Crate PowerBlock Head

Single channel solid state guitar amp with stereo power section.
75W/Channel (bridge to 150W mono)
Effects loop (doubles as stereo line in)
CD Input
DI Output

Bought this to power a talk box, so it only needed to be a one-trick pony. Plenty of power for this application (i.e., I can rattle my own teeth with it).

Clean sound is OK. Not a lot of life too it, but passable. Distortion is good, but not super high gain (think JCM-800). If you want more gain, you'll need some type of stomp box in front of it. With the gain at about 3:00, you get a real nice AC/DC crunch that cleans up nicely when you back your guitar down a bit.

The midrange control is very effective. Bass and treble controls are good.

Worked out of the box. Has gigged with me twice so far. No problems.

Haven't had to call anyone.

For the price, you can't beat it. It's replaced a 40 pound Peavey head from the 70's that I've been carrying around. I also love the fact that I've got a backup guitar amp that rides in the bottom drawer of my work box.

I can also see using this animal with my GNX4 workstation in a live situation.

I think the hand-written graphics on it are a little cheesy, and the blue power LED (while very cool looking) is almost overbearing (in a smokey club, you can actually see a beam coming from it).

Major points to Crate for including a great padded big with the deal (instead of charging another $20 for it like some companies).

Great feature set. That's why I bought it. I needed something to gig with that was lighter than my monstrous LANEY 120w head from the 80s.
Really useful as a power amp too. I use it as a power amp for a keyboard rig and its really good as a power amp for my sansamp bass rig too. Best 160 euros you could spend. Only one channel though... you need to have disto pedals...

Fabulously loud. Destroys the sound of the nasty (expensive) digital 150watt marshall head in the practice room. The tone is pretty dark, not much high end at all. I have the high knob at full but it alters frequencies that are a little too high. The mid knob frequency is too low! I way prefer it to a harsh marshall sound because I prefer the duller more tube like sound. It can't be mistaken for a tube amp but it is not far off. The gain structure is pretty bluesy but not saturated enough for real rock. It sound great with both my tele and my SG, although only the Tele has enough treble to pierce the mix. I strongly recommend pedals and especially, a EQ pedal.

The first time I turned it on it turned itself on and off loads of time and made a strange electrical buzz. I didn't return and it has worked fine ever since. Bizarre. I'm not the first to experience these quirks either. Maybe it's a weakness in the amp technology. Anyway, I'm scared it'll happen again one day...

I am considering buying another one to dedicate to keyboards. Imagine how cool it is turning up at a concert and your amp is tiny and it destroys the sound of the competition! This product is really revolutionary. It's changing the way we think about amplification. Can't get better than that!

I don't write these unless a piece of equipment impresses me. All the features you could ask for and more in a head less than 5 pounds. No FX, but an FX loop. Here I wish it was not "speaker simulated", or could be switched.

Reminds me of a MESA. Some say Marshall, but most would agree it's a very vintage sound. I am using it as a power amp for a Rocktron rig, and it is much better than a straight power amp for this. It will take a ton of voltage up front, 8 volts, and overdrives nicely. It adds very useful harmonics that help with that good controlled feedback. Reminds me of a MosValve Power Amp I had once in this regard. I do wish the FX loop could be switched to not be routed through the speaker simulation, or that it had 1/4" power amp inputs. I am using the CD/phono plug inputs because it's the only way to bypass the speaker sim. I started using it as a fill in while my power amp was being serviced, but I'm sold on it, I won't be going back.
If I were using it as a guitar amp, I would prefer the addition of a high mid, frequency sweepable knob. The treble is centered at 10khz. That's a bit high to tweak your sound properly. In fact 2 sweepable mid controlls would be ideal... Low Mid & High Mid.

good so far...

Multi-use box. It will be my spare guitar amp and my main power amp for my rig. I sincerely wish Crate would come out with a rack mount, power amp version of this thing... 75 watts X 2 and a 150 watts X 2. I'd buy one tomorrow. Go Crate, you have a winner here.

2006 model. This amp suits all that I play which is rock, metal and blues. One channel. Effects loop, headphone jack. Lots of different things you can do with this product due to all of the connection choices on the back. Can be used as a stereo power amp only, Single channel head, or used to power other audio gear. also a headphone practice amp which is very cool. I will be using it for all of these applications at one time or another. It actually completes my third guitar rig. Plenty of power, very loud. Warm sounding and transparent solid state circuitry. Very tube like. Basic and simple.

This amp really reminds me of a single channel Marshall JCM 800 head. Fairly clean distortion and the same kind of bottom end thump. Very surprising. Great clean sound is there when you want it. With the gain cranked you get basic hard rock distortion that cleans up with your volume knob. Alot like a basic JCM. Does not sound exactly tube like, but really close. Really close. Tone controls work well. Treble is a little weird at higher settings but can be tamed. Is very dependant on the type of cab used. A 4-12 is best. 8 ohms for full output. This sounds good. Loud enough for any gig you might have. Hearing damage loud. Easily competes with a 100 watt Marshall because of the 150 watt solid state rating. The extra 50 watts makes it equal to 100 tube watts. I like the tone. Can be built upon with the right effects to sound really good. I have turned it into a two channel rock head by using my Rocktron zombie distortion pedal. Sounds really chunky and fat with that. Great for hard rock and full on metal. Just back off the volume for clean. I really don't miss reverb as other reviewers do as I never use reverb. I prefer a dry sound. It cuts better and is fuller sounding when dry so lack of verb is not a problem for me.

Not had it long enough to tell

not talked to them

26 years of playing. all music. I don't know if I would buy it again. For the price I got it for it is a fantastic piece of gear. I love the weight and sound quality. Very cool amp

i guess this year 2006 it was made.Dont know how to date this equipment. The pb is good for the music i play which is blues,R&b,classic rock(with pedals).just one channel.simple solid state.I dont use the effects loop with my pedals ,no problems in sound.
i did wish it had reverb but for the size & cost i would prefer to use my line 6 verbzilla (as a really good reverb installed in the pb would change the cost and perhaps the sound performance)..SO far the volume hasnt been cranked pass 12 o'clock,plenty loud for the places i play..i work in small & medium size rooms on the average and bigger venues have sound anyway so i think i could use this in that situation also (as i havent yet,i really cant say).But with the proper tech & pa system i dont think there would be a problem.

i ues a warmouth hollow body swamp ash strat/with harmonis design pick ups...a 69 tele thinline with duncan vintage pick ups.. and a parker nightfly m when im feeling lazy..the power block is good for the music i play,which is blues,r&b,as i said before...in fact my mesa lonestar special took a back seat to this tiny amp....the mesa stays at home(cost me 1800 and this 99 dollar pb sounds almost as good). ive had alot of trouble with the mesa,which could be a whole chapter that doesnt pertain to this subject.there is some hum when it gets up to 12 but it may be the single coils and that 's not a problem with drums and bass going on. the pb does sound close to a tube amp and reacts to your picking very well...it's amazing..if cheap stuff like this sounds this good ,why are maufactures chargeing so much(to make money of course).who ever disigned this knows his/her shit.SORRY TO ALL THE TUBE GUYS BUT THIS IS CLOSE..Close enough to fool some good musicans( all of them pros here in st.louis) who have sat in on my sunday night jam session 's at a club i play..i hid the pb behind the speaker cab(the cab that goes with this by stl music, with the one 12 celestian)and every one of them commented on it's tone...and how good it was..then when they saw it was a little crate box,all of them were taken aback....now you must tweak this thing to what your after and use what ever pedal to go to different tones for what ever your playing..for blues i have the gain on 2'o'clock ( any higher i dont care for the distortion it gives,but some one will i suppose) treble at 12 or 1 or 2(depending on the room accoustics) mids 2 and bass at 9o'clock( i find the bass to not be as tight as i would like,so i dont crank it)..Then from there i use my guitar tone to change things to my preference....the amp responds to picking dynamics very well for a solid state..as far as pedals for the blues i either play straight through the pb with a fulltone fat boost(this really helps to get even closer to my sound) for clean ,if i want a litte break up i step on a xotic bb and for more i use a fulltone ocd..also use a chorus but not much unless we are mixing the set list..i always keep that fat boost on with the pb..just makes it sound bigger..NOW HERE IS THE BIG TRICK I FOUND...I TOOK A(STEREO) CABLE FROM THE SEND AND THE CD INTO THE LEFT MONO LINE IN..GUESS WHAT? THE STEREO JACK INTO THE MONO LINE IN "MUST NOT GO ALL THE WAY IN"..IT MUST JUST GO IN THE INPUT TILL THE FIRST CLICK(RING).NOT ALL THE WAY TO THE SECOND RING .THE RING MEANING THE LITTLE CIRCLE AROUND THE MALE JACK END AND NOT THE SECOND RING(WHICH WOULD PUT THE WHOLE JACK ALL THE WAY IN AND YOU WONT GET ANY SOUND). sounds like a hassel but it's simple and the sound and volume difference is alot...but if i didnt use that cable, the pb still sounds good.... but the way i am doing it sounds better to me ,thats all...and that ladies & gentlemen is the big trick to this thing(for me,lol). If any one out there has other ways to get a cool sound please e-mail me....

