Crate G130CXL

Not sure when it was made but probably mid nineties.
I play mostyl metal which this amp excels at but would suit many styles as it has a great clean channel.
Two channels only switchable via the front panel ,only draw back really.
It has loads of power,I have a small home studio and it would fill any size venue wise.
Solid state so low maintenance and very reliable.

Sound quality is great ,can't fault it.
The chorus is good but the reverb and dirty channel is a bit weak.

Totally dependable.
Many people have had issues with these amps including myself but with a bit of knowledge and a soldering iron these amps can be made rock solid.
I bought mine on ebay for $100 Aussie dollars knowing it was faulty.
It turned out it had a couple of open circuits,one at the line in jack at the back of the amp and one at the effects loop.
Simple fix if you know how and I also re soldered some suspect components as well.Previous is just neglect really not a fault as regular servicing should pick that sought of thing up.

Have not dealt with the company.
Bought the amp not working and did not need any parts to get going as it had just not been serviced or checked by a technician in its life and thats the main problem with most amps just sheer neglect by their owners.

Who cares if it was lost or stolen I am on the look out for another one ,they are that good!.

alot of features for a crate SS amp.

FX loop, stereo line outs, reverb, chorus, clean channel w/ bright switch, distortion channel with nice sculpting power

the clean channel is very nice. it will get super loud, not like a twin but loud enough to punish you anyway. its nice and clear, can be bright or mellow - depends on settings. sounds super good with single coils, something i was not expecting from a SS amp

the dirty channel rocks as well. enough gain for anything, although i keep it 1/2 and boost it with a tubescreamer before plugging in, then again with an EQ in the loop.

the drive is smooth enough anlone, but the sound got tighter and more defined after adding a TS style OD/boost, which to me is just tits.

the only complaint i have in sound is a slight boxy quality thats always there, thats easily dialed out with an EQ pedal. i am sure this is from the stock speakers as over the years ive upgraded speakers in enough amps to know that they can make a huge improvement.

but even so, i like the dirt on this amp. system of a down, killswitch, etc. no problem. and like mentioned stock its not that bad, just boosting it with an OD and shaping it with an EQ really brings it to life as far as metal crunch.

the reverb is quite pleasing. no, it does not sound like the verb on my super reverb, but very usable. i keep it low, but for those washed away in a large chamber times - its nice and dos the job fine with a nice trail.

what surprised me most about this amp is how useful it is - how versatile. i keep it high-gain but use my volume knob to change tones. i never would have thought a crate could pullthat off so well.

with guitars volume on 2 its a nice clean that breaks lightly with buckers, none with singles. ease up the volume and it gets dirty and sustaining - and i can set it for any amount of dirt from just a hint to lynard skynard crunch and it sounds good.

the volume at 7 is normal crunch/metal sound i keep it, with 10 volume for maximum chunk/punch/volume.

it really works well for a wide range of styles. clean channel and reverb you get country or surfing delight!

i know everyone says they play every style, but heres its pretty true. ive been playing about 21 years and learned very young to dive into any style because you always learn from them. this amp is really good for that. i plan to use it for recording and loud-ass home/out-back jams with friends.

not sure, only had it about a month

not sure here either

im not a tube snob, but i do love and use tubes and think today they still rule all.

thats why it surprises me to give a SS amp an 8 overall, let alone a crate amp.

but it has the power for live jams, great clean channel, good distortion that IMO turns into very good distorted crunch when you play around with ODs/boosts/EQs, and im sure a speaker change will bring about even more love for this amp.


anyway, a cheap amp that handles lots of styles well, has enough gain for anything, sounds good clean or driven, good reverb, versatile tone shaping with the EQ controls, FX loop, line outs, chorus, loud enough for band, etc.

if you see one of these try it out. you just may be as happy as i am with it. i was looking for something hi-gain so i could stop using distortion pedals with my super reverb (not a good combo!), so i went looking for a used amp. i am really happy with it and i hope it lasts, because like mentioned ill use it for quite alot

This amp was made in the early to mid nineties. Stereo, 2x12, 130 watts, solid state. I play a lot of hardcore and thrash metal, so this amps dirty channel just owns...it cuts right through the muck, difinitively as well as productively. It also works well with many other clean tones from accoustic to blues. This amp is absolutely loud as hell! It has two channels, three button foot pedal (Channel, Reverb, Chorus), effects loop. I almost never use the effects loop. I put mics on the cab if I don't have a direct box capability, otherwise, I make use of the stereo out.

