Crate CR-1

Another great garage sale find. Payed $7.50...does'nt look like it was ever used--Mint!. Love the pine cabinetry.
Solid state-(can adjust the gain pot inside the chassis for more volume/gain), probably appox. 10 watts output, and 12" speaker.
Has Gain, bass, treble, volume, and reverb controls. Has dual input jacks on front, and line out and reverb jacks on the rear.
The real accutronics reverb tank (covered) uses only 1 spring, but sounds pretty god for such.
For the price, and for the usefulness as a practice amp, i'll give it an 8.

Pretty decent tone for at home...might work for lower volume small acoustic type gigs.
This will be a great alternative to firing up my 60 watter tube amp at home.
I'm not a pedal effects mo-fo, but this amp will be useful for finally trying out some of my pedals.
The true outstanding feature here is the efficient 12" speaker, which adds depth to the lower volume output.
Relative to the limited application (volume), i'll give it a 9.

I'm guessing that this was made around 86 (must be the 208th unit manufactured according to the number written boldly inside the rear floor).
Don't see why it won't last another decade or more (if i don't tweak the internal gain pot too much....or blow the speaker).
Again--for the application, i'll give it a 10

Not applicable

For the $, I'm happy!
I get all kinds of goodies from garage sales. See my other thread on the working Alamo Challenger single ended 6V6 tube amp for $10, and a working Ampeg V3 (6550's) amp for $50.

Original Crate CR-1 sn 004993, in great shape, sounds great, very simple, no effects but could support me satnding on it (If I were stupid enough to do that) Cool vintage look and sound...

Simple but loud solid state....

Built to last, very solid...

Great, they are sending a copy of the owner's manual and other stuff, he was pleased to hear that I was satisfied with a almost thirty year old amp....no charge either....

Beginner, with a Kustom 30 watt, a Fender Ultimate Chorus, Epiphone Dot Studio, Fender Del-Mar acoustic.... I like the old stuff...

had one when i was a kid, im sure this is as old as my original, gain, treble, bass, volume...thats it and all it needs. above reviews say 20w but i cant believe it....this is the loudest "practice" amp ive ever heard....watch the silver cone vibrate as yr neighbors come over to tell you shut up...can play clean at many volumes, but i like mine with gain on 11 and volume depends on how late at night im playing...brilliant in its simplicity and again i gotta say AT LEAST 60w (dont think 20w can drive this big 12" as hard as it does, though if so id be so surprised

can play with anything...neck pickup on my hollowbody with a bit of gain make beautiful tones i cant start to appreciate with my hobbyist talent at best. crank the gain for some nice dirty stuff with neck pickup. high gain/treble on my strat copy nice and grating!plug in my big muff, and the neighbors start looking for vacation options...again this must be at least 60w.....(my 12w ampeg not even a tenth of the volume this makes). clean or dirty, a nice workhorse

c'mon these have been gone for decades...keeps on playing, and the cheesy pirate's chest pine casing wears its wounds proudly...loud ugly and unbreakable

had one of these 25 years ago, and generally use used/cheap/interesting gear as i am not a talented musician....i do know what works/sounds good though, and i couldnt believe i found one at a large used music chain as cheap as i did....local pawnshop wanted 250 for the same !!!??? if it were stolen or lost i'd be on the lookout for another. absolutely brilliant for beginners or the obnoxious, and sounds great with my big muff pedal....though not the finest ever, ill beg borrow or steal (or not) to keep owning this beast

Bought this decades ago. Serial number under 010000. Very basic setup. No features other than what has been identified. This has been my main amp for playing anywhere.

Better if not the same sounds as the newer amps in the market today. The speaker has been in perfect shape regardless of how much I have turned up the volume. I use a DS1 pedal and the OD and distortion is ROCKIN"! Also had a Fender amp which I sold a few years back.

This has been moved around so much, it has more mileage than UPS, yet, the CR-1 amp is still as near mint condition since the day I bought it. Nothing has been replaced and all parts are original!

Never had to use it. SLM makes very durable amps.

I would be very upset if something happened to this amp. I've had several guitar dealer offer a trade to obtain this for themselves. Most agree it is for nostalgic purposes since they don't make this kind anymore. Considering the things this thing has gone through, I'm amazed how good it looks and how perfect the sound is. It has gone through dozen of guitars and players and everytime, the CR-1 put out!

Crate's first amplifier, from 1980. Solid state, single channel, 20 watts into a 12 inch "magnum projector speaker" all housed in a ponderosa pine cabinet that looks like a crate. Hi and Lo input jacks, gain, volume, treble and bass controls, line out in back. Extremely basic.

This amp has a great clean sound. Perfect for jazzy Kenny Burrell numbers or quiet "Lenny-esque" blues. Nice bottom end. The gain knob doesn't do much except increase the volume and give a LITTLE bit of edge. You cannot get any distortion aout of it. I use a Fernandes Strat with Bill Lawrence pickups, a Squire Tele with a Tex-Mex Strat pickup in the neck and a homemade Les Paul copy (bolt neck) with generic humbuckers. Single coils and humbuckers both sound fine through this amp. For distortion you'll need to add a pedal. I use an old EH Hot Tubes, an Ibanez TS-5 and/or a Zoom 505. The amp sounds like whatever you want it to sound like with the right pedals (even does Santana, again with the right pedal settings). It's fairly loud for a 20 watt solid state. I have an early 70's Fender Deluxe Reverb, that is also about 20 watts, and the Crate is almost as loud (The Deluxe has been loud enough for small clubs and even a large beer tent at the county fair. I have not played out with the Crate yet.).

