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Crate GX15

Summary
Similar Products Crate FlexWave Series FW120 120W 2x12 Guitar Combo Amp @ Musician's Friend
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Manufacturer URL http://www.crateamps.com
Features 6.1 (117 responses)
Sound Quality 6.0 (120 responses)
Reliability 8.3 (110 responses)
Customer Support 6.6 (16 responses)
Overall Rating 6.5 (115 responses)
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Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: USD 50 USED
Submitted 10/08/2009 at 07:37am by Matt
Email: kurukq at gmail<dot>com

Features : 6
Heres a plan and simple review from metal guitarists standpoint. I bought it from a friend who took up guitar, but soon quit afterwards, and sold it to me basically brand new.

As far as a simple amp goes it has what it should have. 2 channels, clean, and OD, with EQ's and a headphone jack etc.. so lets move on.

Sound Quality : 3
Using it with a Jackson RR-5, with stock pickups.. blah blah. I play metal, the likes of Hacride, Meshuggah, Gojira, Opeth, Psycroptic, Textures, etc..

Like everyone is saying, it sounds very muddy. I honestly cant believe anyone gave the sound quality higher than a 4. As far as the clean channel goes its super bassy, you cant get even close to a clear sound. So basically its going to suck with pedals.. I've tried it with a Boss Metal-Zone, and a digitech RP2000. Basically what will happen is you will get used to the ****** sound and start to think its decent, until you actually play a different amp and you start to remember, oh yes, its awful. The OD is just muddy also, cant get a nice high gain sound, very muffled, and poor.

Reliability : 10
As far as Crate goes I own this amp, and a Crate cab. Both have been beaten pretty hard over the years, but the sound quality never gets any worse (or better, sadly). I must say Crates stuff just doesnt break, so Ive never had to deal with customer service.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Refer to reliability.

Overall Rating : 5
OK amp for a starter maybe.. as long as they can find it cheap. I wouldnt recommend it though, because they will get used to a terrible tone and things just wont sound right. So playing along will basically just suck.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 07/01/2008 at 11:09am by David

Features : 6
It's just has clean level, OD level, OD gain, Low, high, and mids. Nothing special, theres no reverb or effects. It doesnt come with a foot switch in fact you cant even use a foot switch with it.

Sound Quality : 3
Dark dark dark dark muddy muddy muddy. If it wasnt so muddy it wouldn't be bad, and it has a decent amount of gain. The cleans are actually pretty good it doesn't distort until around 6. I play metalcore, hardcore, metal, thrash, and melodic metal. I have a Ibanez grx20L with humbucker pickups and a digi deathmetal. Even my deathmetal sound muddy through the clean channel.

Reliability : 9
It's never broken down or anything pretty reliable, and i have had it since late january. I wouldn't gig with it because it says 30 watt max on the back.

Customer Support : No Opinion
never dealt with it.

Overall Rating : 5
I dont own but i've been using it since january and over all its probably a 5.5 all together.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: PLN 150 USED
Submitted 03/24/2008 at 09:15am by Axel

Features : 7
Well, I didn't expect much when I was buying it, so I was a bit suprise. It has two channels (clean/overdrive) with a button used for switching between them, 3-position equalizer, volume knob, two knobs for overdrive (gain, level). It has a power but rather for use in home. It's made for versatile styles of music but in my opinion it's rather for rock and metal, than clean music.

Sound Quality : 7
I play rock with it on my Cort Z-42 and I'm satisfied with the sound. It's has very good basses, but not such good high noises, so getting them with bad guitar could be very frustrating. Distored channel is very dirty and I don't like it, very brutal and it can be used only for metal.

Reliability : 10
No problems with him so far (First owner used him for 2 years and now I'm using it first year).

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never heard of them

Overall Rating : 7
I play with some effects: digitech rp80, chorus koda, digitech hod rod and I'm satisfied, but it's pitty that it hasn't got even reverb. But for this price you can't get anything better for home use and beginners.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 12/13/2007 at 05:03pm by Axel
Email: powrie at gmail<dot>com

Features : 7
Pretty basic features but for a practice amp this seems to work fine.
Gain knob, Volume knob, Treble knob and Bass knob. Input, Output and Phone jacks. Powerking 15" speaker.
Single Channel but can be great if used with a distortion pedal.

Sound Quality : 9
This is my setup; Squire stratocaster, big muff pi (Russian), Boston GX-15.
When playing clean, this amp has a warm tone which is suitable for jazz or softer rock. With the gain knob maxed out it produces a fuzzy distortion which is pretty cool. I find my big muff pi works fine through this amp but I would only ever use this amp for playing at home. I would never gig with it. When the volume knob starts to get past 3 o clock it starts making an ugly distorted sound, but for playing at home it goes as loud as you need it to go before it starts distorting. Put it this way. I've never turned volume to full in the 3 years that i've owned it.

Reliability : 10
This amp has never stopped working. It is incredibly reliable

Customer Support : No Opinion
never dealt with them

Overall Rating : 10


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 04/05/2006 at 06:48pm by Michael McFarland

Features : 8
I mainly use this with the speaker output into a pair of quality 2X12 Peavey Black Widows. I never use the dirty switch. Since I use multi-effects I put the EQ mids on ten, the high on zero and Bass in between. this is a little secret if you have multi-effects.

Sound Quality : 9
I tried a Crate amp 10 yrs ago in a studio and I was intantly addicted to the sound. I play classic rock/rhythm/blues. I use this as a practice amp, but it sounds like the real deal with the flex wave. I have 120 Watt Tubes on my Peavey, but for practicing I prefer to use this amp. It crunches tone. I use this with Boss ME 50, Aphex Exciter, Rocktron Nitro and Bad Monkey/Screaming Blues. I don't use the little speaker, except once in a blue moon. This amp has enough volume that I never turn it over half the way in my living room.

Reliability : 8
Rather dependable. No gigging with this little practice amp. Although who knows, Neil Young gets his sound from a 15W Fender pumped throgh a PA.

Customer Support : 10
After 4 1/2 years the amp crapped out. I brought it in for repairs with the 5 year warrenty within the last week and had it fixed at Sound Check, Nashville. I didn't pay a nickle. That to me is a gift. The price for repairs was more than half the value of the amp.

Overall Rating : 8
I like Crate's tone. I also use this with Boss Amp Machine and I can live vicariously through Marshall, Fender, Vox, 5150, and Mesa tones. I just don't know about it's overall reliabilty, you get what you pay for.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $120
Submitted 02/10/2006 at 09:13pm by Anonymous

Features : 6
Really nothing special. Non-reverb model.

Sound Quality : 6
Best one word to describe it 'Muddy'. Just not very exiciting. Can make some pretty good blues sounds, what it's probably best for probably. Haven't played many different amps, but this amp just seems a bit biased on the bass.
Overdrive Channel: Never left me wanting more gain.
Clean Channel: OK. Basically all I can say.
Speaker out has some hope in it, maybe it's the speaker responsible for the loss of brightness?
Seems pretty loud for a 12watt but what do I know?

Reliability : 8
Seems pretty tough. Had it for a few years now. One thing I just noticed recently was I had it on the overdriven channel and it would sort just lose some of the volume/drive, like the gain knob had been turned down. Pretty strange, happened a couple of times randomly. I'm not worried about it though.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 6
You should easly get this for less than the $120 that was for at the time. I wouldn't recommend it unless you can find it very cheap (under $50) and you are just looking for a clean bluesy sound to practice on. It's not very bad and not very good, just an O.K. amp.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: 60000 (chilean pesos, which is about 85 bucks)
Submitted 12/12/2005 at 09:39pm by Longie

Features : 5
two channels, no footswitch (unfortunately), two of the useless jacks you usually find at the right in amps. Volume in the clean channel, volume and gain in the OD channel. High, bass and mid. made in 2001 or 2002.

Sound Quality : 3
2004 squier strat copy, single coils, and a les paul copy. Play mostly blues, prog rock, symphonic rock and a bit of everything.

Clean channel is muddy. Very unfenderish, even more dull than a marshall's clean channel - note that the owner's manual says 'crystal clear'. Not very usable - i usually just use the OD channel and turn the volume down on the guitar if i want clean sound, due to the fact that there is no footswitch jack. Distorts at about 6 - unusable.

From the OD you can eventually get a decent sound if you play around with the knobs, but just one that will get you through. It is plain dull, no spark, no passion. Just sounds mediocre. It doesn't allow much tonal variation, does not respond to different pick attacks or changes in playing strength. It has only one sound and it's crap. Just boring, sounds like shit at over volume 5. Absolute crud. Maybe i am a bit harsh in judging or my playing is still shitty but i've played with 15W solid state amps sounding loads better. This doesn't sound like anything - no wonder i got it new for $85.