This amp makes all kinds of different sounds...especially when coupled with pedals and such, though in reality, it's not hard to spend a couple minutes dialing that tone in. This amp's got it somewhere in it's circuts! The 2x12 cab is loud as hell, and will definately be very very noisy. I play an ESP Eclipse with EMG 81/60's and this amp screams.

I can see from the other reviews that others have had to spend a little cash on soldering. I'm not any different. $40 had this amp wailing again. The castors and handle have held up remarkably well for an amp as heavy it is. This thing's basically a trooper.

I actually did get a new three button footswitch for it from them, but I had to buy a stereo patch cable for it because it was one that did not have the cable integrated. Not all bad though, I can put my pedal thirty feet away now if I need to!!!!

Service centers? F that, most amp repair people can do what's necessary for the soldering easily. I could do it, but they have a steadier hand!

I love this amp, and if anyone stole it, I'd kill them with my bare hands. The damn thing is versitle, loud, and generally very reliable...though it would be a good idea to get a Crate powerblock or something to stick in the back just in case the solders decide to shit again. This is simply a rare amp with a great sound. Well worth keeping.

I bought the amp new in 1996 - the only guitar shop in Oxford Ohio at the time happened to be going out of business and had everyting on sale, so I went for it. I would guess early-90s for the year made.

Two channels, 130 watts, solid state, plus reverb and chorus and 3-button footswitch. Separate gain and level controls for both channels. Other features as noted by others.

The amp doesn't have an XLR output, but those probably weren't standard back then. It's probably better to use a mic in front anyway.

Fairly heavy, but the handle has held up.

Overall, the amp is VERY powerful.

I primarily play an SG through the amp. The amp is very responsive to the tone, volume and pickup settings from the guitar.

As mentioned by others, the clean sound is great. The clean is hard to distort. I have even used this amp for my bass with active pickups and the thing won't distort at reasonable volumes. The only problem there was that I needed to tighted down a bunch of the screws to get rid of mystery vibrations. This has never been an issue with my guitar. Acoustic guitars with active and passive pickups also sound nice.

The overdrive channel has a "shape" knob that controls the overal tone here. However, the gain is important too. I like the sound better toward the crunchy end - I can't quite get a smooth overdriven-tube sound. The amp is better suited for hard rock (ala Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.) than blues.

The spring reverb sounds to me like a typical Fender reverb sound, though I haven't compared it to a Twin Reverb. The reverb level can go very high, but I usually only need about a fourth of what's available. The chorus sounds good.

The footswitch has partly crapped out on me - the reverb button is out of action. I think this is from me winding the cord to tightly more than anything else.

No other reliability problems.

N/A - never any problems except for the foot switch.

The casters have always been a pain - they tend to fall out when I lift the amp, or fall partly out so that when you set it down they fall back into place and set off the spring reverb.

If it were lost I'd probably replace it with a Line 6 or some other modeling amp in order to get a larger array of distortion tones. That doesn't mean I'm unhappy with the Crate, though.

i bought this amp at a pawn shop for my son and i...when i got it home i found out that all 4 speakers did play because it is a stereo amp and they only had one cord going from the head to bottom.(i got a great deal as they thought 2 speakers were blown) the head has two channels...and they both sound great!it is louder than i thought it would be...and can sound clean or grungy....i love it

im playing a epiphone custom les paul threw this head. it holds a note forever..clean sound at high volume and lead channel has a great distortion sound. foot peddles let you switch from ch.1 to ch.2, reverb and chorus.effects loop works good too.

