Crate DX212

Possibly the most fun I’ve had on gigs was with this thing. Not as good as a great tube amp, and technology has come a long way but it did what it claimed perfectly. The models it had were spot on in the sense that they were usable and sometimes subtle as real amps are as opposed to just being caricatures for testing. Touch wah was a weird style of envelope filter that I haven’t really heard done exactly the same since. Loud enough for a club gig if you don’t play rock. Great value for the money and I might pick one up now because they’re dirt cheap on reverb.

Left it in a storage room and then didn’t get back in the country for quite some time so it’s gone now. One of only two amps I miss having (other is a boutique tube amp that also got left behind).

And the stereo rotary was nice for back then. Lot of bang for the buck.

This was an idea Crate came out with probably around the year 2000. They basically wanted to offer your 16 amp settings with effects into one amp with 100 savable patches.

The Amp sims are: Top Mount, High Power, Studio Tweed, Blackface, Large Tweed, 60s Era UK, 70s Era UK, Fuzz Box, Tube Rectifier, Cali Mod, Ampeg VL, Flexwave, Vintage Club, Blue Voodoo, Acoustic and Clean. whhhew!

The Effects are: Touch Wah, Compressor, Tremelo, Vibrato, Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Echo, Rotary Speaker and then a variety of combined effects.

The Knobs are: Master, Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble and Channel level. Then the Effects knobs are Effect Adjust, Reverb Level and Reverb Depth.

A friend in High School had one and I bought it off of him. I played it about a year and then sold it to my local guitar shop for $100. My guess is new the 1x12 combo was around $500.

This was the first digital amp I used. I liked the limited number of patches. They are seemed usable for something. I hate those amps that have 999 patches and maybe 30 of them are mildly usable.

The tap tempo feature was nice and revolutionary to me back 11 years ago when I was a newer player.

This amp was greatly under powered. I don't think it could have powered a gig without PA support. It claims it was rated at 60 watts, but it equated to a 20 watt practice amp.

It is a bit bulky, but it was manageable to move around. The amp worked great as long as I owned it. I imagine once it breaks it will end up in a landfill somewhere as repairing this is probably about as intense as a Jaguar or the Millennium Falcon!

Crate paved the way for some of the crazy digital amps that are out there today with this model. Would make a cool studio amp or practice amp to offer you plenty of sounds at your fingertips, but it just isn't powerful enough to gig with.

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

I purchased it from a local guitar shop used for around $450.

I like the volume it pushes and the tone that it pushes. It is a very good amp for distorted tones and on board effects. It is a little difficult to get a clean tone but it has a great clean preset. It is extremely versatile.

It is an extremely heavy amp weighing in at around 70 lbs. Thats a lot for a little guy like me. I don't like the difficulty to get a clean tone and acoustic tone. I haven't found a use for turning it up past 5 it is just too damn loud.

It is a 212 combo with celestion speakers. It is a 100 watt combo amp and pushes every bit of it. It has 16 amp models to choose from that give you a varience in sounds you can get and use. The effects are very cool for getting spacy sounds out of your guitar. The quality is top notch for a solid state amp.

It is a good starting amp for a gigging musician. It is relatively inexspensive compared to its digital counterparts. It has served its purpose of being very very loud on several occasions and I love playing through this amp every day I've owned it.

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

I acquired my dx 412 crate amp at Stringfellows music in Lynchburg Virginia roughley one year ago. I paid $525.00 for the amp and $200.00 for the twin two twelve speaker cabs. Incredibly enough it had been returned by some poor guitarist who had no idea how to maximize the dx's full potential.

The great thing about the dx is that is in three very easy to transport parts. Underneath the speaker cab is a roll away system and ample carry handles. The head is thin but some what heavy I can hear why with all of effects and possible combinations of such. So far it has been a most reliable tool in as many shows that I put it threw.

The only thing I can see as a downer is that the dx wont get up and make me breakfast in the morning!

The dx is very well built. It is both solid and space friendly. I have already put alot of hard hours on the dx and she is still holding up quite well.

If you want an amp that has both practicality and power then purchase the dx. Trust me all of my fellow guitarists want one once they see and hear what this machine can do, and you will too. P.S. the dx is midi ready and with the 412 option makes a nice stereo attack.

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