All user reviews for the Crate GFX-65

There seems to be a lot of negative reviews on Crate solid state amps. I've been playing guitar over 40 yrs.. I'm not a beginner. I've owned and played through a LOT of amps. I have modified and upgraded many amps as well. I've done solid state, hybrids, and tube amps from low end to high end. I currently own a Crate GX212 and GFX65. I play mostly classic rock, southern rock, jazz, blues, and country. I don't use the high gain channels on the Crate amps because I'm not in to metal or heavy distortion. I absolutely love the clean channels on my Crate solid state amps. They have plenty of punch(guts) with chime and sparkle. I use pedals for overdrive and light distortion. These amps IMO are some of the best amps for clean tone and clean headroom. They have more than enough volume for gigging. Except for the Jazz Chorus 120, the Crate is my go-to amp for almost everything I play and every place I gig. I set mine up by dimming the bass, mid, and treble. I then back off which ever control that I have too much off. IMHO these are excellent amps....especially for the money!!

I need a slightly more powerful amp for home. I have a Fender Frontman 15G that I got with the Squier Pack a little while ago. I bought the GFX65 for $359.00 at Guitar Center after listening to the 120 watt version and I thought it sounded good in all FX modes and it had a nice built in tuner. Boy was I wrong

There is really nothing I like about the GFX65, well maybe the case. The effects are OK when they work.

The speaker cracks and pops on every note. Don't turn the either gain up because the hissing noise is unbearable.

It seems pretty rugged. The back plane is wide open with a cheap jack panel for the three button foot pedal. That thing seems like it's made of cardboard too.

Don't buy this amp. It went back today and I paid a little extra and got a Marshall Combo. NOTE: My wife and I have this on going argument about the value of things and this really proved my point. You have to PAY for quality. IF you buy cheap you will not get good quality!

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

I bought this at Musicians Friend (Enemy) for @ $349.00

Sounded pretty good at low to moderate volumes. Effects were nice to have. (While they worked!)

At higher volumes this P.O.S. farted and crackled like a mofo. Effects were limited at best. The effects quit working after about 4 months of use. Tried to send it back to Musician's Friend but they would'nt take it because it was still under the manufacturers warranty. I called Crate (Crap) and they told me to send it back and they'd fix it, but I had to cover shipping both ways and insurance. It would have cost me $80.00 to do this. So I said fuq it and sold it to a pawn shop.

Cheap a$$ light weight fiber board and flimsy plastic. Made in pieceocrapistan.

Save your money. Buy a quality amp from a local dealer.

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

I bought it new at Music Go Round for $299

It's very portable and the built in digital effects sound pretty good, although the ability to
tweak an effect is very limited. On the clean channel it starts to sound a little compressed
at higher volumes which is actually kind of nice. The FlexWave distortion is adequate at
best- on the gain 1 channel it is obvious that the sound is coming from a solid state amp,
but on gain 2 with the shape effect it sounds very nice.
I have had no problems at all with this amp and I have played it in numerous different
places including an outdoor show where it was below freezing- try that with your vintage
tube amp.
I have yet to run the amp into an external speaker, but I have miked it through the PA,
and that sounds great.

As mentioned above, the effects are nice but there are limits to the settings you can
choose. Also, the gain 1 channel sounds a little cheezy. The amp is also somewhat
volume limited, but that comes with a 65 watt amp with a single 12 inch speaker, and
can be overcome by adding extra speakers or miking.

Rock solid- I've had no problems at all with it.

For a relatively cheap amp it is a very good deal and will work for most amateurs
or as a practice amp.

I will rate it a 4/5

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

I had a cheap offbrand AMP I was using for Years I just decided that I needed something better, so I went to one of the local music stores and they had a blowout sale on all Guitar Amps I saw the Crate itwas $200.00 even and I looked at list price of $300.00 something so I saw I had a great deal and I got it.

Great sound its only 60wt+ but it has some big big noise I can really blow some windows with this thing. Also the effects are great though I cannot combine most. Its small and easy to transport.

Just the fact that I can't get multiple effects t the same time but its really no big deal.

Great very durable.

BUY this Amp!

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

I paid $345.00 at Mars Music, I owned a smaller Crate practice amp 18 watts and and sound and effects was pretty cool for small size.
I bought this amp because CRATE units have a good reputation and good price.

This amp has pretty good effets which can be change with the pedal ( from High gain to clean )and the echo and chorus is nice.
You can get pretty good bite even at low volume.

The effetcs set up does not let you combine multiple effets ( you can only have the reverb & chorus as one ), I like a small touch of echo with chorus & reverb.

This unit is well built, will stand moving it around and the small size is adequate for one speaker and the controls knobs are easy to use.

This is one good amplifier to have in your room for practice, jamming or for recording.

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

The GFX series is a line of combo amps built mainly for the beginner guitarist. They feature multiple channels that are footswitchable, multiple gain pots with a shaping control, three band EQ, built-in effects, the ability to run them through external speaker cabinets and even an effects loop. They come in various wattages and equipped with different size speakers depending on the model.

UTILIZATION

Utilization is a big problem with the amp. Yes, it does have quite a few features that other amps do not have. However, they're implemented very poorly. For one, the effects loop requires a TRS breakout cable to use it. On top of that, it runs out of from the front of the amplifier. The footswitch jack also comes out of the front of the amplifier. These cables can interfere with both miking and adjusting the controls. Given that they're SS amps, there is always a question regarding reliability too.

SOUNDS

The amps sound like ass. You have two different gain pots and a tone shaping control, but it only goes between tin can and mush. It has a lot of gain, but it's extremely buzzy. The clean is bland, and the overall amplifier feels quite stiff. The speakers in these absolutely suck, and the fact that it's only semi-closed back isn't helping anything in terms of overall tone. The effects are an absolute joke as well. You have one single knob to control every parameter of each effect. The chorus, reverb, flanger etc. all sound so similar that it makes me wonder why they included them in the first place.

OVERALL OPINION

On the outside, the amplifier appears to be loaded with tons of options at a great price. However, anybody who is serious about tone will avoid these amplifiers at all costs. They'd be decent for a beginner guitarist, but even then, I'd recommend something from the Fender Hot Rod series or the Peavey Classic series.