Crate GLX212 Review

History:

Purchase: Musician's Friend - $499.99 - Seems to be the standard price online for this unit through various vendors.

What I Like About This Unit: This is a big, tough, loud amplifier. 120 watts RMS pumping 2 12" Crate Speakers. Buy some ear protection. For a solid-state amp, this unit has very nice gain with a tube-like tone. It has 16 digital effects, which all sound quite nice (24 bit effects) and are actually useful compared to what you'd normally expect in an all-in-one package. It has a crystal-clear clean channel, a crunch channel and a solo channel with EQ for each. 3-button footswitch is included and allows you to switch between channels and turn effects on and off. The Crate channel-tracking feature is excellent. Once you set an effect and effect level to a channel, the amp remembers the setting for each channel (even after turned off). Works out quite nicely. I dig the SRV sound, so I use the "rotating speaker" effect on the clean channel, and it's very convincing. A little chorus/reverb on the crunch channel, and flange/delay on the solo channel, and everything is set for gigging/jamming. Oh, did I mention switchable lighted control panel? Very good for low-light situations. It also has a lighted, built-in tuner on the top of the unit that is always on, and has an integrated mute switch for quick tuning.

What I Do NOT Like About The Crate GLX212: Nothing to note.

GLX212 Quality: As always, Crate builds a great product (Made in the USA). Sturdy construction with no flaws to note. It weighs in at 56 lbs, so it's not something you want to lug around a lot, though the recessed carrying handle is extremely rugged should you need to do so.

Summary: Great product, great value. Once I'm able, I'll get a 4x12 cabinet to set this unit on (it has external speaker cabinet outputs). Plenty of guts for a good sized venue.

Rating of this product: 5

This Crate Guitar Amplifiers Review Submitted By: Larry Oster

Date: 2003-04-16