this is my concern as i havent had it long,made in china,was cheap..but hey 5 year warrenty..i dont care as i just bought another one as a back up and they both fit into the open back crate cab that its made for ...so if one goes out i ll have a brand new one to pull out ..this cut out me haveing to carry a spare amp (always have a back up)and saved my back from lugging that lonestar around with it's tempermental tube thing always going on...i just heard that some company bought out stl so i would think they would still back up the product..time will tell....

havent had long enough but i did have trouble contacting & talking by phone to a tech as i had questions about the pb..wish i could talk to who ever designed this thing....5 year warenty

been playing music along time ...1963....and after being in top 40 ,show bands ,rock bands ,backing up famous acts,and being on the road for 22 years..ive settled down and just play with my own blues band for a living here in st.louis...have had almost every amp out there at one time or another ..if lost i would use the back up and get another one...i like the tone of this pb and the power and the size..you wont believe the volume you can get from this..there is nothing to hate about the pb as it hasnt caused me any trouble yet...if it does go out on me at a gig or fries,it's so light weight. i could probably throw it a good distance into the mississippi..ill give it an 8 for what it is...and i have to say it's better sounding than any solid ive tried(vox ,line 6, all that crap)...and very close to a tube sound ...

An update... I've had the pb150 almost a year and learned a bit about it by experimenting.

For what it is, it's a 10. Compared to fine tube amp, it's not more than somewhere between 8-9 but that is fine enough! There has been some debate as to whether the speaker simulator circuit is applied when you have real speaker cabs hooked up. The diagram in the owner's manual makes you think it is. But blind test says it is not. You can verify this by testing the exact same effects loop combo and running the return to the amp either into the loop or into the cd phono inputs. NO difference. The diagram appears to be in error. All this hoo-hah because us pb owners often feel the sound is a bit dull and lifeless.

There are several things that will liven the sound of the powerblock up.

1) drive the input hard. It will take a big signal well. I've compared going straight in from singles and hums with going thru a clean preamp (i used the preamp in the yamaha magic stomp, which is pretty darn good). No comparison. A higher input level gives you more output (duh) but more importantly more clean and lively output.

2) don't be afraid to dial the treble and mid way up, and the bass down. the last bit on the treble adds a lot of sparkle... 9.5 is a long way from 10. obviously only applies if you need some brightness in your sound.

3) don't use dark speaker cabs unless you want a really dark sound. it's easy to get a dark tone from the block. getting something with "sparkle" is trickier but doable. the crate gt112sl that's meant to go with the block is a bit dark but works great for a heavy sound.

4) you may or may not like this, but you might find that putting a bbe sonic maximizer in the loop opens up the sound. I really like it but I'm lazy so I usually just do steps 1-3.

5) an outboard reverb in the loop works great for some dimension or splash.

I hope everyone who's experimented with the block will pitch in what they've learned. there is a LOT of potential in this lightweight wonder. I have some great tube amps (rivera, fuchs, musicman) but I find for practice I often run through the block. I always take it as a backup to gigs and would not hesitate to use it. It has a nice clean, handles gain well and takes effects well. set it up right and it will give you some great controlled feedback to wail with.

i've never had an issue with mine. for the manufacturing cost, you have to expect that corners were cut and i guess some folks have been bit. hopefully if it's going to crap out it will happen in warranty - so use it hard right away!

With the $99 blowout running now I don't see how anyone could go wrong, especially if you gig and don't already have a decent backup amp. this thing may surprise you.

I bought this amp new,recently, and was amazed at what it can do.I'm no kid, and have been working as a musician since 66'...... my real gear would piss all of you off, I don't have alot but my guitar gear is the dream team.....I'll play the game and let you kids cream.
Gibson GA 19 RVT amp(59-62?) all original
Gibson 2x10 stereo amp cab(mid 60s)
62' cream Strat
68 Martin 0018, added thinline pickup
mid 60s scandinavian jazz box,blonde single cut 1 p/u
What I'm using right now, with real basic effects,echoplex wah dist flanger



