Crate GX15R

Amp was made probably in 1998. Good features for a practice amp. Simple EQ, Reverb, serviceable distortion, nice clean channel, very light weight and portable. Amp also has a headphone jack. In other words, it fits the bill for a practice amp or for a new players first amplifier.

I play a Jackson soloist and a Fender American Standard Strat through this amp for practice. I play homeade blues and 80's metal of the Scorpions, Ozzy, Van Halen genre, as well as some Bach for Electric guitar I am trying to learn. This amp has a nice clean sound. I don't use the distortion much, as I have it set up in a room with a Danelectro Daddy-O and an old Rockman Distortion Generator running to it along with a Boss chorus. With these accessories, it actually puts out some very nice tones, again for a small amp. It's not a Marshall. It's not a Line6. It's not supposed to be. If I were reviewing a high end digital or tube amp, I might be critical of the generous, but fuzzy distortion. However, I'm not. This is a practice amp. I don't feel compelled to chastise a $100.00 amplifier because it doesn't deliver high gain Marshall distortion or tube amp warmth. This amp sounds great for a small amplifier and more than suits my needs for a small, personal amp for private practice sessions. Note: My rating is sound quality for the categroy of PRACTICE AMPS ONLY.

Next to backing a car over it, I don't see much that can hurt this amp. It does have a couple faults that some of the other reviewers have mentioned. First, it does have that unique radio receiver quality, which can be occasionally annoying. Luckily, this only affects me infrequently. Second, the reverb, when turned past five, sometimes causes a feedback that, left undeterred, will grow progressively louder until it is screaming at full volume. Generally this is fixed by switching the amp off for a second or by rocking it hard enough that the spring reverb cackles (probably not the factory recommended fix). Other than these small annoyances, the amp is very reliable. I don't gig, but if I did, I would probably have to get that feedback problem looked at. Then again, I don't see myself gigging with a 12 watt practice amp, miked or not.

I have never dealt with the company, so I'm not qualified to answer.

Overall, I would give this amp a very good rating in the category of practice amps, with the only detractors being the reverb feedback and it's occasional radio receiver imitation. As I have stated, for a small amp it has plenty of features, tone, and reliability to meet the needs of a player for practice or as a first amplifier. I have been very pleased with mine.

I think this amp was made in 1997. This amp sucks. I haven't been playing that long but, I know it doesn't sound that good. It has two channels, Clean & Dirty. It also has 3 eq knobs and reverb. I play all types of music and this amp isn't good for any. I just couln't figure out why it is called "GX15R" when it is only 12 watts!!!

I have an Alarez guitar with 1 hum. 2 single. It sounds like crap through this guitar. The clean channel sounds fairly, but the distortion sounds like crap. The distortion doesn't even work unless you have the volume completly up. Then it sounds really noisy.

It is actually very reliable. I haven't had a problem yet. I wouldn't gig with it(That's only because it sounds like crap).

Never needed it.

I've been playing about a year, and if I lost this amp I probably wouldn't buy it again. I really hate that the distortion channel doesn't work that well, otherwise it would be good. I wouldn't really suggest buying this amp unless you just started playing or are looking for a cheap practice amp with a good clean channel.

The features are quite good for a practise amp. The disortion works
well in blues and rock, but if you want to go heavy you might
get dissapointed. The clean channel is a bit sterile, but pretty
useful especially with effect devices. Yet a effects loop
would be nice.

With my LP standard it delivers a good Santana style sound. But
to get the sustain high volume level is required. It plays well also
when switching to my jazz guitar, and it even delivers nice jazz
tones without an arctop.

I have even done some gigs with it, altough it needs to be miked.
It has never broke up. And I have it always with me for backup when
playing with my main amp.

Like said, it has never broke up.

I've been playing for 7 years. My main amp is a Tech21's Trademark 60.
If my GRX would be stolen I guess I would by it again.
It's a great practise amp for low price and it beats most of the
other amps in it's category altough it isn't a regular studio amplifier. For practise and beginners the GRX15R is a great amp.

It was made in 1996. It doesn't have any special attributes unless you consider "distortion" a feature. I am a running an Aria Pro II Fullerton>CryBaby>Crate GX15R. It doesn't have an effects loop, but what do you expect out of a practice amp? You can't record with it at all because A) It's a solid state and B) it doesn't have a footswitch.

Genres this amp is bad for: everything except metal. I play jazz, blues, and some blues rock. This amp is horrible. The distortion sounds great except when you turn it on it switches the equalization so you have to re adjust the 3-band equalizer all over again. You can get a pretty good Santana sound though. The clean channel distorts at the half way point, but it depends on your equalization. The distortion only works well on metal or hard rock. On everything else it's pretty bad. Don't even think about SRV, or KWS...you're not even close.