Sounds quite loud for only 15W. Still not enough for rehearsals. Not noisy at all, even with single coils - there are amps far more noisy. You can get a quite decent sustain if you stand near the amp when it is facing slightly upwards - just find the exact point.

Reliability : 8
I suppose the amp is quite reliable, as it is simple. I can't see anything that could possibly go wrong, as it is just plain solid state. And if it did it would be cheaper to buy a better amp than to repair this i guess. Anyway, i've had this amp exposed to sunlight, rain, temperature changes, falls, humidity, lack of affection, everything. I even painted it white with regular wall paint - looks ridiculous. Hasn't suffered any damage. Sounds just as bad as the day i bought it.

Customer Support : 3
Never dealt with Crate. And i wouldn't do so if the amp broke down or something - simply don't care. I suppose it wouldn't be any use anyway as i live in Chile.
Warranty is 5 years - quite impressive i must say, though i doubt anyone would stay with this amp that long

Overall Rating : 4
Been playing for about ten years since i was seven, but i only got an electric in 2002.
Only amp i own, don't have money for a tube amp. But i am saving for a valvestate which is more decent.

If it were stolen i would do nothing.

I only got it because I didn't know a shit about amps. But I guess that for 85 dollars it does it job well, and i am thankful that it has gotten me through various situations.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: 200 (?)
Submitted 07/13/2005 at 07:46am by Jigen

Features : 7
Vesatile enough for rock-blues styles.
2 channel.
Good Reverb.
No footswitch.
Headphone entrance.
Output for more expand or register (but a rec on pc with this amp will have some "zzzz" not desired.
You can use it everywhere, very good for home praticing, a perfect "first amp".

Sound Quality : 7
Mexican Telecaster 72 custom
American Telecaster Plus '95.

Not noisy but also not so dynamic when you're playng, reverb seems not like any crash in his area.

Clean channel ok.

Distortion's very brutal and rich. Rare to search in a Marshall or in featuristic amp of any type.

Reliability : 7
Solid as small.

After 4 years little malfunction in input entrance, corrected by myself with a little bit of attenction.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I hope i'll never dealt with them.

Overall Rating : 7
Good amp, you can count on it for homeplayng and also for homerecording.

I would buy it again but you've always to check every amp you can every year for a calm purchase.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: 50.000 (pesos chilenos)
Submitted 04/16/2005 at 05:39pm by Merce_NatoX

Features : 6
El ampli que me compre es del a?o 2002. Es muy versatil cuando se trata de tocar algo de Rock & Roll, Blues, etc.
Mas caracteristicas lo encontraras por internet eheheh
pero a lo que se refiere a estructura es buena, sus efectos son buenos para un amplificador de 15W

Sound Quality : 5
El ampli lo estoy usando con una guitarra Samick, de 3 pastillas simples, y los estilos que toco son mas METAL & Rock
Mira, el sonido en general no es muy genial, de hecho cuando aplicas mucho GAIN con distorcion el limpio muere, aun asi tiene mucha mas potencia sin distorsion, mucha mas! solamente que no es distorcionado eheheh
El sonido distorcionado lo aplico con una pedalera de efectos que neutraliza el mal grado de limpio. SUENA POTENTE PARA SER UN AMPLI DE "10W".
Si quieres tocar en una banda, no te recomiendo un crate de 15W porque el sonido de la bateria o bien del bajo se lo comera.

Reliability : 5
No se si sea muy fiable.
Muy fiable seria si empezaras a tocar en tu habitacion, pero no para conciertos o tocar en una banda.
Pero, lo que quiero destacar es su estructura eso le da puntos extras :)

Customer Support : 6
no se, no la he reabilitado aun.
Ademas que lo tengo en optimas condiciones, ninguna falla :)
sobre los a?os de garantia creo que es de 5 a?os.

Overall Rating : 5
Muy bueno para los que empiezen a tocar guitarra con este ampli, pero no recomendable para empezar a tocar en una banda.
El ampli de casa.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: Free
Submitted 03/23/2005 at 08:33pm by Anonymous

Features : 7
well..i got this amp free which was a step up from a silvertone smart III's edition amp i had..it was like 12 watts and the most god awful thing in the world., this one was definatley better.

speaker out is always good which this has, 2 channels one clean and one overdrive which the OD sounds hella better once u play it through a cab rather than the lil speaker it has in it. everyone else has teh features so just read there. would be good if it had a foot switch but hey..its a lil practice amp....live with it...and the OD channel could have a cuple more knobs but again the price...o well. the speaker out again was a nice addition

Sound Quality : 7
used a bc-rich warlock (pukes) bronze series then upgraded to an ESP/LTD MH-100FM (o ya baby) used a metal zone mt-2 (sounded alright thru this amp.

the clean channel is decent as well as teh OD but tends to break up and sound crap the higher u get.

done expect to much of good sound thru this..its a cheap amp....you want good sounds dish out the extra money for it.

Reliability : 10
if kicked...dropped this lil sucker as well as banged it aorund on accident...nothign damaged....very reliable

Customer Support : No Opinion
never had to deal with em

Overall Rating : 7
if your new to guitar...get this....its cheap...has a distortion channel...its good enuff till ur better than the amp and need something more pro.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $45 used
Submitted 01/05/2005 at 07:23pm by Anonymous

Features : 10
ok guys freaking calm down

this is what now?
like a 50 dollar amp? what do you really expect from it? so hardcore distortion and sound? this isnt some marshall so dont rate it like one
geeze what noobs

ok this amp has two channels a clean one and a "dirty" channel for distortion. it also has a 3 band eq and a headphone and external speaker output

Sound Quality : 10
i am using an old charvel with and emg 91 in the neck and an 81 in the bridge.

the amp has some good sounds for a cheap practice amp. even better, turn the gain all the way up the bass on full blast, mids at about 2-3 and then treble on 7-8, then use the speaker output and hook it up to your stereo. youll get a metalish sound from it and is pretty damn impressive for a 50 doller amp

Reliability : 10
def not enough power for gigging but id say its good enough for practice

this amp has never let me down. great job crate.

Customer Support : 10
psh never had to deal with em


Overall Rating : 10
ive been playing for a loooong time

if i lost this amp or if it got stolen, i might go out and buy another one and perhaps mod it to my delight. (i am an active electronics hobbyist.) it is a great amp for the money as long as you know how to use it

so stop complaining about how bad it is, and rate it as a practice amp not as some professional studio amp.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: free
Submitted 12/11/2004 at 07:50pm by Anonymous

Features : 7
Mine is an early nineties, its not very versatile i use it for metal, two channels,i use the speaker out never the headphone,

Sound Quality : 9
when i first got this i used it as its mainly intended; a practice amp. Recently I discovered the preamp out and have started running it into my mid-seventies sunn(100 watts, 2x12) it sounds awesome. best metal sound very metallica-ish. if you dont play metal you wont dig this amp. I play clean stuff and jazz and the amp isn't good for that. I've played a standard Fender Telecaster through it and it sounds decent. Where it sounds great is my late eighties Charvel/Jackson which is a much better guitar and i do not car much for single coils. people that say the distortion is too harsh should learn to turn down the volume on their guitar, big difference can get Jimmy Page that way easy. The amp will feedback and his. if you dont like it use a noisegate or turn down your volume when not playing.

Reliability : 8
very reliable. a friend of mine had one that died tho so we smashed it at one of my bands shows. not worth fixing just buy another. Mine has been great though

Customer Support : No Opinion
never dealt with crate

Overall Rating : 10
i love this amp. i would buy another i would like to take the preamp out and cut the speaker wire and just use it through the sunn. who needs reverb i could care less


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $105
Submitted 09/21/2004 at 02:24am by Anonymous

Features : 6
Well well, I really wish two separated foot switchable channels, but for the price and size what you expect?

Sound Quality : 8
First of all I want to say I'm not a newbie here. I play guitars for almost 10 years, I heard lots of big bucks heads, I've had a Marshall head and I currently have a Mesa Recto, so I've a bit of experience. I wanted something cheap, portable and with good distortion. And Oh man, I can't believe those f..ls telling you that the distortion s.cks. This little thing has the Flexwave digital preamp and when you run this thing with a 1x12, 2x12 or even a 4x12 cabinet sounds killer, very close to the big brothers tube amps like Blue Voodoo (also remembers me a bit of a 5150 sound), it's awesome, the feel is perfect for that thrash or power metal! But it's a bit dark and you must turn the treble all the way up and the mids as well for a tighter and richer sound. The settings found in the manual are very bad. And then, of course, the 8" speaker will not do justice, but it's portable and I'm not going to wait for a good distortion sound of a so small thing, never dud, never. Anyway for the small size it does the job very well.
And, yes yes yes, the bad part is that the the clean sounds very bad and breaks very easy and in the bad way.

