Crate Powerblock?

[GuitarStv]

Does anyone have one of these? I was kinda interested in looking at one, but can't find any for sale around here. I've gone over some reviews on HC, but you can't trust them really . . . Just wondering if there is a lot of clean headroom on them. I'm also wondering how they sound compared to a Jazz Chorus amp . . . any info is appreciated!

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

A friend of mine has one, and he really likes it. He uses a Mesa recording preamp going into it.

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

It's great
Feel free to buy MINE, only because I need to sell stuff and I only use it as a back up

It sounds nothing like a JC, has decent clean headroom
but as you crank the volume you have to apply the gain knob

shockingly the class D wiring gives you slight breaku all the way to old JCM type distortion.

Works really well with FX preamps etc etc

I have NEVER used the loop
I go straight in

 

[Pierre]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

I tried one today. It has a decent sound when used alone, but I'd personally plug in a POD or similar in the effects loop and go loud. It's a cheap poweramp basically.

 

[Chi3f]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

i have one. I actually like it alot. I use it as a backup and home practice amp. you can get it pretty loud before it breaks up. if you want to play anything distorted and clean you have to use a distortion pedal or turn your guitar volume up and down.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

I was wondering if you could run an Epiphone Valve Jr. head into one of these things and have a cheap and small tube preamp/solidstate poweramp type thing going on. I'd like to try that some time.

 

[Baltar]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

funny, since yesterday i am thinking to buy one.
but, i'd like to use it for bass guitar also. so just for fun, i wrote
to crate support, if i could use it for bass applications and quite fast came
the positive answer ....

> Martin,
>
> Yes. You may use the Powerblock for either bass or guitar applications,
> with the correct rated cabinets.
>
> Sincerely

hmpf. so i'm really near to buy this baby, but would be happier to get
a positive user feedback. has anybody tried it with a 112 basscab or such?

 

[Baltar]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

so, back from the lunchbreak - or should i say shopbreak? ^^

i got me one powerblock for 199euros.

i am going to test it with bassguitar and guitar ...

 

[flank]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

i heard a guy demo'ing it when it originally came out out summer NAMM in 05', and it sounded really good i thought. people were flocking around to see where the sound was coming from. It sounds WAY better than what it is priced at, IMO. Nice feel and dynamics, stellar clean and dirty tones. And with the possiblities (bass or guitar, or even vocals for one person), and the size of it, its a great value i think. Crate really hit the nail on the head considering what they sell it for.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

Yeah, it'll work for bass guitar fine if you're playing with a very low volume level band or just practicing but put it in a live situation with a drummer and a 50-100 watt half-stack or combo and you probably won't have enough headroom. You need more power for bass to keep it clean in a band situation, unless you're planning on using that 1x12 for a stage monitor and then line-out from the PB to the PA (this might work OK).

If I ever have to resort to a lighter rig, the Powerblock is definitely something I would consider. With a nice outboard preamp, be it a pedal or rack, it can make for a really nice setup. It works great with a POD too.

 

[Baltar]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

so, back to the forum.
it's already late (half past eleven) and i should stop to shake my neighbours.

i tested it (jb) with
- an eminence kappa 18 in an closed cab,
- an eminence kappa 12 in an bassreflex cab
and finally (strat half step down) with
- an eminence GB 12 in an 3/4 back cab

first i must say, that i am impressed how good it manages to drive the
kappa 18. i am not a volume fetish, but i am very picky in terms of sound
and response. i did not await that.
also positive is the clean sound. compared to eg marshall solid states in that
price range it's much more defined. the headroom is ok and chords are very
clear at medium to high volumes.
what i missed is a power chord. they didn't ship it. i also miss some sort
of power clipping - i'd like to see if the amp runs stable or not.

for bluesrock it will stand a drummer using the 112cab with kappa 12 chassis.
i don't know if it would for metal.

i wonder if it will stand a live gig. i will try it out.
i think it's worth it's money - no doubt

/edit: it did not get hot until now

 

[ErikH]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

Have you used that setup with a drummer and guitar player yet to confirm that it will stand up to the task without clipping?