well...i would have to say it has stood the test of time as i have been told this amp was made in the early 90's and it still works like the day it was make.please email me if you have any questions about this amp. i know i havent been very technical about this amp.

i have no idea.....???

i love this amp...i paid $225.00 for the g130cxl head with a 4=12 inch matching speaker bottom. this amp smokes all the small 2=12 pratice amps ive owned in the past. it really kicks. great sound at low volume as well as cranked up...my neighbors hate me. i just plug in the wireless unit, open the front door, crank the amp and play in the street so they can see me and hate me at the same time!...lol

This is a 130 watt true stereo chorus (phase sweep on one side only)solid state amp. The very first in Crate's entire line to incorporate the flex wave circuitry with sequencial cascading gain introduced around 1990 or so. It is two channels with spring reverb and if I remember right it claims to produce 190 watts RMS when adding a stereo cabinet (it has two 1/4" outputs per side). It has an available footswitch to control reverb, channels, and chorus. The only thing I would prefer is a third channel.

My main guitars are a Jackson G.C. anniversary with a Dimebucker in the bridge and single coil neck, mahogany body, maple top, rosewood fretboard, Floyd Rose w/ locking nut tuned to drop d flat and an Ibanez J.S. prototype made in 1987 w/ Dimarzio PAF Pro in the bridge also w/ Floyde Rose system. These run through a digitech 2101 artist, then into the amp, then a Peavey 412ms. Currently playing the local club circuit in a metal band with this rig and I'll tell you it is very loud. In a large club with high ceilings and a very loud drummer playing a top end kit worth $10,000+ I rarely play above 6 or so. The clean channel will burst your eardrums before it breaks up. The only thing I would change are the stock speakers which are very bright sounding and like I said, they don't break up. The lead channel sounds very good also, the tube emulation is very good and crate's shape control is excellent for a quick fix for different venus. Best sounding true stereo chorus I've heard. Reverb seems average. I'm only giving this amp a 9 for sound only because of the stock speakers which are more suited for clean sounds.

This amp was bought brand new and I take good care of it but beleive me, gigging and amp regularly is a real test. Bumps, bangs, scratches, plugging in incorrectly and squealing the hell out of it and it couldn't be better. One repair in the last dozen years of $65 only because I daisy chained it wrong and fried the channel switch. I have never needed a backup-ever. Although genuine tube power is appealing, solid state is verbally abused way too often. It simply is the most reliable and least tempermental power bar none IMO

I have never needed to contact Crate for any reason in the 13 or 14 years I've owned this amp.

I have only been playing about 17 years but I eat, sleep, and breath music 24/7 and have a good ear for tone. You can not get these amps anymore so I guess if it got stolen I'd have to get something different but those would be big shoes to fill. I absolutely love this amp and will never get rid of it. The only down side is there aren't too many locals who take the Crate name very seriously.

This amp is a solidstate 2-12 stereo combo boasting 130 watts (65 per side) It an older amp made in the late 70s to early 80's. It has 2 channels clean and lead. It has an effects loop, reverb, and chorus.
It has a footswitch for channel select and reverb and chorus on/off.
I use it at home for practice and to play out on gigs.
This amp is extremely powerful and sounds great.

I use several guitars thru this amp and they all sound good.
I play a Fender fat Strat and a Gibson "the hawk" and a Fernandes
"surf" guitar with humbuckers and a Epiphone Les Paul Standard.
The clean is sparkly clean and the chorus and reverb are really nice.
This channel has a brite switch and a bass, mid and treble knob which
sound good at around 5. Maybe tweak a little from there depending on the guitar. If you turn the clean up past 3 it will distort slightly but at 3 its louder than hell.
The lead channel has a lead knob which I keep on 10 a shape knob for your mids which I like scooped mids. A sub knob which I keep on 10 and a gain knob which I keep around 5 and a volume knob
which I keep between 3 and 5 depending. Anything over 5 may cause permenate hearing damage. This channel is way cool. It has a very good distortion. With the gain on 5 you can sustain a note for ever.
And its a clean (not noisy) distortion. With the right guitar you can sound like Joe Satriani. Mine has 2 mis-matched speakers with 25oz magnets. The speakers should be upgraded to celestions for a wee
better tone. The clean is the clean and the distortion is brutal.
You can get a slightly overdriven sound (for blues) out of either
channel.
I play mostly blues and rock. Some heavy metal, reggae, jazz and country. With a little tweaking it sounds good playing any kind of music

