I still maintain that a lot of solid states - so long as they're designed to be good and not designed to be cheap as possible - actually sound pretty good through decent cabs. Problem is, most of the matching cabs were designed to be cheap (not good) as well.
Jespen MOD speakers are the best. I have on one my CRATE GX65 the sound is amazing. The crate custom speakers have too much low end which can muddy your sound so you have to go easy on that, but with MOD speakers they are just right.
Great point. One reason Randall RG solid states sounded so great in the 80s was the excellent cabs and speakers, from Celestions to their own house design, Jaguars. I owned an RG 75 combo with a Celestion and gigged with that thing for years in Los Angeles through much of the 80s and early 90s. It more than held its own and I often chose to use it over my Boogies, Marshalls and other amps I owned or had access to. One solid state company that was amazing was Pearce. They are no longer in business but man they sounded incredible.
@Nick I have bought and sold so many pieces of hear in my life.. You know that feeling when you first hear something, It sounds so awesome and perfect? Then months later you find something that sounds better to your ear, Then you sell it.. Then you hear it again a few months later, etc, etc..
I have 2 of these heads and the huge reason Crate ate shit from guitarists is they removed the midrange control from the overdrive channel and installed a 100 ohm resistor that costs less than a penny. *With a 40 cent potentiometer, you replace that resistor, get the midrange control plus the shape, and it releases the ultimate demon metal amp!* I literally have a bunch of these and the other lines that replaced it but were the identical preamp, except the GLX. They bothered to put the midrange on the overdrive channel with those. *It is in my opinion one of the best metal amps of all time even regarding digital, solid-state and valve.*
I don't get the hate for these at all. I bought this new in like 2000 and it crushed at the time, It sounded way better than the Line 6 spider shit that was around then. I never played it thru a crate cab, I had a custom celestion 4x12. This thing was really tight and saturated and had massive bottom end thump.
In the early 2000's I gigged regularly at fairly large clubs with it. Sometimes the band that would OPEN for us would have giant rack system rigs, crazy effects, and sometimes one guy's guitar (primary, they often had 3-4 top shelf ones) was worth as much as our whole band's shit, LOL. I was too young and inexperienced to even know better or be too intimidated (just think, I was stomping on the little cheap footswitch while they had $3k pedal boards, LOL!) But, we still rocked hard, people dug us, and we made money, so fuck it. Our other axe man at least had a decent setup, ha. They must've looked at this stubby amp head and my mini-me cab and cracked the hell up. But at least I was rocking the "Fischer Price" version of the Marshall cabinet they made for the MGFX100, so I had Marshall name on speaker cab to give me cred. Ha!
There is something about solid state amps that I really like so much that I always try to have one on my recordings alongside a tube amp. Adds something special no matter how shitty the sound is compared to a "real" amp.
This was quite literally “my first half stack”. Bought it brand new, loved it and lost it in a move. Almost 25 years later & surrounded by expensive tube amps, I found myself missing that sound. Found one last week for $120 and snapped it up, fully assuming I was romanticizing and figured it would probably end up sounding like cheap garbage to my way more experienced ears. Plugged it into a Randall 4x12 w/ Eminence speakers and it floored me. Distortion channel can be a little noisy, but that’s resolved if you decide to run hi-gain pedals through the clean channel. With a spread of Boss metal pedals going direct, I’m getting an array of 90’s tones and am swimming in nostalgic metal heaven! Lastly, the butthole UPS guy friggin THREW this amp on my porch and it still worked great! It’s surprisingly decent build quality and gig worthy for a crazy cheap 120w amp head.
I bought that exact amp in 1998 ........... did probably 40 gigs with it & insane amount of practices. ..... wehn I sold it 4 years ago, there were no scracthy pots,everything worked just like the day I bought it. Hands down THE best amp Ive ever owned overall, easily.
I was part of mid 80's Rock Craze. In 1986 I had a little 35w Peavy Studio Choice and in 91 or 92 I bought the Crate 120 stereo Choice and reverb with one 4 speaker cab that had cheap Eastern Asia speakers. It sound OK in the beginning but as I heard better sounding amps I started noticing the difference. Now I'm older and have more money to throw around, I still have the old Crate half stack but put 4 eminence speakers in the cab and a V2 amp. I use the crate head with the cab when jamming with friends and what a Big Giant Eminence difference in sound.
I used a G1600XL Crate HEAD plugged into my early 70’s 3X12 SUNN cab and it sounded brutal. I got this head that you demoed here, in part of a trade, and yes these sound so much better in a better cab! I also use an eq pedal in the loop and get lots of different tones!
See, I've been saying this for years when I put one of these and a fender metal head through a mesa oversized 4x12 and they sounded pretty good (guitar tone goes as follows: shit, kind of shit, not bad, decent, good, great, excellent). But I was a fucking mad man and people didn't believe me. So thanks, I guess ArnoldPlaysGuitar 😂
Crate bluevoodoo amps are really good. Especially good pedal platforms. I have a BV120 going through a Crate 4x12 with Celestions. Clean channel and pedals up front. Killer tones.
