>>943667
distortion pedal

Actual mods if possible. I use an overdrive pedal to boost distortion but it seems that the amp crunch and od clash and sounds horrible.

>>943667
an idea ist to lower the negative feedback in the preamp stage. also you may try switchable diode - clipping between first and second stage; worth trying.

>>943672
then a better distortion pedal

>>943885
this, really. If you don't know how to answer your question yourself, you shouldn't be trying to tear apart your amp and risk ruining it to change the sound of the distortion. Turn down the gain on the amp and let the effect pedals do the work.

>>943672
Solid state amp clipping sounds like ass. Use a pedal or get a tube amp and a pedal.

>>943667
>dual triode (guitar amp)
>shows two tubes

Two 12ax7s is actually four triodes. Four triodes are used to build the entire preamp of a lot of iconic amplifiers (AC 15,30, tiny terror, countless fenders, the list goes on).

There are a number of ways to raise or lower gain, sensitivity (ease of creating distortion at the cost of headroom), asymmetrical clipping, hot or cold preamp clipping, and whatever else in the preamp.

That being said, I have no idea what Crate has built there. A great preamp can still be a pretty poor amp if the rest is neglected. Crate is well known for making a lot of cheaply made gear. When equipment is made to be cheap rather than to sound good, your tone suffers. ssguitardotcom is probably a better forum for this question where the members both understand tube and solid state amplifier design.