Crate CR-100-EV

I bought this amp new in 1983- it was my first amp. All solid state- wait! don't stop reading. There are 7 knobs on the front: bass (active), mid freq (parametric), mid level, treble (active), reverb, gain and master. Overdrive is activated by pulling out the reverb knob (or pressing the footswitch) and then using smaller knobs set concentrically within the gain and master knobs to adjust overdrive gain and master levels. So you can switch back and forth betwn two channels, but they share EQ and reverb settings. The back has an effects loop (mono), Hi-Z and Lo-Z outs with a knob to adjust line out level, 1/4 inch footswitch jack and two speaker outputs (one hooked to the 12" EV). The footswitch toggles the overdrive channel on/off. I bought a used ADA MP-1 tube preamp which I run through the effects return.

I use a 1983 stock Les Paul standard through the ADA-MP1, a TC Electronic G-force effects processor, into the effects return of the Crate. I also have an original ProCo Rat distortion, Ibanez FL9 flanger and a SansAmp footpedal that also get some use. I play mostly blues a la Albert Collins and lots of Rush. I frequently mic the Crate with a Shure SM-57. I bought this amp for its simplicity and relative versatility- it has a decent clean tone that works great even with amplified acoustic guitars. The tube preamp I use injects enough warmth that I usually don't miss overdriven power tubes. The active and parametric tone controls are fabulous. This is a loud amp and the 12" EV speaker rings like a bell with very little noise. The clean preamp stage is great for jazzy stuff. The overdrive channel is pretty poor unless you like gritty tone, poor dynamics and very predictable response to your playing- I don't. If you want a bluesy tone, go through your tube preamp. Acoustic guitar works great as is. The reverb is nice but really gets feedback above about 4.

I've had the thing for 17 years and threw it around in vans and station wagons and it still looks great and plays the same as in 1983. Never serviced- big plus to solid-state!

Never talked to company.

I've gotten many good years out of this amp. At the time the bell-like quality was what I needed, now I'd probably try something different if it broke/got stolen. If I saw it for $70 like one of the other reviewers did, however, I would scoop it up!

This amp was a surprise -- I went back to one of my beloved used-gear stores about autumn 1998 to pick up a $150 G-K shoebox I'd been dreaming about... and it was gone. Disappointed, and not wanting to rush back into the chill, I poked around the corners & found an old Crate "crate" amp, varnished red-stained wood, practice-size, marked down from like $110 to $85, with some notation like "broken" on the tag. I gave it a fast look, noted that one knob was broken off & the reverb tank was missing, but everything else (even the channel-change floorswitch) was there. I fired it up, set the knobs low -- and my first 3-string major body-slammed me into a Hiwatt. I dinked around with it, but I was between paychecks, so I walked; next payday, not only was it there, but it'd been marked down to $65!! Omigod. (If you get to Minnesota, check the bargains at Encore Music, chad@speckworld.com -- half my gear is from this guy.) It was only after I got the little beast (18.5 x 16.6 x 9) home that I realised (a) it's got a lo-z balanced out in back with a padder [I was a soundman once -- god bless Crate!!], (b) the "EV" means ElectroVoice, and (c) the speaker out demands 90w rating!! The effects loop makes this thing a slice of heaven, hi & lo unbalanced inputs complete the scene. The only effect other than overdrive was the (missing) reverb.

Despite the collection, my prime guitar is a Univox High-Flyer (bought new 1974 -- more later) with a handbuilt overdrive/line driver. Usually, the result is a very cool transistor-fuzz psychedelia sound, but the Crate is one of the few amps with which I can kick out the ever-lovin' blues! Unfuzzed (or with my Arbor "Randy Rhodes") this amp has a jaw-dropping '60s crunch you'd expect from something vintage, like tube to a soft-iron transformer into an Alnico speaker. Two channels (switchable): normal/overdrive. Controls: bass (+/-5 & "pull for fat"), mid (+/-5 freq & 0-10 level), treble (+/-5 & "pull for bright"), reverb ("pull for overdrive"), gain (nested), & master (nested) -- if you don't know, nested means two controls per knob, so you can set the amount the preamp overdrives the amp for each channel. Essentially, the result is a 3-band boost-cut, with the two mid knobs allowing a degree of parametric control, and I can get a solid low crunch with sweet highs & no mid-mud -- and this from the Univox, which has the dubious stock humbuckers. Because of the "soft iron" compression, I can run a slight distort in and play hugely sustaining feedback notes at a level that doesn't interfere with conversation, then stomp the switch & get a sweet jazzy, plummy tone. [WARNING -- Kids!! Medium-weight strings give you much more of a dynamic range!! Don't try this with your ultra-light .006 sets!!] Using the Crate as a driver to my studio deck, I've gotten good results with my Applause electric mandolin, & even my Vox bass. I play blues, metal, jazz, Irish, Arabic, thrash, and folk, and the Crate has never deserved less than "darn good" in any of them -- and I've been let down by a Roland Jazz Chorus. If you're not this eclectic, you may never touch the knobs.

The wood "crate" case construction, while both pretty & solid, allows the circuit head to shift around, which keeps crimping the input wires. Short of sinking some really big screws into it, I can't figure how I'd stop this, and it sometimes takes a few minutes of jiggling to get the signal through. However, if I dropped the amp down a flight of stairs, I'm relatively certain it'd sound no worse -- this is an amp for the working musician. I have yet to find a more recent Crate which either sounds better or simply FEELS more reliable, much less both.

I haven't dealt with Crate/SLM. My repair company is two miles away, & works factory-authorised miracles for cheap, but I haven't broken this one yet... :)

Let's see... I've been playing since 1973, pro 1978-1980 (with deep psychological scars to prove it), happy part-timer 1996 to date. I play anything that doesn't have reeds. If this amp was stolen, I'd hunt for another, and indeed have been, or at least a bass companion. The Crate CR-EV100 is powerful, rich, versatile, small, & inexpensive. Given a similar power & price, I would take this over any other brand, even vintage Fender or Gibson, or Gallien-Krueger. If it had a split effects-out with a stereo return (for sweep, stereo chorus, or clean/processed), it'd be my lifetime amp.