Crate FW15R

This amp is a 2008 model. It's basically a 2 channel practice amp with reverb/headphone jack/cd input and a jack for adding external speakers. What clinched me on the deal though, was the fact it comes with a 12" speaker which I find rare in a 15w amp. I play a bit of 80's metal and raw crunchy blues rock, and it seems to be able to do them ok. I found a nice early AC/DC tone by mucking about a bit. It's not a tube amp, but it does do a decent job of being a solid state. In fact it sounds different but almost as nice as my all-valve Trace Elliot at times, and certainly easier to look after.

I use a Gibson SG and a Fender Stratocaster, and most of what I play is Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, AC/DC and whatever else...you get the idea. It gets a really nice rock crunch. If you were going to do Pantera you might need a pedal, because the distortion doesn't get that extreme. Clean channel (hardly ever touched) sounds very nice, even at loud volumes. No wierd noises, but I have only had it 3 months.

Great

nil experience

I like it a lot so far, and it's a great price!!

Brandy new, set to us after NAMM. 2 channel, non foot switchable, solid state 15 watt amp. Spring verb, bass, treble, mid, gain, volume controls. extension speaker out, headphones out, and cd in.

I have always been an avowed Crate hater. When it came in to the store, I was less then awed. "Oh Gee," I thought outloud. "I wonder if it'll sound broken, like every other Crate I played thru."

The clean channel works well. REALLY well. Tele and strat player would kill for that sound. Sparkling highs, good mids, and surprising lows. Not too shabby. The spring verb is also good. Vintage? ehhh, no. But still quite usable.

The distortion really shocked me as to how usable it was. Bluesy in the lower setting on a humbucker equipped guitar, and almost Stevie Rayish on a strat. Even the highest setting was decent. Crate, ya did good.

Welllll.... I was told to take it home, and test it. And test it I did. It survived a 3 foot drop, a tumble down some carpeted stairs, and a loud session with my bass.

NO Damage, and no issues. I wouldn't be ashamed to have this on stage with me. The 15 watts would have to be mic-ed however.

Customer support? From Crate? HA!

It surprised me so much, that I kept the one I took home! No, it's nowhere near my Roland JC77, or my Marshall, but it doesn't try to be. It's a 15 watt Crate, and it's happy being that.

as noted before...
15 watts, 1 12in speaker, spring reverb. clean and overdrive channels
cd/ headphone/ outboard jacks. If the Amish played elcetric guitar they would use this amp.

A couple of if's and buts......

I normally use Marshall JCM series and/ or all tube fenders (twins, etc)and am sort of an amp snob.

having said that......

I hate fake tube technology. I bought this because it does NOT sound like a tube amp. It sounds like a well voiced solid state amp. There really are such things (roland jazz and a few others) and this is a nice example of the species. I run a fender US 52 reissueTelecaster through it and it sounds very crisp and clear.

If you wanted a Vox ac 15 or some such you will be unhappy. If you want a very clear dry solid state tone it is the best deal out there. Though for 2 1/2 times the $ I like the Kustom stuff as well. This amp will mix well with digital effects and that sort of thing.

The OD channel is, well, available if you want it. It is not the classic Crate distortion of doom of the gx series or late 80's to 90's Crates. Those are the best kept secret in heavy metal. I was kinda hoping for that circuit but this is more boss od1 pedal sounding. No footswitch option.

Accepting it for what it is, it is a great piece.

Crate usually hold up until they dont. Kind of like cigerette lighters and honda accords.

Personally I have gigged crates a good deal with no drama but for a $100 amp dont expect to toss it in the truck every night for 3-4 years and have no problems.

Crate answers the phone but will charge for information. make of that what you will.

Good candidate for a small room/ church band/ studio amp. Solid state amps have lately gotten too cute (too many gizmos) by half and the simplicity is a welcome relief.

If you want to gig it, mike it.

I wanted to retire a vintage fender combo from rehersal duty and this made the cut. You may not want to sell the Dr.Z or the Blackface deluxe just yet but solid state amps have their upsides as well and for the money this is just swell.