I use mine with a Mesa Mini recto slant cabinet and it sound awesome! The cleans are just AMAZING! I can get crunchy Marshall tones on the high gain channel and for modern high gain sound I plug a distortion pedal (Distortion Factory DF 7 on mode 5) in the effect loop and usr it as preamp
My first real amp was a 50 watt Crate combo, and for real, with a boost in front of it, it sounds fine as long as the gain is kept below the 12 O'clock position. I'd still happily sit around and jam on it 15 years later!
They do, I like multi channel tube amps because I like the tube cleans and use a pedal to tighten up the gain channels, unless you're talking about a MESA Roadster or Roadking, where you can choose tube or solid state for each channel.
I still can’t find a better metal amp than my fender m-80. I use a boss super over drive as a boost and a BBE sonic stomp in the effects loop since the amp has no bass knob. I’ve owned a few tube amps, 6505+ being one. Tried out expensive amps like the diezel and still prefer my fender m-80. Sad my tone quest is basically over.
@@zyxwfish Laughs in Peavey Ultra 120 teal stripe head, that needs no boost in front...due to having an active EQ built in both the crunch and ultra channels. Without any pedals I would boldly say that M80 without any pedals, The M80 doesn't have the balls the Ultra has in stock form...
1st, thanks for doubling me over with laughs via your enthusiastic descriptions! I used to rock the shit out of the Chicago area clubs with this sucker circa 2000-2002, and it still resides in my basement today. I was an absolute newbie then (still am today, at least when it comes to anything guitar-technology related, lol) and had zero clue about effects, so this was "safe" as it was straightforward and loud as all hell. I skipped the matching Crate cab and bought the also-infamous Marshall MG412AG 4x12 cab, (everyone trashes it online) that was supposed to go with Marshall's version of this Crate amp. (MG100HFX) It was smaller and weighed way less than my lead guitar player's "real" cabs, but while I acknowledge that I'm in the bottom 5% when it comes to audiophiles, it always sounded decent to me, even genuinely good on occasion….maybe I just didn't know any better? Also I didn't even know a thing about Ohms (still don't, really) so is it true that b/c this Crate amp is 4 ohm, and my speaker cab is 8 ohm, that: 1) it's OK b/c the amp is solid state but 2) the amp is only able to put out 50% of its power? If that's true, I can't imagine how loud it would be otherwise b/c I was able to shake down the walls as-is. Good stuff!
I had a 65 watt combo version of this amp when I was a teenager. Certainly far from the greatest sounding amp of all time, but it was a lot of fun to mess around with for an inexperienced kid. I distinctly remember thinking the lack of a mid knob on the high gain channel was irritating, because I couldn't figure out how to "scoop the mids!"
The #1 reason people say CRATE amps "sounded awful" is because the ones who said that and thought that were almost certainly basing that on one they had heard or played out of that had the stock SLM speakers in it. Celestion GKs were an option on the Old-School (red&blue knob) CRATEs and Completely changed the sound from tinny/buzzy to a thick/beefy tone with beautiful mids. ... Chime in if you're an old fart and you know what I'm talking about!
I certainly am collecting ever single crate head as possible and just obtain this head and no matter what, every single head kicks ass !! From the crate g1500,gx600,gx2200 Excalibur,vtx350h,gx130c, gx1200h, g1600xl,g600xl, gt200dsp,gt80c, gx1600, and all others, as long as you got a good cab, it doesn’t matter if it says “crate” on it, honestly it’s a baddass amp !!
@@peepkindoesstuff4066 If you're a collector and want to treat yourself: find an old G80XLS (single 12 combo amp). Make sure it's an old G series (red&blue knobs) and a red stripe under the knobs that says Celestion. It should have a Celestion G12K85. One of the baddest single 12 combos ever made.
I have the same, except for it's an XLS: Red stripe with the G12K85 Celestion instead of the SLM. You definitely did the right thing by getting rid of the slm and replacing it with pretty much Anything else.
It's the GFX 212.....I still have mine haha and I bought it new back around 2000 or 2001 I think. It collects dust in the corner though. I just sold my mesa dual rectifier for a Dover DA 50 and that thing just slays anything I've owned throughout the 21 years of playing guitar.
I can't remember the model number, but it was I believe right before the GFX series. I bought it new around 1992. It was a 212 Combo(was 60 or 65 watts a side) with Chorus and Reverb. It had what they called Tube Flex Circuitry. It had a little orange colored strip below the knobs. Sounded pretty close to tube. I later paired it with a 212 closed back cab Stereo/Mono Cab that came with the G12K-85 Celestions. Sounded thunderous but weighs like 60 poinds! I Still have the Cab.
I had one without the fx back in the early 2000's. I really liked it! I chose it for it's sound over some other more experience amps. Then I got the G900H which I still have and wouldn't trade for anything. Crate makes some tight metal machines (hello Marty Friedman, Cannibal Corpse). I didn't even know what muddy flub was until I started playing with tube amps.
