Crate Bass Amplifiers

Ok, I bought this amp new about 4 years ago for about $300. When I was learning how to play in the garage of my buddy. I bought it from a local music store here in Albany. I have to say that the 8 band eq on it is a nice feature but it is worth nothing without the right output. The only other good thing that has come from this amp is the fact that I can push it around everwhere, but that only happend after a stop at the local hardware store. Ok, now it is a piece of junk! This thing has a tendency to crap out on me about twice a rehersal (6 hours). When I have to shut off the amp while being plugged to a sound system through the convienient line out jack, it sounds like an atomic bomb about to make impact and explode from the magnet discharging. Without running through a system it has no chance in the world to go toe to toe with a acoustic drum set. It weighs about 20 pounds to much for the strange shape, and the handle is a piece of crap as well. I wouldn't sell this amp to anyone, even if they wanted it for scrap parts. This amp is very well built for the ouside. The whole thing rattles for ever and a day with some notes. The grill fell off after about a year of owning it. umm.....IT'S CRAP!!!!!! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this at a Guitar Center, I was going to get the Squire bass pak, but they were out so I got a Squire Bass(UH) and this baby. i PAID AROUND $100. I like that this bass amp is cheap, and its from Crate, also it has some controls. The cabinet is sealed, wich some people like and some people dont. The tone is not to much varied, but its better than some. It plays pretty loud, yet I would not even reccomend playing it with a group, I tried to play with a guitarist who had the guitar crate practice amp, same watts, and he was blowing me out of the water. NOt loud enough- great for practice, but cant keep up because of its 8" speaker and small watts. I am now having to look for a bigger amp to play in a full band( brass, sax) situation. I am now playing on my guitarists Blues Deluxe 410 Fender amp. Also, the cabinet is sealed, so you cant put your cord and stuff in the back if you are going to a small pl;ace to play or something. Not a big deal, but it dosent fit in my case. Nice constuction, not too worried about it breaking, although I havent kicked it off a stage. Its really just sitting under my keyboard amp in a little nook. Nice spot too. So, in conclusion, this amp is great for a kid dtarting out, or for someone that needs a practice amp. But I dont reccomend it for someone who is starting unless you are "financially sound" enough to buy another if the time comes, or if you are sure that you wont be playing with someone else for a few years or whatever. Great amp, just not good for loud bass. 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.