Crate SM1-SP

I gave my hamster the manual. He figured it out and showed me how to use it in about 5 minutes.

I use a Jackson DR-3 plugged straight into a Tech 21 TM-300 head, with this unit in effects loop A, and a Nanoverb in effects loop B. The single effects are stellar. The multi effects (chorus/verb, chorus/delay) would be OK in a pinch, but don't sound as sparkling as the single effects by themselves. I was looking for a second Alesis Nanoverb up on ebay to put into the second effects loop of my Tech 21 TM-300 head, when I ran across this baby. Since no one knows what they are, no one bid against me. I picked this thing up for a measley $39.00. I would pay 4 times this amount for this unit (used) without hesitation. Since I got this, I can't stand to use my other unit (a Nanoverb) and have been looking everywhere to buy another. The delay is soooooo smooth. The flange and chorus are way better than the Nanoverb, and the "rotary" sound equals the sound I can get from my Boss PH-3 phaser (the Nanoverb doesn't even have a phaser). The revrbs are nice as well.

Don't know. Too new to tell, but it looks and feels like a tank. All metal sturdy housing. If anyone can trash a unit it's me (with all the gigging and moving around), so I'll update the board if it doesn't hold up.

Have no experince with Crate support. Used to own a Blue Voodoo head, and it was so solid I never had to contact them for anything. I will say their website sucks.

Been playing about 20 years, and in that time probably owned just about every piece of gear out there. I play in a cover band that gigs nearly every weekend. We do everything from Hendrix and Neil Young through Metallica and Blink 182.....and this little puppy delivers the goods. Yeah....a nice little unit. Like I said, I'm looking for another one to replace my Nanoverb and put into effects loop #2. Easy to use right on stage. Just twist a few knobs and dial in your sound. I don't think Crate makes them anymore....but from my understanding they were about twice as expensive as a Nanoverb, so they probably didn't sell very well. You get what you pay for. OK...things I don't like. The effects tweak control doesn't have a stop and start point. It just spins around and around. Makes it difficult to tell when the "range" of tweaking ends and begins. Things I wish it had? It would be great if it had a reverb/delay multi setting....but non of the little units like this have one. I guess too much CPU horsepower is required to do both reverb and delay well. Aside from that it's a great little unit. If you are looking for a Nanoverb or other compact effects unit and see one of these instead snag it.....this thing does circles around the Nanoverb. You won't be disappointed.

The unit has a rotary selector switch for 16 presets and a continuous dial to adjust one parameter, ie decay, delay time or chorus speed. Input, Output levels and Mix are adjustable with standard pot controls.

I wanted a mutlieffects unit to use as a digital reverb when recording the vocalist in my home studio, and a stereo chorus for my guitar on stage. Our vocalist has a very good ear and I wanted quality comparable to the Alesis XT digital reverb we use in our P.A. In a side by side comparison it stood up well. The XT may have a smoother smear but the middle vocal reverb setting was virtually indistinguishable from the XT setting she prefers. For recording guitar tracks I need good delay and when mastering or mixing down, I use stereo chorus on the guitar track. For gigs I use it for light stereo chorus combined with my old stomp box delay pedal. Used seperately, the quality of the delay and chorus for guitar is excellent. While the delay effects are far superior to my pedal, the chorus + delay setting does not sound as good as using my delay pedal with the SM1 set to chorus.

The main reason I selected this unit over the Alesis nanoverb, Zoom RFX 300, or the Fostex DE-1 was the sturdy looking metal box. Only time will tell.

I repair all my own equipment and have always had good luck working with Crate.

It works for me. These days I play mostly Latin, Jazz and Blues and for recording practice cuts and originals with a digital 8 track this unit nicely fills the bill.