Reliability : 2
I think this thing was made in China. One of the volume pot broke very quickly, which I hated that.

Customer Support : 5
I live in Argentina. I got some warranty from the local store, but anyway I think it lacks in support.

Overall Rating : 7
I think that if you are looking for an awesome distortion this is the thing, plug this puppy with a 1x12 Marshall or a Boogie cab and be suprised. But, now there are a lot more options than this to try at the same price point like say the Roland GCube, Line6 Spider 15, etc... And don't buy this for clean please, buy a Fender Frontman 15 or Champ or whatever. Even that crappy squier 10 watts has better clean. Ok, that's all. Thank you!


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $112
Submitted 06/08/2004 at 04:48pm by Anonymous

Features : 5
Ok this amp has a 3 band eq and a gain, and a volume for the overdrive channel and a volume for the clean channel it also has a button for the channel selection.......so there is not very much variety

Sound Quality : 1
This is where the amp sucks.....the clean channel is not as crappy as the distorted channel.......the clean channel is ok but not very ok its clear but if you want a real clean sound get a tube amp.....the distorted channel is so crappy it makes me want to scream its that crappy artificial distortion that comes with most solid state amps.....if yall people want a real good amp get a tube amp

Reliability : 5
The speaker goes out every now and then so i give it a 5

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never had to deal with them

Overall Rating : 1
I got this amp when i first started playing about 4 years ago and i thought it was great but now i realize that it is a piece of crap....if you dont want a good sound out of your amp get this one.....k well im 13 years old and i can say this is a piece of crap and im not the smartest person in the world and i can tell it is cheaply made.....the speaker sucks.......okokokok ill admit its just fine for a starter


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $9.99
Submitted 05/31/2004 at 04:17pm by Photoweborama

Features : 5
I think it?s a 12 watt amp, and not sure when it was made. I would suspect about 2002-2003. Basic features, 2 channels, and 3 band EQ, input, and ext. speaker jack. Very basic solid-state practice amp. Wish it had reverb, but usually you can?t get that in this level of amp.

Sound Quality : 5
The amp sounds best in clean mode. The overdrive channel sounds ok, but you really have to play with the EQ and gain levels to sound passable. In my opinion, the overdrive is the weakest point.

As far as noise, I did not really notice anything. With a Fender single coil guitar, the clean channel sounds really good and clear. Very pleasing sound. With a humbucker in clean mode, I did not care for it, but I don?t care for humbuckers in clean mode in general.

As far as overdrive, this amp actually sounds better with a single coil guitar, rather than a humbucker. Usually it?s the other way around, which surprised me.

Like other Crate amps, they all seem to have a decent amount of warmth. Good for Jazz or blues, or anything in general. Most small amps are lacking in the warmth area.

In clean mode, there is little degradation when you use headphones. Sounds about with the speaker or the headphones. That?s unusual also. Usually they sound worse with headphones, unless you have amp emulation.

Reliability : 10
Crate amps are always reliable. Solid state so there is little to go wrong. I doubt I would gig with this amp, it?s not the size, or the amount of output, it just does not have a good enough sound in the overdrive mode. If I?m going to gig, I need the versatility of decent sound with both modes.

Customer Support : No Opinion
NA

Overall Rating : 5
I?ve been playing a long time, and it?s an OK practice amp, but there are a lot of other amps out there for not much more that have a much better sound in the overdrive area. If all you play in is clean mode, then it?s a good choice. A single coil in clean mode really shines through this amp. Clean mode is the best feature of this amp. Warmth is it?s other strong point.

It would be nice if had reverb, but that?s another price range in general. If the overdrive channel sounded decent, it would be a good alternative. It does seem to fill the bill for low-end practice amps.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US Free
Submitted 04/14/2004 at 01:41am by Ryan

Features : 4
I'll try to be objective about this.

Pros: 2-channel switching
3-band eq
Headphone jack & speaker out

Cons- Channel switching cannot be done by footswitch, the button to activate the "overdirve channel" very small
No reverb (unforgiveable in this price range)
No separate EQ for gain channel

Sound Quality : 2
I used this little amp for a very short while with an assortment of old Dano guitars when I was first learning to play and a friend of mine had leant it to me. Now, some years later it ended up back in my apartment (after loaning it to a friend who was learning) and I plugged it in for shits and giggles. I played with it for a half hour or so with my American Tele and had to turn it off after that.

In short, it sounds pretty flat. The 8" speaker is unable to generate much depth in tone, regardless of how much you tweak the EQ. It does get relatively loud for a small amp but is painfully shrill. The "overdrive" channel is actually a distortion channel, and a bitter one at that. The amp is exceptional at picking up radio stations at high volumes, particularly AM talk radio and Mexicali stations. I cannot imagine what use one would have for the speaker out box.

The amp was tamed considerably when played behind a EH Holier Grail and a Vox Valvetone, but was still nothing to write home about.

Reliability : 8
It's lasted this long without showing much signs of wear, so I'll give it that.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Idunno

Overall Rating : 2
I hope kids researching their first practice amp get to read this because YOU CAN DO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS FOR THE MONEY. Consider a Vox Pathfinder 15R that has two channels, an EQ on each channel, is footswitchable, and includes reverb & tremolo. The Orange Crush 10R is a great amp you may need to search around for but you'll keep it for the rest of your life. I would even choose a POD over this & just play through headphones-- at least you can hear what you're playing. Do yourself a favor, save up a hundred bucks, check out Ebay, and get something worthwhile.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $79.99
Submitted 03/07/2004 at 03:07pm by Anonymous

Features : 6
Bought it in 2002 brand new...You know the features, it a basic practice amp w/ clean and overdrive 15w. I use all of its features but i wish it had a reverb. I think all amps should come with reverb mandatory, o well. I never use the speaker out. I only use this amp to practice in my basement; it definately does not have the power to gig and such. I gave a 6 because it will get the job done for a beginner. You can get it real cheap off ebay. it's worth it for those prices not $80 bucks.

Sound Quality : 4
I use a strat copy with this amp but its still crap even with my friends $800 peavey. The clean is extremely muddy now, it was a little better when it was new. The problem is probly due to me having the volume on 6+ because it so quiet. The clean also has a buzz when you sit anywhere near the amp.
The overdrive channel is extremely noisy. You have to be about 10 feet away and find just the right place to stand so that you do not get an overwhelming buzz. With gain maxed you can barely hear yourself over the buzz sitting next to it. Feedback can also get rediculous. The overdrive channel isnt that bad if there wasnt a buzz. Because of the loud constant buzz and muddy clean it gets a lousy 4.

Reliability : 5
I would never use it on a gig...but who would use a 15watter on a gig anyhow. For the last few months a huge problem that is very annoying is that on the clean channel there is always a terrible echo. This probably developed from pushing this little amp to hard since the clean is so quiet. The noise also brings this score down It has always worked though so it gets a 5.

Customer Support : No Opinion
never bothered the amp so cheap anyhow ill just let it brake

Overall Rating : 5
I played guitar only 2 years but i play everyday at least 3 hours usually more. If this amp was stolen i wouldnt care since im getting a brand new marshall avt100 very soon. I would just go a couple weeks playing unplugged or with my epiphone acoustic.Just 2 weeks until i go down to nashville over spring break. Getting and epiphone les paul custom flametop too, amazing value the just throw a couple new pickups in and then a bigsby trem and your set. I chose this amp because it was the cheapest one at my local guitar shop and at the time i knew little about guitar. I'll give it a five due to the fact that it works and if your a beginner you wont know the difference between good sound and crappy sound, until it starts to buzz and echo(:


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $90
Submitted 12/12/2003 at 01:26am by Andrew

Features : 9
This is a great amp for jamming by yourself. You can play around with several style tones with the EQ and adjustable gain on the Distortion. Easy to operate and light to carry.

Sound Quality : 9
You can get lots of sounds. People who say it sounds bad dont know what they have. This is a cheap amp with small features small wattage and a small speaker. Thus you can do things with this you might not do with other amps. For example, I play my Ibanez Active 5 String bass through this. I can get an array of tones with the active electronics of my bass, and I can even get a true to life distorted speaker. The speaker just can't handle it. Sounds awesome. Use it for what it is, and it sounds great, unlike other amps which try to emulate sounds and end up sounding like crap.

Reliability : No Opinion
Its reliable if you dont treat it bad.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 9
People who say this sounds like crap give me a break. Its a cheap amp. Accept it artistically as a cheap amp. I think it sounds great, very cheap.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $65.00 used
Submitted 11/12/2003 at 05:18pm by Josh Tapio

Features : 4
I don't need to make this too wordy....this amp is pretty basic, you have 2 channels, one clean and one distorted, that's about it.

Sound Quality : 5
I used this amp with a Squier Strat and also a Les Paul..This was my first guitar amp, and when i started playing i thought it was really nice, but as time went on i got kind of bored with it and moved on to a bigger amp with more features. The distortion is ok, however if you are too close to your amp you'll get a lot of unwanted feedback, and even if you're 10 feet away and playing at a high volume, you still get a lot of crappy feedback. The clean channel was nice, but if you turn it up more than halfway it sounds really muddy and bad.

Reliability : 10
It has never broken down on me, and was always reliable...so i give it a 10

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never had to deal with the company....

Overall Rating : 6
I've been playing for about 2 or 3 years, i'm only 15. I now own one a 30 watt marshall with digital effects...but I would recommend this amp to someone who is just starting out. I don't think I would buy a new one if this were to be stolen. The thing i liked best about this amp was the ease of use. A monkey could figure out how to work it. So for all beginners, this is a good amp, and the price is right.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 10/07/2003 at 03:14pm by chris (aka lerxst)
Email: viper9927<at>aol dot com

Features : 5
this amp is one u use to get sound out of. it has the clean and od channels and theyre alright if ur not too concerned with your sound. its only 15 watts and it starts breaking up after u crank it past five.

Sound Quality : 6
i usually use an ibanez rx 20 r ( if u got one email me) with two humbuckers and its just for foolin around with. i tried a gig with this amp and it was a disaster because it was so quiet. basically the od sounds like that cruddy old kinks distortion but the clean is nice and sounds great with pedals at low volumes(get a boss blues driver perfect!)

Reliability : 10
basically i leave this sucka in my room and mess with it whenever im bored. the amp has never had any problems.

Customer Support : No Opinion
didnt need em

Overall Rating : 5
this is just my bedroom setup dont bother gigging or even practicing with a band with this guy. if it was stolen id wonder why this guy would even want this amp but i would probably just get something else with the money.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $70
Submitted 05/20/2003 at 06:07pm by Srayer

Features : 6
This is a basic beginner amp. The features are pretty much barebones. It has your basic clean and OD channels, L/M/H eq, and headphone + speaker out.

Sound Quality : 3
I play mostly rock and alt rock, and some older stuff (Simon & Garfunkel, etc). The clean channel is decent, but not great. It starts to distort at fairly low levels and seems to distort at even lower levels through the headphone out. I use high quality headphones but by the time I turn the volume up enough to hear the nuances it breaks up all to hell.

The OD channel is terrible. With the gain up, it sounds really cheesy. There's no body to the sound at all; it sounds more like static than distortion. With the gain low... well, it still sounds cheesy. If you're looking to play any type of music that relies heavily on distortion, stay far away from this amp. I have to use a distortion pedal just to get decent sound out of this thing, but even that doesn't compare to the OD of a decent amplifier.

Reliability : 9
I drag the amp around constantly and have not had any problems with it. It is very reliable.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 4
I have been playing for about a year now, and my main guitar is a Mexican Fat Strat. Occasionally the amp lets the strat shine when playing clean, but not often. If I could go back, I would not buy this amp. For the price or a little more you can get something that sounds much better like a Ibanez Tone Blaster 15. The only positive thing about this amp is that it's cheap. If you're picking up guitar and need a cheap practice amp until you're sure you want to stick with it, maybe this amp is for you. On the other hand, you have to be pretty good to make this thing sound decent.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $109
Submitted 04/13/2003 at 02:18am by Joe

Features : 6
my crate was made in 2002 i play almost every kind of rock i dont use the channels because you can get much much better distortion through any kind of pedal then through a small amp like this i like it the way it is but it is too small and not loud enough i use it in my room and sometimes to play with friends and it doesn't have enough power

Sound Quality : 5
i use an Ibanez Icemen which has two humbuckers the sound is good for what i do but it ins't loud enough but what can you expect form a practice amp yes the clean chanel is distorted at high volumes and the distortion sucks

Reliability : 8
it will be gone in about a year or so because i play it so damn loud because it is so small but other then that it is reliable if you use it as a practice amp

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 6
i have been playing for about a year if it was stolen or lost i would do the unthinkable and buy a new amp i love how simple it is and i hate how quiet it is


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $80
Submitted 03/08/2003 at 04:33pm by Anonymous

Features : 7
This amp is a great begginner/private amp its got two channels clean and distortion with separate volume levels and master low, mid, and high knobs. this is perfect for my taste in music which is punk, and rock. I give it a seven because its not the best but its one of the best and i have had it for 3 years.

Sound Quality : 10
I use a fender strat with the regular single coil pickups and a gibson sg standard with humbuckers they both sound great through it. Like i said before it goes perfectly with my music style because you can find that perfect distortion. The amp isnt noisy all of the time its just like you would find in a regular amp. If you find that perfect standing spot you can have no noise. But with any amp you cant have absolutly no noise so I think its really good. The clean channel stays clean with high volumes. I give it a ten. with confidence

Reliability : 10
Like i said before i have had this amp for three years and i havent had a single problem and i have knocked it over accidentially i have transported it over 100 accumualative miles. I blast the amp at full volume whenever i want. Which is pretty often because i like to hear loud music. Its very reliable.

Customer Support : No Opinion
havent had to deal with them

Overall Rating : 9
I cant give the amp a ten because it is not perfect, no amp or anything for that matter is.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 02/12/2003 at 11:56pm by Matt

Features : 6
Very basic, but useable. I use this amp for practicing and as a monitor in low volume applications. The distortion is kinda cheasy sounding but I never use it(I like to practice clean).I always find myself wishing it had reverb though.

Sound Quality : 7
For what it is I think it sounds good. It's just a practice amp(obviously at 12 watts with a 8" speaker it was not made for gigging) and it works great for practicing. especially since it's small and dry so it makes you work, and it brings out mistakes in your playing. The clean channel is decent for practice purposes. The distortion is pretty cheasy at high gain settings but actually sounds good on lower gain crunch/overdrive settings.

Reliability : 10
I have been using this amp as a home practice amp and stage monitor(low volume applications) for about 6 years and i have never had a problem with it. Works great low maintanence

Customer Support : No Opinion
Don't know, no problems with amp

Overall Rating : 8
Great little practice amp. sounds decent enough, has never let me down. i do wish I had gotten the one with reverb though.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $40 used
Submitted 01/21/2003 at 02:42pm by Anonymous

Features : 5
Crate GX-15 solid state probably made in the late '90s. I play pop, rock, folk, metal, anything and everything. Two channels, clean and overdrive. Three band EQ. Speaker, headphone jacks. I use this amp for practice only.

Sound Quality : 3
The main guitar I use with this is an Epiphone SG Special (two humbuckers). I have also used a Peavey TK-15 and an Ovation acoustic through the amp. It is a bit noisy but I am pretty sure that is the cheap SG Special humbuckers. With the SG the amp is fairly one dimensional. The clean is too bright and twangy and the gain is too muddy. The distortion sounds like really bad grunge (Mudhoney). With the Peavey TK-15 I played through it I could get really nice bluesy tones on the clean channel. Lately (after owning the amp a year) I have figured out that you can sometimes dial in nice sounds by being very exacting with the gain knob. I have never played this amp at high volumes nor would I. It is too noisy.

Reliability : No Opinion
I doubt you can depend on this amp. I've never used it to gig and I never will. Nevertheless, for light daily use in a practice setting it works fine.

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A

Overall Rating : 7
I've been playing guitar for only two years. I am primarily a bass player. I bought this amp because it was reviewed as the best of its price range. I would have to agree. The Fender Frontman 15W is even louder than this one, but it has better bluesy tones. I have also listened to one of the Ibanez 15W amps and it was horrible compared to the Crate. The bottom line is that you can't expect much from a 15W amp, but the Crate is definitely the king of the 15W amps.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 11/29/2002 at 07:25pm by kevin

Features : 5
It has 2 channels cl/over, 3 way eq (low, mid, high), annoying channel select button. quiet.

Sound Quality : 3
I use a Washburn WG-248 and i play death, this was my first amp the I learned on. The clean channel sucks after mid way, the overdrive channel is ok. It sounds better with a high quality distortion pedal. Its a good amp for learning though.

Reliability : 3
I would never gig with it. The sound isnt good enough. and it is kinda bad about breaking out sometimes, when i play on my other amp, that never happens, so I know its the amp.

Customer Support : No Opinion
havent dealt with them.

Overall Rating : 3
been playing a year, and will only use it for practicing at low volumes.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: 80 (#)
Submitted 11/19/2002 at 12:32pm by Twiggy

Features : 1
basic featured solid state amp single channel used in room single 8" speaker.

Sound Quality : 5
i am being very generous here, this little git has the boom of a little girl. If u stick any FX pedal into it which may add bass the amp cant handle s*it. i play alot differnet music from metal to the occasional pop tune an it can handle things like the beatles n the verve but try an play korn or anythin like that then is farts at u an cuts out the sound makin u turn down the bass.

Reliability : 10
i havent had it a year an it still works fine though. it is quite tough althouhg i wud of prevered it to hav a bak on it.

Customer Support : No Opinion
dunno

Overall Rating : 3
i havent even bin playin a year but i can tell when somet sounds good an this little turd doesnt go the extra mile an get somet decent if ure serious.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $79.99
Submitted 11/05/2002 at 06:16am by Anonymous

Features : 9
bought this in 1985' as a mini practice amp.
when you compare it to other amps for $79.99 new it shines.
great for small rehearsals so small it almost goes in your pocket :-)
I would never gig out with it.

Sound Quality : 10
its like 12 watts rms and I get decent tones from this little sucker
in spite of what it is. I have jammed with guys that cant believe this little box creates so much tone. 8" speaker...
sounds great for what it is.
Compare it to its peers.... size and price and it rates a 10.

Reliability : 10
I have done everything to this amp for 17 years and its like new.
Once again I would never gig with it.

Customer Support : No Opinion
never dealt with them.
It came with a 5 year warranty and it could have been 17 yeras and they still would have never heard from me.

Overall Rating : 10
I have been playing for 25+ years, I own many guitars and amps all superior to this little crate in every way imaginable and I know not to judge a $79.99 crate GX-15 against a amp that costs much much more. When you gain that perspective this amp rates well. Just the fact it still like new after 17 years it should rate a 10 and Because of its size and portability,features,price and sound I give it a solid 10



Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $70
Submitted 10/14/2002 at 12:47pm by Anonymous

Features : 8
- Clean and overdrive channels with gain controls.
- Low, mid, and high tone controls.
- Headphone jack and line out jack.
- This amp is pretty versatile for a practice amp, especially one so cheap. I would probably buy the model with the reverb if I could go back in time but it's ok. One feature it could use is a pedal to switch to overdrive or at least make it easier to switch than to press an incredibly small button.

Sound Quality : 8
I have been using it with an Ibanez RG-220. I've been playing for a few years, but am really quite the begginner. I play mostly classic rock tunes and attempt some newer indie stuff. I play mostly on the clean channel because the overdrive sounds best turned way up and I don't want to piss off the neighbors. The clean channel is really clear and at the lowest volume I can barely tell it's on. With the overdrive on and it turned way up the distortion is really interesting with a lot going on. The sound is better than I expected.

Reliability : 10
I won't be gigging in the foreseable future since I'm not a good player - but I would like to use a larger amp so I could have room to play with it. As far as contruction though - this amp COULD NOT BE BUILT ANY BETTER. This thing is tough and just reeks of quality contruction. I've had it for a over two years now and it is still just like new. As long as you don't purposefully wreak havoc on this amp or do something stupid it will last longer than you ever expected.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I never dealt with Crate and am not sure what the warranty was.

Overall Rating : 9
If it were stolen or lost I think I would buy another one at this point in time. I would rather the one with the reverb though. I had only bought this amp because it was so cheap at Guitar Center and it sounded same or better than other similar amps. I now think that I made a good decision that day to choose this amp. By the way, all my ratings are based on the price/size category of this amp and are not comparing this amp to anything obviously out of it's class.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: 110 (EUR)
Submitted 08/31/2002 at 01:29pm by Anonymous

Features : 6
12 watts solid state combo with one 8" speaker (4 ohms). Two channels (Clean and Overdrive) with shared EQ settings, no way to connect a footswitch, which is the biggest problem I have with the features of this amp. Headphone out, speaker out for external speaker.
Not much features, low power, but hey, it's a cheap practice amp, so what can you expect (except for a footswitch connecter maybe)?

Sound Quality : 8
This thing was my first amp. When I got it, I compared it to the Peavey Rage 158, which costs about the same as the Crate, but the Crate sounds far better.
Now, it's a bit difficult for me to rate the sound of this amp, cause now I play through a Line6 Flextone II (1x12"), which of course sounds so much better, but then again, it also costs much more, so it wouldn't be fair to compare the Crate to that. So I base my final rating on how good this amp is compared to other amps in the same price range.

When I started playing, I used a Yamaha ERG-121 guitar, which I still use, but now I have the stock humbuckers replaced by DiMarzios (AirZone in the bridge position, AirClassic in the neck position).
I haven't used the Crate since a long time, but today I played through it again, just for the fun of it, and decided to note down my impressions.

The sound, which I used when I started (bass on 3, mids on 3, treble on 8, gain on 8, levels at about 4) sounded absolutely crap to my newly developed taste now, but after a bit of playing around, I found that a setting like bass on 5, mids on 10, treble on 5, gain on 7 and, what's most important, levels much higher (6 at least) sounds much better. Most people say that you shouldn't push this amp too far couse it then starts to "break up", but that's exactly what gives some life to the otherwise very static solid state sound.

The Clean channel is nicely clean and stays so until a level of 8. With the right pickups, it can even have a bit of shimmering in the tone, but as this is a transistor combo, the sound isn't really lively enough to sound good (on an all-amps-scale).

The Overdrive also sounds very static until you push it far enough to make the power amp crackle, which adds a lot of life to the sound. There's enough gain for all situations, no need for a distortion pedal at all (and it wouldn't sound any better, I tried the Boss and Danelectro pedals through the clean channel of this amp at a shop and they didn't even match the Crate's own Overdrive).

Overall, the sound of this amp is very "narrow", which can be attributed to the small cab with an 8" speaker. I didn't try it with an external speaker, but I guess that should make things a lot better (but on the other hand, if you invest in a real cab, then better also get a real amp).

The sound of this amp is pretty versatile, which is important for a practice amp. You can easily dial in just about any tone you want, it will never sound right, but always gives you enough of an idea of that sound to match the songs you practice. Today e.g. I played Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" (both fingerstyle part and solo), Led Zeppelins "Stairway to heaven" (again, fingerstyle, picking, solo), "Defy you" and "She's got issues" by The Offspring, "Back In Black" by AC/DC among others through it, just to give you an idea how flexible it is (but as I said, it never sounded right, just close enough for practicing). I also think that it's very important for beginners not to have to many knobs to turn, cause you should concentrate on your playing and not on creating great sounds (so a Flextone would be exactly wrong for a beginner, but it's great as the next step up, when you already know, how to practice).

It's not loud enough for playing together with a band for practice really (although I did in the beginning when we founded the band), and you won't ever want to gig with it (not only because it's far to silent, but also because you would have to be ashamed because of the sound). But it's definitively loud enough for practicing at home and will even be able to blow away your ears, if just you sit close enough to it (which doen't mean to have your ear on the front cloth, but rather 1 meter away).


Reliability : 5
The amp itself is pretty solid (I even dropped it once from 1 meter height and it still works), but the reason why I only give it a 5 is that the handle got loose after just a few month (and I didn't even carry it extensively with that handle) and couldn't be fixed, which really shouldn't happen.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating : 7
So overall, on an all-amps-scale this thing absolutely sucks and would at most get 1 out of 10 points from me, but this wouldn't be fair really, cause if you compare it to the other amps in the same price range, the Crate really outshines them all.

It's basically the best beginners practice you can get, because as I said, it's not really helpful to have too many things you can play around with on your amp when you start playing guitar. The biggest drawback (even as a beginners practice amp), though, is the lack of a footswitch connector (and you wouldn't really want to invest in a distortion pedal, which cost nearly half of the amp itself).

