Crate CA6110D Gunnison Acoustic Amp

The CA6110DG is a two channel full range portable PA system (A.K.A. acoustic guitar amplifer). This amplifier is feature rich and affordably priced. Each channel features Neutrik XLR/TRS input jacks, input trim controls, peak signal indicators, active and musical 3 band EQ with sweepable mid range control, and an effects send control to the on board digital effects. Each XLR input has +15V phantom power for condenser microphones. Each channel has DSP feedback control. A line level stereo input with RCA jacks is provided with a seperate level control to the master mix. The I/O leaves plenty of room to grow this system into a bigger PA. A powered speaker output as well as Hi and Low Z line level outputs are provided as is a master external effects loop. 60 Watts of power drive a great sounding full range speaker system with a 10" woofer and seperate piezo tweeter.

I think that the controls that are provided for each channel allow you to dial in a great sound for both your acoustic guitar and your voice. The amplifier has plenty of power, and the frequency response of the full range speaker system is smooth with no harsh peaks. The on board digital effects are actually quite good. I checked the +15V phantom power performance with a Shure Beta87A and an AKG C900 hand held condenser mic. Even though the amp does not support standard +48V phantom power, both mics that I tested worked great.

Appears to be well built. Crate claims amp is made in USA, but the electronics chasis is from China. That's OK, just about everything in this price range comes from China !

I have been playing guitar for 25 years. I am a part time musican and gig once a month. I have been singing and playing guitar in small venues for the past 4 years, so I have experience using gear in live performances. I own a much larger PA (Yamaha 01V96V2 with Mackie SRM450s) and I have designed electronics for a professional audio company, so I know what a good audio system sounds like.

In my opinion, the CA6110GA is a great portable PA / acoustic guitar amp for a first purchase because you will not outgrow the system. Use the amp as is for small venues. Add a passive or active speaker for larger performances. If you graduate to needing a full PA to be heard, you can use this amplifier as a spot monitor. This is an outstanding amp for rehersals.

A strong selling point for me was the full feature channel strips. A lot of products in this price are bad designs that don't expose enough controls for each input. This product was really well thought out, and I highly reccomend checking it out.

Personally, I wouldn't want to spend more than $350 for an acoustic guitar amplifier. If you want to spend more money, buy a PA, and get loads of channels, more effects, and a wide range of speaker and amplifier choices.

After three months of grilling useless sales associates, I settled on this little greenie. Its solid state and features a 10" woofer and a 1.5" tweeter. The CA6110DG is the only amp I found under $400.00 to include a full E.Q. with sweepable mids and effects levels for BOTH channels. Sweepable mids are a MUST if you want to find the sweet spot in your vocal mix. In comparison to the Fishman Loudbox, Fender Acoustasonic and the Marshall AS50D, the Crate has a wider frequency response in each E.Q. parameter. It comes in handy for me because I only wanted to buy ONE amp to dial in sounds for a nylon string, a jazz box and a Takamine jumbo steel-string. I keep favorite E.Q. settings of my guitars and the amp written on a slip of paper that remains beneath the handle. The handle bracket stinks because it rubs my knuckles, but there's always a tradeoff somewhere. Not to be overlooked is the external speaker jack. I use it to power my monitor. It also has a handy line low-Z and hi-Z output with a level control and ground lift to send a signal to a main mixer. Effects loop is on the back panel. As for volume, I play in some loud situations. Occasionally I need to crank it to 8, but the tone remains consistent. However, at level 4-5 it keeps up with my drummer. The day I need more volume is the day I'll hire a pro sound man with a macho system. There is a CD input and a headphone jack, which I rarely use.

The guitars I use are a Takamine EG523SC jumbo with an Accuracoustic N4B pickup system, an 1992 passive electric jazz box, and a 1995 Takamine Santa Fe classical. I play classical, jazz, pop, latin and Dave Matthews covers. The tone range is broad. Plenty of bass, global mids and searing highs. Once you're set, the voice is relatively constant at any volume above 2. The tweeter is a bit hissy when fully open, but IMO, anyone who uses max treble for an acoustic instrument should have his head examined. There is a tweeter cut control to help with this problem. There's also a foot controller for feedback cuts. I don't use it because I rarely switch guitars during sets, so I would've rather this option be designed for effects. The feedback cut does work really well, but you have to adjust your E.Q. as soon as you switch it on. No brainer, right? It has decent reverb, but the delays and chorus leave a lot to be desired. An improvement I would love to see is separate effects for each channel with more enhanced editing controls, but that would cost a lot more money. Hence, I use off-board effects that I already own. I give this amp a 9 for its spectrum of sounds, but don't expect much from the effects.

Never any trouble.

Never needed Crate customer support

I've been playing for over 20 years, professionally since 1995. This is my first dedicated acoustic amp. I needed it because my band's PA is a Fender Passport Deluxe 2, which is the biggest piece of crap on the market. I tried amps from Marshall, Fender, Kustom, Fishman, Roland and countless other cheapo's. What outshines other amps in the < $400.00 category is the E.Q. and the speaker. It's as close to a one-trick pony as you'll find without breaking the bank. It's small, but heavy. I use the tilt-prop on the bottom all of the time, but I wish it was adjustable. My only real gripe is the poor positioning of the controls, because they're impossible to see when the amp is propped. The green vinly covering seems to scuff easily, but its meant to heard, not adorned. I traded Guitar Center an old Peavey Bandit 112 + $200.00 and walked with the amp. $300.00 seems like a more reasonable price for this type of amp, but I think all acoustic amps are overpriced. If you want a smokin' amp with great effects, check out an Acoustic Image or a Genz-Benz Shenandoah, but be prepared to spend at least twice the dough. I'll drop $800.00 on an Acoustic Image unit if this Crate bites the dust. Nonetheless, in this cost category the CA6110DG is my favorite value. Many people have commented that the tone sounds great.

