# V Series VFX 5112



## Tarl (Feb 4, 2006)

I had my heart set on a Traynor YCV 50 Blue (great amp) until I heard the VFX 5112. I had never owned a Crate product before and was very leery of them as they had gotten alot of bad press due to reliability issues. After trying out both amps extensivly I bought the VFX. It,s a 50 watt tube amp with 4 12AX7As in the pre and 2 EL34s in the power section. Mine came with the Tonetubby Hempcore speaker wich blew me away. I,d always been a Celestion man (mostly greenbacks) until I heard this speaker. The amp also has 15 built in effects. Most of them are very usable but I only require chorus for wich I use a Digitech Multichorus pedal . The clean side of this amp is the sweetest I,ve ever heard for an EL34 equiped amp, only rivalled by the cleans on a good Fender. The dirty side is great for anything from blues to classic rock and maybe some early metal. Think Zepplin, Sabbath, AC/DC, Neil Young (Ohio, Cinnamin Girl). This amp does lack the Mesa/Rectifier sound but thats not what I was after. After hauling it around for 5 months now I can see no relability issues what so ever. As with any 50 watt tube amp the best sounds on the dirty channel, are found at higher volume levels. Both my Godin Exit 22 and Ibanez SZ520QM sound great through this rig. The included footswitch will change channels and also "remember" 2 effect settings per channel. This is a handy feature for those who want to use the onboard effects. I,ve owned Marshalls, Peavey,s, Vox and other various amps over the years but to my ears this is the most versitile combo (for the tone I desire) in this price range.
BTW it cost me $CAD 850 plus tax.

Tarl


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## nsbluesman (Apr 10, 2006)

I just picked up one of those second hand, unfortunately doesn't have the tone tubby speaker.... BUT great sound, I think it's one of the first issues, the speaker just has the v series logo on it, but it looks like an eminence.. Getting some rattle on certain notes, (maybe from the el34's I think they're the originals..). Other than that no complaints.. love the look. Should be a treat when it comes to changing the tubes??? I guess i have to take the chassis out??

I didn't get the footswitch with it, but there is a Crate dealer here, so I will price one out. I find the effects (all except the two vibratos) add a bit of hiss but very liveable. Great delays. Hope to try it out at band practice later this week.

Nice to know someone else has one..

:food-smiley-004: 

CB


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## Tarl (Feb 4, 2006)

Yep...the chassis must come out to change tubes. The hiss on the onboard effects is not bad if you keep them down to 2 or 3. If I use any it,s usually the delays with reverb, sounds good for some Bad Co,April Wine, Trooper stuff. Modulation effects sound awesome through the loop btw. One hint...on the dirty channel the mids are everything. A small change say from 5.5 to 6.5 can take you from a plexi type tone to a Fender Bassman type thing. The mid control is really the key to shaping the tone of that channel. The clean side sounds great with some chorus and the EQ is more neutral than the gain side. I do find I need to have the bass up a bit more than usual on this amp, say 7 to 10. Have fun with it, a great amp imo.

Tarl


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## erikm5150 (Mar 3, 2006)

Tarl,
That's a good price considering you got the Tone tubby speaker.
those speakers alone are expensive as hell!

do crate dealers stock the tone tubby version? or did you have to special order it?

I'm also considering this amp or the ycv50 blue that you mention. 
Can you give a direct comparison of the two...

Thanks!


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## Tarl (Feb 4, 2006)

My local dealer has the Tone Tubby models in stock..no need to special order. The Traynor YCV Blue is a great amp and I would have gotten it if I had not tried out the VFX. The V has a slightly larger cabinet and is heavier than the Blue. Sound wise the clean side on the V was clearer and more sparlling than on the Blue. Also it seems to have some more headroom before breakup. On the dirty side the Blue has more bass but less versatility, the V has more classic crunch and much more flavours with the mid control as I mentioned above. The V also souded better to me with single coils or HBs were the Blue was better suited to HBs only. Build quality on both is very good and I actually prefer the Traynor chicken head knobs. The small indentations on the V chrome knobs are hard to see but I fixed this with a toothpick and a bit of black touch up paint. The built in effects on the V is a bonus that some will appreciate. The Tone Tubby is the best speaker I have ever played through IMO in the 32 years I,ve been at this. Remember though that tone is very subjective. Again they are both great amps...I suggest you try them both out for yourself.

Tarl


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