Getting a Crate V32 Palomino 2x12" tomorrow.

[Bordeaux]

My Peavey Delta Blues 210 just couldn't stay healthy. Everyweek something was breaking. The last straw was last Thursday night when it just decided to completely check out. No sound, power tubes wouldn't even get warm, no power to them at all.

Went to GC on Monday and found a Crate V32 Palomino 2x12" that believe it or not is brand new with the plastic still on the panel. I don't think they've made these things in 2 or 3 years! Plugged in and almost fell outta my chair! The cleans on this thing.......unreal. The amp still had the original price tag on it, looks like it went for $700 brand new back in the day. They were selling it for $410 and I got him down to $350. I will be picking it up tomorrow after work, can't wait.

As much as I loved my Peavey, I just never could get a good clean tone. I always seemed to get breakup. To be fair, it was a "Delta Blues". I'm pretty excited, I've heard really great things about the V32! I'll post some picks tomorrow evening.

[Horse]

thats a great find, i was blown away by all the sound clips ive heard of those babies, one of those underrated classics.

its a shame they didnt become more popular at the time they were produced, they may have kept on making them.

Well done mate and let us know hoow you get on with it!

[Robster]

The V32 is a very nice amp, and you're getting a killer deal on a NOS Palomino. You're gonna be surprised how loud that dude can get! Those amps rock!

R

[Bordeaux]

Thanks guys! I've actually been keeping my eyes peeled for one of these Palominos for over a year now. Kinda weird how things work out. My amp dies, I goto GC looking for a replacement and sure enough, there sits the V32 Palomino I've been looking for. I'm going at lunch to pick it up, I will try and get some pics up tonight. Hopefully Hurricane Hanna will not cut my power off.

I LOVE NEW AMP DAY!

[Bordeaux]

Originally Posted by Robster

The V32 is a very nice amp, and you're getting a killer deal on a NOS Palomino. You're gonna be surprised how loud that dude can get! Those amps rock!

R

When I was playing it in the store, I didn't want to blast everyone. I had to actually use the volume on the guitar to get it at a low enough volume not to disturb the whole store. Is this amp 30 Watts or 32 watts? Not that it would make much difference but I was just curiuos.

I know that they still make the V series, I've seen the huge sale they have been having. From what I understand, the newer ones don't quit measure up to the older V30 and V32 Palomino amps. The older models were made in St Louis, while the newer ones are made in Vietnam.

Pics coming soon!

[Bordeaux]

Just picked up the amp from GC. I now await 5:00 so I can go home and shake the walls before my wife gets there.

Good thing it came with casters, freakn thing is huge! Barely fit in the trunk of my tiny Ford Focus.

[Bordeaux]

Well I just had 2 hours of pure bliss.

This amp sounds absolutely incredible! My Delta Blues just didn't have the clean tones this Crate V32 has. My wife kinda killed my fun when she pulled in the driveway, it's way too loud to play when she's home

I have a brand new set of JJ tubes I was going to install but I don't want to change anything. I couldn't even imagine it sounding any better.

I can't find my camera usb cable so I can't upload any pics. I thought about making a little video and putting it on Utube but I really don't feel like getting flamed this evening.

I think I definately upgraded from the Delta Blues. It takes my Boss DS-1, Bad Monkey and Vox Wah nicely. If I ever find my usb cable, I'll upload some pics.

[Harpozep]

Sounds like a good find! Glad it puts a smile on your face

Don't forget, you can always get an attenuator to bring the SPL down. Don't be afraid of them, they, like casters, are our friends

Power attenuators, Anyone using them?

[Bordeaux]

Yeah I've been hearing alot about those here recently. I may have to look into that.

[Horse]

Originally Posted by Bordeaux

Yeah I've been hearing alot about those here recently. I may have to look into that.

yeah mate, i checked out all the clips i could find, even on youtube vids the quality comes thru loud and clear, superb open tone.....