Great for beginners, but if you practice hard, don't expect to be satisfied for more than half a year, then you will want to take a step up and either get a modelling amp (like I did), or if you have some more money to spend, a real tube amp. On the other hand it wouldn't really be clever to invest in such an amp, when you just begin, because you never know, if you stay with playing guitar at that point of time.
If you have never played electric guitar before and want to start playing, get this amp NOW, if you have any experience in playing guitar, DON'T EVER get this amp.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $50 used
Submitted 08/28/2002 at 09:52am by Adam Aceino

Features : 4
My GX-15 was made in 1996, or atleast the speaker was. The amp is 12+ watts of solid state power. Which is enough power for solo practicing, but try to keep up with drums and your toast. It has 2 non foot switchable channels, clean and overdrive. no effects loop, head phone jack, external speaker jack, no reverb or effects. It has your basic starter amp features

Sound Quality : 3
I play a yamaha pacifica with 2 single coils and a humbucker in the bridge positionthrough a tuner, then a wah wah pedal, then a snarling dog american tube simulator, then through an ibanez distortion pedal. The clean channel is standable, though if you use humbukcers the tone is extremely flat and the lack of reverb doesn't help. the overdrive channel is pretty unusable because it operates at lower dbs then the clean channel. it sounds like your sound is muffeled.

Reliability : 9
this amp has never broken down on me, but try to drive a 2x 12 via the external speaker jack, and the sound starts fading, so i unplugged the cab and the speaker in the amp sounded rather muddy and low. it let it cool for a few hours and played it again and sounded fine. I woul not gig with this amp due to its power and tone but it won't break downdruing practice

Customer Support : No Opinion
i bought the amp used when i started playing and so it had no transferable warranty. therefore i haven't dealt with CRATE

Overall Rating : 4
I hate the amps tone and power. i bought it because i just started playing and needed a cheap amp. i have been playing for maybe 7 months now. i also have an epiphone studio 10, a crate gfx112, a few mics, and a feneder hotrod deluxe. if stolen or lost my keyboardist wouldn't ahve an amp, but i would not replace. instead i would buy the Vintager GM110 30w anolog modeling amp made by behringer. but now i'm working on getting a fender 65 twin reverb


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $60.00
Submitted 07/12/2002 at 07:12pm by SC Morris
Email: calebmorris2000 at yahoo<dot>com

Features : 6
Mine was made in or around 92. This is not the most versitile amp in the world...but for at home it's great. It's got plenty of power to get yer practicing done. This amp is totally solid state so if yer looking for a tube....go get one.

Sound Quality : 6
I always use mine with a Strat for semi-blues tones. This thing has an amazing clean sound...the reverb is awesome. The overdrive is pretty noisy...a commom problem for all Crate solid states. You can get a really good alt. rock sound out of this amp. If yer into the Seattle thing it's perfect.

Reliability : 6
I've had this amp for almost ten years now and I still play on it alot. Sure I've got others at this point, but it's still fun to mess around with it. Brings back lots of memories. It's never broke on me before. I used to play in a garage band with it and it could be heard easily over the drums and vocals. I used to play it extensively at 7 or 8 on the volume.

Customer Support : No Opinion
never dealt with them.

Overall Rating : No Opinion
I've been playing a long time and I still use it from time to time. If it were stolen I'd probably blow it off and never get another one....but just because it's too small to gig with. Plus, once I discovered tube amps I rarely touch solid states for live stuff. Look people, this is a cheap amp...but it's been good for me. I was young when I got it because of the money factor. Yer not gonna get monster tone from something this small...simple as that. But it is fun to jam on in yer house.It's unreasonable to think it's gonna sound like a stack!! Crate is very good about making stuff young players and people on a budget can afford. But that being the case you can't expect it to sound like a Marshall stack.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $89.99
Submitted 06/26/2002 at 09:04pm by Anonymous

Features : 5
I GOT IT IN 98.IT HAD ALL THE BASICS OF A FIRST,I PLAY ANY THING FROM PUNK TO BLUES.IT HAS ONE CHANNEL,HEADPHONE JACKS AND OVERDRIVE, FEATURE WISE IT HAS EVERY THING YOU WHOULD NEED TO LEARN.IT IS WAY TO SMALL TO EVER USE TO GIG

Sound Quality : 3
I PERSONLY HAVE A CRUISE SINGLE COLL IT SUCKS BUT ITS CHEAP FIRST, BESIDES THAT I HAVE USED MOST POPULAR GUITARS LES PAULS,STRATS,AND SG.
THIS AMP RELLY SUCKS FOR ANY STYLE YOU PLAY. LARGE PLACES ARENT AS BAD BUT IN SMALL ROOMS IT MAKES A VERY HIGH SHARP SOUND.ON CLEAN I WHOULD GET A WEIRD VOODOO WOBLE IN THE SPEAKER AND WITH OVERDRIVE IT SOUNDED LIKE A TV GETING BAD RESEPTION BASICLY THE SOUND OUT OF IT SUCKED

Reliability : 3
I WOULD NEVER TAKE THIS AMP TO A GIG IT IS VERY UNRELIABIL. IT HAD BROKEN SEVERAL TIMES THE LAST STRAW WAS WENE IT STATED SMOKEING

Customer Support : 4
I NEVER NEEDED TO CALL THE COMPANY FOR HELP DURING THE 90 DAY WARRANTY IT NEVER BROKE. I WAS NOT ABLE TO FIND AN AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER FOR CRATE SO I HAD A GUITAR SHOP I TOOK LESSONS AT FIX IT FOR CHEAP.

Overall Rating : 5
I HAVE BEEN PLAYING 4 YEARS AND FOR THE PAST 3 I USE A RACK WITH A CARVIN CAB,IF I HAD LOST IT I WOULD MORE THAN LIKELY GO TO A SMALL MARSHALL,IF ALL YOU WANT IS A BOX THAT MAKES SOUND FOR CHEAP GET IT,
BUT IF YOU WANT A QULITY AMP GET ANYTHING ELSE BECAUSE ITS MORE THAN LIKELY BETTER "HATEING IS STILL HATE BUT WENE IT COMES TO CRATE HATEING IS GREAT"


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $80
Submitted 06/23/2002 at 07:03pm by Anonymous

Features : 5
this has pretty much beginner features: basic eq, gain settings, thats it.

Sound Quality : 4
i play a yamaha pacifica through it and it sounds OK. you just have to mess around with the EQ to your liking. i have the low on 10, mid on 5, and high on 7. the gain is on 8. that pretty much makes the best possible sound that can come from this POS.

Reliability : 9
very reliable. the black tolex will start spliting where the screws are. no biggie. i replaced the tolex with duct tape. looks mighty nice now.

Customer Support : No Opinion
ive never had to call them up so i dont know.

Overall Rating : 5
The bottom line is that this amp is good for the beginner but, nothing more. dont expect to get marshall sound out of the little box. if it were stolen i wouldnt really care. i compared this to the fender frontman and this was better. this is probably the best amp in its class.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $80 wasted dollars
Submitted 05/07/2002 at 04:37pm by Alex

Features : 3
2 channels, little button to switch them (a pain), one 8 incher inside, solidstate

Sound Quality : 3
Using an epiphone les paul standard with it. I play mostly classic rock and that kind of stuff. This thing is horrible, unless you like distortion that has no tone. I'm not saying is sucks next to a Marshall or a Boogie (it does but...), I'm saying it just plain sucks. Horrible distortion that sends me into convulsing fits on the ground while frothing green stuff seeps from my mouth. Yes, it's that bad. Clean is ok but too muffly. I thought it was cool when I was a beginner. I think I finally heard a Marshall though and now this thing doesn't impress me. Either that or I messed it up some how.

Reliability : 1
Ripped the tolex I thought was tough. I have to frickin fidget with the input every 5 seconds. I have to have the cable dangling half in and half out.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Don't wanna deal with the people who made such a horrible machine...

Overall Rating : 3
I have another Crate which I like much better. If it were stolen, I wouldn't notice except when i go to prop my feet on it while watching tv, my trusty Crate foot rest won't be there. It does make a pretty good foot rest. I also go out in the garden and produce horrible sounds which scare away pesky animals. Sometimes I let little kids in the neighborhood use it for a base in baseball. Overall this things sounds are hideous, but its a good household object every family needs.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $79.99
Submitted 04/11/2002 at 10:17pm by Anonymous

Features : 8
three band eq, distortion switch, not that complicated. I've taken the amp to rehearsals and it's been loud enogh to deal. I kind of get afraid when turned up past halfway, but for eighty bucks, I couldn't be happier

Sound Quality : 8
I use a DS-1 with a single coil pickup. If I can't complain about noise then all you 13 year-old wannabe poser f'up slipknot guitar idiots need to shut up. Clean is awsome for such a small package. THE AMP ONLY COSTS $80. IF YOU WANT A HALF-STACK SAVE YOUR FUGGING ALLOWANCES AND BUY THE HALF-STACK

Reliability : 10
I've had this amp for about three years now. I've gigged with it (with speaker a attachment) and it still works. Everything I've played that is crate has seemed very well built.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
I'm going to preface this by saying anyone who hasn't graduated third grade shouldn't be reviewing anything. Anyone who has a problem with this amp needs to pull their heads out of their nether regions. Those of you who are dissapointed because you didn't get a half-stack for eighty dollars need to shut up. If you don't like the distortion, buy a pedal. If you don't like the clean sound, buy a reverb pedal. Shut the hell up. Quit bitchin'cause your amp sucks. Turn the amp down and learn how to play first...


