Is A Gorilla Amp Just An Overpriced CRATE?

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

A real gorilla! 10 inches of plywood encased fury!
(Insert your immature joke here)

I heard that's what Meshugga uses for their secret Toanz! Of course the earlier models were the best.

[NegativeEase]

CRATE is pedestrian gear.

I read an article that postulates that Crate is the Nickelback of amps... lol



Personally, I get a laugh when people come in here and try to say 80s and early 90s Crate is good stuff -it's feature rich affordable entry level gear designed to compete with Peavey's revolutionary modularly built SS gear of the era - it's great for getting into music affordably, but I've never seen heard any Crate from the 80s and early 90s I would prefer over other most any other option...

Their most regarded amps were from the late 90s -but they were rebadged or reworked classic Ampeg guitar circuits designed by the Ampeg team and built overseas -there are many of those amps that are on a way better level than the earlier Crate stuff they built their reputation of being meh....

but once again, it was the gear we could afford in the 80s as kids starting to learn how play -every start up band I ever knew started first on Peavey and Crate combos -and they hold a fond place in my heart for that.

[Securb]

In all actuality, the original Crates and Crate IIs were not horrible amps. There is enough power to get well above the drums, decent reverb, very portable, and a decent pedal platform. One of the better budget amps at the time. But yes Peavy, Randell and other solid-state amps of the era blow them out of the water.

[NegativeEase]

In all actuality, the original Crates and Crate IIs were not horrible amps. There is enough power to get well above the drums, decent reverb, very portable, and a decent pedal platform. One of the better budget amps at the time.

is that the late 70s and early 80s you speak of?

[Mincer]

I read an article that postulates that Crate is the Nickelback of amps... lol



Personally, I get a laugh when people come in here and try to say 80s and early 90s Crate is good stuff -it's feature rich affordable entry level gear designed to compete with Peavey's revolutionary modularly built SS gear of the era - it's great for getting into music affordably, but I've never seen heard any Crate from the 80s and early 90s I would prefer over other most any other option...

Their most regarded amps were from the late 90s -but they were rebadged or reworked classic Ampeg guitar circuits designed by the Ampeg team and built overseas -there are many of those amps that are on a way better level than the earlier Crate stuff they built their reputation of being meh....

but once again, it was the gear we could afford in the 80s as kids starting to learn how play -every start up band I ever knew started first on Peavey and Crate combos -and they hold a fond place in my heart for that.

My bass player in high school had one of these. I swear it was 50lbs.

[Securb]

is that the late 70s and early 80s you speak of?

Yep, we had a resource we could borrow those Crate IIs for gigs back when I was 14 or so. They were definitely better than what we were using at the time for practice. They got the job done until I bought my Deluxe Reverb.

[NegativeEase]

Yep, we have a resource we could borrow those Crate IIs for gigs back when I was 14 or so. They were definitely better than what we were using at the time for practice. They got the job done until I bought my Deluxe Reverb.

Yeah, those are right before my time and didn't make much inroads in the south

-My first using Crates are starting maybe 85-86ish era once they were black with the pinstripe and made overseas.

Basically SLM was going after Peavey's market by the mid 80s

[Securb]

Yeah, those are right before my time and didn't make much inroads in the south

-My first using Crates are starting maybe 85-86ish era once they were black with the pinstripe and made overseas.

Basically SLM was going after Peavey's market by the mid 80s

Yeah, this is going way back. Our other guitarist's brothers and our drummer's cousins were both in working bands at the time. In our first gigs, they lent us gear. At the time I was playing a Kent Les Paul with a Sears amp and a ROSS distortion. Dana's Crate II and Fabio's Les Paul Deluxe were definitely an upgrade for me. As others have said not the best amps but they were a great launching point for a lot of people. Once I started playing out my parents bought me the Iceman and a decent amp.

[CK71]

As a teen I owned both. This thread is giving me flashbacks to hours of horrible tones!

[Dudeman7]

I started out with Crate amps too. Back in the early 90's there were definitely more options for gear but it was still hard to come by in my small, rural town.

I had a little Crate amp, an Ibanez Soundtank distortion pedal and a Gibson Sonex guitar. Every control had to be all the way cranked in order to hear it over our drummer.

On the plus side, it did a remarkable job of pulling in radio stations so set breaks were covered.

[Open lane]

It's kinda funny. First time i heard a crate was when i heard one of the best players i know shredding like hell through one at a local guitar center. The guy was really cool and a great player who became a good friend of mine. I asked him "why are you playing a crate (even though his licks actually sounded good through it)." He told me he hated them but had one at home because he couldn't afford anything better. Heh, the way he played on that crate made me consider getting one lol.

[Top-L]

Early 90s, most amps didn't have tons of gain. Some of those crates had alot of gain and you could play metal plugging straight in. In college I upgraded to a Fender 40 watt tube combo and had to run pedals into it. And it was too loud for my apartment. I was a little jealous of my friends Crate. Remember that alot of gear back then, you couldn't just plug in and shred.

Also, I remember early 90s going to a Guitar Center and some long haired kid was sitting on top of one playing a BC Rich Warlock and really shredding it up! This was before youtube and chance to see really good players close up was few and far between.

Fond memories of Crate. I don't know why people are bashing them. Maybe if you were a little older than me and could afford really good gear, but from my perspective (like the Peavy Bandit) they were good.

[Demanic]

Back in the early 80's Crate was the $hit and then you went up to Peavey. My first real guitar amp was an 80 watt SS Ross 1x12 combo. It was loud and if you turned the pre-gain to 3:00, you were in proto death/thrash territory.

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[LLL]

Why is this 2 week old thread of mine still on page one of "Amplifiers" category?

It was a joke...

[beaubrummels]

Why is this 2 week old thread of mine still on page one of "Amplifiers" category?

It was a joke...

No one had posted for 7 days, until you bumped it.