Them, Marshall, and Music Man solid state amps were all pretty fuckin exceptional. Man, simple days as a guitarist with my Marshall MG100HDFX and B-52 Stealth 4x12 and lugging that shit everywhere...now its me and my helix! Lol
Agreed. My first amp over 25 watts was a crate. I don't know what model it was but it was a 100 watt combo, very similar to the head being used on this video. I always thought it sounded pretty good.
I have an older solid state kustom amp....well, I'll be getting it here in a week or so. From what I remember about that amp. It was decent but took pedals very well. It's running through a Marshall 4x12 with vintage 30's loaded in it so, yeah, that will definitely help too. I'm getting it from a friend that's been holding it for the past 13 years. Our friend passed away and the friend who has it, knows I'll bring it back to life and take care of it.
Awesome gear review, and dude your keto results are truly showing man!! Compared to the Brian Welch LTD video to this, it's like im watching a whole new person!!
I owned this amp and the accompanying 4x12 in 2000 ish as well. I paid around $550 for the pair, and at first listen, I loved it. Months later, I bought a Legacy 4x12 cab with V30s. That cab opened the amp up in a way I never imagined. Those SLM mini 4x12 cabs were trash for sure. Great demo.
A few days ago I bought a GX-600H and I'm very happy with it. 100 bucks and I got some nice metalhead tones. I had the same problem with the clean channel, it's not good
Man with this solid state sound with a ton of chorus this sounds like Type O Negative tone which I absolutely, unapologetic ally LOVE. Probably not the kind of sound most people would look for nowadays but go play Cinnamon Girl or Love you to Death and tell me it doesn't works, because you'd be lying to yourself it absolutely went right in hand with their goth inspired sound
Hey Arnold I still have my Crate GT1200 H and I fully agreed the 4x12 is garbage until I took the plunge and bought some used (good condition) speakers from a dude that change the original speakers in an ENGL cab for V30. The Celestion Silver series I think anyhow I put those on the cab and the change was incredible. Before the shows got cancelled it was my main 4x12 cab 1) I wouldn't care if the cab got damage in transport 2) It made my Bugera which I used for live shows actually sound decent enough.
I remember this thing! No mid knob bc there's no mids! I got one when I was in a metal band around '07 for that insane gain channel. Matched it with a Marshall cab and it chugged hard. Was much better than the other cheap stuff out there like line 6 etc.
My understanding of the "Shape" control (from having a Crate combo way-back-when) is that it shapes the EQ curve from hump to scoop and didn't do much else. No fine tuning, just which shape did you want the EQ and hope that it found something usable in there.
I had the non EFX version the GX1200H circa 2001 or 2002, I remember it having a power amp in on the front panel, I'd run guitar into a fender Ultra Chorus 2x12 combo, split the signal with a Boss DD5 in the fender efx loop and run into the power in on the Crate, It's been 20 years, but from what I remember 19 year old me thought that tone was not half bad,
What speakers were in the original cabinets you got with the head originally?... I'll bet they were SLM and not Celestions... You would have liked did a lot more. What cabinet and speakers are you using in this video?
i have this little head its awesome for a crate hasnt broke down yet and its very heavy in tone very versatile amp for its age and it takes pedals very well got a boss mega distortion and a line six pod kidney bean 2.0 hooked into it now and its awesome very lound amp i t hank its either 120 watts or 100 either way its very loud and it has built in overdrive and reverb i thank sounds great on clean or distortion , and they can be bought for super cheap
I use one for my practice amp with my band. I absolutely love it! I run mine trough a two 12 peavey with Eminence Speakers and a 5 ban eq for boost! I also own a Crate Stealth 50 watt that blows Marshall JCM 800's out of the water!
I don't care what anyone says, Crate fcking nailed the metal / hardcore / punk dirt during that era. I had a few different versions of those gx / gtx / gfx amps and they were all brutal as fck. I should've held on to one of those for sure. Apparently I'm not the only one who had a Fender M-80 either, lol.
The other guitar player in my band used to run a crate shockwave through a mess oversized 4x12 with no boost and it sounded immense. I recently just picked up a crate g120c xl head and also run it through the same cab and it just absolutely kills. These amps can’t do everything but they certainly have their place and sound
Just got the combo version of this for free and it really reminded me of a peavy bandit. I had almost the exact same reaction, I said color me impressed lol I'm thinking of making it into a head
I used to have one of these and don;t remember it sounding very good but I have to say that gain channel almost has some old EVH vibe to it. Way more gain than necessary but there are indeed some usable sounds in there. Who would have thought....
I had a even smaller crate head. I forgot what it was called but I pushed a carvin 400 watt 4×12 cabinet with it and that was the loudest rig I've ever had. I also put a metal zone through the front of it lol ALL THE GAINNN lol I was like 16 years old and I knew nothing about guitar being a mid range instrument
Dude... it was definitely the cab's.. absolute shit. Had a GX-900h with the same crap crate cab and could barely listen to it... 10 years and a few amps later, I decided to plug it into a 400w 4ohm cab and it tore off my eyelids, shattered my teeth, melted my eyebrows, and vaporized my cat.. Reluctantly sold it to a friend in need.. He will never let it go... Fortunately, I just got a hold of it's bigger brother, the GX-2200h. cant wait to get it.
