I've got a Crate GT3500h.

I'm absolutely in love with it, and it's got the perfect tone for me.

It's the amp that's responsible for some of the best tones in grindcore (pig destroyer, dying fetus, misery index, eyehategod, ect.)
And I love it way more than any tube amp I've ever played. I'm probably never going to get rid of it.

so, of course, I want to opperate on it.

This is the original amp:




and this is what I want to turn it into:




What I plan to do is buy a second one and put it in the top of the amp box.

This means I'll haveto remove the spring reverb boxes from both amps (they are mounted to the top of the box, so they'll haveto go). That is a problem for me sense I don't know much about them. I know I can just unplug the boxes and the amp still works, but is it healthy for the amp to leave the spring reverb unplugged? it makes an awful noise if I try turning the reverb up while the box is unplugged. is that bad for the amp?

also, the reverb box has two plugs in it. a red and a white. I unplug both of them to deactivae the reverb, but should I connect those two wires somehow to 'finish' the circuit? or is it fine to leave them free floating?


My reason for doing this mod is rather ingenious to me.

These heads are monsters, they can power eight 16ohm cabs at 350 watts or four 8 ohm cabs at 350 watts.

I plan on using the head as a full stack, but a full stack isn't as loud as having two full stacks, so I'm going to use each of the heads to power one cab.

This will also benefit me because I will alwas have a backup head without the hassle of having to lug two HUGE heads around (and these heads are the biggest amp heads I've ever seen). and if something were to happen to one head live, the otherone would still be kicking so it wouldn't fuck up the set, plus I can always run the backup as a fullstack if something happens to one of them.


So I guess my biggest issue is going to be with the reverb box. Help with that would be greatly appreciated.


also, what the hell is with this?



There's one on the back of the heads and they take up a good amount of space. can they be moved or removed? because otherwise both heads won't fit in one box, as they will overlap. I understand they are heat sinks and are supposed to aid in cooling the head down, but that's all I know. I've never seen one on a guitar amp head before. especialy one this size.

Are they free floating or attached to the amp? and the most important question is can they be relocated.

NO NO NO!!! those are heat sync's(sp?). if you remove those your amp will overheat and possibly fry.

that will certainly be an onstacle for me to overcome.

testicle?

why don't you just get two and leave them as-is?

damn aesthete

Where are you playing that a half stack isn't loud enough? Having a back-up head already in your head is an ingenious idea though, but fuck that thing it going to get so hot it will most likely melt

he just needs something amazing to compensate for his lack of a penis. and he's an immigrant.

Honestly, you should think about biting the bullet and getting a tube amp to run in tandem. The only reason that you feel the half stack isn't enough is probably because the Crate doesn't cut through enough. It has a very mid scooped sound and probably disappears unders cymbals. If you got yourself something with a bit more mid cut and ran it underneath in the mix, it would make all the difference.

you know....you could probably do some experimenting with smaller heatsinks and finding a way to wire a fan in.you would have to find room to mount a fan and cut a hole but i would think that a good high CFM fan would be able to do the same job as those huge passive heatsinks.

The halfstack is actually more than enough and pushes harder than most tube amps.

The mids are also heavy as hell.

Alot of people put this amp in the same boat as the other solid state Crates, but it's actually an amazing amp.


This head is extremely hard to carry due to it's width and having handles on the side. So having two of them as is would just flat-out suck.

I was thinking about getting a couple of these:


but upon further inspection, there would be no way to get my head out of it sense the handles are the way they are.

I was also thinking about getting a double live-in case, but I don't want to spend that kind of money.


My dual-head mod would work without having to fuck with the heat sinks if I mounted the top head upside-down, but I think that might look dumb.

it would probably get pretty hot in there as well.

you look dumb.


ooooohhhhhhhhh!

what about water cooling? hahaha

Line6 had a water-cooled amp at NAMM last year or the year before.

They are practically computers anyways.

just get two of them, and a road case with racks, and lug them around as if they were a cab.

Crates are great amps until they fall apart a year later.

at first this seems like a good idea but
1. you will need to have a massive heatsink you might even have to mod the case to fit both of the guts inside....
2. you also have to think about the about of power that goes into these amps. that will be 700 watts you are carrying around,,, [if you mess up the wiring you are dead]do you want to have one or two power cables? if you have one the amps will heat up superfast so you may want to build another box for your amps anyway. cause it will be too heavy and you also have to think about the amount of space in between the components if one of the components touch one another you may blow a fuse or just fry the amp entirely

so building a case and water cooling would be the best idea for this situation if you really want to do it you can... it will just be a pain in the ass

he's a rock superstar

FuckIsMySignature said:

that's why you have to get the right one. the only 2 crate amps that i believe to be the "right" ones are the shockwave model that niccolai has, and my bv120h. i've had it for 3 years, no problems. only maintenance that's been needed is replacing tubes, and that wasn't even 100% needed. almost every other crate amp sucks ass.

you people must be made of money

Messerschmitt said:

not quite; we just live well beyond our means, haha

I have absolutely no money, but what gets me all my toys is having no sense of priority.

I should have bought a car like 3 years ago... but nooo.

niccolai said:

Just mount both of them in a robot.

DestroyYouAlot said:

end of story, do this!

dude, i still laugh about that time we were at Savin in a meeting, and that guy wrote xerox on the board and you said it was a straight edge kid named ero, funniest shit ever!!

don't forget one of these:

DreamingInExile said:

this coming from one of the most boring and over-rated bands EVER!

niccolai said:


those heatsinks are prob connected to the final output transistors. i wouldnt fuck with that

HA! said:

ORLY? I wasn't aware of that...

too bad you don't have a sense of fucking humor.

brad weymouth said:

Ah, copy repair hell. You still doing that shit?

DreamingInExile said: