Product: Crate GT 1200H
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
04/02/2008
at
11:34am
by
nick donald
Features
:
8
Not sure what year it was made - bought it Nov 07 form a fella who had it about a year - i guess it had been in stock for a while maybe it is 2005
It is great for clean and alternative distortion like grunge
3 channels: clean-reverb, rhythm and lead, with footswitch
No headphone jack socket which is a shame, guess I could stick one in the lineout from the Crate GT412SL cabinet I use with it, which I use for recording direct to my PC.
So, as for effects, it has volume, low, middle and high controls on the clean cahnnel; gain, low, mid, high and level on the rhythm channel; and gain shape and level on the Solo channel.
The distortion is ok for grunge, if I want more effects i use a zoom gfx-1 multifx for amp and pedal simulation and other distortion settings. i guess the built in effects are relatively basic but they are ok and they are fun to use.
Sound Quality
:
7
I am using it with a fender cyclone HH - with twin humbuckers of course!, a fender santa ana in the neck position and a fender tex-mex pup in the bridge.
I play clean on it is nice and clear and the reverb is good. there is plenty of power with 120W
I play rock and roll and grungy distorted stuff and it is ideal for all that alternative thing.
Not too noisy i would say - a little bit of a hum when you arnt playing
Enough variety in the distortion to play straight forward clean rhythm or lead - if you want more use fx!
Reliability
:
7
So far i have no probs with it, over 4 months. I have giiged with it yet but it seems relaible enough. I thought i might get one of those crate power blocks for a back up, but i reckone i'd be unlikely to need it.
Dosnt need much servicing cos its a transistor amp!
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
never needed it yet
Overall Rating
:
8
playing about 15 years
i have used it with a telecaster copy with H/S pups and it sounds good through this amp - twangy
Product: Crate GT 1200H
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
11/13/2006
at
05:55am
by
ash
Features
:
8
Made in 2006 (I think), 120 watts, solid state, 3 channels, reverb, 3 way footswitch included.
I bought this for 100 quid from a mate, as the tubes on my JCM 2000 were on their way out, and had started to sound like shit. I was also looking for an amp with a solo boost option, and this Crate has one.
It also has a headphone jack, and a cd input so you can play along with songs that you like.
120 watts solid state might not sound like a lot, but it has plenty of power for me. Iv'e recently started using a bit less gain for rhythm playing, and it has worked. I can hear myself a lot better, note definition and attack has improved, etc, etc. So, definitely enough power for me.
Could have had a few extra things in my opinion, such as seperate reverb for each channel, but then again it only cost me 100 quid.
Sound Quality
:
8
My band plays thrash, but we do have clean parts, lead breaks, etc, so I need an amp that can do quite a lot.
The clean channel is ok, not really shimmery like tubes are, but good enough for me. Don't really use it an awful lot.
The crunch channel is pretty good, it needs a bit more gain available to be honest, just to get a bit more chugg going, but im using stock seymour duncans in my dean, and was looking to swap the bridge for a Dimebucker, so that should sort it.
The solo channel is my favourite by far. More gain is available on this channel, and it has a contour dial, which cuts the mids one way and boosts them another. You can get a wide variety of tones using this. The notes themselves really cut through on this channel, no muddiness, and my vibrato sounds like it should do!
Playing fast picked passages is just effortless, whereas with my JCM 2000 it seemed like there was some sort of delay between picking the note and it actually coming through the speaker.
As far as noise goes, if you play metal and don't use a noise gate, then your'e asking for trouble. I run through a Korg pedal tuner, then into a boss noise gate, straight into the amp. No fuss, no noise.
I'll give it an 8 as I havn't got a hotter pickup in my guitar yet, and the rhythm channel needs a bit more chugg.
Reliability
:
No Opinion
Only had it for a few days, but my friend (who I also take lessons from) has had one for a while now and its never let him down. He also has one of the most distinctive lead tones that I've heard in a while, and he plays one of these things.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Havn't had to deal with them yet. Even if they couldn't do much, it cost me 100 quid!
Overall Rating
:
9
Been playing for around 6 years or so, I have 2 Dean Z79's, have also got a JCM 2000, but will be selling that as I'm happier with the Crate. I run through a Korg tuner pedal, and a Boss NS-2 noisegate, into a peavey 5150 4x12, with 100 watt celestions.
I love the lead tone, rhythm channel could do with more chug (but the Dimebucker should sort that out), and the clean channel is fine for the amount of time I spend on it.
Compared it directly with my JCM 2000, the tone of the JCM is good, but the Crate is more fun to play, the notes really snap into each other, just better all round, and has the solo boost option.