I've got a Flexwave 120H and a GT1200H that I use as pedal platforms, and they sound decent. The drive channels aren't really my flavor, but for as cheap as these are, they sure are workhorses. I've had my GT1200H since about 2000, and I've never had a problem with it. If you want to hear it, I have an old video of me playing through it on my channel. It's the one titled 'E minor Blues Improvisation'. The quality is crap, because I recorded it with just my camera audio, but you can get a sense of the sound.
This literally was my first head LOL at first I played it through a cheap 2x12 car audio slanted cabinet (the kind meant to sit in a trunk or behind a truck's bench seat) until I was able to get my hands on a legit 4x12 (which probably wasn't much better), a Legion Sound (EMIS-412) which appears to be going for under $100 these days LOL
I have an old G130C (Not GX, GFX, GFH, were any of the other models that came after) that I bought new in 91-92. It only has chorus and reverb, along with two channels. The Reverb has its own separate single knob... But the Chorus has 2 knobs, Rate & Depth, which to me are Very important for getting just the right sound that I like. How do you control the rate and depth on this model?
@@leobuck2060 since I have the head, I can safely say that unfortunately your cannot control the rate of the chorus, just the depth, tho it’s not really the same. Could probably mod the controls but honestly, the chorus is okay so it’s pretty much not worth doing anything to it. Sick sounds tho !!
I like it! It does a great job of tightening things up on mushier amps without being DJENT-tight...like, imagine a clean boost that allows you to taylor any sort of coloration of the tone, so that if you don't want the clean boost to be quite so clean and transparent, you can sculpt it. I like that a lot!
im looking to buy one of these i use a peavey cab for my friends amp but i dont know if he wants to sell.Are any of the other crate 1200h remakes as good sounding as this exact same one ?
25 years later I'm still playing a Crate GX 120. Tightest amp I've ever played, it breathes fire.
u cant beat these amps
I liked those. And I still own a flexwave 120/212 myself. Its not my go to anymore. But I still break it out at times.
I still maintain that a lot of solid states - so long as they're designed to be good and not designed to be cheap as possible - actually sound pretty good through decent cabs. Problem is, most of the matching cabs were designed to be cheap (not good) as well.
Very true...great speakers and cabs can make a lot of solid state amps sound great...and there are a lot of great sounding distortion pedals
I had this head with a Greenback loaded Marshall 1960B cab and it sounded awesome
Jespen MOD speakers are the best. I have on one my CRATE GX65 the sound is amazing. The crate custom speakers have too much low end which can muddy your sound so you have to go easy on that, but with MOD speakers they are just right.
Great point. One reason Randall RG solid states sounded so great in the 80s was the excellent cabs and speakers, from Celestions to their own house design, Jaguars. I owned an RG 75 combo with a Celestion and gigged with that thing for years in Los Angeles through much of the 80s and early 90s. It more than held its own and I often chose to use it over my Boogies, Marshalls and other amps I owned or had access to. One solid state company that was amazing was Pearce. They are no longer in business but man they sounded incredible.
Owned this head so many times in my younger years.. For a solid state head is was really awesome..
@Nick I have bought and sold so many pieces of hear in my life.. You know that feeling when you first hear something, It sounds so awesome and perfect? Then months later you find something that sounds better to your ear, Then you sell it.. Then you hear it again a few months later, etc, etc..
You got equipment
I still have my crate GT1200H it's the only amp I've ever owned and I love it to this day 15yrs later 🤘
I have 2 of these heads and the huge reason Crate ate shit from guitarists is they removed the midrange control from the overdrive channel and installed a 100 ohm resistor that costs less than a penny.
*With a 40 cent potentiometer, you replace that resistor, get the midrange control plus the shape, and it releases the ultimate demon metal amp!*
I literally have a bunch of these and the other lines that replaced it but were the identical preamp, except the GLX. They bothered to put the midrange on the overdrive channel with those. *It is in my opinion one of the best metal amps of all time even regarding digital, solid-state and valve.*
I don't get the hate for these at all. I bought this new in like 2000 and it crushed at the time, It sounded way better than the Line 6 spider shit that was around then. I never played it thru a crate cab, I had a custom celestion 4x12. This thing was really tight and saturated and had massive bottom end thump.
Sounds killer. They're better than for credit for. I'd love to show up to a gig with this sleeper just for the reactions. 😅. Good work.
In the early 2000's I gigged regularly at fairly large clubs with it. Sometimes the band that would OPEN for us would have giant rack system rigs, crazy effects, and sometimes one guy's guitar (primary, they often had 3-4 top shelf ones) was worth as much as our whole band's shit, LOL. I was too young and inexperienced to even know better or be too intimidated (just think, I was stomping on the little cheap footswitch while they had $3k pedal boards, LOL!) But, we still rocked hard, people dug us, and we made money, so fuck it. Our other axe man at least had a decent setup, ha. They must've looked at this stubby amp head and my mini-me cab and cracked the hell up. But at least I was rocking the "Fischer Price" version of the Marshall cabinet they made for the MGFX100, so I had Marshall name on speaker cab to give me cred. Ha!