I know what sounds good for me. I haven't plugged a guitar into this cigarbox,only because I do studio work and about 50 gigs a year on guitar, and why would I bother.......I looked at this little rodent from the other side of the fence.......I make the real doughnuts singing and playing bass......You can look around and find my band The Staynz......we are in here.....myspace, etc......garage/surf......
When I tried this amp out in guitar center, I had the kid plug it into an svt 8x10 cab.......it pushed that cab like a shopping cart.....I'm using it with a 1x15 ported cab with a 300w 1X15 electrovoice.........40 gigs so far and no problem........I don't use it to hold my drink, or as a stepstool, I take it out of the bag and use it as an amp.......It makes a great bass amp.....Crate mimarketed this thing.....kids want quanity..........real guys want quality......And the little girls worrying about having the logo too big......give me a break! If it said Marshall you little twerps would be lovin it........ Little boys, live with a stripper for a year and learn a lesson.......a wallmart thong will rock your world as much as one by Lily St. Cyr.......its not the product, its how its used......Don't knock it learn how to rock it!

Like any amp, it says what you speak......try playing out of a different amp every night when you are on tour overseas.......you aren't carrying anything over there, oh, well maybe all of you with big record deals.....I use it high on the master and tweak in the volume......nice and clean with s/c bass pickups......

I've only used it on gigs.......no problem....I gamble, and thats all I'm carrying....if it blows out, I know our tech can grab another one...but it hasn't happened yet......my gear gets handled like it should........are you going to piss on your laptop?!?!?!?

No idea......runs great......

I think I went through all of this in the other catagories.....Anything I wish I had? Yeah, Danni Ashe as my housegirl!

HERE'S A HEADS UP: Do not waste your money on this product! It is build to break! Features already covered. Single-channel, solid-state, low priced piece of chinese junk. Size and weight is awesome though.

Sound quality was surprizingly good. Low noise, clean single. Pretty good for a cheap toy.

Owned 5 months when it crapped out. Opened it up, be careful, high voltage. The hot-lead contact inside the input jack had broken off, so, no signal. The metal was not much thicker than thick foil. Destined to break. You can count on other parts being close behind. At this price I had hoped it would last a year or two. If it had I would not be complaining. After all, you get what you pay for!

Did not contact.

P.O.S. Sounded decent, but died too young.

Its like a single channel tube head without the tubes. Gets pretty clean, or fairly dirty depending on the gain setting and your guitar's volume knob. Mostly useless effects loop (except for its big trick). Very compact size, awful huge CRATE logo on the front.

This works very well for all sorts of rock music, but is probably not as good right out of the box for super heavy music. It does respond well to pedals, so you could probably chunk it up a bit that way.

It is fairly versatile, though it has some limitations. Obviously you can use it as a single channel amp, and it likes pedals well enough. You can use it as a poweramp or as a DI box. It gets loud enough to use at most gigs.

Here's a trick: the speaker simulator is on all the time, even if you're hooked to a speaker cabinet. This is bad because it makes everything sound lifeless- even tube preamps, or tube amp slave outs. The trick is to loop out of the FX send and back into the CD input. I was both disappointed that I had to do this, but relieved that I could. This is one of those things that doesn't bother me on a $100 amp, but would on a $500 amp.

If I was using something like a POD into this, I expect that it might sound better routed through the CD inputs than the line ins. Just as you'd most likely disable the POD cabinet sims when running through a real cabinet, I don't know you wouldn't want to do it for the powerblock... or why they made it on all the outputs instead of just the non-speaker outputs.

I wish it had a switch for the speaker sim, I wish it had a level control that worked with the line-inputs (or was post-fx loop). I might be unhappy if it was $500, but it was $99. I really couldn't be happier with it.

No rating because it is tough to give a features rating for something that is a no-frills device. The features that it has are executed tolerably.

Honestly, I'm surprised at how good this sounds- after you bypass the speaker simulation. With the speaker simulator engaged and playing through a guitar cabinet, it sounds amazingly bland. Nothing bad, just no sparkle at all- dead sounding. Like a modelling amp, perhaps. Bypassing the speaker simulator as mentioned above wakes it right up. Its like a different amp.

It gets fairly dirty. Not dual-recto dirty, but more than just overdrive. It cleans up if you pick light and especially if you roll the volume knob back. It really retains its volume when you roll the guitar volume knob back. How'd they do that?

It responds well to pedals, so if you need some extra distortion, a boost pedal works well. Likewise, an EQ pedal set up for a loss works well to give you a faux "clean channel"

It is capable of pretty nice clean tones that grit up a little when you dig in hard. I like some harmonic sparkle on my cleans as opposed to completely clean tones. This will do pretty darned clean sounds, but the inbetween sounds are actually workable.

