Crate BT-350 Head

Single channel, tube preamp, 3-band eq. graphic eq, chorus, biamp out w/freq set, balanced out.....all the basics.....no mute.

very straight forward....bass boost really helps....i use the chorus on many occasions....basicly a "poorman's SVT". enough power for most clubs....sounds real good for the price.

i bought it used about 5 years ago in vegas...still workin' fine

never had to contact them

very capable, solid tone, enough power for larger rooms, very reasonable on price, and reliable.

This is a fairly basic one chanel bass amp with a tube pre-amp that has an on board equalizer and chorus. It's heavey and well made. As other have said, teh only thing going against it is teh Crrate name on the front.

I have used a fender jazz, Precision Deluxe, and a Ric 4003 through this amp into a variety of SWR cabs. It is a great rock amp. I am sure it is versatile for other genres but I leave it in our rehearsal space and can cop anything from SVT tones to solid state. My main rig is a Markbass LMII behind a Sansamp RBI.

I have not owned it long enough to form an opion, but it seems well-built.

No opinion.

I give it an unequivocal nine. I would gig with it no-questions-asked. It does the job. If you can get one, buy it as a main rig or backup.

Not sure when this one was made. It's a very versatile amp... I play lots of rock, funk, and jazz. It covers all of them really well. The features have been well covered.

The only reason it gets an 8 is because the direct out does not include the effects loop. I do use a lot of effects with my bass... This is only really a problem when I'm playing large venues or trying to do direct-out recording. It's held up well against fairly large sound systems.

Made in USA.

I can coax a huge variety of sounds out of this amp... there hasn't been a sound that I haven't gotten out of it. As I said, I play a lot of rock... I use Drive 7 and the preamp eq all at 7, and it sounds great. I almost never use the 8-band EQ because I don't have a need to.

I play a Fender MB-5 (Five-string, passive, kind of like a jazz bass but not really) and a Fender American Deluxe P-bass.

On a side note, if you crank the gain and stick a guitar in it, you can get some nice slightly-overdriven tones.

I've never had a problem with it. I gig without a backup.

Never had to deal with them.

I have been playing for 7 years.

I really think this is one of the best amps available.
I played SWRs, but I fell in love with this amp.

The only problem with this amp is the Crate name on it.
People's opinions are influenced by stuff like brand names, even if they try to be impartial and objective. Some people don't take me seriously because I have a Crate amp. I've had people laugh at me when I said I like my Crate. Truthfully, I couldn't find another amp that got the tones I wanted... I play through an ampeg svt classic every so often in music stores, but I still like this amp better. I fell in love with it all over again when I actually got to hear it from the audience (the bassist from the other band I was playing with had an amp breakdown (it was a brand new ampeg svt classic, btw)).

Despite my seeming ripping on Ampeg, I do shut people up pretty quickly when I inform them that Crate and Ampeg are owned by the same company (SLI, I believe) and are manufactured in the same factory using the same parts.

This is probably the biggest sleeper bass amp that there ever was. Compared alongside very pricey high end amps this amp cam be described as MUSICAL. Other amps are 'smooth' or 'in your face' or 'clean' or having 'great distortion'. This one is musical. For a used price nowadays this is a bargain. And it has power and versatility.

Crazy strong.

This amp was made in the early 90's. Very flexible head. It was made by SLM, the guys who make the Ampeg amps. It has a footswitchable 8-band EQ. It also has a tube (!) preamp, which makes it very organic sounding. It also has a high and low boost, as well as footswitchable chorus. It also can be bi-amped, very handy. I only wish that the high and low boost were footswitchable.

I play with an 80's P-bass with seymour duncan pickups with a Rat distortion and an old Morley Power Wah. It sounds amazing. But, it really depends on what cabinet your using though. I use a Mesa Boogie 2x12 and an Ampeg 1x15. It is a bit noisy because of the fan. Very flexible as far as sound goes: lush cleans (especially with the chourus), and when you crank the gain a little bit, things can get a little dirty.

Hasn't broken yet. Seems very reliable. I'd recomend a rack case, just to be sure.