2005 Crate Gunnison. I enjoy playing blues and fingerstyle on my Martin D1. I got this amp to jam with friends at our rehearsal space, and it's great for coffee house type gigs. It has 2 channels for either 2 guitars, or 1 guitar and a mic., 2 mics. ect... It has some nice onboard reverbs and chorus. 10 in speaker, green tolex, 60 watts, and weighs just under 40lbs.

Great clean sound, even when it's maxed. The cabinet seems solid, with no rattles. I'm using a Dean Markley pro mag soundhole pickup, and the Gunnison makes my Martin sound like a Martin, doesn't really add any color. The onboard effects are fun, but I tend to just use a little reverb & that's it.

Crate stuff is notoriously reliable. The Gunnison is a solid state amp, so there's no tubes to change, no fuss!

Never dealt with Crate, never had to.

I've been playing guitar for 15 years now, and I know a good amp when I hear 1. I play through a Marshall JCM 800 1/2 stack, and have a little Fender Blues Jr. for low volume practicing. I needed a low/medium wattage solid state acoustic guitar amp for a few songs, and the Crate was the best of the amps under $400. The Gunnison is loud enough to keep up with drums & can fill a small-med. sized room with your favorite acoustic's tone. The Gunnison has more features and power than any other amp in its sub $400 price range.

I bought this amp in 2005 by mailorder from Musician's Friend to play at small venues and worship events. The purchase was based on a suggestion from a fellow guitarist who had played one.
The CA6110D has all the features I could possibly need, 2 channels, XLR & 1/4" jacks, DSP. The reverb is a bit "thin", so I use the insert loop and my Alesis MiniVerb.

I play a Taylor 710CE 6-string and a Breedlove 12-string, both with Fishman pickups. Mostly 70's and after folk/country and worship music.
The Sound quality is a bit muddy. It takes a lot of adjustments to make the amp sound good. It has a strong hiss that requires me to use the "tweeter cut" control to the point of losing a lot of highs. Sound quality is pretty even across volume levels. No significant distortion.

The controls are on top along the back edge, protruding without anything to protect them. I have broken off control knobs (stem and all) and have had to replace the pots. You should be careful carrying the amp. It is heavy and bulky, making it hard not to rub against the controls while carrying.
I finally attached some aluminum angle bar to the top/back to protect the controls. This is definitely a design flaw by Crate.
The electronics seem reliable - I have not had any problems yet

I asked Crate where to get the controls repaired. They transferred me to their parts sales and told me to repair them myself, after which they sold me the parts.

I have been playing the guitar for 40 years - I used to play coffee houses in Boston.
If the Crate was ever stolen, I would go out and buy a Fishman Loudbox Pro. It costs a bit more, but you get what you pay for and I didn't get much for my $350 when I bought the Crate.

Updated Review after using the amp for 6 months.
Purchased new, from GC in Austin, Tx., apprx. Aug '05. 60 watts RMS w/2 sep channels. 10" woofer w/ajustable piezo tweeter. CD/Tape input jacks, 3 button footswitch included. (Are you listening here, Fender?) Level controllable XLR & 1/4" outputs allows patch into recorders, soundboards, etc. Effects loop for connecting external effects. Amp very versatile. I play newer country, gospel, golden oldies, & blues. This little jewel is a fantastic small PA that's great for speaking engagements, family reunions, etc.

I use a Takamine EF341C and my faithful Shure mic for use in this amp. The DSP effects are O.K., but I prefer individual effects that can be tweaked separately. (The plus here is you can adjust the inst & mic channel separately.) With DSP effects, you get what the manufacturer gives you with just adjustable parameters between 2 given tolerances. I.E. if you want just chorus and want to add just a touch of reverb, forget it. You can't do that with any DSP set up, no matter the brand. So, DSP effects to me, are really worthless. Besides, I prefer spring reverb over the digital stuff anyway. But, I don't have to get stewed here, my Tak through my ME50 to this amp usually gets me the sound I want, so the DSP effects are not an item. Amp has an external speaker jack for addition of an extra cabinet if needed. Nice touch there. The 3 button footswitch allows additon of two extra feed back filters which is very neat. Have never had this amp to feed back on me. Although I've bashed the DSP effects, I still give the amp a 9 in this category due to its good, clean, strong sound.

Has 5 year warranty. I've had an old Crate bass guitar amp for nearly 15 yrs that was used when I got it, and if this little amp performs as well as the old bass amp, It'll be in use for years to come. Crate builds good, solid stuff.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

I'm an old dude. Been playing over 40 yrs, so I'm pretty picky about equipment. I'm usually a died-in-the-wool Fender man, but crate puts some good stuff together. I have 3 dislikes about the amp, but hey, those are personal preferences. 1. Don't like a recessed handle. Never have seen one of those that's comfortable to use. 2. Top mounted knobs. With the amp tilted back as you play, it's hard to see the settings. (besides they're upside down if you stand in front of your amp - Duh!)Also, top mounted knobs and jacks allow dust settlement into openings and since the amp dosen't come with a cover, this is an item for me. 3. The top mounted recessed handle also allows the amp to tilt and rub against your leg as you carry it. This is mainly due to the tapered design of the cabinet. But, I do have some Likes about the amp. It's an EXCELLENT small PA. The PA part of this, blows all the competition away, even Fender. If lost or stolen, I probably would try to find a Fender Acoustasonic PRE DSP model since I favor 2 speakers & spring reverb. That's all that Fender has over this unit, but the Crate has the edge in the PA department. I'm knocking off 2 points for no spring reverb & the single speaker.