Dear 1980’s Crate….

[JackBootedThug]

No wonder you went out of business. That is all….

 

[Geo]

No wonder you went out of business. That is all….

The sound of a can of bees doesn't turn you on?

 

[Findthetone1]

Are we talking the OG wood Crates?

 

[JackBootedThug]

Okay- trying something with my 80’s crate 4x12. Swapping speakers. But instead of changing the 4 -12”’s I’m installing 2-15”’s. So I started surgery this morning. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that back panel is not removable. Or the baffle. It’s glued, screwed and butted together everywhere. Interestingly… it’s all good quality plywood and it’s solid as fuk. The chinese speakers are RadioShack quality. Can’t believe it sounded as decent as it did. I have a game plan moving forward on this but really surprised they built it like that. However it does have benefits because it is solid.

 

[BeZo]

Are we talking the OG wood Crates?

No, that was before that. He's talking about the plastic ones.

 

[JackBootedThug]

These speakers are garbage. Fuck…. Tiny magnets and the cones are paper thin…. Schhheeeeeettt bwah….

 

[JackBootedThug]

Probably pointless but I’m going to brace the fuk out of the back for the hell of it. Plan moving ahead is attaching to pieces of 3/4” ply to the existing baffle. Was going to glue and screw but if I ever decide to change it back it will be easier without gluing….

 

[70 Mach 1]

about 20 yrs ago i bought a GT30. its actually not bad.
i just wish i bought the 65 or 100 to gig it

 

[Alpha Stryke]

 

[SgtThump]

I gigged with a couple of different late 80s/early 90s solid-state combos when I was a teenager (1988-1994). I mean, I couldn’t afford anything nicer and since I live near St Louis, Crate amps were everywhere.

Not gonna say they were awesome, but I didn’t know any difference and they worked!

We had a guy that would run sound sometimes. He was a killer player that was a few years older. He said my tone was pretty good! Go figure.

 

[SgtThump]

These were the two I had before I “upgraded” to a Fender Power Chorus 2x12. lol

 

[dooredge]

I had a Peavey Renown 2x12, then graduated to a Crate 1600XL stack (if I recall correctly).

 

[JackBootedThug]

This cab did not sound bad. Never put the power to it because 99% of the time I am low volume

 

[ZEEGLER]

A guy I knew in high school had a G600XL full stack. He was right proud of that thing, and I gotta admit it looked impressive next to my Peavey Bandit 112. Admittedly, I knew nothing about amps back then. Honestly, I don't even think I was even aware that there were both SS and toob amps. I'd like to play through that full stack now just to see how terrible it sounded.

 

[JackBootedThug]

With some quality drivers I think they are a no question cab….

 

[Alpha Stryke]

These were the two I had before I “upgraded” to a Fender Power Chorus 2x12. lol

View attachment 453279View attachment 453280

I used to "borrow" a Crate 2x12 chorus like that. Solid amp on its own.
Alot of Crate 4x12 cabs came w/ UK V30's stock and different construction.

 

[JackBootedThug]

Seriously though… if this cab had decent speakers it would kill. One thing about building it that way…it’s solid…lol

 

[JackBootedThug]

And it’s gonna be heavy as fuck when I am done with it. These 15’s are heavy….

 

[blackba]

I call them "Cold Solder Joint Crates" when I see them for repair. Peavey's from the same error are pretty darn bullet proof, but Crates, tend to have hidden solder issues.

I do like the Crate Palominos, once you get the bias resistors mounted to the chassis.

 

[RaceU4her]

i joined a Crate group on social media, i had no idea how many people were so dedicated to Crate, its pretty funny