I've had Crate stuff for years. They are really easy to deal with.

This amp is one of bass players best kept secrets. You can find one on eBay for dirt cheap. They sound better than equipment that cost 3 times as much. And the tube preamp just makes things better. Can get pretty loud, but if you're playing stadiums, you can afford top of the line stuff anyway. If it was stolen, I'd get a new one in a heartbeat.

I don't know when the amp was built, but the manual is still available on the Crate web site. This is 3 space rack mount amp, so there will be a bit of an extra cost for the rack case. Remember to allow one space above the amp. This is not a fan cooled amp. Maybe that's one of the reasons that it is so quiet.

The amp has a tube in the preamp. It has a foot switchable EQ and chorus. It also has a low boost that is like the Ampeg Ultra Low control. It will vibrate cement walls. Use with caution. You have an XLR out an effects loop. If you add a second power amp you have an adjustable bi-amp control. There is a compression button. I really wish that the low boost was foot switchable too. I'll sure take it as it is, though.

I haven't heard a type of music that the BT-350 wouldn't do well. It's the only amp that I have ever played that sounded so good with all of the tone controls set flat. It's a very versatile amp. There are amps out there that will sound more airy in the highs for a price. Check out Demeter, Aguilar or Kern. And if you want paint pealing distortion check out Ampeg.

I have no problem with volume with this amp, either. It puts out a real world 350 watts into 4 Ohms. I mention real world Watts because amps such as Ampeg are rated at their maximum output with 10% distortion. The BT-350 is rated at 350 Watts into 4 Ohms with 0.2% distortion. That's better than some home audio systems.

I'm playing a Peavey Fury V through a Genz Benz cabinet loaded with a 15" Kappa speaker. The active pickups are impressive through this amp. And it's dead quiet. If you want distortion you will have to add it with a pedal or whatever. It will go from Hi-Fi to a deep warm rumble, though.

I haven't had it for an extremely long time, but I would not hesitate to gig with it and no backup. It's one of those things that you can tell that it's built to high quality specs. I truly expect that the only servicing will be to replace the tube in the preamp. I'll have to do that in about 25 years I guess.

The only contact with the company is to download the free manual from their web site.

I would definitely buy another BT-350 if this one were stolen. Since I bought it on eBay I couldn't compare it to anything. I bought it based on the recommendations from this site. Thanks greatly to you previous reviewers. One reviewer stated that he believed the BT-350 to be one of the best bass amps ever made. It just might be, for me anyway.

I have played through a lot of pro level equipment, Ampeg, GK, Eden, SWR, Trace Elliot, Warwick, Hughes & Kettner, and Peavey. They all have a lot to recommend them and are all really fine gear. If there is a better amp for me than the Crate BT-350, though, I have not played through it.

Note that I have never played through Demeter, Kern, Aguilar and some of the other very expensive amps. I am certain the they are exceptional, especially for those looking for the ultimate in Hi-Fi sound. That's not for me, though, which is a good thing because I can't afford them anyway. I'm perfectly happy with my BT-350.

I'm sure from all the other reviews you know all the specs of the amp. So, i'll just get straight to the features. Beyond the pre-amp and power amp, there is a built-in 7-band EQ that works very nicely. It's very nice to have two EQs for different dynamic stuff.

The on-board chorus is also very nice. It adds a slight noise, but the overall sound quality compared to chorus pedals is much higher. It holds true to your tone, it doesn't cut any frequencies because it's incompetant, it's very bassy, and has a very sweet tone.

The Line-out is a little picky, with my 4-string Tobias Growler (18v Active Electronics) if the line out level is above 1.5 the line basically overloads any mixer. Right at around 1.25 it's fine though. However, when i record my acoustic guitar through it (gives the guitar a really creamy, and warm tone) I have to have the line out level at around 5.5, so I'm sure it's different for passive basses. But it just seems a little too sensitive.

The effects loop also works very nice. With certain pedals a little noise becomes apparent, but there's no degrade in sound quality once you play. Certain effects sound gorgeous through the effects loop (certain distortions, delays and choruses (which arn't needed anymore with the on-board)), namely because they are getting warmed up by the tube pre-amp.

