BT50 Review

Features rugged Ozite covering, heavy-duty steel grille and road rugged handle. Plus, two channel operation for clean/distortion, sub-octave effect and built in chromatic tuner. 50 watts, Crate 12" speaker, headphone jack, CD input, limiter. Includes footswitch. Built to rock!

Features:	8.9
Sound:	8.6
Reliability:	9
Impression:	9.3
Overall rating:	7.3
Reviewer rating:	8.9
Users rating:	5.6
Votes:	25

Reviewed by: unregistered, on june 09, 2007

Features: Bought this amp about two weeks ago Brand New. Great sound would recommend it to anyone playing any style of music personally I find it great for funk and rock mainly I play funk and punk. Recently done gig with it loud enough to shake the windows on quarter master volume.It has quite a great gain channel never liked gain on basses until now but it's great has headphone jack speaker output CD input you name it. Could probably easily fill an acre hall 50 watts of power into a 12" speaker awesome inbuilt tuner and sub-octave control. Has controls distortion(with Switch):gain, shape and level.Clean:level, low, low mid, high mid and high. Master:octave and master. // 9

Sound: Am currently using a Precision bass great sound but the pickup seems to be knackered. Suits any style of music my style is funk/punk/ska occasionally. Like I said very loud on any settings sound tends to spread out. Can make heavy sound or funky sound or any. The clean channel is never distorted and the distorion is surprisingly nice for bass. // 10

Reliability & Durability: It's very dependable wouldn't ever need or be able to afford a backup. Never broken down sounds kind of like a tube amp but it's a solid state. Very durable has tough carpeting cover and plastic on corners. // 9

Impression: I play various kinds of music mainly punk and this a good match for all amazing sound for funk great high end punch when set up right. Been playing about three years now had to put up with a rubbish little Squier amp before it came with a distortion/clean footswitch. This amp was a surprise from my old man and I found it to be great from the first time I played it unfortunately just before I got this amp my pickups messed up! It couldnt get stolen because I have an amazing little guard dog and I couldnt lose it because it's so big (always a plus) I love the sound and the power on it and it really has changed my life and put joy back into bass playing for me. I couldnt compare it to anythin else I've ever heard of or played on. I wish it had a built in gun to shoot that old fart a couple of doors down. Overall a really great amp. // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: The_Next_Flea18, on september 01, 2005

Features: The Crate BT50 features rugged Ozite covering, heavy-duty steel grille and road rugged handle. Plus, two channel operation for clean/distortion, sub-octave effect and built in chromatic tuner. 50 watts, Crate 12" speaker, headphone jack, CD input, limiter. Includes footswitch. Built to rock! Key features:

- Crate 12" Bass Driver speaker
- 50 watts RMS
- Chromatic tuner
- Distortion channel controls: gain, shape, level
- Clean channel controls: level, 4 band EQ
- Footswitchable octaver effect with level control
- Built in limiter
- Headphone jack
- Dual RCA CD inputs
- Crate 2 button metal footswitch included (channel select and octave on/off). // 10

Sound: Right now I use a Jazz bass, and it sounds awesome through this thing. Coming from a broken down burnt out Yamaha 10 watt guitar amp, this thing is insane. It's great for pretty much any style, I like using it for jazz, funk, and punk mostly. It doesn't get extremely loud, but it never gets noisy, even if the volumes cranked all the way up. Theres a ton of variety with this amp, it's just excellent. // 8

Impression: Overall, I love this amp. I've been a bassist for about a year now, and it's really my first bass amp. If it was stolen or lost, I would definitely buy it again. My favorite features are the two footswitchable effects. In buying an amp I came down to this or a Peavey, and went with the Crate for its effects and built in tuner. // 10

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: tdizzle07, on september 26, 2011

Price paid: $ 299

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: - Crate 12" Bass Driver speaker
- 50 watts RMS
- Chromatic Tuner
- Distortion Channel controls: Gain, Shape, Level
- Clean Channel Controls: Level, 4 band EQ
- Footswitchable Octaver effect with Level control
- Built in Limiter
- Headphone Jack
- Dual RCA CD inputs
- Crate 2 button metal footswitch included (channel select and Octave on/off) // 9

Sound: This makes for a very good practice amp. It can get quite loud and below half volume stays pretty clean and deep. Not very usable above half volume, so is limited to practice, rehearsals, and small gigs; but what else do you expect for a combo amp?

