Heard a Crate Power Block the other day...

works equally well (real darn good, not great) for bass, too.

 

Gig peace of mind for <$200? How can you walk away? You can cover a guitar player or bass player if bad things happen to them little light bulbs in the back of their amps.

It'll live in the bottom of my gig box, but the day I need it, it'll be there for me and I expect it to work like a charm.

 

Man, one of these days I'm going to be wrong, and I don't want to be there when it happens.

A note, Chris--keep the bass below 12:00, since once it's set there or higher it starts to sound "fake". If it sounds a bit thin, turn the highs down to warm it up. It sounds much better once you keep the bass down like that, more responsive.

 

Yup, the Crate PB is a decent amp. I've gigged mine a few times and, while it won't replace my favorite tube amp, it is tonally respectable....and an excellent "bang for the buck" gigging security blanket.

 

I had one, and returned it to the store, not because I didn't like it, I just wanted that money to go towards something else at the time.

It *is* the perfect backup for a gigger, and I plan to pick another one soon.

P.S. - Scott, I don't read your sig ALL the time, but it caught my eye today!

 

it'll be good & useful to hear from owners of heavier-used ones, for reliability & durability history.

 

To repeat myself...... , I've played mine a bunch at home, and the way I get it to sound much better than stock is to tweak the eq (better highs) with my GNX2 in the loop. I use the GNX2 with amp and cab modeling OFF, and just use it for rev and eq, +/- dly, chr, vol and wah. With my lead pedal du jour in front, it's totally giggable and no, it does NOT sound or respond like my tube stuff. But it's not bad. It's a tube saver at home

jon

 

I take it yours arrived safe and sound?

 

Anybody slaving a Thd into it. I have a Univalve and the power block sounds perfect to use as the Uni's poweramp.

 

I've got a 12 or 15 watt tube amp that might not be loud enough for gigging. has anyone tried running a low watt tube amp into a THD Hotplate and then run the line out into a crate for more volume and then back to the speaker cabinet? My speaker can definately handle more watts. Would my amp sound about the same but louder?

 

Thats exactly what I was wondering......??

 

I send the fx send from my Fuchs (now SLX)ODS30 to my delay unit and then to the powerblock for a great wet dry setup and alot of times I will blend in a little dry for extra headroom on the dry tone as well. It would work quite well with the line out of a Hot Plate or other load/line level device such as a Palmer which I have also used in this manner as well

Dan