I bought this amp used and "as is" about 5 months ago. The power switch was a replacement that had been wired wrong so it didn't turn on. I reversed the wires and it's been working fine ever since.

I have been in touch with Crate about this amp and they were very helpful. I bought an owners manual and schematics from them and they've answered some questions for me. Pretty good for a product that's been out of production for a couple of decades.

I've been playing for 34 years and have heard a lot of amps. Overall I think this is a very good amp. It's louder than you'd expect, has versatile tone controls, sounds "big" (not wimpy). If you're looking for 100's of watts, multple channels, distortion and built in effects, this isn't for you. If you want a reliable, good sounding amplifier to "amplify" your guitar sound, this is a fine choice. One note about pricing; I've seen these for sale for anywhere from $100 to $350. Shop around, this is not a $350 amp.

I AM LOOKING FOR A SLAVE AMP THAT CRATE MADE FOR THE CR-1. IT'S KNOWN AS THE "CRATE KICKER, CR-KS". IT'S 60 WATTS AND ONLY HAS A GAIN KNOB AND 3 LED LIGHTS. PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU KNOW WHERE I MIGHT FIND ONE. THANKS

The 3 reviews before mine covered the basic features, I only had a couple additonals to add below.

I have had this amp since the 1970s, and it has been good, but nothing special. It has a nice clean sound. Recently I purchased the Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal, and this CR-1 amp has come "alive" with new sounds for me! It has unbelievable crunch and bite, and sounds very much like my friends small solid circuit Marshall amp! No kidding, if you have one of these CR-1's and want a nice crisp metal distortion, add this pedal. Sounds more Marshall than my Fender tube does, with the pedal. For the price, good tone, good little amp.

After 25 years I had to have it surviced. But all in all, been good!

I thought it was a bit pricey to send this to Crate - cost me about $95 to have this fixed. Works like new again, but whew!

I play with a Gibson Les Paul Catalina, a Fender Twin amp, and this Crate - which really is quite fun to have the diff. sound here. I play all genres.

Few. It has two inputs and one ouput jack. It has gain, master, bass and trebble controls and one 12 inch speaker. Twenty watts.

I generally play through a Fender Telecaster. The amp has a very warm sound so it sounds great with a tele. A very meaty sound for a 20 watt solid state amp. It sounds more like a small tube amp.

Absolutely perfect. Durable hardware, great cabinet and speaker grill. This amp was built to last.

None needed. Others I've talked to over the years have had great support from crate.

I've been playing for thirty years and have other Fender and Roland amps. Even though this does not have EQ controls, it sounds great. Very meaty sound with minimal buzz when pounded. If I wanted more features I would use another of my amps. Anyone who buys an amp with limited features has what they purchased.

This is the "Crate One," a 20 watt combo with 1 x 12" speaker. It's got a nice looking, exposed wood "crate" cabinate. If has only 4 controls: Gain, Treble, Bass, and Master. It has two inputs, but only one channel (clean).

This is a clean, basic, solid-state amp. It has a very heavy-duty 12" speaker that delivers more bass than most small guitar combos. In fact, it sounds like a bass amp.
It warms up a little as the gain goes up, but not much. It has a different sound than most small solid-state combos - richer bass, and quite punchy. For such a plain little amp, I really like the bassy tone I get.

Excellent reliability. I bought this amp used in about 1982, and have dragged it all over, and it's never let me down.

N/A - I've never had to call Crate.

Overall this is a neat little wooden amp! I've been playing for about 20 years, and have played many guitars, keyboards, and even basses through it. For some reason, I really love it. If it were stolen, I would lay down and die.

This amp is known as the "Crate One". It actually looks like a crate that you would put stuff in. It features 1 12 inch speaker in a open back cabinet. It doesn't specify how many watts it is, but I would say no more than 60. It is solid state with gain, bass, treble, and master controls. There are two inputs and a line out. I feel that it could use some more equalization. It is loud enough for this range, but its tone is a little flat.

This is my vocalist/rythem player's. We use an S.D. Curlee Aspen, Kramer Nightswan, Peavey Mantis, and Charvel Model 6. When clean, it always seems to have a little distortion at any volume at all. When the gain is turned up all the way and the master is used as the volume, only a bit of fuzz is availible. No real solid state distortion here. It puts out some deep tones, but they seem to die out quickly. I have used the same effects that I use with my other amps, but it does not matter. If there is no sustain coming from a Kramer Nightswan or Charvel Model 6, it has to be the amp. We both use DOD Tec-4 processors.

It seems to be solid as a rock. just turn on the switch and forget about it. It has some nice hardware and the speaker is protected behind steel mesh.

Made by SLM. I don't know if the Crate we know today is still under this ownership.

In its defense, I must say that I play through a Fender Super Six. For what he paid for it, it is great. It is small enough that you can carry it back and fourth without its own trailer, yet it has enough volume to play small venues. I wish it had that smooth tone and sustain that I am used to, but hey, it serves the purpose.