectable and sell it for all it's worth. ($110-$400 asked.... one sold at $37)

"This is a rare Crate solid-state amplifier, one of the first ones they ever made in the late 70s. This rare wooden crate design only lasted a few years so they're hard to find."
"This "VERY RARE" collectible, Crate 1D Combo Guitar Amp by SLM Electronics of St. Louis, MO is Crate's 1st built-in distortion amp! (Very rarely available for sale!!!!)"

Awful nice work you did inside.

If they hadn't used that stupid "crate" construction it would almost be big enough for a Twelve's balls. But there's 1.5 inches off all around due to "crate" styling.

I did rather like the "crate", as a folly, and would lean to a smaller speaker rather than beheading it.

[DummyLoad]

> i picked up a crate 1D sand-state amp from the 80'sp

According to eBay, you should put the sand back in this rare/very-rare collectable and sell it for all it's worth. ($110-$400 asked.... one sold at $37)

"This is a rare Crate solid-state amplifier, one of the first ones they ever made in the late 70s. This rare wooden crate design only lasted a few years so they're hard to find."
"This "VERY RARE" collectible, Crate 1D Combo Guitar Amp by SLM Electronics of St. Louis, MO is Crate's 1st built-in distortion amp! (Very rarely available for sale!!!!)"

meh! not that rare and if they were, not that highly regarded. peavey bandit sounded better by a magnitude than anything crate made in that era. i saved the guts with the wiring intact. have no idea why, but probably had more to do with the fact i didn't want to throw any lead in our landfill.

Awful nice work you did inside.

thank you!

If they hadn't used that stupid "crate" construction it would almost be big enough for a Twelve's balls. But there's 1.5 inches off all around due to "crate" styling.
I did rather like the "crate", as a folly, and would lean to a smaller speaker rather than beheading it.

i too like the styling and the recycled pallets for a amp was clever. i too was thinking a new baffle - perhaps with a 10" alnico stuffed in it just might do it some justice, it's just too dang "tinny" sounding with any 12" i stuff in it. sounds a whole lot better with a single 12" external in proper size cabinet - in this case a JBL k120.   

music store in the small town i lived in south texas used to sell crate and another new off-brand i'd never heard of at the time called "music man". "music what?" what a dumb name i thought...then a friend/salesman stated that it was "leo's" new company: respect from then on. he went on to tell me they were also selling G&L guitars and the history there. back on track - playing the crate back then was not impressive and still aren't no matter how "rare" it is, that generation of crate SS amps sound just awful.

--pete

[DummyLoad]

Very nice looking work. A rags to riches story!

thanks!


--pete