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $65
Submitted 03/12/2002 at 05:40am by Fatty J

Features : 7
Pretty simple amp distortion channel clean Channel, get's the job done, much better then my old Fernandez POS (piece of S***).

Sound Quality : 9
The amp has a nice crisp clean setting goes up really loud and does not distort when loud. Distortion is not bad it's a pain to turn on when playing, you have to pause and hit the tiny little button on the amp.

Reliability : 10
I've never had one problem with it and probably never will great litle amp

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
I've been playing for 7 years I just use this to fool around with I also have a Trace Elliot Super Tramp For my gigs. Overall a great practice amp. Buy it if you have the money.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $25-$40 used
Submitted 03/09/2002 at 09:23am by dave

Features : 5
good for the price, fine practice amp, but nothing more

Sound Quality : 5
The distortion can get out some punk sounds for the size, and you can play a little Blink 182 on it. The clean channle is crappy, but that's cause I play a Fender Power Chorus.

Reliability : 9
I've beat this thing into the ground and it still plays, and it was used!! Don't ask me how this thing stays together, cause I have no clue.

Customer Support : No Opinion
don't know, always fixed it myself [or got dad to do it]

Overall Rating : 4
fine for a beginner, but then go with a DX100H or something big with a load of power.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $80 used
Submitted 02/28/2002 at 01:55pm by Silas Garrett
Email: Redcap6<at>aol dot com

Features : 6
I play mostly rock and blues. This amp does quite well for its size and quality. It has two channels, clean and overdrive. The button to switch between them is kind of small, but when I'm using a practice amp anyway, I'm just practicing, or more likely, writing on it, so I don't need to switch conveniently all that much with it. I wish I had gotten the one with reverb, since it's not much more, but I didn't. It has plenty of power for pissing around in the bedroom and writing things. If I turn it up and use a distortion pedal, it'd probably be plenty to get me arrested. The Flexwave emulation is good for solid state, but I'll still probably upgrade to a tube amp eventually. For what I use it for, though, it's really quite a nice amp.

Sound Quality : 9
I use Epiphone guitars, a strat-copy and a Dot, and both sound great on it. It does fairly well for my musical style. I kind of overlay it with pedals and only occasionally use it straight, but when I do, the clean channel has some nice gain on mid volume levels to just saturated tones, and the gain on the overdriven channel is plenty scathing to my ears (in a positive way). It buzzes a little bit, but most amps do, really. I can get lots of different sounds from it, which is always a good thing from a practice amp. The clean channel gets slightly saturated at high volumes, but pleasantly, ending off where the overdrive channel begins. The distortion, at full blast, is a fine kick in the teeth.

Reliability : 10
It's very dependable, it's solid state, they tend to be. It's also fairly light on the components. There's not a whole lot in there to mess up. It's never broken down on me, and I've punished it like crazy, by hauling it all over creation and exposing it to the elements. If I were ever to be in a situation to use it in a gig (I'd hope not. I'd rather something with a bit more power), I'd feel alright using it without a backup. I don't think it'd break down on me.

Customer Support : No Opinion
haven't tried it. Got it used, never sent in the warranty.

Overall Rating : 7
I've been playing for four years. This was my first amp, and I still play on it from time to time. I've had a vintage 70s Fender twin reverb, a Dean, a no-name tube amp, and some others, and while those have great sounds, this one is the one I started on. It's a comfort thing. But it does have a nice sound, really. If it were stolen, I'd be pissed off majorly, since I like it, but then I'd probably invest in something with reverb and some edgier distortion on it. I chose it because it was the cheapest one at the store when I bought it, but it turns out, I got more than my money's worth, I think.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 02/25/2002 at 09:21am by Kevin

Features : 8
It would be better if you had a footswitch between channels

Sound Quality : 10
I use the cheapest POS wannabe strat there is, and i get great sounds. I listen to alot of metal, and I can play anything on it and it sounds great as long as you have a separate effect pedal(BOSS DS-1). It makes a pretty nice sound on the Overdrive channel at 5 and the distortion all the way up on the pedal.

Reliability : 10
Never had any problems

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
The best practice amp you can get!


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US FREE used
Submitted 02/08/2002 at 06:48pm by Ian
Email: randomb4 at hotmail<dot>com

Features : 10
I wish this amp was just a little bigger. Like 20 watts would be perfect. I read some people say that it's worthless for gigs, and band practices, but I disagree. I used it for a couple of large hall gigs. It's not that complicated. YOU PUT A PA MIC IN FRONT FO IT!!! It sounds great during practice. My drummer would drown it out if I didn't know how to ajust the settings, and put it at a frequency contray to the drums.

Sound Quality : 8
I am using an Epiphone Les Paul. FOr Beatlish type stuff the standard distortion is good, but I often find I use other distortions. The clean channel is great. Its the most crisp clear sounding thing I've heard in a combo amp.

Reliability : 7
I have had it for more than fopur years, and I think it's starting to go. I may be wrong. I could just be my cords, but I have replaced them a few times. Overall no major problems. It never stopped working.

Customer Support : No Opinion
nope

Overall Rating : 8
I've been playing for 8 years, and Ive had this for 4. it's a great amp for it's price. if I had more money I would but a bigger version of the same amp. A GX-50 perhaps.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: 100 (canadian)
Submitted 11/30/2001 at 07:55am by Fred M.
Email: nekrotikangel at hotmail<dot>com

Features : 8
2 chans: clean and overdrive. Equalizer, low,mid,high, 1 level for each channel. 8inch speaker. The power suplly cord could be longer.
The channel switch could also be bigger, if you want to switch between clean and overdrive, get a pedal. The headphone jack is a good idea since i live in a apartment building. Power is ok i guess if i play without a drummer, if so you cant hear me even at fuill level. But its enough for practice or room. Not very versatile cant get much different tone or dist effect.

Sound Quality : 6
im currently using a Stage fat strat shitty guitar with unknown REALLY cheap pickups so i may not be getting the best out of that amp.
The clean channel is okay at low level and with more highs than lows, when i crank it up i have to use distortion because all i hear is a mud like sound. The overdrive chan is way better but there is no intermediate: if its not at 8.5 or more its clean. The tone and dist are comparable to pop rock. Since i mostly play nu metal like korn or slipknot and some pearl jam i switch to .11-.52 strings. Thats the best thing i ever did, i get a full rich sound from the amp when i eliminate mids. IF you play with distortion you can achieve good sounds but forget the clean chan ..

Reliability : 5
ive owned it for 4 years now and i had no problem with it at all. THe sound is the same except when i crank it up, im afraid it'll blow so i dont really play real loud. It aslo screech alot without dist. But in all, its very reliable. I dont gig yet but i definitly wouldn't use it on a gig, not enough power and i wouldnt even get trough the intro of any songs by slipknot without exploding

Customer Support : No Opinion
Ive never dealt with Crate. It came with a 5 years warranty from the vendor (2 from Crate i think. Since the vendor is not a authorized dealer anymore i hope to find one if something ever happens...

Overall Rating : 6
Overall its not a bad amp. IF you dont crank it up you can get good sounds out of it. But as i said forget the clean chan, play with overdrive at 4 or 5 its much better. it satisfy my needs for now but since im getting a Ibanez RG and a pedal im considering upgrading my amp as well. im sure the sounds gonna be much better with that guitar. if it were stolen id probably get some other better models
Overall its a good practice amp but not for gigs...


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $83 used
Submitted 11/19/2001 at 06:56am by Jonas

Features : 8
2 channels, overdrive and clean. Low, mid and high eq-switches. Speaker and headphone out. Nothing special, just basic practice amp features...

Sound Quality : 5
Crap. The sound is muddy and unclear, some people may like that but I don't. The overdrive sucks too (I have always used an effects pedal for that instead).

Reliability : 9
I guess it's very reliable. I have had mine for over two years now and it haven't let me down yet. I have had keyboards, guitar and bass connected to it at once at full volyme, and it still works fine.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never had any technical problems with it yet.

