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MGR/Grant Aldrich « Crate BX 100 »
Published on 08/06/04 at 15:00Purchased at Guitar Center of Hallandale, Fl
for $289.00
I highly recommend "The Guitar center".
These people are really good.
The amps power rating of 100 watts rms seems to be accurate.
It is indeed loud enough to play at moderate volume and play along side someone with a 50-60 watt guitar at about half or slightly more volume.
I like tolex covering; no lint, no snags and no beverages will soak into it like carpet. Easy soap and water clean up.
The Graphic 8 band EQ works well, is extremely effective for customizing your sound curve but has its *limitations depending on the volume used.(*discussed later)You can punch it up, fatten the bottom end etc., its very versitile and would accomodate most playing styles.
The "Contour" control when properly set will allow mild to moderate enhancement of the amps tone. Set the Contour to the right and the amps midrange frequencies are cut and the bass and the treble are given a slight boost. When turned left the bass and treble are cut and the mids are fattened up.
The controls of this amp are setup with a common sense layout, effective and accurate operation. All of the necessary line in/out, extension speaker and effects loop jacks are there and where they should be.
Depending upon your environmental conditions within your home, studio or elsewhere, this amp can get noisy. Computer equipment, Televisions, and other electronics that are nearby will cause excessive amounts of line noise. A noise gate will most likely be a benefit as well as a line conditioner or at least a good surge protector with both
RFI and EMI (Radio Frequency Interference and Electromagnetic Interference) reduction.
The amp is not ideally suited to gig with in small clubs only because the amp starts to distort at about 75% volume. This increases to the point of annoyance if you set the right two graphic eq sliders (50hz and 100Hz) to increase the amount of bass. When you set the amp at 85-90% volume and attempt to increase the amount of bass at higher setting by again moving the right two slider up, the amount of distortion increases to the point where it will drive you insane. There is no way to operate this amp at high volume and at the same time, achieve a heavy bottom end. If you lean out the bass frequencies to more modest settings somewhere just above the middle (only slight boost) then the distortion is not quite so pronounced and is bearable.
There is no line in for a cd player and no rca out for recording media or a computer.
It has does have a balanced XLR line out for studio recording and to patch to the PA system.
Rugged quality internal construction, no internal vibration and no rattles. It's obviously braced and re-enforced properly The controls knobs seem to be durable but the EQ sliders seem to be a bit weak, I've read only one review but the sliders on another guys BX100 were damaged during transport, I can believe it since they appear to be a bit on the cheap side.
The material that covers the units front is ugly and not quite so protective. I know that most of us feel better when we have a rattle free/kick proof steel mesh between ourselves and the units 15 ground pounder and besides, you gotta admit, it just looks cool.
I dont want to scare you away from this unit. Its a high quality unit and will faithfully perform its job for you but that depends on what your expecting to do with it.
If your going out on the road or in the studio, youre going to need more amp with less inherent idiosyncrasies that require work-arounds or give and take.
If youre looking for a good practice amp or a limited x-small club/coffee house size amp that you intend on having micd or patched to the PA and providing your drummer isnt super loud then the BX100 with all of its features functions and price is very hard to beat.
If you do gig with this unit, run it through the PA system and keep the volume and low-end tone set correctly and youll love it.
My opinion is that the BX100 is better suited as a damned good higher end practice amp.
I gave this amp a 4 but only becasue the distortion issue. All other issues that were mentioned are not that serious enough to warrant passing this product up for consideration. I've since traded up to the BT220 I needed more power for giging and more overhead while practicing at b-52 volume levels.
Crate has since replaced the BX100 with the BT100 which is a much better amp less the 8 band eq.
You can get the older Bx100 for about $50 - $70 cheaper that the newer Bt100.
I thought that I would write this review just for those few people out there who are looking at the leftovers or buying used.
My recommendation would be to buy the BT100 over the BX100 but if you want save a few dollars and like this amp, its not a bad deal, its not a perfect amp but for what its designed and designated for its pretty good.