Its not a tube amp, but it is workable for a backup- and easily better than some of the modelling amps I've played. I think it compares very favorably against the Sansamp Trademark too. The response is probably better, but at least as good.

I play various styles of rock music, but nothing hardcore. If you need something with brutal amounts of gain, this amp will need some help, but it covers most non-brutal rock music pretty well.

I've played my samick RL/3 semi-hollobody (with humbuckers) and the av3 (tele-paul style humbucker guitar) into this amp with good results.

Noise is managable. There is a little bit of hum present, but its tolerable.

I've gotta give this an 8- If it cost $500, I still think the tone would be good, but obviously the lack of features would play into the buying decision.

This is my backup. :)

It looks to be pretty rugged, but its undoubtably cheap chinese junk. It would be a very bad idea to rely on one piece of cheap gear exclusively.

Try as I might, I don't see a customer service email on their website. That stinks. There is a phone number though.

I wonder if the build quality has improved after SLM was acquired by Loud Designs.

I've been playing rock music since about 1987- in bands and for pay since about the mid-90's. I don't make a living playing music, but I've played in front of a few thousand people a few times and played in front of less than a hundred people plenty of times.

My main rig is a 2xEL34 amp with a removable preamp that I built. I've been playing amps that I've built since 2000 or so and have never looked back. I've tried commercial amps here and there and while there are aspects that I like about some of them, I end up preferring my own gear because it just suits me better. A good amp just feels like an extension of the guitar and commercial amps often fall short in this department. The powerblock isn't a magic device, but for what it costs, its worth owning.

I've seen the powerblock in the catalogs for a few years and I thought it was a joke. When I saw that they were $99, I figured "there must be something I can use that for. Maybe it could be tolerable as a backup". I played a whole rehearsal with it a couple of weeks ago after intending to just warm up with it. Its more than tolerable. Its highly tolerable. :) I think you can do a lot worse if you're just looking for a straight-ahead single-channel rock and roll amp.

For the record, I end up hating a LOT of gear. I send back about 90% of what I order because things always seem to end up sounding like garbage. Some things would be acceptable if they cost less, some things aren't worth a dime. This is a rare item that is worth more than I paid for it.

If it were $500, I'd still think it sounded pretty good, even in comparison to $500+ amps. No, its not as good as a nice tube amp, but its highly tolerable. If it were $500, I'd be more irked by its limitations. What limitations? OK, here goes:

The speaker simulator is on all the time. This makes anything running through it sound slightly dead. Theres no sparkle at all. Fortunately, this is easily solved by looping out of the FX send and back into the CD input. Try it. It really brings the amp alive.

The FX loop seems mostly useless as a loop. The master volume is before the loop, so if you're trying to play loud, the loop may have too much signal for whatever is connected to it. I don't usually play with reverb so this isn't a big deal to me. A good amp that is playing with me has a way of making a lot of effects unnecessary. For me, anyway.

The loop and line ins share jacks and it requires external cabling magic to get at the loop. Space saving, but irksome.

The line-ins bypass all of the controls, which means you've got to have controls on whatever plugs into this. That's not necessarily a huge problem, but I sorta hoped that at least the level control would work. I also hoped that the line-ins might still encounter some sort of tube power amp simulation, but no such luck. All of the tube faking is in the preamp.

The GIANT C R A T E logo on the front is OBNOXIOUS! :)

With all this said, it works pretty darned good as a single-channel backup rig, or for someone who doesn't want to spend a bunch of money. If I had to play a gig using this, a modelling combo, or a POD, I think I'd use this. It's almost like a real amp. almost.

At $100 it is an unquestionable fantastic value.
At $200 it is a solid value
At $300 it would be a good buy
At $500 it would be a feature-poor amp that had good tones.

you know...

greatttttttttttttttt when works... later on that

Well this is where i am dissapointed with the amp. I has 4 of them, all second hand, with receipts of purchase (for warranty purposes), and less than 6 months old. This is a great idea done wrong. First one that i had did turn on but then after 1 month of usage did not sound, sent to crate and supposally they reapir it, after 2 months get back to going dead again...get a couple more because i love his product , but all of them after 10+ gigs the level control goes intermitent after position 12 oclock , or i will say scratchy, used the anti scratchy spray(thats how i call it) and does not help it.
I think crate should improve the quaility of parts of this product and raise maybe $ 50.00 on the price ( i hope the new version is an improved one)... And not give a 5 years warranty instead. I will pay the xtra money to not have to deal with warranty issues...

When sent to repir the first time was ok, but it seems the tech did not fix the problem completely...

I love this product hope they fix it...