Crate DXJ112

2001 Crate-loaded with features, unfortunately quality not one of them.

You just can't be all things to everyone. This amp has a bunch of emulations..or should I say sounds. Have a fender twin and this thing isn't even close. Do yourself a favor, buy a DECENT amp and then buy an effects box like a Digitech....you'll be much happier. Look I have been playing guitar since 1966 and have owned everything under the sun. This was the biggest piece of crap I have ever owned...I have a 49.95 Kustom practice amp that sounds like crap, but at least it turns on and works everyday.

Yeah, right. Reverb died within a half hour. Quality of construction just a joke. See below.

I emailed Crate and never received a word back. After hearing a sea of negative comments from everyone I spoke with regarding Crate's quality I should have listened..just had to pee on the electric fence myself.

Big juicy ZERO-here is the Story. I received the amp from a large mailorder store (who I won't mention as I have bought many things from them and received great stuff) and pulled it out of the box. The reverb stopped working after about a half hour so I took a look around back and noticed the screws (yes, plural)were all about half driven in and the front panel was so loose I could have pushed it off. Trust me, not shipping vibration. Anyway, I thought if the quality that I could see was that bad, can you imagine what the circuit boards and everything else that I couldn't see looked like, no wonder the reverb died. Just a travisty to see this kind of quality in this day and age. To further my case, I emailed crate regarding my purchase and never received a response...yeah, I would have trashed this one fast too! $349.00-spend a few extra bucks and get something of decent quality. Resale value tells a lot-look at ebay, they can't give these DX series amps away!

The main reason I bought this amp was that Musician's Friend was blowing them out for the price of the DXB112, which was unavailable at the time. This amp would have cost no less than about $475 and I got it for $349. The sheer number of "features" is the strong point of this amp. There are 16 voices that are presented on the front panel in a generic fashion, presumably to avoid litigation on the part of the original manufacturers of those products (they use names like "blackface" or "top boost" instead of "'65 Fender Deluxe reverb, etc). There is also a huge array of effects. The programming of user presets is very easy, just tweak knobs to your liking, and hold down one of the preset channel buttons for five seconds. This process is much like punching in your favorite stations as presets on your car stereo. I give features a 9 due to the quantity of features, not the quality... see "sounds" below.

I play a Strat and a Tele. The Strat has a split Duncan J.B. Jr. in the bridge postition. With this setup, I can switch between the traditional Strat sounds, and humbucking tones. I play originals in a rootsy, bluesy, rock style. The Crate sounded great in the store. I tested against the Line 6 Spider, a Yamaha (can't remember the model) and a Johnson JTM-50. In the store, the Crate was the clear winner, having the most life-like clean sound, and lots of bluesy bite... or did it? Upon closer listening, when I got it delivered, I noticed right away that the sound was a little "squashy". I could only find one sound that really made me happy, and that was a clean "blackface" tone.

When I first took the amp to a rehearsal/jam, I was extremely dissapointed with my tone as compared to the other player there, who was using a Fender Twin head of 80's vintage. Until I got the Crate, I'd been playing a tube amp for years, a Marshall Studio 15. The only reason I got the modeling amp was because I wanted to start to minimize the traveling wear and tear I was putting on the Marshall, yet still have a nice sounding, versatile amp. I can't express how much of a mistake this was. The amp sounded fine alone, but mushy and dead when played in a multi-instrument setting. I could not cut through. I was also a little put-off by the blinking lights on the front panel that just never stop.

As for the effects, at least half of them use a preset compression level of 10:1, and an adjustable secondary effect (vibrato, chorus, whatever). This amount of compression is just un-useable in my book, so right away, I had to ignore half the effects. The remaining effects are OK, but they kind of suck the life out of your tone as soon as you start mixing them in. This is a bit like having a pedal with an impedance mis-match, or one without a true bypass. I don't understand why they couldn't engineer their way around this problem. The reverb is surprisingly good. It's not the same as a spring reverb, but I don't mind some of the newer digital reverbs, personally. I give the reverb a 9, my overall sound score notwithstanding.

I returned my amp in exchange for a Fender Blues Jr. after much internal conflict (with myself, not the amp). The DXJ112 looks fairly solid, but I do wonder about it's ability to withstand hard use. I noticed that the Tolex was buckled in a few places where they tightened down the screws that hold the head inside the cabinet, the back is VERY open, and this exposes the back side of the speaker to potential damage from cables or other things that might fall inside during packing or storage.