Really Glad youre so happy with it bro, we share your thrill!

[Bordeaux]

Horse,

You have my other dream amp. Been wanting an Orange for a long time. Such a sexy amp! I just bought a GNX4 so I can put on the headphones and get as loud as I want. Still doesn't replace that sweet tube tone although it has some really close amp modeling.

[StrangerNY]

Congrats on the buy. I have a V32 and it's the best amp I've bought in years.

I bought the head 3 months ago, as a replacement for my '79 Marshall JMP 50 head. The Marshall sounds amazing, but I wanted to replace it and put it away because I was starting to get scared of it being damaged or stolen. I tried a few amps but none of them satisfied me as far as the tone. Then I saw ZZ Top last year, and Billy G was using three of those heads, and they sounded amazing. I waited until they discontinued them and the price dropped, and got the head for $299.

I play the Pal through a 1972 Univox 2x12" with 75w Celestions. The cleans are really good, although if you push the clean channel, you'll get some nice breakup - more than just clean, but cleaner than the hot channel. Kinda in-between.

And everywhere I play, the most common comment is that the amp is the loudest 30 watts guys have ever heard. My band cranks it up pretty good, and I've always got plenty of headroom in case I need to really lean on it. A little better than half way up is the hardest I've had to push it so far.

The one downside - a few friends have told me that the circuit boards are on the brittle side. So don't drop it! (Like I need to tell you that...)

And I was talking to a friend last night who had the combo version of the amp, and he said something interesting bout re-tubing it. He said he pulled the stock tubes and put in JJs, and for some reason the amp never sounded as good. YMMV, but I don't intend to re-tube mine until it absolutely needs it.

Enjoy the amp, dude. Like i said, I've never been happier with an amp purchase for the price.

- D

[Horse]

Originally Posted by Bordeaux

Horse,

You have my other dream amp. Been wanting an Orange for a long time. Such a sexy amp! I just bought a GNX4 so I can put on the headphones and get as loud as I want. Still doesn't replace that sweet tube tone although it has some really close amp modeling.

yeah bro, the Orange is a great amp! just saving for the Zoom tubed preamp effects unit for ultimate tone time!

really cool youre happy with yours though bro

its all good !!

[JLH]

I picked up an NOS 32 at the Virginia Beach GC a month ago, I have the sixteen already.
These Palomino's are killer, I am going to pick up the 8 on E bay and if they made a 50 watt I would buy that!!!!
I retubed my 32 last week with a matched set of JJ 84's and installed a JJ, 12 ax7in V1 and Tungsol reissue 12 ax7 in V2 another JJ in V3, I pass three marshalls on my way to plugging into this amp, Bad Ass
Change out the tubes you will really be blown away
Congrats

[Bordeaux]

Yeah I've got a full set of JJs but havn't put them in yet. I'm gonna wait until these give out, like they say, "if it ain't broke............"

I do love the headroom this thing has. You really have to crank it to get some breakup. And it's not that full OD breakup like my Delta Blues. Tomorrow I have band practice tomorrow, can't wait to hear how it sounds with my other guitartist's Classic 50.

This is one loud ass 30 watt amp too! Couldn't be happier.

[codyfarmer]

Not a bad amp, was very surprised by it myself, congrats !

[Standard 64]

I just traded my viet nam palomino V32 head and matching 2x12 cab for a fender limited edition(only 125 made) sam ash black and tan mexican fender hot rod deluxe.Which I am super happy with(I got a 7 year warranty with it).I still have my U.S.A made palomino 1x12 combo which has JJ tubes,a celestion gk100 speaker in it and a small fan aimed upwards towards the tubes(a must!).Their were good and bad things with the the 2x12,good being nice chimey tone and the crunch channel was cool,the bad was with humbuckers and my srat, I didnt get a lot of clean headroom which bothered me,also those stock speakers are crap,super flabby and loose when it came to handling bass tone.Swap out the speakers and the amp will be way better.I still have the palomino combo and I needed a different flavor and the fender deluxe with the big 6l6 tubes fitted the bill perfect.