The clean channel was mislabeled. Probably should've named it: shifty crunch.
There is something about solid state amps that I really like so much that I always try to have one on my recordings alongside a tube amp. Adds something special no matter how shitty the sound is compared to a "real" amp.
This was quite literally “my first half stack”. Bought it brand new, loved it and lost it in a move. Almost 25 years later & surrounded by expensive tube amps, I found myself missing that sound. Found one last week for $120 and snapped it up, fully assuming I was romanticizing and figured it would probably end up sounding like cheap garbage to my way more experienced ears. Plugged it into a Randall 4x12 w/ Eminence speakers and it floored me. Distortion channel can be a little noisy, but that’s resolved if you decide to run hi-gain pedals through the clean channel. With a spread of Boss metal pedals going direct, I’m getting an array of 90’s tones and am swimming in nostalgic metal heaven!
Lastly, the butthole UPS guy friggin THREW this amp on my porch and it still worked great! It’s surprisingly decent build quality and gig worthy for a crazy cheap 120w amp head.
I bought that exact amp in 1998 ........... did probably 40 gigs with it & insane amount of practices. ..... wehn I sold it 4 years ago, there were no scracthy pots,everything worked just like the day I bought it. Hands down THE best amp Ive ever owned overall, easily.
I have a Crate combo I use to hook up to a cab and it sounded sick af
I had a Blue Voodoo but with a Hartke cab.
I was part of mid 80's Rock Craze. In 1986 I had a little 35w Peavy Studio Choice and in 91 or 92 I bought the Crate 120 stereo Choice and reverb with one 4 speaker cab that had cheap Eastern Asia speakers. It sound OK in the beginning but as I heard better sounding amps I started noticing the difference. Now I'm older and have more money to throw around, I still have the old Crate half stack but put 4 eminence speakers in the cab and a V2 amp. I use the crate head with the cab when jamming with friends and what a Big Giant Eminence difference in sound.
Oh dude. The GX900H is a gem too. Such a steal for some of these old amps.
Good to have you back Arnold!!
I used a G1600XL Crate HEAD plugged into my early 70’s 3X12 SUNN cab and it sounded brutal. I got this head that you demoed here, in part of a trade, and yes these sound so much better in a better cab! I also use an eq pedal in the loop and get lots of different tones!
Found a crate 50 watt stealth combo and bought it. Sounds really good. Was dubbed the “Marshall killer”. Designed by Lee Jackson
They are a Marshall killer. Most Marshalls in stock form sound like absolute shit, especially for metal.
I had one, sounded great into a 1960A cab, but it needs a noisegate or just too much hiss on the distortion channel if you weren't playing.
Killer stuff!! Love the old Crate stuff.
I’ve had this thing for over 10 years and your review hit the nail on the head! This is definitely a love- hate relationship.
See, I've been saying this for years when I put one of these and a fender metal head through a mesa oversized 4x12 and they sounded pretty good (guitar tone goes as follows: shit, kind of shit, not bad, decent, good, great, excellent). But I was a fucking mad man and people didn't believe me. So thanks, I guess ArnoldPlaysGuitar 😂
Crate bluevoodoo amps are really good. Especially good pedal platforms. I have a BV120 going through a Crate 4x12 with Celestions. Clean channel and pedals up front. Killer tones.
I use mine with a Mesa Mini recto slant cabinet and it sound awesome! The cleans are just AMAZING! I can get crunchy Marshall tones on the high gain channel and for modern high gain sound I plug a distortion pedal (Distortion Factory DF 7 on mode 5) in the effect loop and usr it as preamp
the old school crate amps are actually killer SS amps !!
i have the same amp exept i got the one without the built in affects who needs it when you got pedals and the built in overdrive is awesome
My first real amp was a 50 watt Crate combo, and for real, with a boost in front of it, it sounds fine as long as the gain is kept below the 12 O'clock position. I'd still happily sit around and jam on it 15 years later!
I still feel like solid state amps get a lot more tightness than most tube heads *shrug*
They do, I like multi channel tube amps because I like the tube cleans and use a pedal to tighten up the gain channels, unless you're talking about a MESA Roadster or Roadking, where you can choose tube or solid state for each channel.
I still can’t find a better metal amp than my fender m-80. I use a boss super over drive as a boost and a BBE sonic stomp in the effects loop since the amp has no bass knob. I’ve owned a few tube amps, 6505+ being one. Tried out expensive amps like the diezel and still prefer my fender m-80. Sad my tone quest is basically over.
They are! I didn't even know what muddy flub was until I got my first real tube amp.
@@zyxwfish Laughs in Peavey Ultra 120 teal stripe head, that needs no boost in front...due to having an active EQ built in both the crunch and ultra channels. Without any pedals I would boldly say that M80 without any pedals, The M80 doesn't have the balls the Ultra has in stock form...
@@untoldguitarist yes the m-80 does need help from pedals for sure.
This thing actually sounds pretty badass. Very Dokken Tooth And Nail.
