Crate GFX-120

I ordered this amplifier from Market Street Music in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. I paid $350 and it was marked down from $550. This was 3 years ago and since then it has been worth every penny.

The distortion is killer. From heavy marshall-like crunch to screaming raspy distortion, this amp has it all. The unit weighs 45 pounds, has one 12 inch speaker, and puts out 120 watts of pure magic, a huge load for a just a practice amp. As far as solid state amplifiers are concerned, I havn't heard an amp that compares with the prestige and quality of sound that this permits. 3-channels and digital signal processing allow hands free transformation from overdrive to distortion to clean channel as well as 16 digital effects that also are good quality. The reverb, chorus, and delay options highlight the effects and can be fused with many different configurations. Rich, fat tone from the clean channel coupled with heavy reverb can create a sentational blues tone. The chorus + reverb effect sounds good when used to play grinding solos during heavy metal intervals (my choice of genre). The master controls provide a headphone jack as well as an external speaker input jack. Simply put, the GFX-120 is an excellent choice for all types of players.

Despite a internal wiring problem that I had fixed, this amplifier has been great.

The amplifier is covered and lined with black tultex and a silver grill cloth. It weighs about 45 pounds and produces 120 watts of power. For the surprisingly small size of the amp, it creates a monster sound and still shakes the house when I turn it up past 5.

This amplifier has wonderful playing capabilities and is well suited for all types of music for the incredibly reasonable price it calls for. For those of you looking for a larger size practice amp with a number of impressive options, GO WITH THE GFX-120.

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