Crate FW120h

got mine brand new in 2007, works for everything ive wanted to play from thrash to punk. 3 channels with digital effects and a 3 button footswitch. wish i didnt need a noise gate at high volumes though

right now im playing a strat with a single seymour duncan invader (pretty much a tom delonge signature) and its great for all the punk rock i play. when im in more of a metal mood i hook up my gibson explorer with stock 496r and 500t pickups and it gets too heavy to handle. great for bluesy sound too, my buddy tried his SRV number 1 in it and i sware it was the best blues sound id ever herd. clean is clear all the way through even at high volumes... wish i could say the same about the lead channel... needs a noise gate.

i have not found anyone else who's amp has had the problem mine has been having. about a month after purchasing it, the amp's effects would start to kick on and off with out me turning any knobs or pressing any switches. i took it in for service and the crate authorized repair shop couldn't find anything wrong and it seemed to work perfectly. when i got it back i plugged it in and it did work perfectly. about six months went by and it starting doing it again. i took it to the same guy who said he actually this time found something wrong (what it was i dont remember). he repaired what he could and i got it back... it worked like new for about a week. then it started doing it yet again. so i finally called crate and told them my story and the said they would be shipping a new unit to my house withing the month. to be honest its made me have some trust issues with this amp and even with the new unit, i still refuse to gig w/o a backup

the amp came with ether a 3 or 5 year warranty... i forget which. but both times i brought it in for service i didnt pay a penny. and then after telling them my problem and telling them ive brought it in for service twice they said they were sending me a brand new unit... its not there fault i got a defective amp and have helped me as much as a person can via telephone.

been playing near 10 years, i miss the classic reliability but love the new sound. this amp im afraid is getting a much lower rating then i wish i could give it because of my problem. i have talked to and read many other reviews and apparently no one else has had the problem i have had. because of this im being a little bias in my overall rating.

This has almost everything you could want. The cleans are awesome (very clear and bright), as is the overdrive (very warm and SRV-sounding; andding a clean channel to the mix gives you a great classic rock tone), and the high gain channel is evil (think somewhere between Slash and Dimebag). It only needs about a hair more volume to be perfect.

I got this amp new this year (2008). I use this for the metal band I play in, but you can coax ANY style of music out of this amp. From the first time I plugged into one to test it out, I tweaked and screwed with every knob I could to test out it's playability, and it more than pasted. I manily use my two modded Hamer's (a Vector with Alnico in the bridge and a Sunburst with a Duncan Pearly Gates in bridge, and a Dimarzio Air Norton in the neck) thru this beast and it really sings no matter what I'm playing.

The only flaw is the Noise. It is very noisy when you're not playing, but it was nothing a Noise Gate couldn't take care of.

Has given me any problems yet...

haven't delt with Crate directly yet....

Overall, this is a great amp at an awesome price (especially for a soild-state). It's warm, loud, versatile, and reasonable. Great for practice, gigs, and recording (so far I've only done click tracks, but they all sound good) and for beginner and pro alike.

Amp is a late 2007 build. Its is a 3 channel head w/DSP and built in tuner on front.(clean,overdrive,and high gain). I bought it new from MF, It comes with a 3 button footswitch. Two buttons for channel switching and one button for turning the DSP effects on and off. Solid state 3-channel with DSP. Has an effects loop that requires a crate Y cable to use. Also has an 1/8 input jack on front for a cd in. At 120 watts This head is loud! I bought this head to use with my Crate GT412 cab. Loaded with Celestion seventyfive-80s. My other amp is at the techs (Crate VC-6212) getting a new power transformer. As soon as I get my tube combo amp back this head is goin by the wayside until needed again as a back-up. IMO the DSP FX are worthless. I'm sure you could get some decent sounds from them, I just didn't bother with them much, I just used the stomp boxes in front of it instead.

I primarily use my Jackson DXMGT with EMG Hzs. It seems to be a good metal head. Clean channel sounds very clean and sparkly. Overdrive Is very warm and with plenty of crunch. High gain Is just crazy. Perfect for leads and rolling up with the gain produces a very nice chugga. The 1/8 cd in seemed a bit noisy but very handy for jamming along with an mp3. The Overdrive and High gain channels when left on and not playing are VERY noisy. Probably the loudest fuzz and feedback I have ever heard. Its a pretty simple fix though. Just switch it to the clean channel and it is super quiet.

Havent had it very long so I don't know about reliabilty. It has a 5 year transferable warranty so reliabilty is not a concern ATM. I'm sure gigging without a backup should be no problem. I bought this as a backup/ practice amp so I'm sure it won't get used much as soon as I get my 60 watt Crate tube combo back.

Crate customer support.. I would say excellent. My other amp Crate Vintage club 6212 Just blew a power transformer 3 weeks ago. I took it to an excellent tech in Orland Park, IL. I bought that amp new in late 2006 and it was manufactured in 2000. Crate's warranty is 5 years from date of original purchase. And they honor that! So keep your bill of sale.

I don't see how you would lose it? Honestly how drunk would you have to be to lose an amp? If it were stolen They apparently needed it worse than I did. Turn it into the insurance and get something new. I bought this as a backup because it was cheap. It sounds pretty good so that is a bonus. It does not have a headphone jack But honestly who needs a headphone jack on a 120 watt head? Buy a pocket pod or something similar for that matter.