Crate CR-112

I bought this amp about a year ago and at first it worked fine but then i started playing heavier styles of music(metal, hard rock,etc.) and i started to blow out fuses over and over. then one time the fuse blew and after I fixed it, it wouldn't play my guitar and it gave off a humming sound. So if anyone reads this please give me suggestions as to what the problem might be.rockmandolinist@yahoo.com

when it worked, it sounded great. I have a new 2004 OLP strat. a piece of s***. but it has good tone.

no reliability now but when it worked it wouldn't give up, it ruled.

no dealing with the company....yet.

I'm not sure what year mine was made but 1982 would be about right from the looks. My aunt gave me this amp in 1996 along with her 1989 USA Strat. It WAS a 65 watt 12 inch now its a 75.... I had to get the speaker replaced. I play heavy metal of all types and cranking some Metallica on it ripped a hole in the speaker. The head unit has never been touched however and with the Peavy Scorpion speaker thats in it now it sounds pretty good to be as old as it is. I has 2 channels, the overdrive is SAD on it but then again I AM a metal guitarist. I use a DOD Death Metal stomp box and a Morley Bad Horise wah on it, along with a Zoom 505 multi effects processor which has been programmed to mostly act as a gate for noise and add some modern amp simulation to the sound. With my new guitar, a 2002 ESP Kirk Hammett Signature, the amp cranks out Slayer riffs like a Marshall stack. this one does have a phone jack that still works and works well. its mostly a home amp doesnt get played much now because I use a computer for all my jamming and recording

I use a 1989 Fender USA Strat, and a 2002 ESP Kirk Hammett on this amp.The Strat has Fender single coils, and the ESP has EMG 81s, as far as pickups go. I play all types of Metal on it from Metallica to Iron Maiden to Type O Negative to Fear Factory Slayer etc. Keeping the feedback away while using the wah is tedious, mostly a matter of setting the eq on the amp and pedals so you get decent wah range without feedback. The clean channel works well but then again I have a lot of "cleaning" stuff going into it....its been forever since I played it "bare". The overdrive is barely worthy of a softer Led Zeppelin song, but I have effects pedals for that.

As far as reliability goes, I blew the speaker in it with Metallica....(same song I blew my car speakers on...Sad But True)...and the Peavy Scorpion that was put in its place had 10 more watts of power it could take, so since then even the likes of Slayer and Sepultura at high volumes ring out.

as old as this amp was when I got it I have had no need to contact Crate.

I am a 13 yera guitar player, this is my only amp however I mostly use my computer for jamming and digital recording. I have always like Crates and had planned on making them my stage amps for my band till I discovered Kranks. But I would still look into Crate for secondary amps or to combine them with Kranks for studio or live purposes. I like this amp cuz its my first and still my only after 9 years of having it....but due to its age its only real use is for its rather good head unit.....we ll my rythm guitarist likes the reverb on it, and hes usually anti-reverb when we record.

This is an early 80's 35 watt guitar amp. It has a celestion speaker but Im not sure it came with that. If the celestion was placed in it later I lucked out for the 45 dollars I paid. It has two channels, reverb, overdrive and a bright switch. Very basic compared to amps today, i like the lack of clutter and the bigger knobs.

I have a strat. tele and a les paul and like blues, jazz as well as class "jam bands" like the Dead and Allmans. I have a few distortion boxes(boss and Tech 21) and prefer to keep things simple. The sound quality is good at lower and mid volumes, haven't really cranked it up in my apartment though. the clean channel is clean and the overdrive is more like a weak, 70ish sound. I like the overdrive, its good for leads and the amp isn't too noisy when distorted. This is not a fancy, or death metal amp-just basic. I wanted a basic practice amp that could handle a bar perhaps and this does it well.

Its old and still going so it has to be somewhat tough. I'm not sure if the celestion speaker is the original speaker and I bought it on ebay. Seems solid for the few moths I've had it.

I have been playing for about 17 years and have owned many amps, petals, effects, etc. This is good, fantastic when i consider the price. I like the fact that there are few knobs and effects and it handles my distortion boxes well. the one complaint is the reverb, its not very good.

