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MGR/Anonymous « Crate GT1200H Amp Head »
Published on 12/24/04 at 15:00I bought this amp from Sound Control music store (UK). I'd had my eye on it for a while as I'd originally intended to buy a Marshall AVT50H head and AVT412 cab, but I wasn't happy with that and this Crate was far superior. It costs £199 for the head and the same for the 4x12 cab, but I paid less because I traded another amp in part exchange.
Everything except the weight! It's a half-stack so it's a heavy motherf***er. Other than that it's wonderful - the clean channel is great, sparkling and clear, with good separation of all the frequencies. Overdrive 1 (Rhythm channel) has good, rock n' roll type grit to it and the tone is very good (I've tries solid-state amps before where the tone was like a cow with a hernia). Again, the rhythm channel is very responsive and gives very good note separation.
On to the Lead channel. What can I say? You can play Slayer music with the gain at 5. It is SO mean, brutal and beautiful all in one, responsive, clear and with enough crunch to make your knees go. The clean channel has its own set of tone controls, and the two drive channels share a set, plus each has a separate volume and the Lead channel has a "Shape" dial too (which is VERY effective). The footswitch is great - very sensitive and with good LEDs on it and you can turn the reverb on and off from it too.
The speaker cab is built like a tank - it has kick-proof metal mesh over the speakers instead of cloth like a lot of other cabs, so it'll stand up to road wear (and household pets) very well. It also has detachable wheels so it's easier to move. And the Crate speakers kick.
The only thing that could be better is the footswitch: instead of having one switch per channel, there's a switch for the reverb, a "Master" switch to go between clean and drive, then a "Slave" switch to go between rhythm and lead, so you have to select which drive channel you want to switch to from clean before you do it. But that's all. Bottom line - DO NOT let the low price put you off, this amp is worth a lot more than they charge for it. It's the best "Tube-sim" solid amp I ever played - it beats the bejesus out of Marshall MG (and AVT, for that matter), Peavey Transtube and all the Fender ones. It gets pretty damn close.
Great. Like I said it's very sturdy - well-jointed wood on the amp head and the cab, kick-proof speaker covering and the head is hard-wired so there's no power cable to lose. And because it's solid state there are no valves to wear down or break. I can see it being with me for a LONG time to come.
Bottom line: if you are a guitarist at anything up to semi-pro (though I ain't certain whether this amp wouldn't do for a pro) and need a versatile, useable and no-bullshit amp that will do the job and then some, give this baby some thought. Try it - you never know. I'm picky about my gear and I love this amp.
I give it 4 out of 5 (not the full 5 only because there's no such thing as the perfect amp).
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
Everything except the weight! It's a half-stack so it's a heavy motherf***er. Other than that it's wonderful - the clean channel is great, sparkling and clear, with good separation of all the frequencies. Overdrive 1 (Rhythm channel) has good, rock n' roll type grit to it and the tone is very good (I've tries solid-state amps before where the tone was like a cow with a hernia). Again, the rhythm channel is very responsive and gives very good note separation.
On to the Lead channel. What can I say? You can play Slayer music with the gain at 5. It is SO mean, brutal and beautiful all in one, responsive, clear and with enough crunch to make your knees go. The clean channel has its own set of tone controls, and the two drive channels share a set, plus each has a separate volume and the Lead channel has a "Shape" dial too (which is VERY effective). The footswitch is great - very sensitive and with good LEDs on it and you can turn the reverb on and off from it too.
The speaker cab is built like a tank - it has kick-proof metal mesh over the speakers instead of cloth like a lot of other cabs, so it'll stand up to road wear (and household pets) very well. It also has detachable wheels so it's easier to move. And the Crate speakers kick.
The only thing that could be better is the footswitch: instead of having one switch per channel, there's a switch for the reverb, a "Master" switch to go between clean and drive, then a "Slave" switch to go between rhythm and lead, so you have to select which drive channel you want to switch to from clean before you do it. But that's all. Bottom line - DO NOT let the low price put you off, this amp is worth a lot more than they charge for it. It's the best "Tube-sim" solid amp I ever played - it beats the bejesus out of Marshall MG (and AVT, for that matter), Peavey Transtube and all the Fender ones. It gets pretty damn close.
Great. Like I said it's very sturdy - well-jointed wood on the amp head and the cab, kick-proof speaker covering and the head is hard-wired so there's no power cable to lose. And because it's solid state there are no valves to wear down or break. I can see it being with me for a LONG time to come.
Bottom line: if you are a guitarist at anything up to semi-pro (though I ain't certain whether this amp wouldn't do for a pro) and need a versatile, useable and no-bullshit amp that will do the job and then some, give this baby some thought. Try it - you never know. I'm picky about my gear and I love this amp.
I give it 4 out of 5 (not the full 5 only because there's no such thing as the perfect amp).
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com