You can't gig with the amp, although you can do small gigs if you're using distortion. I've actually gigged with the thing, and it held up. It's super light too.

The warranty was for one year or so, I've never had to deal with the company.

I've been playing for about three years. I would get a Fender Roc Pro 700 for practicing or even a Frontman 25R (w/footswitch). That way the other band members can hear you!

I dont feel like going into the other room to look....
But it has very nice overdrive (kinda tubelike) and the reverb kicks ass, and it has 3 knobs for high low and mid outputs and it can recieve AM/FM broadcasts... (yup, u heard me right) - but it makes an excellent practice amp

Im using it with a Jackson Performer..... as my practice amp....

the distortion is good, i love it, and the reverb kicks ass, cept for the distortion you have to hit this tiny little button... no footswitch... AND IT PLAYS RADIO SHOWS FROM ANYWHERE.. if you are having trouble picking up a station on the radio, this amp can get it..... sometimes i just turn down the volume on my guitar and listen to the radio.. its that bad...

never broken down, almost impossible to blow the speaker... for reliability i give it a 10

12 watts, and not 15 watts !!!!!!!!
1 channel, headphone jack, speaker output jack, reverb, high, mid, and low EQ, and gain.
The ratings are compared obviously to other small practice amps.

I have a Fender Standard Strat and a Korg AX1000g. My music style is blues and rock. About this amp: the clean sound is really good, the overdrive channel is audible only when you have the knob at 6 and above but with this settings is noisy.

Never broke down in the 2 years I had it.

This is a really good amp for beginner, good sound for the price.

Im to damn lazy to even go in the other room and look, but its got 3band eq volume (for clean) and an overdrive/volume controls for dirty, plus a shared knob for reverb. headphones jack with maybe something else, no foottswitch. also features am/fm receiving capabilities which cannot be turned off. cool for a practise amp, though you cannot change the radio station. is a 1995 model.

In my honest opinion, i think the distortion on this thing is phenomenal. with the gain cranked i think the distortion is very tube like. not near as much defintion between high and low frequencies, and is very noisy. Yeah- this amp is extremely noisy at almost any setting. also, the fact that this thing picks up radio signal from ANYWHERE is annoying as hell. sometimes, when i play, i just turn my guitar down and listen to the radio, its that bad. the distortion, if you can get over this objectionable noise, is very mesa like (but obviously nowhere as loud). I also love the sound with just a little gain, chords get some sweet tone, though not as hot for the lead. trying to get a decent clean tone out of the thing is rather tough, but i dont like to play clean that much, but it satisfies me anyways. the reverb is well... reverb. i dont know a fucking thing about reverb, so i wont really compare it to anything, although, when you have the knob at 3 or above and you shake the amp back and fortrh, you get this cool hollow "boing" noise out of it. another sonic flaw in this thing, but can be turned around and used creatively. overall, ok sound quality (i use an ibanez with humbuckers by the way, no effects), but very very noisy.

well i let my friend borrow it for a while until he got his base amp, and he beat the hell out of the thing, i mean he played his bass on the od channel with both knobs maxed out, and it still works fine, but the singal to noise ratio is embarassing, worse than it was before.

good sound, noisy as hell. its just another practise amp. i like it6, so ill keep it for a while.

Solid State 15watts amp.... it's good for practice..... ALONE... a drummer will obviously vanish the sound of this amp..... But it has all the features you need to start...

Ok.... this is a PRACTICE AMP... nothing more .. nothing less... It does not have the clean fender sound... or the amazing( and expansive) sound of tubes... I has a good overdrive... and the clean sound is ok; BUT IF YOU LIVE NEAR ANY TV ANTHENA .... IT TURNS INTO A RADIO AT THE MOMENT YOU PLUG IT; IT's SO MUCH NOISE that you won't even hear you play.... but only near big anthenas
HIGH VOLUMES..... remember this is a practice amp... its loud enough for your bedroom...

It has broken down one time..... spent 40 bucks to fix it....
I think it has broken down way too early for the use....

N/A

It's just a practice amp.... I would prefer a small fender (better tone)... I sold it and bougth a Fender Deluxe 112 plus.... as i needed a louder one....

I have to admit I was a little shocked at some of the bad reviews for this amp. It has an 8" speaker I'd say about 12 give or take a few watts with a clean channel, and a dirty? channel, a headphone jack and more knobs than you can know what to do with. I mainly play jazz, and blues and am happy with the sound that I get from this PRACTICE AMP which is very portable and I can easily carry it around the house and over to friends houses without scaring the neighbors. I mainly use this amp at home and carry it to friends houses to get together and just play and it is plenty powerful enough for that.