After reading the two previous reviews I remembered a friend of mine had a dead one stowed away so I asked him if I could have it to tinker around with. I traded a 12-pack of Michelob for the amp because it didn?t work,,, why not. The cost was mostly for a new speaker and the beer required to get a tech friend of mine to help me. The original speaker was literally inside out. After replacing the speaker it actually would work for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. I found the service manual on e-bay for $10.00 which I include in the cost.

I don?t have a lot of experience working on electronic stuff other than car stereo?s but I found the service manual very easy to follow. It included ?tech-tips? which in a nutshell said to get a dead one going again replace the output transistors, the speaker and possibly the output jack. With the help of another friend who is much better with a soldering iron than I we got it working perfectly in one evening.

We did not change the op-amps like the other reveiwers but we did remove them and soldered 8-pin DIP sockets in place and just inserted the op-amps into the sockets. Maybe someday I?ll get some different ones and try them out to see how they sound. The stock op-amps are Texas Instruments RC 4558P?s. The stock output transistors were a Motorola TIP110 and a Motorola TIP115 which we replaced with a Texas Instruments TIP122 and a Texas Instruments TIP127 that my buddy brought home from his work along with the IC sockets.

This is a great sounding amp. I can?t tell you how much of tonal quality is from the new speaker though. I used a Celestion silver series V12-60 from musicians friend.

The thing I like best about this amp is the fact the knobbery actually does something and you can hear the difference just turning any of them even a little bit. Most of the new amps I?ve tried out do very little if anything.

The service manual points out issues with blown speakers and output transistors. Evidently repairable, but they (Crate) probably should of used stronger components in the first place. I'm no expert but every site or book I?ve read on the subject said that a speaker should be at least one and a half times the output rating of the amplifier.

I had fun with this and after all was said and done, I had myself a really decent sounding amp that?s plenty loud and not too heavy to carry around.

The total price I?ve shown includes the repais, upgrades and modifications I did. The previous review has a pretty good description of all the features and I agree with the ?everything you need and nothing you don?t? statement.

I purchased this one blown already and installed an Eminence Patriot ?Black Powder? speaker after making the repairs. A new pair of output transistors and the speaker was all that was needed to get it working again. Everything else I did was just because I wanted to do it.

I opted to replace the op-amps with OPA2134?s. I didn?t need to, I just like the tone of those op-amps.

Another reveiw I read stated that the reverb on his/hers does not work when he/she plugs in the footswitch. This is because he/she is using a single-button (T/S) footswitch, which is the wrong footswitch for this amp. This amp calls for a two-button (T/R/S) footswitch to operate properly.

My sister described the tone of this amp as ?wonderful?. Over the few months I?ve had it, I?ve taken it with me when I visit family and friends or to go parties and such. All who have heard it have said pretty much the same thing. I must say, it does sound better than I expected it would. The tone reminds me of the old 60?s Kustom amplifiers. It?s also louder than I expected it to be. That may be because I used stronger power amp transistors (TIP122/TIP127) when I replaced the blown ones (TIP110/TIP115). Doing so also increased the output wattage of the amp.

Well, it was dead when I bought it so I don?t know what to say here. As was stated in a previous review, the OEM speaker is in fact to week for the output of this amp. Generally, if you blow a speaker and then fail to turn the amp off right away, you can easily blow the output transistors. I assume this is what happened to this specific CR-112. I had no trouble getting the amp working again without a schematic, which is a sign of a good design. I did contact Crate to get the schematic and service manual to try to sort out an issue with the output board as well as get the correct reverb tank part number. The previous owner had already cannibalized the reverb tank from the amp as well as plug the output board in backwards. Judging from the design I suppose if the previous owner had not dorked around with it all would of been fine.

Crate was very helpful so I too give them a 10 here.

I?ve been playing guitar for over 30 years and have been a tech for over 20 years. I?ve heard a good variety of amps and have a good ear for what sounds good and what doesn?t. This is one of the few solid state amps that truly does sound good and they have been around for a pretty long time. I?ve seen them in the used equipment section at GC with price tags of $224.99. As compared to what?s currently available in the $200.00 to $300.00 price range new, these just sound better AND they were made is the U.S. Even if you have to get one repaired I still think it?s worth the effort.

