We had a small get together last weekend to try out a few amps. Towards the end of the night, my buddy hooked up his Crate Power Block to his Marshall 1960A cab. He didn't use any effects with it at first. Just his guitar into the Power Block into the cab. You know what? I was shocked at how great it sounded. I'm serious! It really surprised me. The built in solid state distortion sounded pretty darn good for '80s cock rock and metal stuff. Was anyone else impressed by one of these? I can't belive it, but it sounded good! Chris
Yep, same experience here. They sound pretty good. I bought one and use it as a backup. It isn't a "great" amp by any stretch, but it does sound pretty damn good. And you can't avoid that fact. I have messed with mine for the months I have owned it, and honestly hope I never have to use it on a gig, but am not afraid to have to do so. My opinion of the thing is that they created the perfect gigger's backup amp. That's my use for it.
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.
Yeah, I use the term "great", because of the tone vs. cost factor. I mean, it's "decent". That's probably a better term. But yeah, I was impressed! I didn't expect it to even sound decent, to be honest. Chris
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
My buddy also uses his to power his POD XT Pro. He says the Crate Power Block has tons of clean punchy power, which makes it great for powering a modeller. Chris
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?
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
