I got mine in yesterday and plugged in my Bandmaster 2x12. While it may have a slightly different tonality than my blonde Tremolux head it's quite a nice sounding amp and is certainly very usable with more than enough guts to reach the necessary clean Surf volumes. Using more efficient speakers would definitely give it some more loudness but it's quite impressive on it's own.

There is Surf east of Sepulveda.

that Crate deal ($99) was too good to pass up...and I'm mainly a bass player! When the Crate arrives in a few days, I will take it over to my pal's garage, and crank it up with a couple of 12" speakers and the Fender Tank...

then we'll see (and hear) what all the fuss is about!

dp

Last edited: Sep 28, 2006 11:38:43

All you guys just getting the Power Block amp should know that, it being a stereo amp through 4 ohms, played mono through a 4 ohm cab, it'll only produce 75 watts.

There is an impedance switch on the back, (a black push-push button) to adjust impedance to 8 ohms, AND convert the output to mono, so you can get the full 150 watts Crate advertises. Best to carefully read the Owner's Manual BEFORE plugging in and playing, so you're settings will be correct for the speaker cab you're using.

I found that a pair of the Jensen 100W Neodymium speakers, at 16 ohms, wired parallel, to combined 8 ohm impedance, allow me to get the most out of the Power Block at our gigs, especially important when playing outdoors.

While I tend to prefer a very clean tone, as others have observed, to get the most usable volume, you do have to dial the Gain control up, but everyone who's heard me playing with this rig, has commented that even the slight breakup at higher volumes, sounded pretty tubelike to them, so I've been very well impressed by the value factor here, (and I paid $200.00 for mine!)

Bruce D

neal
can this can be used as a DI to say hook it up to your computer?

good question. I guess it could theoretically if youd use the mic input, but you'd need to check the impedance first. it also depends on your soundcard I guess. I think most people use some ort of special box for that, signal in, USM2 out., so the A/D concversiion takes place in that box speially designed for that purpose. I dont know too much about pc-ecording though. but I uess that if that's what you're looking for, the powerblock would not be your best option.

also i dont see anything in the specs about speaker simulator, whats that all about?

check page 4/5 of the manual under 7) and 12)

it's basically a piece of circuitry that takes the shrillness/digitalness of the sound you get when you's take the signal straight form an amp. it'supposed to do the same thing to your sound what normally a peaker does, whch it doesn't , but it sounds way better then headphones out on an amp without the 'speaker simulator' it's not disengageble, so the exact effect cant be measured. so it might well be promo talk. eitherway, the headphones out is a VERY useable sound quality, in fact I use it all the time.

WR

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I got my Power Block just a bit ago, so I went and plugged it into my JBL-equipped 1x15" Showman cab. (With the reverb unit between the guitar and the amp, of course.) I played around with it for about 25 minutes. To say I'm impressed would be an understatement - I'm blown away, that's more accurate. With gobs of reverb on the sound, I really am not sure whether I could tell my Showman and the Power Block apart. Now granted, I didn't A/B the two, but I cranked the thing and just unleashed on it, and I think it sounds fantastic. I was pushing the envelope a bit on the Power Block - these were my settings:

Gain: 1 o'clock
High: 1 o'clock
Mid: 12 o'clock
Low: 10 o'clock
Level: max (5 o'clock)

In the back I engaged the Mono Bridge switch for maximum power. It's loud as hell at this setting, and not particularly clean - but neither is my '64 Showman with the volume knob between 8 and 10, and I like it that way! I think the two amps had comparable maximum volume level, too. I had to ease back on the bass control a bit as the sound was a bit muddy when the bass was set at 12 o'clock. But with the settings as described above, I got a powerful and dynamic sound that I really wasn't expecting from this tiny, tiny box.

I'm sure as I play with it a bit more some limitations will become apparent - I mean, c'mon, I paid a hundred bucks for this (solid-state) thing!! It can't possibly be as good as I'm thinking it is right now. Well, we'll see....

Wow.

Ivan

Ivan
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Ivan,

Thanks for sharing your impressions of the Crate Power Block 150.

You're saying essentially the same things I was saying last year, (that got me slammed someting fierce, I might add) by all the "Gear Purists".

You're showing something that many "purist" surf musicians and fans would greatly benefit from cultivating within themselves - AN OPEN MIND.

Good luck with the Crate - I'm telling you, this has become my main gig amp, and, as you're seeing for yourself, for very good reason.

Best Regards,

Bruce D

My band-mate Hans, asked me if he should get one, and I told him - hell yeah! I wish I was able to afford it right now (new baby, non working wife, car project, compulsary travel, etc).
He should get it today or tomorrow, we'll try it out and see.
Ran

The Scimitars

Just a heads up that Guitar Center is advertising
Crate Power Blocks for an unbelievable $79.99!!!!

Grab one while they last.

Bob

Bob