Overall Rating : 6
It's cheap, and you can tell that by the sound. It would be a great practice/home amp if the sound would be better/more clear. I have tried to tweak the eq settings but the sound is still muddy and unclear.

But if you are a beginner and don't have that mutch money, then it could be somewhat good. It's cheap, small and has basic features as eq, overdrive/distortion etc. Before I bought my 100w amp I tried to use it at my bands practice, but it was worthless. There isn't enough power in it to play with a band or on stage, it's best to use it home for practice etc. But then you could acctually buy a smaller 10w or a mini-amp with good sound and for less money.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US about 100$
Submitted 10/18/2001 at 06:11pm by K.Easton
Email: antipop356 at hotmail<dot>com

Features : 6
2 channels, Clean and distorted. Headphone jack, basic tone and volume controls. Nothing special, but all the necessities are there. Read the other reviews for more information

Sound Quality : 6
I play lots of metal and some nostalgic classic rock on an Ibanez GRX-45. Decent sound, good, cunchy, thick distortion on the humbucker. Nice clean sound on the top single-coil, almost acoustic sounding. Sounds kind of messy during distortion solos, however.

Reliability : No Opinion
Seems pretty solid, although I've never really abused it. I try to take care of my equipment as much as possible because anything can break.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never had to deal with Customer Support

Overall Rating : 8
overall it's a good little practice amp. I didnt get a chance to compare it to other practice amps, as it was a christmas present, but It works for me. I wouldnt use it for a gig simply because it's not powerful enough. I tired it one or twice for a band practice and the drums and bass absolutly drown it out, but thats due to the fact that this little amp wasnt designed for performances. If it was stolen I'd probably buy the GX-15R with reverb controls, but overall it's a good amp for 100 bucks.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 09/29/2001 at 08:49pm by Chris
Email: Chris911X<at>aol dot com

Features : 9
This amp has 2 channels (Overdrive and Clean), one 8 inch speaker and nothing else. Bare bones, down to playing amp (the way I love it). The features are useable and good.....nice amp features over all for a combo.

Sound Quality : 8
Great! This was my first amp! I loved and love it! The sound is good for bedroom use, thats what I use it for. I bought a Fender Princeton (BIG MISTAKE) to play bigger rooms and band practice, but I still use this one for practice. Good clean and very crunchy distortion. The Clean distorts at around 8, which is normal, but not annoyong and the amp looses all distortion when the gain is not on 10.......

Reliability : 10
VERY! I've had it for 4 years! Great amp! Its fallen, been kicked, knocked over and even had coke spilled on it! This thing has earned its stripes!

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealed with em....

Overall Rating : 10
GREAT! Good for practice and fucking around! Nice amp!

My Soon, but not Current setup now is a......

Crate VC6112 All Tube Combo
Fender Tex Mex Strat


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: US $90.00
Submitted 09/14/2001 at 12:22pm by Anonymous

Features : 7
2 Chan clean and overdrive. NO REVERB

Sound Quality : 5
Gibson LP Custom and 79 Strat with EMG SA's. Play rock, metal and some jazz. I bought this because the distortion in the store sounded good for a practice amp but when I got home it was just so so. I have a POD 2 going into the clean channel and this amp can't handle the lows without the POS speaker on the verge of jumping out. Turn the bass and mid all the way down along with volume and it's ok for practice. I hear others saying they gig with this thing??? I can't imagine that.

Reliability : 9
Had this about 6 years now. Not problems. Keeps on going.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 7


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: gift used
Submitted 08/16/2001 at 08:10am by Davin

Features : 10
2 channels, 1 overdriven and 1 clean with a line out and headphone jackabout 15 watts solid state amp. This is strictly a small bedroom, camping, living room, sun deck, very portable pratice amp. Don't ever on your life expect to play any gigs with a low power solid state amp. It's called a pratice amp for a reason.

Sound Quality : 7
69 Gibson SG with P-90 pickups. I play anything and everthing.

Reliability : 10
Has never broken. Very tough a have a toddler who like's to fiddle with it, play with all the knobs and stick things in it.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion
14 years, I own a '67 (tube, like duh)fender deluxe reverb. I love the sustain in this amp that you can pracitce anything through it from open chords to two handed tapping all without a distortion pedal. It is very compact and I use for in the bedroom and infront of the T.V. for when I don't want to drag my fender out of the basement.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 07/08/2001 at 04:53am by Anonymous

Features : 3
12 watts...Two channels...Shared EQ. I guess those are pretty standard features on a practice amp. Then again at 12 watts does it even classify as a practice amp? This thing isnt loud at all. I tried practicing with it once....

Sound Quality : 5
Ive actually used a few guitars thru this p.o.s. First off an ESP M-155. Then another ESP this time an EX-350. Also Ive used a Fender standard strat and a cheap Les Paul copy thru it. Basically they all sound like garbage clean. It just sounded flat to me but hey what do I know Im just some punk kid. OH yea and dont expect to play louder than maybe five. After that it starts to break up. Its awful. The overdrive channel is alright though. If you set it up right you can get an OK hard rock sound. Only OK though. Its really noisey and you cant really crank it or it gets all nasty on you.

Reliability : 3
Alright heres what I dont understand. I thought solid state amps were supposed to be these super reliable MACHINES. Maybe I have really really bad luck with amps I dunno. Well at band practice one day I had to bring this hunk of junk along cause the amp I usually use isnt mine and well wasnt available. ANYWAY. I plugged in and turned it up. Trying desperatly to over power my drummers MUFFLED set. It worked alright for maybe an hour and then it just died. Does anyone know why? Its not the speaker thats fine. ALL the bastard does now is hiss and buzz. Anyway I wouldnt suggest turning the gain and volume on the overdrive channel to ten for any length of time or you might fry it like I did.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 1
Alright not quite loud enough to be a good practice amp and the clean channel blows asshole. Distortions only OK. Dont even think about buying this or any other Crate similar to this one. Even as a practice amp this thing cant measure up to a Fender Frontman or a Marshall MG series.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 05/25/2001 at 11:31pm by Anonymous

Features : No Opinion
Basic practice amp. As such, features are limited - which is a good thing. Practice amps are for practicing, not fiddling with.

Sound Quality : 9
I'm on vacation and brought my guitar to practice with. Turned out I was invited to play with a group while I was here. The only amp available for me to use is this Crate GX15. My reveiw is based on my experience with it.
I was pleasantly surprised. I expected pathetic performance but found otherwise. Sweet overdrive and warm clean sounds. My guitar is a hybrid (godin LGX-SA) and capable of both strat and Les Paul sounds. My guitar sounded good through this little puppy. Yeah, it's no tube amp but for a crappy little practice amp, who woulda though? Ok, so it only has an 8" speaker. I put a mike in front of it and put over the mains. No problem. Plenty loud enough.

Reliability : No Opinion
who knows. it's solid state. probabley reliable.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
Like I say, I was impressed. I expected a lot less performance than what I got. I consider it a good value for a practice amp. I wouldn't get it for any other purpose though.


Product: Crate GX15
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 05/13/2001 at 11:22am by Angelo Rodriguez
Email: angeloro<at>softhome dot net

Features : 8
ajem... ehhh. 2 channels, 1 overdriven and 1 clean with a line out and headphone jack(nothing out of the ordinary), about 15 watts (sometimes I think it has about 100 watts!!!) it's a practice, solid state amp; nothing more.

Sound Quality : 7
I have a Yamaha SE200 with 3 single colis(very rare and old guitar, but I love that guitar!!) connected to a zoom 505-2,> Ibanez CS-9 chorus,> Crate amp. I play anything I heard and like its a bit noise but, what the hell, anything that has dist is a bit noisy. I think this amp its in the middle of the sound caracteristics of a mesa amp and a marshall. the clean sound produces warm sound, not as good as the clasic tube amp, but, hey it's a $100 am. the overdrive channel is some times good for some power chords, but for those warm solos, the amp produces a very thin and weak dist. one thing about this: the amp is very loud, so if you will use it at high volume levels, make shure you use a external speaker!!! I can't believe it!!! even at 1/4 of the level (cln ch) a peavy speaker was almost exploding!!! another thing I don't like: when a chord is falling into silence, the sound starts to crack!!!...

Reliability : 9
this thing is very dependable... I sometimes use it as a chair. is a tank.

Customer Support : No Opinion
don't know

Overall Rating : 8
about 2 years playing, if stolen, buy something better..., although it is a fantastic value to a novice guitarrist, I know when a dist sounds good.

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