Right now I am using a fender standard strat for the blues and an ibanez artstar model for my jazz playing and it seems to perform well for both guitars. I have not heard very much noise from the amp and after playing with all the knobs I eventually get the sound I want from both guitars. I really cant rate on the dirty channel as I have not used it much yet but on the clean channel so far I love it. I dont use any effects besides my fingers and a pick.

I think it is dependable I would not use this for a gig but there was surprisingly a 5 year warranty attached to this amp but it does seem to be in good condition and durable enough.

The warranty is 5 years I have not dealt with the company but will give them the benefit of the doubt

I have been playing for about 2 years and own a few fender amps and marshall amps but was looking for an amp I could just practice with and not get a hernia moving it around the house, carrying to friends houses etc. something portable with a nice sound which was small. This is a pretty good amp all things considered and is a very nice practice amp

Amp new in box with new (higher) MSRP, so I assume it's of 2000 manufacture (in China, BTW). I wanted an amp that was small, cheap, solid state, and could get me aound-the-house volume levels of clean and distorted sounds. My main musical interests/influences date to the late-'70s to mid-'80s (punk, new wave, SRV, etc.). The important features include 12 Watts into an 8" speaker, two channels, reverb, and headphone/external speaker jacks. The only feature I'd like to add would be a footswitch, but...(read next paragraph).

I have a Gibson SG (in which I installed two coil splitting switches), a Rickenbacker 360/6, and a Carvin bass. I wanted to get a good, jangly clean sound for the Rick, a nice, bluesy, overdriven sound (and total thrash) for the SG, and also something I could play my bass with at low volumes. Compared to similar amps from Fender and Peavey, this Crate has a superior, full-bodied tone (almost too low-mid biased). Fender's Bullet Reverb (new Dyna-Touch model) had an all-treble tone (particularly noticeable in distortion) which pervaded even with the treble completely down, and such noisy and weak reverb that it was unusable. Peavey's Blazer 158 had a mostly mids-to-highs biased tone, non-splashy and hangover-feeling reverb, and poor EQ-ability. The Crate is not perfect, but it has a good bass response, mids punch, and treble-without-sounding-like-razor-blades tonality. That is to say, it is not your typical "Fender clean" sound, and for some of you, that may be a plus. The Crate reverb gives a decent "Pipeline" splashyness. The distortion channel (from the new Flex Wave Evolution 5 preamp) goes from barely noticeable grit around 2 to a nice Pete Townsend-ish drive around 3.5 to a nice lead crunch at 5 to total thrash at 7 and above. Both channels react slightly differently to the EQ: the clean channel has better bass and treble respone than the distortion channel; thus, if this amp had a footswitch, it would be better to have separate EQ for each channel. As it is, I tweak the EQ whenever I reach down to push the channel button. This amp makes my SG sound best in humbucker mode, especially with both pickups selected. The Rick doesn't get enough jangle/treble, but I play it much less than the SG, and would like to sell it anyway. I was able to play my bass guitar up to a volume level of 5 before I started worrying about speaker fatigue. In short, this little amp gets me pretty good sounds for the money. NOTE: I am not qualified to compare this amp's sounds to a tube amp.

Hmm, I just bought it yesterday. However, it's built very solidly, which combined with its solid-state circuitry, should make it very reliable.

Crate's warranty is 5 years for everything except the speaker, which is 2 years. The warranty is also transferrable, unlike Peavey's.

I've been playing guitar 18 years, bass for 17. This is my first "proper" amp since 1985, when I last saw my old Vox solid-state amp (which I used for bass mainly). My original Peavey bass, Fender Bullet guitar, and amp all disappeared after I joined the Air Force 15 years ago, thanks to various conspirators. Since 1987 I have used a Hitachi boom box which has a microphone-in jack and 5-band EQ as an amp. With my old (purchased in 1986) pedals (Boss DD-3, CS-3, and DOD Overdrive Plus), I was able to be satisfied with my sound until the Overdrive pedal started crapping out. By then, I also wanted something more portable, durable, and less-laughable, thus the renewed desire for a "proper" guitar/bass amp. If this amp were stolen or lost (as happened to me long ago) I would probably buy it again, unless the new Peavey TransTube-II amps are a significant improvement over the originals. Since my actual outlay for this Crate was only $8 (the other $120 was covered by my 33rd Birthday money), I am sublimely satisfied. I highly recommend this amp after an exhaustive (for Tucson, anyway) search for the best sounds at the best price.