This amp is old and it recently screwed up on me.
It started cutting in & out and getting a lot of distotion on the clean channel. It was a pre-amp driver and it cost $140 to fix
(the same price I paid for the amp) Other than that I've had over 10 years of use out of this thing without a problem.
I would definately use it on gig without a back-up although it always nice to have a back-up just in case.

n/a

I've been playing 25 years and I'd get another one if if were lost or stolen. I'm always in search of "the tone" and have tried out mesa's, marshall's, fender's etc.. I always come back and plug into the old crate and just like it better than all these newer tube amps I try out. Maybe I'm just used to it but it just sounds better to me.
The only thing is I wish it was lighter. It weighs 70-80 lbs and
is a pain too move around.

Made in the early '90's, this solid state amp produces a wide range of tones from sweet lush stereo chorus to a spectrum of distortion flavors. Two channel, versatile EQ, Line in, line out, stereo line out, fottswitchable chorus, channel select, spring reverb, brightness switch, effects loop, etc, etc, etc. This amp works great in clubs, studio, or home-- can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. Twin 12" Celestions do the trick!

As stated above, this amp runs the gamut. It is superior in sound and versatility when compared to most others. Great bang for the buck. BTW...I love the casters, this baby is heavy! I am playing mostly a Gibson ES-135 these days w/humbuckers. The combination of a versatile axe and versatile amp is unbeatable. Plus, I like value.

From the moment I acquired this amp it had clear problems with soldering joints (a common Crate problem, I understand). A $65 repair returned it to pristine condition. No other troubles.

Repairs were done long after warranty expired.

With great fortune, my wife's friend garbage-picked this from a lawn after asking the homeowner's permission. I suspect it was trashed as a result of an angry girlfriend, spouse, or due to its problems with the soldering joints. I could not be happier with its sound & performance. These babies are hard to find now. I remember a stellar review in one of the guitar mags of the day shortly after I acquired it. I suspect it will continue to stand the test of time.

The G130CXL has two channels. You can go from the dirty channel to the clean channel, or vice versa with one flick of the footswitch. It has an effects loop which I don't really use. I only have a wah pedal so I just go guitar- wah- amp.
The inbuilt reverb and chorus are great. You get such a lush sound.

I play a stock Fender strat and an Ibanez JS1000BTB.
You can't beat that crystal clear sound when you plug in the Fender strat and use the clean channel. It's heavenly.
I mainly use the JS guitar when I'm playing through the dirty channel.
But whatever guitar or channel you use, you can get a decent variety of sounds.

I've had no real problems. Once it changed channels all by itself, but that was probably more of a problem with the wiring in my house. Hasn't done it since.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I bought this amp about 5 or 6 years ago. I bought it because Yngwie was endorsing Crate amps at the time and I couldn't afford a Marshall. I'm glad I bought it though because the clean sound is so good. Obviosly this model is discontinued now. So if I were to buy another amp, I would probably buy a Fender or a Marshall.
Actually, I would have to check out the new Crate models as well.

This amp has been with me for quite some time..... 2 channels with foot pedal and reverb...chorus...etc......

I am using it with a Fender Strat stock.
Sounds good overall.
Although I knocked the cord out of the back of it and now Crate wants to chare me $13.41 to tell me where the 3 wires go.. IF ANYONE HAS THIS INFO...PLEASE GET A HOLD OF ME ASAP
I need to know where the Green wire from the ground plugs into ( which slot.. and the black and the white power wired from the plug.

Would be a lot more reliable if someone would tell me where the wires go

Customer support sucks BAD..... They wanna charge me 13.00 to tell me where the wires go.. SOmeone has to know this info,,,,,,,,,,, if so E MIAL ME ASAP