Crate GLX 212?

shoeless

shoeless

Riffin'
So this popped up on my local Craigslist. For $50 I figured I'd give it a look. Waiting to hear back from the guy. Anyone have any experience or know anything about these? I know, it's a Crate, it's digital effects, it's solid state, etc. etc....it's also only $50.

Crate GLX212 Guitar Amp $50 OBO
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I have a version of the Crate 120 and really like it, have had it about 16 years. Great clean channel and takes pedals very well. Should have a speaker out in the back to use a cab and together it will push 6 speakers. I like it a lot using it in stereo, amp and cab set about 10 feet away. Should have Crate speakers in it that come with very large magnets.
 
If I could find one to use with students for $50 I'd get it. It would be fine for casual jams too where you don't worry about good gear being damaged.
 
Well, I picked it up at lunch today. For $50 I couldn't pass it up.

The bad: The handle is broken, so the only way to carry it is with a bear hug. A trip to Home Depot should fix that pretty easily. He also didn't have the proper footswitch. It was supposed to have a 3 button switch (clean/dirty, solo on/off and effects on/off), but all he had was a 1 button switch. It's a Crate switch, which is odd, but it will only switch one of the three. Wasn't a deal breaker though, and it'd be easy enough to make a 2 button switch if I decide I really need it.

The good: Everything works and it's in really good shape except for the handle. The clean channel with the digital reverb sounded pretty good, and that's likely how I'll use it 90% of the time. The dirty channel sounded a bit fizzy to me, but could probably dial in some usable tones. The solo channel is ridiculous, over the top gain with a mid-scoop control. Probably good for metal, but that's not really my thing. The back-lit knobs are a nice feature for dark environments.

Since I wasn't overwhelmed with the solo channel, and tend to always have a little reverb in the mix, I'll probably just use the 1 button switch to go between the clean and dirty channel. And since I doubt I'll gig with it except maybe as a back up, I can always switch stuff with the panel buttons.

So overall, a bargain at $50. I'm sure I could get that back, and probably more, if I decide to get rid of it.
 
shoeless said:
Well, I picked it up at lunch today. For $50 I couldn't pass it up.

The bad: The handle is broken, so the only way to carry it is with a bear hug. A trip to Home Depot should fix that pretty easily. He also didn't have the proper footswitch. It was supposed to have a 3 button switch (clean/dirty, solo on/off and effects on/off), but all he had was a 1 button switch. It's a Crate switch, which is odd, but it will only switch one of the three. Wasn't a deal breaker though, and it'd be easy enough to make a 2 button switch if I decide I really need it.

The good: Everything works and it's in really good shape except for the handle. The clean channel with the digital reverb sounded pretty good, and that's likely how I'll use it 90% of the time. The dirty channel sounded a bit fizzy to me, but could probably dial in some usable tones. The solo channel is ridiculous, over the top gain with a mid-scoop control. Probably good for metal, but that's not really my thing. The back-lit knobs are a nice feature for dark environments.

Since I wasn't overwhelmed with the solo channel, and tend to always have a little reverb in the mix, I'll probably just use the 1 button switch to go between the clean and dirty channel. And since I doubt I'll gig with it except maybe as a back up, I can always switch stuff with the panel buttons.

So overall, a bargain at $50. I'm sure I could get that back, and probably more, if I decide to get rid of it.
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I can send you some presets for all three channels if you like? Also, the reverb should work off a floor switch too.
 
mikesr1963 said:
I can send you some presets for all three channels if you like? Also, the reverb should work off a floor switch too.
Click to expand...
Sure, I'd be interested in that, thanks.

I played with it a little last night when I got home, and overall I'd say it was $50 well spent. Haven't tried any pedals with it yet, just messed with the onboard effects. The implementation of them is a bit goofy, IMO.

Crate touts their Channel Tracking technology in the manual. The idea is that whatever effect you have selected for 1 of the 3 channels will be remembered as you switch between them. That is, if you have reverb-only set on the clean channel, and flanger on the rhythm, it will remember that as you switch back and forth. The downside is that it doesn't remember the mix knob setting. The level will be applied as however it is set on the panel. So you you have a lot of reverb on the clean, and you switch to the rhythm, you're going to have a lot of flange too. They also did not make the parameters adjustable, just the mix level. For example, there are two delay settings medium and long on the mode selection. The delay time & repeats are not adjustable, just the level. So aside from reverb, I don't see the effects being very useful.

But as a straight ahead amp, it's fine. The rhythm/dirty channel is useable as long as the gain is kept low. To me, anything above about 10 o'clock got fizzy fast. Hopefully it'll take pedals well. Seems like it should. It has an effects loop, but don't know that I'll use it since it comes in after the onboard effects (according to the manual). That would put any of the onboard effects like delay/reverb before any outside pedals. Another goofy implementation, IMO.

It also has a built-in tuner on the top, which is a nice little feature.
 
shoeless said:
Sure, I'd be interested in that, thanks.

I played with it a little last night when I got home, and overall I'd say it was $50 well spent. Haven't tried any pedals with it yet, just messed with the onboard effects. The implementation of them is a bit goofy, IMO.

Crate touts their Channel Tracking technology in the manual. The idea is that whatever effect you have selected for 1 of the 3 channels will be remembered as you switch between them. That is, if you have reverb-only set on the clean channel, and flanger on the rhythm, it will remember that as you switch back and forth. The downside is that it doesn't remember the mix knob setting. The level will be applied as however it is set on the panel. So you you have a lot of reverb on the clean, and you switch to the rhythm, you're going to have a lot of flange too. They also did not make the parameters adjustable, just the mix level. For example, there are two delay settings medium and long on the mode selection. The delay time & repeats are not adjustable, just the level. So aside from reverb, I don't see the effects being very useful.

But as a straight ahead amp, it's fine. The rhythm/dirty channel is useable as long as the gain is kept low. To me, anything above about 10 o'clock got fizzy fast. Hopefully it'll take pedals well. Seems like it should. It has an effects loop, but don't know that I'll use it since it comes in after the onboard effects (according to the manual). That would put any of the onboard effects like delay/reverb before any outside pedals. Another goofy implementation, IMO.

It also has a built-in tuner on the top, which is a nice little feature.
Click to expand...
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