Crate XLP Preamp

This is an forgotten old unit, which I recently get for around US$ 150 at a Pawn Shop in South America. The cosmetic condition of the unit was rather poor, but considering that the electronics were still alive and I was not ready to give up my "main" sound, I decided to go for it anyway.

The best definition for this single-rack space preamp is probably to conceive it as a modest, old, simple solid state preamp stuffed inside an old fashioned rack. The quality you should expect from it is that of a mid range solid state preamp, and some pros and cons should be evaluated beforehand.If we talk about ease of use, a monkey shall look like a rocket scientist twisting knobs here.

No Midi features here, no displays, just the basic information LEDs (channels, chorus on/off, power), no nothing, just bad ass solid state pre amplification. One particular word on the stereo capabilities: the unit is mono/in - stereo/out, but I found that the stereo field is sort of unbalanced between fields, if you mix that circumstance with the considerable amount of hiss and hum of the unit (probably this characteristic is for my ears only, since mine is used and was abused) the thing becomes annoying. The "lead" sound is very, very good for a solid state thing even while the treble and bass eq rages, as I said before, are kinda odd. The clean channel -on the other hand- sounds "analogically" crunchy, no matter what you try, thus being almost impossible to get some decent clean sound. At this stage I'm confident that I made my point clear: Professionals and serious guitar players shall not be sustained by this gadget... get yourself a Marshall JMP1, a Rocktron Piranha or something decent (hey, don't forget to take US$ 1,000 with you at the very least).

Even though, I should insist on some issues: This thing has some very pro features for this price range that worth mentioning, in particular being the only preamp unit I found with stereo XLR out -great for recording purposes!- and, in addition, a great bonus... the unit has TWO effect loops (the first one mono and the other stereo) which, in theory, presents interesting possibilities. Let me underline the "in theory" part... since the hiss and hum that you get through the loops are unbelievable. The back panel also offers a channel switch out and a chorus on/off switch out. You can also find two different set of outputs (the mentioned XLRs and two phone jacks) and a couple of selectors (amp simulation and instrument/line switches for input and output. Fin.

The unit sports two channels (clean and lead), and any one of those may be tailored by parametric eq. (the lead channels boasts some funny names for the eq), through solid rubber knobs. The eq response is very strange (1/3 means nothing; 4/6 means eq; 6/10 means bizarre tone) no matter which channel you selected. Please note that the "clean" channel provides a "sharp" switch which, at the end of the day, offers nothing but MORE hiss. The preamp also offers a very simple but tasty chorus (two parameters = rate and depth), which I found equally useful for guitar or bass.

Probably the best feature of all is that this old, unattractive preamp has STEREO XLR OUT!. If you go on reading beyond boredom, you'll find that this feature (together with TWO FX LOOPS!) are the only solid reasons for recommending this thing... but let's move forward.

Construction of the unit (Made in the US) was probably good. Mine looks that it made it through WWIII, so that survival was probably due to the sturdiness of the make.

Let me stress this issue again and please tatoo so in your memory: second hand buyers should demand particular care on maintenance. I only contacted the Crate people in connection with some amp I had, getting a modest response from them, so no opinion could be rendered. This thing is almost prehistoric, so do not expect to get much feedback anyway.

Taking into consideration the actual price tag, I definitively found it useful for my own home studio or some minor (one sound all nite) gig situations (for an additional colour here and there, no more), acknowledging at the same time that this preamp should NOT be able to take the heat as primary unit, no matter which style you play. Note that I also considered some alternatives at the time of purchase, in particular the Marshall 3000 (and some other called "90ssomething") and some other crap for the 20th century. Vis-a-vis the offer, this one was the sole option.

Summary: Major Pros: stereo XLR out! Two FXs loops! Decent sounding chorus for nothing. Major Con: 1 good sound; Extra dull clean sound; Hum! Hiss! Noise! Dammit!. I confess that I'll probably wouldn't buy this unit ever again, but if you are lucky enough to find one if this "past century" oldies in good working condition and already have your own sound, I definitively suggest a soundcheck.