1st, thanks for doubling me over with laughs via your enthusiastic descriptions! I used to rock the shit out of the Chicago area clubs with this sucker circa 2000-2002, and it still resides in my basement today. I was an absolute newbie then (still am today, at least when it comes to anything guitar-technology related, lol) and had zero clue about effects, so this was "safe" as it was straightforward and loud as all hell. I skipped the matching Crate cab and bought the also-infamous Marshall MG412AG 4x12 cab, (everyone trashes it online) that was supposed to go with Marshall's version of this Crate amp. (MG100HFX) It was smaller and weighed way less than my lead guitar player's "real" cabs, but while I acknowledge that I'm in the bottom 5% when it comes to audiophiles, it always sounded decent to me, even genuinely good on occasion….maybe I just didn't know any better? Also I didn't even know a thing about Ohms (still don't, really) so is it true that b/c this Crate amp is 4 ohm, and my speaker cab is 8 ohm, that: 1) it's OK b/c the amp is solid state but 2) the amp is only able to put out 50% of its power? If that's true, I can't imagine how loud it would be otherwise b/c I was able to shake down the walls as-is. Good stuff!
I had a 65 watt combo version of this amp when I was a teenager. Certainly far from the greatest sounding amp of all time, but it was a lot of fun to mess around with for an inexperienced kid. I distinctly remember thinking the lack of a mid knob on the high gain channel was irritating, because I couldn't figure out how to "scoop the mids!"
Holy shit when you kicked in the chorus it sounded amazing.
That Röhrs is back!!! Looks killlllller!
I love my Crate gx130c and Peavey Supreme 160. I will never get rid of either.
I've got a Shockwave half stack. Sounds fantastic for how cheap I bought it used. The cab isn't bad either.
The #1 reason people say CRATE amps "sounded awful" is because the ones who said that and thought that were almost certainly basing that on one they had heard or played out of that had the stock SLM speakers in it. Celestion GKs were an option on the Old-School (red&blue knob) CRATEs and Completely changed the sound from tinny/buzzy to a thick/beefy tone with beautiful mids.
... Chime in if you're an old fart and you know what I'm talking about!
I certainly am collecting ever single crate head as possible and just obtain this head and no matter what, every single head kicks ass !! From the crate g1500,gx600,gx2200 Excalibur,vtx350h,gx130c, gx1200h, g1600xl,g600xl, gt200dsp,gt80c, gx1600, and all others, as long as you got a good cab, it doesn’t matter if it says “crate” on it, honestly it’s a baddass amp !!
@@peepkindoesstuff4066 If you're a collector and want to treat yourself: find an old G80XLS (single 12 combo amp). Make sure it's an old G series (red&blue knobs) and a red stripe under the knobs that says Celestion. It should have a Celestion G12K85. One of the baddest single 12 combos ever made.
Thanks for the review. I have a Crate G80 XL with a custom speaker and this was very helpful.
I have the same, except for it's an XLS: Red stripe with the G12K85 Celestion instead of the SLM. You definitely did the right thing by getting rid of the slm and replacing it with pretty much Anything else.
I had its 2x12 combo amp brother. I think it was the GFX120 or something like that.
It's the GFX 212.....I still have mine haha and I bought it new back around 2000 or 2001 I think. It collects dust in the corner though. I just sold my mesa dual rectifier for a Dover DA 50 and that thing just slays anything I've owned throughout the 21 years of playing guitar.
i still own my gfx 212
My first tube amp was a blue doodoo. I still miss it sometimes.
Bought mine in 99 for 217.00 new. Most reliable amp Ive ever had, sold it about 2 years ago and no static in any knobs and sounded new.
I can't remember the model number, but it was I believe right before the GFX series. I bought it new around 1992. It was a 212 Combo(was 60 or 65 watts a side) with Chorus and Reverb. It had what they called Tube Flex Circuitry. It had a little orange colored strip below the knobs. Sounded pretty close to tube. I later paired it with a 212 closed back cab Stereo/Mono Cab that came with the G12K-85 Celestions. Sounded thunderous but weighs like 60 poinds! I Still have the Cab.
The head and matching cab are available for 80usd in my area. Way tempted!
I had one without the fx back in the early 2000's. I really liked it! I chose it for it's sound over some other more experience amps. Then I got the G900H which I still have and wouldn't trade for anything. Crate makes some tight metal machines (hello Marty Friedman, Cannibal Corpse). I didn't even know what muddy flub was until I started playing with tube amps.
I feel like crates were solid entry level amps. a good bit overhated imo.
Them, Marshall, and Music Man solid state amps were all pretty fuckin exceptional.
Man, simple days as a guitarist with my Marshall MG100HDFX and B-52 Stealth 4x12 and lugging that shit everywhere...now its me and my helix! Lol
Agreed. My first amp over 25 watts was a crate. I don't know what model it was but it was a 100 watt combo, very similar to the head being used on this video. I always thought it sounded pretty good.
I have an older solid state kustom amp....well, I'll be getting it here in a week or so.
From what I remember about that amp. It was decent but took pedals very well.
It's running through a Marshall 4x12 with vintage 30's loaded in it so, yeah, that will definitely help too.
