Crate CA30 Acoustic Combo

This acoustic amp has all the basic features you realy need, but I have never felt that the contour knob really does anything much unless it's on an extremely high or low setting. Anywhere in between pretty much sounds the same. Also, this 30 watt amp is really underpowered for the nine-piece band I play with, so I'm selling it. One nice feature is that it's small and fairly light, which is a real plus on a small stage and when loading gear in a trailer. One thing I wish it had is a space inside the back for the power cord to go. I have to tuck it under the handle, which doesn't give me a ton of room for my hand.

The Crate CA30 is really a pretty good sounding little amp for the money. I play a Taylor 314ce, and the amp always sounds pretty good. Of course, larger and more powerful acoustic amps generally sound better, but for what it is the Crate is OK. As I said above though, the contour feature doesn't really seem very adjustable.

This amp is built like a very small brick shithouse. I bought it new almost three years ago and started using it for gigs about a year ago. For the last year this amp has been loaded in and out of the trailer, cranked way too loud, and never given a hint of trouble. Though the cabinet it scuffed, everything works as well as it ever did.

I think the Crate deserves a good rating because it does what it can do very well. No, it won't blow your head off with tons of perfect sound, but it does sound good and it is built well.
I put my CA30 up for sale because I need more power from an acoustic amp than the Crate can give me. The Tech21 Bronzewood sounds teriffic and is priced very well, so I think I'll be buying a new amp soon.

This amp is a single channel 30-watt acoustic amp with a very high-quality 8" full-range speaker (the kind you would find in a PA). It has built-in reverb and chorus which operate off of the same knob--probably my only complaint with the unit. It is meant as a practice amp as it does not produce a lot of volume.
I was first introduced to this amp when my boss put one in our teaching facility (I am a guitar/bass teacher). He picked this amp from the store's stock because it has two inputs. This means I only need one amp for both myself and the student. Even though it is designed for acoustic guitar, it works for electric guitar and bass as well because it has a full-range speaker. I recently purchased one for my house, so I use two of them.

I have six electrics, three archtops, three flattop acoustics, and five electric basses that I play through this amp. I get nice, warm, punchy sounds with all of them. My US Strat gets a nice bright (but not edgy or brittle) sound--think Kenny Wayne Shepard on "Last Goodbye". It also brings out the piano-like sound of my Rickenbacker 4003 bass. It can even be used for slap. Best results are, to no suprise, with my Martin Shenandoah. This guitar has a low-quality after-market passive piezo pickup. The amp's midrange contour control helps fatten up the tone. It should be noted that, while the amp will break up a little at higher volume, IT DOES NOT DISTORT. Don't try it. Don't try using a pedal either. It sounds much bad.

Hasn't broken yet (either of them), probably won't. I use it without a backup for teaching and small gigs. Its got a five-year warranty anyways.

I paid for the second one in advance. It took the company quite a while to ship it to our store. I understand their repair dept. is better than shipping (Crate runs distribution through a company called St. Louis Music, which also distributes Ampeg).

I've been playing for six years, teaching for two. This is the first small amp I've actually liked enough to play in public. It isn't an essential part of my sound, but I would probably replace it if it were lost or stolen simply because it is so versatile. BTW, this is also a good amp for violinists.

My amp was made in 1999. It's meant to be a small acoustic amp, and for that, it works pretty well. I recently started using it with my Line6 POD and have had some interesting results.

Two inputs. each with its own gain level. Line in and out. Built in chorus effect, (not adjustable), reverb.

8" speaker, 1" tweeter.

Very basic, but musically useful.

This sounds pretty good for acoustics. I have a couple of nice Taylors, a Larrivee and a couple of Ovations and I can usually get a nice clear sound.

I recently found a new use for this amp... I run the output from my Line6 POD into the "Insert" and I get instant electric guitar / low volume sound. The tweeter and speaker combined suggest using the "PA" type settings on the POD, and it sounds pretty good for when I don't want the higer volume of my normal guitar amp, (Fender Hot Rod Deluxe) or my PA.

So far so good. It's solid state, so I think I can knock it around a little more than my tube amp!

Haven't even thought about them yet.

I've been playing for over 20 years, and I have a variety of other guitars and amps. I think this is a nice little acoustic amp, and now that I have been playing with it with my POD, it's turning out to have more use than I originally thought.

If you're thinking about a small acoustic/ electric setup and you have a POD or a J-station, or even some other effects unit that provides most of the tone, and you're just looking for a practice rig that's light weight and modest in cost... Give this little guy a try.

This is a new model amp for acoustic only. 30 watt solid state combo. Two inputs with seperate volumes (marked gain, but they are just volume). Chorus and reverb. Low, mid, contour, and high eq controls. Effects loop and line in. The chorus is just a button, on or off. The reverb is adjustable. This amp has everything I need for accoustic playing and I think it will do all my needs unless I start playing stadiums. It can be hooked up to a PA system.

I use a Sammy Hagar Signature Washburn (RR150). This guitar has two humbuckers and a fishman accoustic pickup. The accoustic pickup sounds amazing. When I tried it out in the store I had a lot of people ask me about the guitar (but the accoustic sounds its best through this amp). I haven't even changed the EQ controls from what they were when I got the amp. The chorus makes it sound even better. I've tried the humbuckers through this amp, but they just sound warm and dead. I've also plugged my Squire Strat into it and with some tone adjustments it sounded good enough for some fun jamming, but this amp is not meant for use with electric pickups (that's why it is sold as an accoustic amp). A friend also brought over his 12 string accoustic and we both played through the amp (I used them Washburn on accoustic). The amp sounded fantastic. Right now I play accoustic and this amp solves all my needs for the accoustic sound. I play solid body guitars so I need an amp and this one is pretty much perfect. But it's only good for accoustic sounds.

I've had it for about a month and have no problems with it. Seems very solidly built. No tubes so that isn't a problem. I think as long as I take care of it this amp will last a long time.

There is a 5 year warranty on this amp. I haven't tried calling customer support, but their website is out of date and could use a lot more info. I've searched for an e-mail address where I could ask some questions and they don't have any listed. I haven't had any problems, but if I did I think it would be more difficult to get help than it should be.

I've been playing for about a year and a half. Not real good yet, but working on it. My guitars are a Sammy Hagar Washburn and a Squire Strat. My other amp is a Fender Frontman 15. I bought this amp because my Washburn sounds awefull through the Fender (and the Washburn costs 10 times what the Strat does). I would definately buy this amp again if stolen. I can't really say that I've found any complaints about this amp except it would be nice if I could use it for rock playing too, but that'll just take another amp. This amp is very speciallized, but it does its job very well. I compared this amp to some larger and more expensive Peavey and Fender accoustic amps, but this one sounded best. I also looked at some normal amps with clean channel and distortion, but the accoustic sound from this amp just beat everything else. I'll have to buy another amp to use for rock playing, but I won't have to worry about getting an accoustic sound from it. Like I said earlier, when I was trying this amp in the store I had several people ask me about the guitar. But this amp made the difference between the terrible sound I get from my Fender amp and the sound they were asking about in the store. For accoustic sound I highly recommend this amp. If you need an electric sound look somewhere else.