Crate Bass Guitars

The Crate BFX100 is a 100 watt bass combo amplifier with a 15 inch speaker and built in, on board effects. There is an 8 band equalizer, a speaker out, a headphone out, and selectable effects which can not be combined. However, since fewer effects are generally used on bass, as a pose to how they are used on a guitar, there is little need to combine the effects. It would be nice if there were a direct out of the amplifier that wasn't a speaker output. UTILIZATION This amplifier can provide a nice bottom end, yet at the same time can cut through both guitars and drums. It is powerful enough to hold its own against a couple of half-stacks, and if it were miked it'll certainly hold up against more. It doesn't have the same quality as a higher end amp, and it is a bit heavy since both the cabinet and amplifier are combined, but it is a good amp if somebody is dead set on a combo amp. SOUNDS The tone out of this amp is pretty good, but with the wrong EQ settings it will get muddy fast. Depending on the volume, the EQ will need to be adjusted. This is more apparent on a bass amp over a guitar amp due to the difference in producing the lower frequencies of sound. The effects are both useful and fun. OVERALL OPINION This amp replaced a Fender Bassman 25, which just wasn't loud enough for me to play with a rock 'n' roll band, even if the tone was better than this amp's tone. For the money, and if the player can live without onboard effects, I'd pick up an SWR head amplifier and use a separate cabinet. That way, the player can use different or multiple cabinets depending on his or her needs, out of a better sounding amp with better output features (minus the effects). The effects are nice on this amp, but a pain to implement because it would require dialing them up each and every time, and not easily switchable across songs as a lot of modern effects equipment is. Still, if this amp could be picked up used for each and still sounds good, I'd snatch it up if I were in need of something like this.

i bought it new in 2005 its a great amp by itself or with ext speakers have a b.c.rich warlock bass playing thru it and the sound is phenominal awesome effects ive been playing guitar snd bass for 36 years mostly home and garage band stuff we call ourselves ' the banned' weve only played out a handful of times but were always liked. crate amps are my choice they 'ROCK' PURCHASED NEW AT HOVERMANS MUSIC IN VAN WERT OHIO I PAID 400.00 FOR IT JUST WANTED TO UPGRADE FROM OLD AIRLINE AMP AND CRATE WAS GOOD CHOICE FOR ME IM ALWAYS TOLD TO TURN DOWN EVEN WHEN VOLUME IS ON 2 OF TEN SO THERE YOU HAVE IT LOTS OF HEADROOM <a href="STORE HAS SINCE CLOSED">STORE HAS SINCE CLOSED</a> PORTABILITY 80 LBS AND STURDY LINE OUTS FOR EVERYTHING YOU WILL EVER NEED.5 YEAR WARRANTY IVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS AMP AT ALL NO WHEELS MAYBE THATS ALL EXCELLENT STURDY AND TOUGH CRATE HAS A LOT OF DIFFERENT SIZE AMPS FOR ANY SIZE PLACE OR PERSON THEYRE A GREAT AMP IN MY OPINION ALL PLAYERS SHOULD CHECK THEM OUT YOU WONT BE DISAPOINTED.IL PROBABLY KEEP MINE FOREVER AND GET ANOTHER ONE FOR MY SON SOMEDAY 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

I bought this at Guitar Center because I needed a bigger amp for gigging. I paid $499 for this beast. The Crate BT-220 has a nice 15" speaker with 220 watts. This is one of the loudest amps I have ever heard and it is well worth the money. I like the clean/distortion pedal that comes with it and it is very handy. I especially love the automatic tuner on top of the amp because it accurately tunes your bass and you can use it to tune down a half step, whole step, or whatever you want to tune to. The only thing I don't like about this amp is that it is 87 lbs. and is a pain in the ass to get up stairs by yourself. This amp is built like a tank and has great sound quality. The lows are very loud and are not crackly or anything and the highs are very nice. The bottom line is that this amp is my best purchase so far and if loud enough to do any gig that you might come across. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

got it and a 15 ft cable from my friend John for $30. (you probably won't be able to find one for so cheap) It is a totaly awesome first amp to own. When you are practicing on your own, it can get as loud as you need it to. Has a great tone to it when adjusted correctly. Good price to, even if you have to buy it new. Not very loud when you practice with the band. I have been using this amp to practice with the band and it is always drowned out by the guitar and drums. When you get it loud enough to hear, the sound quality gets worse. It's great. I've unfortunatley dropped it on it's side plenty of times and it doesn't seem to phase it at all. Just don't drop it out of a 10 story building and you should be fine. Awesome 1st amp, but when you need more than personal practice it becomes obsolete. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Guitar center $279.99 I bought it around christmas 2 years ago, I had just started playing bass. I really like how well built it is, it does a lot of traveling with me. It is very loud, and has great sound. It will even play great with a guitar, although you probably shouldn't, I just felt like putting it to the test. I tried everything to make it sound bad. I even tried hooking my CD player up to it, but it still sounded great! It is very heavy. I don't know how much it waeighs, but it is alot. I also think it hums a lot, but most amps will when you have a distortion pedal hooked up, but that also might have something to do with the fact that my bass is 30 years old, I use an old Hagstrom bass. Very sturdy as I said before, it will never break. I really like this amp, I have never had any problems with it, and it has a great range of sound. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com