I'm getting it from a friend that's been holding it for the past 13 years. Our friend passed away and the friend who has it, knows I'll bring it back to life and take care of it.
Still have a GT3500H with the 412 V30 cab.
Yeeeeeessssss!!!!! The value of my Crates just went up. These things are the shit!!!! GFX-212 for life!!!!!!
Some good metal tones! I am about to aquire one of these. Thanks for the demo
It sounds like a valvestate.. 8100...great
Awesome gear review, and dude your keto results are truly showing man!! Compared to the Brian Welch LTD video to this, it's like im watching a whole new person!!
I owned this amp and the accompanying 4x12 in 2000 ish as well. I paid around $550 for the pair, and at first listen, I loved it. Months later, I bought a Legacy 4x12 cab with V30s. That cab opened the amp up in a way I never imagined. Those SLM mini 4x12 cabs were trash for sure. Great demo.
On your advice, I checked out the Stealth 50 and it sounds killer. I've been looking for one at a decent price.
I see them at 1k+ these days, as much or more than the Ampeg Lee Jackson heads or a VH140C
A few days ago I bought a GX-600H and I'm very happy with it. 100 bucks and I got some nice metalhead tones. I had the same problem with the clean channel, it's not good
That intro riff was dank af.
Sensational video! I'm about to purchase a Crate GX160 Head and 412 cabinet. What do you think?
Man with this solid state sound with a ton of chorus this sounds like Type O Negative tone which I absolutely, unapologetic ally LOVE. Probably not the kind of sound most people would look for nowadays but go play Cinnamon Girl or Love you to Death and tell me it doesn't works, because you'd be lying to yourself it absolutely went right in hand with their goth inspired sound
Yes! I loved the tones on October Rust
Woah Arnold not been by for a while, sounding great and looking well 👍
Hey Arnold I still have my Crate GT1200 H and I fully agreed the 4x12 is garbage until I took the plunge and bought some used (good condition) speakers from a dude that change the original speakers in an ENGL cab for V30. The Celestion Silver series I think anyhow I put those on the cab and the change was incredible. Before the shows got cancelled it was my main 4x12 cab 1) I wouldn't care if the cab got damage in transport 2) It made my Bugera which I used for live shows actually sound decent enough.
I remember this thing! No mid knob bc there's no mids! I got one when I was in a metal band around '07 for that insane gain channel. Matched it with a Marshall cab and it chugged hard. Was much better than the other cheap stuff out there like line 6 etc.
At one time had one in studio. Not bad amp, you can get decent sound with no fuss, straight in to amp.
My understanding of the "Shape" control (from having a Crate combo way-back-when) is that it shapes the EQ curve from hump to scoop and didn't do much else. No fine tuning, just which shape did you want the EQ and hope that it found something usable in there.
The E.Q. section still works it just adds in the shape control.
Great video Arnold, making crate cool!! I had a crate long ago, and i liked it
I had the non EFX version the GX1200H circa 2001 or 2002, I remember it having a power amp in on the front panel, I'd run guitar into a fender Ultra Chorus 2x12 combo, split the signal with a Boss DD5 in the fender efx loop and run into the power in on the Crate, It's been 20 years, but from what I remember 19 year old me thought that tone was not half bad,
What speakers were in the original cabinets you got with the head originally?... I'll bet they were SLM and not Celestions... You would have liked did a lot more.
What cabinet and speakers are you using in this video?
Gfx212t here. It rocks.
i have this little head its awesome for a crate hasnt broke down yet and its very heavy in tone very versatile amp for its age and it takes pedals very well got a boss mega distortion and a line six pod
kidney bean 2.0 hooked into it now and its awesome very lound amp i t hank its either 120 watts or 100 either way its very loud and it has built in overdrive and reverb i thank sounds great on clean or distortion , and they can be bought for super cheap
Hey Arnold , you gonna check out the Fuzzlord hm-6 ? Its a pretty sick take on the boss hm-2 pedal ! cheers !!
Dude that pedal looks so sick. I have a fuzzlord doom screamer and it is great sounding
I use one for my practice amp with my band. I absolutely love it! I run mine trough a two 12 peavey with Eminence Speakers and a 5 ban eq for boost! I also own a Crate Stealth 50 watt that blows Marshall JCM 800's out of the water!
You and me both wow what a coincidence both had the same amps and the same speaker cabinet
Awesome! Been waiting for this video 👌
Love my GT1200 H for the chugs 🤘
I don't care what anyone says, Crate fcking nailed the metal / hardcore / punk dirt during that era. I had a few different versions of those gx / gtx / gfx amps and they were all brutal as fck. I should've held on to one of those for sure. Apparently I'm not the only one who had a Fender M-80 either, lol.
The other guitar player in my band used to run a crate shockwave through a mess oversized 4x12 with no boost and it sounded immense. I recently just picked up a crate g120c xl head and also run it through the same cab and it just absolutely kills. These amps can’t do everything but they certainly have their place and sound
I have the little 15 watt combo version of this and it really sounds great!