[mojofilter]

I played one at GC awhile back....I was floored at the tones this tone monster could produce! VERY IMPRESSED! I was very close to getting one!

[Bordeaux]

Yeah I think the speakers sound fine to my untrained ears. I do plan on getting some tone tubbies later down the road but those things are like $250 a piece. I really got to stretch her legs today at band practice. I seem to have plenty of headroom before I get any breakup, wich I really like. Bandmates seemed to really notice how chimey the cleans were.

Once I finish modding, this is gonna be one sweet amp!

[Bordeaux]

Originally Posted by Standard 64

I just traded my viet nam palomino V32 head and matching 2x12 cab for a fender limited edition(only 125 made) sam ash black and tan mexican fender hot rod deluxe.

I thought that the Crate Palominos were all made in the USA. Mine appears to have been made in Vietnam as well. No big deal, the amp is well built (from what I can tell) but something I didn't know until I read your post and looked on the back of my amp.

Don't know about anyone else but I really love the retro look of this thing. I've gotten lots of compliments from my wife, kids and my friends. Of course tone is first and foremost and I think this Crate has that in spades.

I am looking at upgrading these speakers at some point. Can anyone reccommend a site that sells the Tone Tubbies at reasonable prices? Thanks

[Horse]

Originally Posted by Bordeaux

Yeah I think the speakers sound fine to my untrained ears. I do plan on getting some tone tubbies later down the road but those things are like $250 a piece. I really got to stretch her legs today at band practice. I seem to have plenty of headroom before I get any breakup, wich I really like. Bandmates seemed to really notice how chimey the cleans were.

Once I finish modding, this is gonna be one sweet amp!

great stuff mate, glad you like it, i think the clean tone is to die for, really is something special

[Standard 64]

The celestion g12k100 is a really good speaker for this amp,heavy,heavy magnet,100 watts each

[Bordeaux]

Ok, I had to clean my volume pot last night so while I had her open, I went ahead and installed the JJs (4power, 3 pre). Sounds even better now! Little more low end, not quit as chimey. The amp had 4 Sovtek power tubes, 2 Sovtek preamp tubes and 1 JJ preamp (odd combo for a brandnew amp). I am glad I made the change, definately an improvment.

I'm getting this hum when I turn my reverb past 4. I didn't really have much of a chance to troubleshoot, it was pretty late. I know it's not a tube because the hum was there before I installed the JJs. I had this problem before with my Delta Blues and it appeared to be one of the cable leads going from the reverb tank to the mainboard may have been too close to the tank itself.

It's really no big deal as I don't even use much reverb anyway. When the reverb level is 3 or below it is totally silent so it's not a showstopper. I will however try and find the source of the hum and hopefully fix it. Just wanted to give you guys a little update on how the tube swap went.

One final note- I am going to have a love/hate realationship with how they placed these tubes on this V32. I'm very happy with the fact that they are completely protected and out of harm's way (my Delta Blues tube placement design was horrid). I will HATE changing the tubes in this thing, it takes quit an effort. You have to remove 4 screws and then slide the panel out. Once you have it out the tubes are easily accessible. The power tubes have a metal grill protecting them and the preamps have 3 metal covers that you turn and they lock in. Hopefully, I will not have to change the tubes for a long time as this set is practically brand new.

[Standard 64]

Im not crazy about the reverb on the palomino so I bought a line 6 verbzilla which I am totally happy with.Yesterday I was cranking my 1x12 palomino with JJ,s and the celestion g12k100 and that speaker sounds HUGE in that amp and is a great match for the crunch channel.I put a boss ns2 noise supressor in line.If you want to do some research on the celestion g12k100 and are interested in getting a pair I know where you can get them for cheap and their in stock.