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I can now highly recommend the Crate Power Block head as a viable back up for
your tube head. I've had my tube amps go out three times in recent years, twice
at gigs and once at a rehearsal so I've been bringing a heavy second amp to
gigs. This new Crate head weighs only 4.5 lbs and has it's own carrying case
about the size of a camara bag. It has 150 solid state watts which translates to
about 85 tube watts and has all the clean tonal range and volume of a Twin
Reverb. It gets the punchy bottom and clear highs. The only downside was that
the mono speaker out is for an 8 ohm load (it also has two 4-ohm stereo outs
splitting the wattage). I patched it into a 4 ohm cabinet at a four hour
rehearsal last night and it performed beautifully without getting the slightest
bit warm. It has a very simple front panel; input, gain, treble, mid, bass,
volume, headphone out, no reverb (that's what your tank is for). The back panel
has ins and outs for patching effects and a stereo RCA line input.
Beginners might consider it as a first amp 'cause for 200 clams for the power
block plus another 200 clams for a speaker cabinet, you have a very portable,
very loud amp that will sound a lot better and be more reliable than the $400.00
variety tube amp (if there is such a thing) and it's also more suited to daily
practice. No, it doesn't sound or perform better than the more expensive tube
amps and none if this is saying that my tube amps won't continue to be my
primary sound. The Crate power block is just a very convenient and viable back
up and will make my travel load a lot easier without that second tube amp.
-Marty
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Marty, your suggestion is a very sensible one for the gigging musician -
definitely a lot of horsepower for the money there, and as a compact and
lightweight backup unit, it sounds extremely tempting.
You say this is a stereo amp with 8 ohms mono or 4 ohms each side - I thought
speaker impedance wasn't anwhere near as much an issue with solid state amps as
with tube amps - but it sounds like you're concerned about not deviating from
the designated speaker loads on this solid state amp.
Obviously, as you say, you're not about to claim that it sounds or performs
better than a deceent tube amp - but, I trust your ears to be reasonably
discriminating - how does its sound and tone compare with other amps? I've
played on quite a few tube amps and quite a few solid state amps over the years,
and not once have I found a solid state amp where I felt the tonal and sound
qualities even came close to those of a sweet vintage tube amp.
Just how good does this Crate amp sound?
Regards,
Bruce D
Marty Tippens <> wrote:
I can now highly recommend the Crate Power Block head as a viable back up for
your tube head. I've had my tube amps go out three times in recent years, twice
at gigs and once at a rehearsal so I've been bringing a heavy second amp to
gigs. This new Crate head weighs only 4.5 lbs and has it's own carrying case
about the size of a camara bag. It has 150 solid state watts which translates to
about 85 tube watts and has all the clean tonal range and volume of a Twin
Reverb. It gets the punchy bottom and clear highs. The only downside was that
the mono speaker out is for an 8 ohm load (it also has two 4-ohm stereo outs
splitting the wattage). I patched it into a 4 ohm cabinet at a four hour
rehearsal last night and it performed beautifully without getting the slightest
bit warm. It has a very simple front panel; input, gain, treble, mid, bass,
volume, headphone out, no reverb (that's what your tank is for). The back panel
has ins and outs for patching effects and a stereo RCA line input.
Beginners might consider it as a first amp 'cause for 200 clams for the power
block plus another 200 clams for a speaker cabinet, you have a very portable,
very loud amp that will sound a lot better and be more reliable than the $400.00
variety tube amp (if there is such a thing) and it's also more suited to daily
practice. No, it doesn't sound or perform better than the more expensive tube
amps and none if this is saying that my tube amps won't continue to be my
primary sound. The Crate power block is just a very convenient and viable back
up and will make my travel load a lot easier without that second tube amp.
-Marty
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Hey Bruce,
After using the amp for 4 hours I wasn't as concerned about using the 4 ohm
load. It handled it just fine. Tonally it was excellent. I brought my Vibrolux
to the rehersal but patched the Crate head to the speakers as if the Vibrolux
were on the fritz. At no time was I wanting to hook the Vibroux head back in.
The Crate had all the range and volume I was accustomed to with the Vibrolux but
the Crate head didn't break up as early as the Vibrolux head. I've also A/B'd
the Crate with a Twin at home and was able to get essentially the same sound. I
imagine over time I'll notice differences.
-Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: bruce duncan
To:
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: [SurfGuitar101] Crate power block
Marty, your suggestion is a very sensible one for the gigging musician -
definitely a lot of horsepower for the money there, and as a compact and
lightweight backup unit, it sounds extremely tempting.
You say this is a stereo amp with 8 ohms mono or 4 ohms each side - I thought
speaker impedance wasn't anwhere near as much an issue with solid state amps as
with tube amps - but it sounds like you're concerned about not deviating from
the designated speaker loads on this solid state amp.
Obviously, as you say, you're not about to claim that it sounds or performs
better than a deceent tube amp - but, I trust your ears to be reasonably
discriminating - how does its sound and tone compare with other amps? I've
played on quite a few tube amps and quite a few solid state amps over the years,
and not once have I found a solid state amp where I felt the tonal and sound
qualities even came close to those of a sweet vintage tube amp.
Just how good does this Crate amp sound?