There's more than enough power for my Avatar B410 to fill up a medium sized theatre. And if you need more power then you can bi-amp with a higher powered amp.

Here's what's going to the amp: Tobias Growler -> SANSamp Bass Driver DI -> Delay -> Distortion -> Amp, with on-board effects running through effects loop.

I just got the SANSamp, so i'll try to review the sound quality without the SANSamp.

I play metal (Tool-esque), and more melodic ambient stuff. For both instances the amp sounded great. The tube pre-amp is probably the whole reason for the incredible sound quality. I always play with the Gain at 10, so I'm all about warming up my tone. You do have to push the amp quite a bit to get any sort of growl or clipping to happen. With the gain on 10, and pushing the EQ a few decibles does the trick.

For less gainy sounds it's very very smooth. The EQ is very reactive to small tweaks. The mid and low range is very well defined in this amp. I let my girlfriend play around with my rig every once in a while, and she plays jazz, and she's able to get some really smooth and warm sounds out of it. In the sense that it can go from full out metal, to jazz shows that it's a very versatile amp.

The only problem I have it that the High end seems to be very harsh. That may be due in part to my high gain setting, but I usually cut the high end almost entirely, and for my girlfriend it's still too high. I have the tweeter on my cab at about 15%, so it's not due to a cranked tweeter either. Once you get the setting right the high end isn't bad at all, I just don't like having to cut a frequency down to 1.5 in order for it to be tolerable.

The reason I got the SANSamp was because I couldn't get quite enough gain out of the single tube. I bought a new tube to replace the tube that had probably been there the entire life of the amp, and was able to get a little more gain, but the new tube seemed to just improve the sound quality, rather than effect the types of sounds i could get. If you are looking to crank this amp, and get it to clip by using the EQ it can sound slightly farty at really high volumes, but that's probably due to the fact that you're really pushing the pre-amp to it's max. The SANSamp allows me to get a little more gain and presense. The thing that I like, is that the SANSamp is a tube emulator, so it's warm to begin with, but then running through the tube pre-amp on the amp, it sounds superb.

I've tested many many different types of amps with tube pre-amps and I am shocked that Crate was able to make something that I actually liked. This sounds better than all the ampegs I tried, besides the all-tube SVT head. Sounds better than all the SVTs and everything, besides a mesa/boogie, but that goes without saying. Considering that I think this amp sounds better than a $2000 ampeg, I'd say that the $250 dollars it cost me was well spent.

I bought this used on eBay. So hard everything seems to be working great. Had no issues when I first started using it, and after around 6 months of use (occasional gigging, lots of loud practicing) everything seems to be holding up. There's a single pre-amp tube that would be a good idea to replace every now and then, but regular service doesn't seem too nessisary. I use it without a backup, mainly because I don't have a back up, but I would feel safe without a backup, even if I could afford one.

I called once to get the manual, because the seller on eBay didn't have it. Considering how big Crate is, I'm sure customer support is fine, it just might take a while to actually get to talk to a human.

I've been playing bass for about a year. I've been playing music for around 10 years though. I'd been playing guitar for about 1 year before picking up the bass, so I was able to pickup the basics pretty easy. I am an audiophile, and am incredible anal retented about musical tone. If I'm at a huge concert, and one of the instrument's tone sucks, I'll get really dissapointed... so, yeah, if I think the tone from this amp is awesome, compared to a touring band, well... that's saying something.

I bought this amp because it had the most features for the price of any other amp in the store. I no longer use the EQ or chourus as I now have a floorboard processor but prior to that i lived by the EQ and chourus for my sound, and actually used that sound for my processor settings. The Bi-amp feature is the only one i've never used but plan to when i can afford another amp

i play through an ibanez sound gear 4 & 5 string, the 4 has active pickups and Eq and the 5 string just active Eq. THis amp gives me the punchy mids and highs with out sacraficing the lows. I use a Hartke XL 4x10 and a Hartke Transporter 15 and this amp makes them thump especially the 15. I play mostly metal but all kinds of rock also and it sounds good no mater what style. The only major problem is it has some hum all the time and especially with the eq