Good luck and I hope you've found this useful.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
for $289.00
I highly recommend "The Guitar center".
These people are really good.
The amps power rating of 100 watts rms seems to be accurate.
It is indeed loud enough to play at moderate volume and play along side someone with a 50-60 watt guitar at about half or slightly more volume.
I like tolex covering; no lint, no snags and no beverages will soak into it like carpet. Easy soap and water clean up.
The Graphic 8 band EQ works well, is extremely effective for customizing your sound curve but has its *limitations depending on the volume used.(*discussed later)You can punch it up, fatten the bottom end etc., its very versitile and would accomodate most playing styles.
The "Contour" control when properly set will allow mild to moderate enhancement of the amps tone. Set the Contour to the right and the amps midrange frequencies are cut and the bass and the treble are given a slight boost. When turned left the bass and treble are cut and the mids are fattened up.
The controls of this amp are setup with a common sense layout, effective and accurate operation. All of the necessary line in/out, extension speaker and effects loop jacks are there and where they should be.
Depending upon your environmental conditions within your home, studio or elsewhere, this amp can get noisy. Computer equipment, Televisions, and other electronics that are nearby will cause excessive amounts of line noise. A noise gate will most likely be a benefit as well as a line conditioner or at least a good surge protector with both
RFI and EMI (Radio Frequency Interference and Electromagnetic Interference) reduction.
The amp is not ideally suited to gig with in small clubs only because the amp starts to distort at about 75% volume. This increases to the point of annoyance if you set the right two graphic eq sliders (50hz and 100Hz) to increase the amount of bass. When you set the amp at 85-90% volume and attempt to increase the amount of bass at higher setting by again moving the right two slider up, the amount of distortion increases to the point where it will drive you insane. There is no way to operate this amp at high volume and at the same time, achieve a heavy bottom end. If you lean out the bass frequencies to more modest settings somewhere just above the middle (only slight boost) then the distortion is not quite so pronounced and is bearable.
There is no line in for a cd player and no rca out for recording media or a computer.
It has does have a balanced XLR line out for studio recording and to patch to the PA system.
Rugged quality internal construction, no internal vibration and no rattles. It's obviously braced and re-enforced properly The controls knobs seem to be durable but the EQ sliders seem to be a bit weak, I've read only one review but the sliders on another guys BX100 were damaged during transport, I can believe it since they appear to be a bit on the cheap side.
The material that covers the units front is ugly and not quite so protective. I know that most of us feel better when we have a rattle free/kick proof steel mesh between ourselves and the units 15 ground pounder and besides, you gotta admit, it just looks cool.
I dont want to scare you away from this unit. Its a high quality unit and will faithfully perform its job for you but that depends on what your expecting to do with it.
If your going out on the road or in the studio, youre going to need more amp with less inherent idiosyncrasies that require work-arounds or give and take.
If youre looking for a good practice amp or a limited x-small club/coffee house size amp that you intend on having micd or patched to the PA and providing your drummer isnt super loud then the BX100 with all of its features functions and price is very hard to beat.
If you do gig with this unit, run it through the PA system and keep the volume and low-end tone set correctly and youll love it.
My opinion is that the BX100 is better suited as a damned good higher end practice amp.
I gave this amp a 4 but only becasue the distortion issue. All other issues that were mentioned are not that serious enough to warrant passing this product up for consideration. I've since traded up to the BT220 I needed more power for giging and more overhead while practicing at b-52 volume levels.
Crate has since replaced the BX100 with the BT100 which is a much better amp less the 8 band eq.
You can get the older Bx100 for about $50 - $70 cheaper that the newer Bt100.
I thought that I would write this review just for those few people out there who are looking at the leftovers or buying used.
My recommendation would be to buy the BT100 over the BX100 but if you want save a few dollars and like this amp, its not a bad deal, its not a perfect amp but for what its designed and designated for its pretty good.
Good luck and I hope you've found this useful.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com