Crate V33H

i just bought this amp used and i hate the gain or distorted channel and i read that it would make a difference if i change the preamps, how do you change these tubes, i can't seem to figure out, i opened the bottom metal grill but i can only get to the one side of the screws,,,,please help!!!!

i just did pretty much everything here...

http://dnator.50webs.com/index.html

Ed, where are these resistors locate?

I have th eV33 head. I loved the Clean but hte gain was totally unusable. I recently modded the amp. All you need is to switch two resistors and replace a 33K with a 100K and this amp sings. I A/B ed the modded gain channel with my marshall JCM 800 and its quite convincing. Unfortunately i was sloppy with the iron and roasted my clean channel. i should get it back soon though. ;)
btw, i love your site.

I own this head, and cabinet. The cabinet is very nice, but a little bright for my taste. I have a very large 2x12 cabinet with Jensen Mods (70watt) Now this amp sounds like a beast. I am playing with an SG and could not ask for anything else out of the head. Nice tube saturation at high volumes. It stayed fairly clear well past 6 on the volume. I use a Boss DS-1 for that whole distortion thing. Try the boost button. It brings a brighter sound to the gain channel.

I have the V-18 112, the V-33 212 and the V-50 112. The V-33 is really my go to amp if I am playing a blues or rock gig. I keep the V-50 as a backup. For country type music the V-50 is better, more clean and brighter. Class A in the V-18 and V-33 is hard to beat for that singing, full tone. For the price these amps are hard to beat. You could spend 4 times more to get near the same tone. The VOX AC-30 and the V-33 are close. I have been toying with changing one of the speakers in the V-33. I have run different speakers in my cabinets with good results. Usally a clean speaker and one that breaks up sooner. This adds a multi dimesional tone/sound/voice. Just make sure you use the ohm value.

Sorry, didn't see this. Try the new series V's....the V-18 is a steal at $149.....

One of my friends has gotten by the whole crap gain channel problem by running an un-modded Boss SD-1 pedal in front of it at all times. The SD-1 drains lows something awful un-modded, which apparently actually did some good for making his gain channel sound nice and defined.

Still, I wouldn't call it the best sound ever, or a really good sound for that matter. But then again, I didn't really get a chance to mess around with the settings.