This a decent, bare bones 15 watt solid state practice amp with digital overdrive and a small srping reverb. The overdrive is acceptable. The spring reverb is really quite good, and an unexpected surprise from such a small, low priced pratice amp. Too many cheap digital effects detract from an amp, so this amp is good with just the overdrive and very good spring reverb. The reverb alone is worth the price.

Here again, this is a small, low priced practice amp. So don't be foolish enough to think you can gig with it. It gets loud but not gig worthy on its own. It's enouigh to pi$$ off your neighbors but not enough to gig with on its own. The stock speaker sounds acceptable and what you'd expect for this price range.

It has a line out jack so you can drive an external speaker. This little baby surprised me here. I plugged the line out into a home made cabinet containing a vintage old 200 watt Electro Voice 15" SRO speaker and was surprised at the sound that resulted. Connect it to any good speaker or any speaker better than the stock speaker it comes with, and you get surprisingly good sound from this little amp.

I connected it to a 2 x 12 cabinet with 2 12" 150 watt Eminence Swamp Thang speakers in it and it sounded quite good too. A lot of guts for 15 watts.

Then I decided to piggy back it through my Fender Bandmaster (40 watt tube head) into a Marshal 4 x 12. Using this little Crate as a pre-amp into the bandmaster and Marshal REALLY surprised me. The possibilities are interesting, and QUITE loud.

Get a mid to high priced set of studio headphones to use with the headphone jack and you'll get quite good sound out of this amp.


This is a good practice amp, but ONLY a practice amp. If you want loud and power, use a bigger amp. When I want loud and overdriven, I plug into my Bandmaster and Marshall - that is what THEY are built for. Sometimes you just want good quality and clean sound at a low volume. This is a good amp for that.

Too new to say, and it is the first Crate I've ever bought.

Haven't had the need yet.

I got this at The Guitar Center as a Promo deal for $90.00. I am happy with it so far. It is small and light enough to be easily carried. The line out jack offers the ability to connect it better quality speaker and therfore better quality sound than you'll get from the stock speaker. It comes with a 5 year warranty which is better than the competition. If this amp lasts for 5 years that equates to a cost of $18.00 a year to own and operate it.

Like anything else, if you take care of it it should last a good long time. It is a PRACTICE amp, not a gigging amp. Cranking this thing will likely blow the speaker or burn out a circuit. That may not be covered under the generous warranty.

I use this to practice. I like the sound through headphones (I use AKG K 240 Studio phones) and it keeps the peace with the wife and neighbors.

This is a recent model in Crate's Wave Flex line of amplifier. It's a solid state two channel amplifier. 15 watts with a 12" speaker, reverb, headphone jack, external speaker jack on front panel along with CD/tape in. This is not one of those modeling/DSP amplifiers with hokie sounding effects.

I am playing a LP Classic through it right now. The amp is perfectly quiet. No surprise here for an SS amp. The clean channel is as expected. Nice clean sound although plain jane. Good dynamic range, but where this amplifier really sunshines is the lead channel. I am plenty happy with the sound of the lead channel. This amp is great for that bluesy crunch tone. However, this is not a high gain metal amp. You won't get any brutal distortion from the lead channel. I was surprised to find that this amp also takes well to a couple of my pedals as a previous Peavey SS amp I had didn't take well to pedals at all.

Too new to say for sure. However, if I get at least two years of sound from it that will be better than the Marshall MG15CD piece of crap I had that was hardly used. The best place for Marshall was the trash can. The Marshall is in its final resting place. I will give this Crate amp the benefit of doubt with a high rating. And if this one does craps out, I won't be overly disappointment because it will have gotten some actual use and enjoyment from it in contrast to the pricier Marshall piece of junk.

N/A

I am extremely pleased with this amplifier. I was looking for a small SS practice amp primarily with a headphone jack for quiet practice late at night or early mornings. I compared amps falling in the $100-200 range (street price) feature for feature. This amplifier is simply a steal at $100. I wasn't interested or looking for a modeling-DSP amp, fancy amplifier. I ended up getting more amp than I bargained for. The more expensive Marshall MG15CD amp that cramped out on me had a small cheapo 8" speaker that didn't have the sound quality of this amp. I got an amp with a 12" speaker, external speaker jack, headphone jack, reverb, and 2 channels. And on top of all this it is the sound that matters. This amplifier has good sound.