Crate GX-40C amp (UPDATED:: bought it)

[Brian Krashpad]

Hi kids. If all goes well on Saturday I'll have my new "church amp," a little Crate solid state 2x10, the GX-40C. Hopefully it'll be smaller/lighter/quieter than the badboys I currently have in the stable, which are a little much for church playing. This be the one for sale:


http://images.craigslist.org/3n03p73l4ZZZZZZZZZ9365a404513874c19f3.jpg

Here's my quandary, some of the reviews mention a bunch of onboard effects:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/product/Crate/GX40C/10/1

However, so far as I can tell from pictures, it just has reverb and chorus (plus distortion via the master/gain knobs), see these pics:
http://s146.photobucket.com/albums/r257/jcvonbb/CRATE-GX40-C

The seller is a little hard to get hold of (I only have his e-address, and he doesn't seem to check mail daily) and hasn't said anything about it having effects. Frankly I'ma buy it either way, so long as it works. But if anyone owns or has played one, I'd like to know about what effects it has. Also, although most listings I've found describe it as a 2x10, one has said 2x8, and frankly the pic of the one for sale looks more like a 2x8. Anyone know about that?

Any general comments about tonez, reliability, etc., also appreciated.

Thanks people!

[MrSandMan]

Hi Brian,

I have the GX-130C head (which might be the same + 90-watts)? If so, I can tell you that it's a spring reverb and chorus amplifier. The amp has 2 channels and can be switched via any 1/4" footswitch selector. The distortion is amazing on it, but the cleans are sterile to my ears. Then again, I didn't spend too much time adjusting the cleans on it either.

It's hard to judge the speaker size from the picture. My first thought was 2x10... but it's hard to tell.

[Brian Krashpad]

Thanks Chaz, sounds like you got her big brother, same series but more power and the head version. Have you ever used the line out on yours?

A bud on another forum had one same as mine and did not like (to put it mildly) the DI feature on it. It's not that big a deal to me, since if I don't like the amp's DI, I can line it out before the signal gets to the amp, via my Bad Monkey (thanks again). I tried that the last time I played at church, with a tube amp that didn't have a line out, and it worked like a champ.

Or chimp. :2thumbups:

[MrSandMan]

On the back of the GX-130C there is a -- Stereo Line In / Stereo Line Out / Mono Line Out.

I have not used them, though.

Here's a link to see pictures of the front and back panel of the GX-130C
http://www.gear-vault.com/classifieds/Crate-GX130C-Head-w-Footswitch-brutal-tone-Like-andeg-VH140C,name,101861,auction_id,auction_details

[Brian Krashpad]

On the back of the GX-130C there is a -- Stereo Line In / Stereo Line Out / Mono Line Out.

I have not used them, though.

Here's a link to see pictures of the front and back panel of the GX-130C
http://www.gear-vault.com/classifieds/Crate-GX130C-Head-w-Footswitch-brutal-tone-Like-andeg-VH140C,name,101861,auction_id,auction_details




Hmm, cannot get link to work. Sounds like what's on the back of the one down here though.

[MrSandMan]

Oh damn, can you try it again? Seems our server has been unstable the past 12 hrs. I may need to contact them.

[Brian Krashpad]

Oh damn, can you try it again? Seems our server has been unstable the past 12 hrs. I may need to contact them.


Ah, worked this time.

Yeah, that looks like some of the pics of the back of the GX-40C.

[Brian Krashpad]

Sunday morning I went and picked up my craigslist find, an old Crate GX-40C. $80.

It has reverb and stereo chorus, no digital effects. Unlike the newer Crate model (probably a GFX-40) with the DSP stuff, the older one also has smaller speakers, 8's rather than 10's. That's OK for me, since I was looking for portability.

The stereo chorus sounds really nice, a big full sound. With the chorus off the amp is a bit bright and clanky, though a usable clean sound can be gotten with the bass all the way up, the treble all the way down, andthe mids on about 2 or 3. Definitely likes humbuckers better than Fender-style singles. Haven't played anything with P-90's or other funkier singles yet.

The gain channel is not very good, marginally passable at low gain but unusable at higher distortion. I'll just keep it on the clean channel and use my Bad Monkey, since it has separate bass and high tone controls, not only will the distortion itself be better but I can EQ it with the pedal so it won't be so bright and clanky.

The funny thing is, the speakers are Jensens and sound really good with a nice warm bass response in chorus mode. Weird that they eq'd the rest of the amp so bright. It's covered in charcoal black fuzzy stuff.

This was just a little thing that I could take along and use as my stage monitor at church (will probably be in the PA mix, but even if not, will only be playing over acoustic instruments) so I don't have to bring a 2x12 and a head, which could scare some of the blue-hair contingent. Also should be good for noodling at home

[MrSandMan]

Nice score bro. Glad you like it... and that's a great price too.

[Brian Krashpad]

Nice score bro. Glad you like it... and that's a great price too.


Thanks. I did use it at church the following week with no real problems. Fortunately it turns out that our new band director, like me, would rather NOT run through the PA, so I didn't have to mess about with running a line out, either from the amp itself or from the pedal. First song we did was a pre-service (where you can get away with more funky stuff) song: U2's "40." Unfortunately, when I dug my old delay pedal out, I couldn't get it to work. So instead I cranked the chorus and reverb on the amp. Didn't sound like the Edge but at least I didn't have to play totally clean either.

So far, so good. I play again weekend after next.