If you already own one, I'd recommend upgrading the speaker, power-amp transistors and op-amps. In fact the service manual recommends replacing the power amp transistors if yours has the TIP110/TIP115 pair in it to a TIP120/TIP125 pair. My thinking was the TIP122/TIP127 pair is the strongest pair of that family of darlington transistors so that's why I used them.

I believe this one was made in 1985 it has everything you need but nothing you don't. It's a pretty straight forward 35-watt combo. This is the third one I've owned since the early 80's. Control panel from left to right is: Input jack, Foot-switch Jack (A generic two-button foot-switch works fine), gain, level, channel select switch, volume, bass, mid, bright switch, treble, reverb, power indicator and power switch. Although it sounds good enough with the stock OEM speaker, the stock speaker is actually to week for this amp and a blown speaker is a common problem. If you own a CR-112, I would strongly recommend replacing the stock 25-watt speaker with something in at least the 75-watt range. My rating for features is adjusted to reflect that owners have probably already had to replaced the speaker.

Out-of-the-box, the CR-112 is quiet and surely sounds good enough. Again, replacing the speaker makes a good deal of difference in how the amp sounds. I rate it as a 7 with a stock OEM speaker. I have an Eminence V12 in this specific CR-112 and adjust my rating to an 8. I have also replace the stock RC4558P op-amps on this one with NOS JRC4558D's and this jacks my rating up to a 10 easily. Likewise on the last CR-112 I owned, I replaced the op-amps with Burr-Brown OPA2134's and that also jacks it up to a 10. The OPA2134 op-amp is not "better" than the JRC4558D, just a different tone, both sound better than the RC4558P. The ease of making this upgrade also lends me to rate the amp high in this catagory so I give it a nine. Other speakers I've thrown in these over the years have been an Eminence Delta-Pro, JBL-E120, JBL-K120 and a Celstion G12T-75. All sounded great but the cast frame models sounded the best.

I've used them for party-gis and small venues so I've beat the crap out all three of these that I've owned. Aside from blowing the OEM speakers, it's solid as a rock. Just keep in mind if you buy a used one that has the OEM speaker, you'll probably have to replace it. I've sold the other two CR-112's I've owned and those folks are still using them.

Crate has been great every time I've contacted them. I would like to give them a 10 here.

I been playing for over 20 years and this amp has been one of my favorites to use in smaller venues. As I stated previously, it has everything you need but nothing you don't and I like it that way. I also like the fact that it's easy to make changes to achieve different tonal characterstics. My personal favorite combination included OPA2134's in the pre-amp, NTE2343/NTE2344 pair in the power amp and an Eminence Delta-Pro cast frame 12" speaker. That's what I had in the last one I owned but another player gave me an offer for it that I just couldn't refuse so I sold it. If I end up selling this one, I'll most likely buy another one again.

I bought this amp new in 1983. It's got 20 watts rms output through a 12" Special Design speaker which in turn is rated at 25 watts (10 oz. ceramic magnet). Two channels: overdrive and normal (clean). Bright switch (top boost of 8 db). Solid state reverb. 1/4" stereo footswitch jack for the overdrive and reverb functions (I use my Vox Pathfinder footswitch for this). Headphone/line out/ext. speaker jack with 3-position selector switch. The knobs actually work; that is, the pots are high quality, and when you turn them something actually happens! Too many amp knobs these days don't really function much, but these do.