The warranty is five years. If I chose to keep this amp, I would have been very glad to have this, due to the unproven nature of this particular design. I never had to call for support.

As I mentioned, the low price was a big attraction. I thought I couldn't go wrong. My mistake was obvious when I attempted to sound good in a band setting. Although no one commented or complained, I knew it didn't sound good. I decided that I would add another 15 watt tube combo to run alongside the 15 watter that I already own (a Marshall Studio 15). This will allow me to switch between the gutsy grind of the Marshall, to the sweet clean sounds of the Fender.

This amp is not terrible, it's just not for me.

This amp is from 2000. It is very versatile. I use it for country, blues, 60s-70s rock. The 16 separate amplifier "voices" and 16 additional effects are excellent, like having 100's of dollars in effects pedals right in the amp. I use it all the time for practice.
It is solid as a rock.

I play this with a modified Aims (tele-like guitar from the seventies S/S) and with a Gretsch Electromatic (a Les Paul studio-wannabe). This amp is whisper quiet on the clean settings. The variety of sounds I get from this amp with my guitars is amazing: Chet Atkins to Jimi Hendrix. The amp has a virtual buffet of distortions at one's beck and call as needed . Again, clean is clean!

It seems quite dependable...I do not travel with it. I understand the warrantee and service is excellent.

I have never had to deal with Crate.

I have played for 35 years. I love this amp. It was a floor model in a music "superstore" in SoCal. I presented the sales manager with a printout of an internet ad with this amp for $349, and he knocked another 10% off (dude!). If I had to replace it, I'd get the dual 12's. I wish it were a little gutsier on the lower volume settings, but who is complaining?

Amp was built in late 2000. It's got different amp models and built-in digital effects. Optional foot switches (DXFS or DXJFS) can be connected via MIDI for better control. You can even connect a standard volume control to the footswitch for real-time effects and gain control. I purchased the DXJFS (smaller version footswitch)with mine and it works great. It's got a headphone jack and puts out 60 watts RMS through a 12" speaker. Sounds powerful enough for me.

I'm using a Cort Matt "Guitar" Murphy (MGM-1) guitar (PRS look-alike)with two Mighty-Mite humbuckers with this amp. The sound is very clear when I want it to be. The gain on this amp lets me get incredible sustain out of my guitar. I play all different types of music and it fits my needs perfectly. This amp has a constant hiss coming from the power amp, even at low volumes. Also, this amp DID have a problem with breaking up when playing through the speaker(SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS).....

I've had this amp for a few weeks now and I can say that it's built very well, with ONE EXCEPTION. The front panel / baffle that the speaker is mounted to rattled horribly, even after I made sure all the screws were tight. It turns out that the speaker grill cover was too thick or something, and the air had nowhere to move. I am in the process of replacing the stock speaker with an Eminence Delta-12 (AWESOME SPEAKER!!!!)and them I'm going to replace the speaker baffle with birch plywood and speaker grill cover with a lighter material (black Peavey-like material). This must be a known problem because I found some foam material under the old grill cloth, straight from the factory. I'm not mad about it, though because the upgrade will be fun to do and I know it will be TWICE the amp it is now!!! Since I've had the amp apart and have had the chance to really examine it, I can say that this amp is built very well. The frame is very sturdy and neatly built and the electronics are clean and sturdy. It's built much better than Crate's lower-end "GX" and "GFX" lines and I expect it to hang in there for a long time.

I've contacted them via phone and e-mail a few times and got answers back within a day. They offered to fix the speaker vibration problem but I decided to fix/upgrade on my own. It's got a 5 year warranty. Or at least it HAD a five year warranty until I fixed it myself.......

I've been playing for over twenty years. This is the best sounding amp I've tried so far, even with the power amp hiss. The amp models are great. Some of the distortion / gain combinations are incredible. The built-in effects are wonderful but I wish it had a built-in tuner. It's easy to program and simple to operate in a live situation, especially with the footswitch. I chose this amp after trying lots of other amps. I like the fact that I don't need stomp boxes or multi-effects processors anymore. If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably upgrade to a Johnson or some other modelling amp with effects....but for now, my modified DXJ112 keeps me happy!

