Crate BT 100

I play bass in metal bands, on and off for the last 4 years.

Got it at Billy Hydes for $660 (Australian) about 4 years ago.

The built-in, well lit tuner is great, and the footswitch/2 channels is handy as well.

The sound felt very fuzzy and soft, didn't have much luck dialing in any tones I really liked. Power-wise, the poor 100watt combo had trouble keeping up with a huge drum kit.

Good quality, lots of rehearsals and a few gigs, plenty of wear n tear. The only issue was that one time a fuse blew, but it was under warranty and was repaired very quickly.

A good amp for someone on a budget, still trying to do no more than play in the bedroom.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I've played bass as a second instrument for about 15 years now, but when gigging, I'm mostly playing guitar.

Bought through instrumentpro.com for about $250 USD a year ago. Was looking for a relatively inexpensive portable bass amp and this fit the bill.

The built-in, well lit tuner is great, and the footswitch/2 channels is handy as well. Here's some notes from the product description at InstrumentPro.com: With 100W, a 15" bass driver, and a balanced line out, this compact combo can hold its own in nearly any gig situation. It has 2 channels: a distortion channel with gain, shape, and level controls; and a clean channel with level, 4-band EQ, and an octave switch with level for boosting bottom end. Its XLR balanced line out is pre/post selectable. The CFS2 2-button footswitch is included for switching channels and kicking in the octave switch from the floor. Limiter, chromatic tuner, headphone jack, and CD inputs are also incorporated.

Sound quality kind of sucked. A little soft and fuzzy when straining. This 100W combo will struggle with anything but a garage band, so understand you're getting what you pay for.

Good quality, lots of rehearsals and a few gigs, plenty of wear n tear. The only issue was that one time a fuse blew, but it was under warranty and was repaired very quickly.

A good amp for someone on a budget, still trying to do no more than play in the bedroom.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Went to my local music shop in Derby UK (play it again Sam - 16 stores nationwide). I went not knowing what style of amp i wanted. Gave this one a try and instantly fell for it. Cost me £269, reduced from £330.

This amp is great. Let's start with it's output. It has 100 watt output through1x 15inch speaker. It can reach 103db so is big enough for small pub/venus gigs. It has a line out for external speakers.

This amp also comes with 3 very useful in-built effects. It has a tuner on the top which is automatically on whenever the amp is switched on and doesn't require bypass to activate so stays on all through the playing. It also has 2 channels, one being a distortion feature. I've found the distortion to be a high quality 'bigmuff' style and includes a noise gate for a rich, smooth crunch. It also has an octive effect for that 'ultra-bass' rumble. Both the octive and dist. effects can be controlled by included footpedal which plugs directly into the amp and doesn't need batteries to run.

General sound quality is awesome.

I could only find 2 faults with this amp:

The size. It weights 69lbs and is 26-21-16 inches in size. This makes it both big and heavy and awkward to move round.

The 2nd point is also related to the size, and that is it has a small handle on top by which to carry it. This is pointless as it needs side-handles and even wheels to move it about.

Good, sturdy contruction, reliable and well made. All components are inside the casing very difficult to damage the wiring.

A great amp for anyone wanting a reliable, gigging bass amp. The features on the amp mean i don't need to cart about a million pedals. Very good value for money, pick it up if you see it on offer.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Features:
Made in China
Crate 15" bass driver
100W
Chromatic tuner
Mute
Distortion channel with gain, shape, and level
Clean channel with level, 4-band EQ, and octave switch
Limiter
RCA CD input
Headphone jack
XLR balanced line out with level
pre/post EQ select
CFS2 footswitch included

UTILIZATION

If you want just plain, clean bass, it is very easy to achieve a good sound. The distortion is very hard to use. I think that the built in limiter cuts off the distortion's sustain so that it sounds very unnatural and over compressed. The octave setting is pretty cool but I generally leave that alone because it doesn't fit with most styles of music I play. The built in tuner is super nice. It is always on so you can do quick tune-ups in between songs without switching anything. The downfall of this amp for me is that it is unreliable. It has broken four times in the four years that I have had it. I have only gigged lightly with it, so it isn't from excessive use or road wear. The good thing is that there is a five year warranty so I haven't had to pay a cent for any of the repairs. It is just really annoying to have an amp crap out right before or during a show.

SOUNDS

I play a fender jazz and danelectro longhorn through this amp. I have thrown distortion, delay, and a wah stomp box in front it. Without any effects, it sounds good. It is a very transparent sound. Also, it gets LOUD. My neighbor across the street told me he could hear me jamming when I was at half volume. It handled the stomp boxes well. I got some gnarly tones with the wah + distortion. The built in distortion is pretty much unusable due to it cutting out all of the time. If you like the way your bass sounds, it will probably sound good through this amp.

OVERALL OPINION

I like how loud this amp gets but I hate how it breaks all of the time. It was a relatively cheap amp so I'm not surprised that it isn't the best quality. Lately I have found it easier to play direct in during shows and recording. This amp didn't really color my tone too much anyway and I can't have my amp frying mid song. I wouldn't buy this amp again and I wouldn't recommend that anyone else buy one unless they're feeling lucky.