Being your typical broke musician i always must gig without a backup but i never worry. it has been dropped tossed around during loading and of course beer spilled on it and never missed a beat. the only problem was with losing knobs in transport but it now sits in a skb case and that was solved

even though i do really like this amp i probably wouldn't buy another if i lost/broke it. what made me buy it was the price and features but i no longer use the eq/chourus because of the purchase of a floor proccesor but i would recomend this for any budget minded bass player. I compared it the the hartke 350w head but for the price and extras i couldn't turn it down. If it had a little more power i probably would buy another but it deffinately gets the job done

i play loud abrasive rock and have no needs other than a good loud and punchy sound. although the head has built in limiter, chorus and bi-amp features, the equalizer is the only feature i use. it is remarkably versatile for the price.

i play a G&L ASAT bass (500 bucks on ebay), with the heaviest strings available by elixir (usually 50 bucks a pack), and a 25 foot monster bass cable (performer 500), and i run through a peavey 4x10 400w cabinet with no markings on it (i got it used for 100 bucks). i have played clubs, all up and down the east coast and i have yet to play a show where someone doesn't remark how outstanding my bass tone is. sound men have remarked that i have the "sickest tone" they've heard in years, and other bass players are amazed at how my tone cuts right through everything in it's path, and one studio engineer i met remarked that he wished every bass player sounded like this amp does live. i'm sure my G&L has much to do with the tone, but no other amp has yet to match it's incredibly ballsy, loud and punchy sound. i've recently borrowed other bass heads such as a vintage 70's ampeg svt, an ampeg B4R, a gallien kruger 350, and many other outlandishly priced amps, and i have yet to be as impressed. i would not trade this amp for ANYTHING. this is, in my opinion, the MOST underrated bass amp ever made.

i have dropped this amp on concrete from a height of five feet, and it suffered no damage. i have knocked into it, fell on it, and countless beer has been spilled onto it, and it refuses to quit.

these amps are incredibly hard to find, they don't look nice, and i've yet to meet another person who plays one, or would even THINK of playing a crate amp. it is by far the best value i've ever encountered for any piece of musical equipment.

My BT-350 was built in 1996. I purchased it new. I have gigged with it since bought it dragging it all over the country. I just this week (12-8-01)replaced the sovtec 12AX7W/7025 pre-amp tube. The one I pulled out came with the amp. The EQ is capable of generating any tone I want. The amp is quiet. It's 350 watts of power into 4 ohms is plenty for what I do (small venues, bars etc.). The chorus sounds good but a bit noisy. I play it through a Gauss 18" 400 watt woofer mounted in a home made dual front vented enclosure & it realy thumps. Rock, Punk, Alternitive, Country, Folk what ever. It sounds great.

I use a 1964 Thunderbird IV re-issue, a fretless EB-1 Viola re-issue & a Jazz Bass. It sounds great no matter what I plug into it or where I am playing.

I have only had one problem with the amp. I was un-able to turn off the chorus with out opening the amp & sodering a jumper wire across 2 of the pins on the foot switch jack. I can no longer use the foot switch but I can switch the EQ & Chorus on & off on the amp face. Other than that the amp has been very reliable.

I am a technician by trade so I just fix or rig my own stuff. I don't bother with tech suport & customer service. In my experience they tend to be pretty useless.

I have been a bassist for over 20 years & have never found an amp that has all of the features & the power that the Crate BT-350 has for the price. This is my second Crate amp & if the need arises I will buy another Crate. You can't beat the price. Other amps in the same wattage range were more expensive & did not have any where near the amount of features that this amp has. It is bi-ampable. It has balanced & unbalanced full range pre-amp outs. It has Chorus. It has a basic 3 band EQ & a 7 band graphic EQ. It has high & low frequency boosts. It has a switchable limiter & a peak indicator. The pre-amp stage is tube loaded so it produces nice warm tones but still gets up & grinds. As I said earlyer it has foot switching capabilities but this cicuit is not very reliable. It has 2 quarter inch speaker outs. Like I said lots of features. A very good bass amplifier for the price.