2 inputs, high and low, 16 different amp models, 16 effects, gain control, bass mid and treble control, reverb, headphone jack, stereo line in and out. Has a tap button instead of a standard knob for rate control of tremelo, delay etc; I find a knob more convenient than a button. It has plenty of power

I play a little bit of everything. The great thing about this amp is that I can find at least 3 different great sounding tones for each of the 6 guitars I own. If you like versatility, this amp is a great choice. I have 2 other amps, both fenders. For pure tone and one sound, the Deluxe Reverb beats the DxJ112. The Fender solid state 85 doesn't hold a candle to it. You could spend as much on stomp boxes for the 85 as the DXJ cost and still come away with less tone. The amp is quite quiet. Some of the 16 sounds are not totally accurate but I didn't realistically expect it to. One word of caution, it takes more than a couple of days to get used to it and dial it in. I have now had it for a month and find I enjoy it more each day.

I've only had it for a month but it has worked perfectly so far.

I called Crate to ask a couple of questions about the amp before I purchased it. They were very helpful. If that is any indication of the service I will get in the future, I will be very satisfied. The amp is warranted for 5 years. The speaker for two years.

I am very satisfied with the amp. I would buy another if something happened to it. I've been playing for over 30 years. If you can't make music with this amp, I suspect music might not be your strong suit. No offense intended.

This amp is a 2000 model made in USA. This gave me all the freaky sounds that KoRn makes I love this thing!! The only problem is that it isn't as GAIN hungry as that I hoped for it to be so thats why I use my Boss MT-2 and my DOD Grunge. It has ten channels but 128 with the footswitch which I'm gonna get pretty soon. This amp is pretty f*cking loud. Digital amps are so f*cking good!

I use my Gibson Gothic SG, my dad's Hagstrom electric and my ESP/LTD 7-string (hoping to get an Ibanez). I tune down my Gibson down to drop C tuning ( C G C F A D) my 7 is in A tuning and my dads Hag is in standard and when I use the Acoustic sim with the Metal Zone it is so f*cking heavy!! The chorus effect sounds so mellow it makes all my clean pretty shit sound prettier! Plus I have this cool setting where I have tremelo going really fast and it sounds like KoRn style mixed with the rectifier channel in the amp.

I think all I need now is a Cab in case I play in a huge open area. The amp has not failed me yet. Its so good! And is has a 5 year garantee.

Never dealt with Crate

I've been playing for about 5 years I'm 16. I already mention my setup except for my Ibanez phaser I forgot about that. I compared it to the Line 6 spider amps they were good but the Crate was cheaper and it had more effects and amp channels then the Line 6. I just have to say that if you want a really heavy distortion on this thing get the metal zone and use it on the Acoustic Sim channel or the Grunge they will both give extreme heavyness but you'll get more bass with the metal zone though.

Bought the amp with the ROM chip in it so it's fairly recent. Great effects so far. It's rated at 60 watts so it's loud enough so far...

I'm using an Ibanez RG custom and a Gibson RG Standard. It's holding up to my expectations so far from clean to distorted.

Hasn't crapped out on me yet

Haven't dealt with them yet

If it were stolen, I'd hunt the bastard down because I paid bucks for this thing. But then again, I'd probably scrap over a stolen sandwich so my course of action is a little off. The online upgrade is the ish. And the DJFC foot controller has a crapload of options. Very versatile, this one is.

This is new for 2000 and it is the same as the DX112 but in a smaller package. It has one channel with two inputs (HI & LO), 10 presets, 16 amp models, 16 effects, and reverb. It has gain, level and basic controls for the amp models and just a level control for the effects. It has stereo capabilities with a line in/out, headphone jack, midi out/in and Crate makes a footswitch that holds up to 128 presets. What's really cool about the DX amps is that you can download new software for updating or adding new effects or amp models! How do you like them apples?!

I have used all my guitars( acoustic, nylon, 12, 7, and 6 string electrics. It is amazingly quiet until you want it to make sounds. The amp models sound almost like the real thing as well as the effects, which only have the level control, but that is typical on any digital amp. Read the manual carefully on how to set up for the acoustic and clean channels or else you'll get a bit of distortion.
You have so many types of distortion on this amp, from vintage 60s to today's nasty grunge, but still no match for the BOSS MT-2

My first amp was a Crate G212XL and it still lives today and that was purchased 10 years ago. It still sounds great even thru-out all the bullshit I put it thru. If Crate can make good amps then and I'm sure the company didn't get worse in ten years, then I will take it that I can depend on the DXJ112. I have inspected it when I first got it and it looks pretty well built, although the tolex covering looks rather flimsy.

Crate is so good that I never had to call them. My G212XL never had servicing except for changing a fuse, which I did myself.

I had always stuck with Crate for some reason, maybe because they never failed before. Why did I choose Crate in the first place? Because I couldn't fuckin afford a Marshall!