I rarely use the overdrive channel, though it sounds okay for an onboard effect. Yet, I still prefer a separate pedal for that in the rare occasions that I want distortion. I mostly like pre-1970 pop and rock, British Invasion, etc., so the clean channel is what I've always used. The clean channel is somewhat sterile sounding, but that is not unusual for solid state amps. Playing my Casino or Dano hollow body guitars overcomes the sterility, but my 73' SG and Squier Affinity Tele Special (the butterscotch) can't quite overcome that sterility (the Squier really shines through a tube amp).
Opinions on the bright switch (top boost) vary considerably. I find that with the treble on "10" and the bright switch on I get splitting headaches that simply won'to go away; therefore I don't use it. This is more than trebly; it's better described as a screeching sound. Now don't get me wrong, I like using lots of treble; it's just that there's something else coming through the speaker when the bright switch is on. Something's wrong. It works for at least one reviewer, but not for me.
The volume does not increase above "5", but rather, the sound gets increasingly distorted. This is not a major issue since it's perfectly loud at "5", loud enough to overcome a moderately loud drummer. I've gigged with it in small venues without a major problem, but anything greater would require micing, etc. Unlike another reviewer, I have actually found that the sound breaks up at higher volumes, and there is some response to pick attack. It's not a lot, but there is at least something going on.
The reverb is pretty moderate, not good enough for surf music (that's what Fenders are for). It's fine for most applications, and doesn't sound bad at all; however, you DO have to turn it off before turning on the amp,or else it'll freak you out. It'll sound like you've just kicked the amp.
I suspect that this amp would sound much better with a replacement speaker rated at 20 to 30 watts max., but I just haven't bothered. It's now a spare amp. My Crate tube amp, and Vox Pathfinder are now my primary amps since I'm getting a more authentic 50's and 60's tone from them.

It's been completely dependable, lightweight (25 lbs.), and practical just like a solid state amp should be. It's never broken down.

Never used CS.

I've been playing mostly as a bedroom strummer since 1983 without any big breaks in practice. I've mostly played a 73' SG (with Dimarzios), but have now expanded toward the Epiphone Casino (with nickel flatwound strings), the Danelectro DC3, and a Squire Affinity Tele Special (all of these have vintage style pups). My Crate V1512 tube amp is my favorite for TONE, but the Vox Pathfinder 15 and Crate CR-112 are more practical, with the Vox just barely beating out the Crate in the tone department.
Since I already have two other amps, I wouldn't bother replace this one if it got lost or stolen. My two major complaints are the bright switch and the lack of rich tone, of which the latter could probably be improved markedly with a nice Weber speaker, yet the speaker might cost more than the current value of the amp!
This is an adequate amp overall. It is better than average in reliability. It would be excellent for touring because I believe it could take a good beating; and yet, its sterile tone is not particularly inspiring.

Small 1x12 American made combo amp. Front panel from left to right: Input jack, Foot-Switch jack (stereo jack for Overdrive and reverb), Overdrive gain knob, Overdrive level knob, Channel selector switch, Volume knob, Bass knob, Mid knob, Brite switch, Treble knob, Reverb knob, Power LED and Power switch. Rear panel uses one 1/4 " output jack and a slide selector switch to choose either External speakers, Headphones or Line out.

This is my practice amp, my main amp is a Roland JC-120. However I have used this amp in small clubs for last minute notice kind of gigs. For a small amp it holds up quite well and has no trouble making its presence known. I use a home-made strat copy with three DiMarzio TDS-II verticle humbucker pickups, an Aria Pro-II with DiMarzio Al DiMiola pickups and an Ibanez RoadStar II (all stock) when playing electricly. My EQ settings don't change much but the gain and level on the overdrive is very versitile and I change them often depending on what I am playing. I find the overdrive (distortion) to be more than adaquate and sounds very good. Most of the time I play an Ovation Celebrity deluxe A/E on the clean channel with the reverb on 6 or 7, bass on 7, mid on 5 and treble on 8.

I purchased this amp new so long ago that I don't remember what I paid for it. Other than a self-induced problem which I will explain below, this amp has been rock solid.

I would like to give Crate and Saint Lewis Music a big "11" in this catagory. I just finished repairing this amp yesterday with much help from the folks at Crate. Here is what happened:

I loaned this amp to my brother because he had to sell his amp when money was tight for him. He had it for over a year until he got himself a used Roland JC-120 (1991 model). He then loaded my Crate to a mutual friend to use while his Peavy was in the shop again.