Regards,
Bruce D
Marty Tippens <> wrote:
I can now highly recommend the Crate Power Block head as a viable back up for
your tube head. I've had my tube amps go out three times in recent years, twice
at gigs and once at a rehearsal so I've been bringing a heavy second amp to
gigs. This new Crate head weighs only 4.5 lbs and has it's own carrying case
about the size of a camara bag. It has 150 solid state watts which translates to
about 85 tube watts and has all the clean tonal range and volume of a Twin
Reverb. It gets the punchy bottom and clear highs. The only downside was that
the mono speaker out is for an 8 ohm load (it also has two 4-ohm stereo outs
splitting the wattage). I patched it into a 4 ohm cabinet at a four hour
rehearsal last night and it performed beautifully without getting the slightest
bit warm. It has a very simple front panel; input, gain, treble, mid, bass,
volume, headphone out, no reverb (that's what your tank is for). The back panel
has ins and outs for patching effects and a stereo RCA line input.
Beginners might consider it as a first amp 'cause for 200 clams for the power
block plus another 200 clams for a speaker cabinet, you have a very portable,
very loud amp that will sound a lot better and be more reliable than the $400.00
variety tube amp (if there is such a thing) and it's also more suited to daily
practice. No, it doesn't sound or perform better than the more expensive tube
amps and none if this is saying that my tube amps won't continue to be my
primary sound. The Crate power block is just a very convenient and viable back
up and will make my travel load a lot easier without that second tube amp.
-Marty
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
---------------------------------
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---------------------------------
---------------------------------
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Marty,
It's amazing that Crate's able to pack the power and range in for such a
reasonable price. Come to think of it, of all the solid state amps I've played
on, it was the Crates that seemed to have the most tubelike sound and tone -
definitely not equal, but nowhere near as far from that tone as many other solid
states!
I'm definitely gonna check this baby out ASAP.
Thanks for letting us all hear your take on it.
Regards,
Bruce D
Marty Tippens <> wrote:
Hey Bruce,
After using the amp for 4 hours I wasn't as concerned about using the 4 ohm
load. It handled it just fine. Tonally it was excellent. I brought my Vibrolux
to the rehersal but patched the Crate head to the speakers as if the Vibrolux
were on the fritz. At no time was I wanting to hook the Vibroux head back in.
The Crate had all the range and volume I was accustomed to with the Vibrolux but
the Crate head didn't break up as early as the Vibrolux head. I've also A/B'd
the Crate with a Twin at home and was able to get essentially the same sound. I
imagine over time I'll notice differences.
-Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: bruce duncan
To:
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: [SurfGuitar101] Crate power block
Marty, your suggestion is a very sensible one for the gigging musician -
definitely a lot of horsepower for the money there, and as a compact and
lightweight backup unit, it sounds extremely tempting.
You say this is a stereo amp with 8 ohms mono or 4 ohms each side - I thought
speaker impedance wasn't anwhere near as much an issue with solid state amps as
with tube amps - but it sounds like you're concerned about not deviating from
the designated speaker loads on this solid state amp.
Obviously, as you say, you're not about to claim that it sounds or performs
better than a deceent tube amp - but, I trust your ears to be reasonably
discriminating - how does its sound and tone compare with other amps? I've
played on quite a few tube amps and quite a few solid state amps over the years,
and not once have I found a solid state amp where I felt the tonal and sound
qualities even came close to those of a sweet vintage tube amp.
Just how good does this Crate amp sound?
Regards,
Bruce D
Marty Tippens <> wrote:
I can now highly recommend the Crate Power Block head as a viable back up for
your tube head. I've had my tube amps go out three times in recent years, twice
at gigs and once at a rehearsal so I've been bringing a heavy second amp to
gigs. This new Crate head weighs only 4.5 lbs and has it's own carrying case
about the size of a camara bag. It has 150 solid state watts which translates to
about 85 tube watts and has all the clean tonal range and volume of a Twin
Reverb. It gets the punchy bottom and clear highs. The only downside was that
the mono speaker out is for an 8 ohm load (it also has two 4-ohm stereo outs
splitting the wattage). I patched it into a 4 ohm cabinet at a four hour
rehearsal last night and it performed beautifully without getting the slightest
bit warm. It has a very simple front panel; input, gain, treble, mid, bass,
volume, headphone out, no reverb (that's what your tank is for). The back panel
has ins and outs for patching effects and a stereo RCA line
input.
Beginners might consider it as a first amp 'cause for 200 clams for the power
block plus another 200 clams for a speaker cabinet, you have a very portable,
very loud amp that will sound a lot better and be more reliable than the $400.00
variety tube amp (if there is such a thing) and it's also more suited to daily
practice. No, it doesn't sound or perform better than the more expensive tube
amps and none if this is saying that my tube amps won't continue to be my
primary sound. The Crate power block is just a very convenient and viable back
up and will make my travel load a lot easier without that second tube amp.
-Marty
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
---------------------------------
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
Visit your group "SurfGuitar101" on the web.
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
a.. Visit your group "SurfGuitar101" on the web.
b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
__________ NOD32 1.1187 (20050805) Information __________
This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
---------------------------------
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
Visit your group "SurfGuitar101" on the web.
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
---------------------------------
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