 

[Baltar]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

erik,
i didn't play with a drummer now, but my guitar player usually is a bit to loud
for my taste and it handled that. so i'm sure it will fit my small gigs

i didn't hear it break and there was still room for more loudness.

but as i already mentioned, i didn't gig it so far - i own it for 12 1/2 hours now

in june i will help out a friend on some harder punk gig. as soon as we
do training for that, i can tell you exactly where this little powerblock has
it's limit - in worst case we need to mic it. but i ususally don't play that loud.

i wonder, that you wrote it's fine for home practice and doesn't do more for you.
what style do you play and do you know the efficience of your cab?

 

[Baltar]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

uodate: the limit in loudness may be as OlinMusic already mentioned, that on
some point you need to bring the gain to distortion, to get it louder.
but this doesn't seem to be a power amp limit.
if i find time tomorrow, i try to play it clean louder with a preamp or pedal.

gnite

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

I can tell you this - everyone on here is looking for a bedroom practice amp - well this one is it.

For me, it's been my backup at gigs. It's so cool that way. No lugging multiple tube amps. It's actually quite loud thru a 4x12, SOUNDS GREAT with Vintage 30s, closed back. I actually prefer the amps tone with FX thru the loop.

Only drawback, no channel switching (for the price, buy 2, lol) and it will not stay clean thru the whole spectrum. As you seek volume, you need to add some gain, at least to 11 o clock to really crank.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

I'm not wanting to know for me, but for our bass player. Right now he's running through the PA and we're going to go on a "field trip" per say to look for an amp/cab with him. Ideally something in the 250-300 watt range would be perfect, and he may well need that. Cab wise, it's up to him. Probably a 1x15 or 1x15 and 2x10. Depends on what we find the good deals on.

We play classic rock, some classic metal (old Priest, VH), older ZZ Top, Bad Co, Cheap Trick, things like that. There's some mellower stuff too.

 

[Baltar]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

erik,
i think anyway it's worth a try. send your bassist to the musicstore.
they sure let him test a basscab with this amp. personal preferences
can be so different

... i couldn't go to work today without powering that little fellow before

for bass apps;
i think through a good cab, it should stand small club gigs and band
practice. it will work fine with a guitarist with 30-40 tube watts.
well it's not built for more, if i want to turn it louder, then the pre-section
distorts when playing chords.
bands which use stacks for the guitars, can use it as bedroom amp ;-)

for guitar apps:
it's not bad as a backup and souds clean very nice, but i will go on with my
engl combo and use the powerblock for bass

what bothers me is, that i found out that i like my jazzbass currently much better,
than the peavey 5string. much more warmth and rounder sound

 

[Baltar]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

^^ yesterday i tested the bedroom capabilities.
i connected the powerblock bridged to one Klipsch Ksb 3.1
and played my jazzbass, ..the sound was awesome

 

[Baltar]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

a little update on this one.

on saturday i had a jam session with inter alia a drummer i met first time.
this guy was nuts, i mean he was technically quite fine, but he played
so loud, that i needed ear muffs.
it wasn't an issue to play bass over the powerblock and my selfbuilt
112 cab and keep up with him. the issue was, that the guitarist with his
solidstate 65 watt crate 112 combo couldn't keep up with us.

this wasn't a musically senseful test imo.
but it has proofen the power of the little block.

i played a stock squier jazzbass.
the cab is a selfbuilt ~85 ltr mdf construction with an eminence kappa12.
the venting was set to 42 hz and has a surface of 76cm^2

the low end performance is quite fine.

the bottleneck of the powerblock is definately the pre-section.
it's just single channel and breaking up much to fast.
without this it would be possible to play clean louder.
it has a big changeover range from clean to slightly overdriven.
you notice when you get into that, if you turn the gain louder and
loose headroom.
as soon as i have my emg j-set mounted, i will see if this changes sth

 

[DankStar]

Re: Crate Powerblock?

I was wondering if you could run an Epiphone Valve Jr. head into one of these things and have a cheap and small tube preamp/solidstate poweramp type thing going on. I'd like to try that some time.

given that the epiphone jr. head has a power section but no preamp out (I think), I don't think that would be possible. I'm not sure that would be a desirable thing though. The whole beauty of the jr. head is you can crank it up and drive the power tubes. The power block would be a backup if the epiphone goes down.

For a hundred bucks you might as well get a guyatone or maxxon real tube overdrive pedal/preamp and run that into the power block. But it sounds pretty good on its own believe it or not.