When the amp was returned to me a couple months later it had the following problems: The speaker was cut, the ground was cut off from the power cable, the foot-switch had one button stuck down and the other button gone, the foot-switch jack had been removed, the reverb no longer worked, the overdrive no longer worked, the kick-board was broken out of the back and the cosmetic trim pieces had been removed. Naturally I expected him to replace the amp. We found an identicle amp used at "The Guitar Center" with a price tag of $250.00 on it. $250.00 for a USED practice amp! Needless to say I decided to repair the one I have, our friend would be paying the bill anyway. The Guitar Center refused to do the repair work because it was many years out of warranty and the estimated repair would be over $200.00.

Repairing the kick-board in the cabinet was easy. I didn't worry to much about the trim pieces, I just wanted to make the amp work again. The speaker and reverb tank were readily available at "The Guitar Center". Radio shack had metal push buttons for the foot-switch as well as a replacement power cord. That left the foot-switch jack itself left to be replaced.

No, it is not a common jack. It is a stero jack isolated from ground with a "normally ON" attribute across two of the four conductors. Since the jack was GONE I had no idea which jack to get for a replacement.

With that said, I conacted Crate via E-Mail to see if they would help me. Crate could have blown me off and told me to buy a new amp, but they didn't. They gave me a schematic and the part number for the jack. It took about two weeks for the jack to arrive. It came in yesterday and I put it in last night and completed the repairs.

My little CR-112 is now as good as new. In fact I think it sounds better now. And doing the repairs myself with Crates help only cost about $75.00 wich had been payed by our friend who did the damage in the first place.

I've been playing for around 28 or 29 years. As I said previously, my main amp is a Roland JC-120 but if this amp were stolen, I would deffinately buy another Crate. Crates sound pretty good for the money and there support is just outstanding. The only other gear I have is a home-made distortion pedal and a Moreley wah pedal.

35w combo amp. 2 channels, and a brightness switch. It can also take a footswitch that I don't have. It has a jack for line out or ext. speakers, but it doesn't do so hot. It also has reverb. I love the brightness boost. I love it. The overdrive also sounds great. Of course, part of it is that the clean channel is leaking into it. I love it when old amps do that. Most people probably don't. I play seventies style rock, but not covers. We hate covers. This amp can top a drummer in practice, but I mike it at gigs. It's great in the studio, because it ain' t too hard to move.

I use an American Tele, bridge pick up. I play lead guitar, and I use a few effects. I tend to emphasize treble, so my Tele volume and tone are maxed, and my amp has brightness on, treble and mid cranked, and no bass. I also have a slow, tight flange and a medium light distortion pedal plus some wah. I also use the overdrive, with the gain high and the level low. I can make the distortion get respectably raunchy, but I wouldn't recomend this for that. The clean channel is uninspired. If I were to switch to rhythm guitar, I don't think I would use this amp. For my purposes, however, it works fabulously.

I've had problems with the line out/ext speaker output. I bought this used and its always distorted. Beyond that, though, I've never had trouble. I've used it without a backup; my only backup is a little 10w practice amp that I can mike in a pinch. I don't see a solid state amp giving you a lot of trouble if you don't try to hurt it

No clue

I love this amp. If something happened to it, I would definitely look for another, though I wouldn't pay out my ass for it. Afterall, some of the things I like are unique to this one. I wish I could find a footswitch. I also wouldn't mind seeing more effects, like tremolo or chorus. The brightness boost is a must have for me. It would never be the same if I had to switch amps.

a 2 channel amp with a crapy clean and a weak overdrive.

the clean is excelent if your playing an accustic but if its an electric its a drag.. the overdrive is ok but its just not very strong... a kinda mushy tone at any high volume... but its my only amp, so itll have to do... thank god this is a hobby and not my career! boy would i be screwed!!!!!!!!!

HELL NO! ive had this thing for what 2 weeks and the damn thing wont even cut on anymore.. my uncle gave it to me because it just sat there in the corner and collected dust.. even when he did use it the input jack needed to be held at a certain angle or it would just buzz

man this things so damn old i went to crate amps on the internet and looked it up in their search and got no results.. if i could only find a schematic for the thing id be able to find out whats wrong with the pile of crap... can someone send me the diagram on its wiring?! please...

man this thing aint worth having... anyone wanna buy a pile of scrap parts?! i gotta spare speaker for it too... sell it to ya cheap!! maybe you cant put it in your fire place and get more use outta this damn thing than me....