I dont even remember where I got it, but I had the 2x12 combo of this amp for the longest time xD
Just got the combo version of this for free and it really reminded me of a peavy bandit. I had almost the exact same reaction, I said color me impressed lol I'm thinking of making it into a head
I think the GFX DSP amp was the ultimate CRATE - it had like 4 channels with tube and solid state, stereo chorus and digital effects
I used to have one of these and don;t remember it sounding very good but I have to say that gain channel almost has some old EVH vibe to it. Way more gain than necessary but there are indeed some usable sounds in there. Who would have thought....
I had a even smaller crate head. I forgot what it was called but I pushed a carvin 400 watt 4×12 cabinet with it and that was the loudest rig I've ever had. I also put a metal zone through the front of it lol ALL THE GAINNN lol I was like 16 years old and I knew nothing about guitar being a mid range instrument
Dude... it was definitely the cab's.. absolute shit. Had a GX-900h with the same crap crate cab and could barely listen to it... 10 years and a few amps later, I decided to plug it into a 400w 4ohm cab and it tore off my eyelids, shattered my teeth, melted my eyebrows, and vaporized my cat.. Reluctantly sold it to a friend in need.. He will never let it go... Fortunately, I just got a hold of it's bigger brother, the GX-2200h. cant wait to get it.
Yes!
That sounds really good. I have one I haven't used yet. Nice demo thnsks !
Crate GFX vs Crate GT3500H ? It's impossible to get VH140 in central/easter Europe
Has a very chuggy tone similar to an un-boosted marshall, I like it.
I've got a Flexwave 120H and a GT1200H that I use as pedal platforms, and they sound decent. The drive channels aren't really my flavor, but for as cheap as these are, they sure are workhorses. I've had my GT1200H since about 2000, and I've never had a problem with it.
If you want to hear it, I have an old video of me playing through it on my channel. It's the one titled 'E minor Blues Improvisation'. The quality is crap, because I recorded it with just my camera audio, but you can get a sense of the sound.
If you get a chance check out the old school Ampeg VH or SS series.
Alot of the older crate amps have the same preamp in them
@@ironblast5 Only the Crate GX130c
This literally was my first head LOL at first I played it through a cheap 2x12 car audio slanted cabinet (the kind meant to sit in a trunk or behind a truck's bench seat) until I was able to get my hands on a legit 4x12 (which probably wasn't much better), a Legion Sound (EMIS-412) which appears to be going for under $100 these days LOL
Jesus thank God you finally turned the low control DOWN on the clean! Sounded good when you did.
I have an old G130C (Not GX, GFX, GFH, were any of the other models that came after) that I bought new in 91-92. It only has chorus and reverb, along with two channels. The Reverb has its own separate single knob...
But the Chorus has 2 knobs, Rate & Depth, which to me are Very important for getting just the right sound that I like.
How do you control the rate and depth on this model?
Are you referring to the g130cxl head?
@@peepkindoesstuff4066 that's what I have. I was asking if you can control the rate and depth separately on the gfx1200 on the video.
@@leobuck2060 since I have the head, I can safely say that unfortunately your cannot control the rate of the chorus, just the depth, tho it’s not really the same. Could probably mod the controls but honestly, the chorus is okay so it’s pretty much not worth doing anything to it. Sick sounds tho !!
I had a friend who had one with the matching cab. It was about as loud as a 20w tube amp. Sucked bad.
damn dude share your settings i have this amp hooked in through a peavey 4x12 ms cab now and it can take over 200 watts i thank
Wonder how it would sound with a nano attack or some sort of boost pedal in the front
I still have my old gfx212t. Amazingly, it sounded even worse than the gfx212 it replaced.
You are amongst gods.
I for some reason thought these old crates reminds me of Mesa boogie Mark series amps.
Nice music bro. I'd buy that song
Same preamp as the Ampeg VH140C used by Suffocation in thé early days
Tone reminds me of that 8100.
What do you think of the Lichtbringer in general/with other amps? I am thinking of getting one to boost my amps.
I like it! It does a great job of tightening things up on mushier amps without being DJENT-tight...like, imagine a clean boost that allows you to taylor any sort of coloration of the tone, so that if you don't want the clean boost to be quite so clean and transparent, you can sculpt it. I like that a lot!
@@ArnoldPlaysGuitar awesome, thanks for the description, that sounds right up my alley, thanks Arnold! 🤘🏼
Welp... Guess it's time to plug in my Line 6 Spider II into my Mesa Boogie OS cab and get tone chasing. Hahaha
im looking to buy one of these i use a peavey cab for my friends amp but i dont know if he wants to sell.Are any of the other crate 1200h remakes as good sounding as this exact same one ?
Old solid state bass heads (like Acoustic or Sunn heads) sound gnarly! (Especially for sludge or black metal, but if eq'd right can sounds nasty)
Are Sunns used as a pedal platforms usually?
@@Matamp666 I only have a Sunn cab but it's really fat sounding! It's a 1x18 so it's got a lot of low end but it's very clean sounding.
I had a Crate GT212 combo. Sounded awesome tbh, would have been better with some big boy speakers