I suppose the distortion is a nice extra feature, but if you want good distortion you're going to get a pedal anyway. I never use it, though it makes this amp good for dual use for guitar and bass. // 7

Reliability & Durability: this thing seems pretty sturdy, I have lugged it around a few times, but mostly it just stays put. It is very heavy almost 50lbs! The whole thing is carpeted. The handle seems secure and the corners are capped. The grille is metal which I greatly prefer and seems pretty tough. // 9

Impression: Although this amp is no longer made anymore it makes a really good practice amp for at home, if you can pick one up in good condition. If you play both guitar and bass this thing would be perfect for you. The built in tuner is pretty accurate and it such a nice feature I'm not sure why this isn't more popular on other combos. // 9

overall: 7.8

Reviewed by: Typik, on december 25, 2007

Price paid: $ 250

Purchased from: Centerstage

Features: This 50 watt Crate bass amp was made in 2007, with a wide array of knobs you can get every tone for every style of music you can imagine, it has 2 channels, a clean channel an octave switch, and distortion channel, which is all the features I need! It's a solid state amp with a 12 inch speaker, a 30 ounce magnet. this amp is loud, and heavy! (In both ways) this amp is 46 pounds, but worth it. // 8

Sound: This amp suits every music style I can imagine, and it's loud too, very loud! even on the second volume, but if I get past that the amp starts popping, which is a big turnoff with me, and probably every other musician, the distortion is honestly very muddy, and barely useful at all, the octave Switch however has a pretty neat sound to it, it's kind of weird. I'm giving this an 8 for the distortion problem. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This is a very tough amp, and very loud, the only problem I see that it would have in a gig is the speaker popping from being turned up too loud, and if you wanna plug in a CD player or radio or whatever into the CD input forget it, it goes out after a while, and doesn't work any more after that, again it could just be mine, but if a CD input is something you need, don't take a chance with this amp giving it a six for the popping and CD input problems. // 6

Impression: When I play bass I play funk, and this amp is all I need, I've been playing bass for 2 years, I own plenty of other gear, including another bass amp, but this bass amp is better, I love the variety of tones I get out of it, and if it was ever stolen it's the kind of amp I'd probably go and buy again. // 9

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: Miss G, on november 05, 2007

Features: My favorite feature of this amp is the built in tuner. It's so handy. My bass is never out of tune! The footswitch it comes with is handy. It has distortion that sounds decent but I never use it. I use this amp for practice and jamming with friends. Headphone jack is always a nice touch. // 9

Sound: I'm using my Squier Vintage Modified Precision Bass and have used a Fender Deluxe Active Jazz Bass. Both sound great with this amp. I use a monster bass cable with this and get no crackling or fuzz. Distortion could be better, but I never use it. This amp can get pretty loud without sounding bad. It's loud enough to use for practice, can be heard well over drums and would work for small gigs. Just like somebody else said this amp also sounds good when using a guitar. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I have had this amp for several months and have had no problems with it at all. If I gigged I would use it and trust it 100%. I have my small guitar combo amp sitting on top of it to save space. This thing could take a beating weighing 46lbs. The speaker is protected by a grille and the corners have a nice tough plastic cover. // 10

Impression: This amp helped me get the great pop punk sound I was looking for. I can go from sounding dang close the flea to mark hoppus with a turn of a knob. Great amp for the price. If something happened to it I would definitely get it again. As stated before I love the built in tuner. I plug my guitar into it to tune it too! // 9

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: Shadonite, on july 12, 2006

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: I'm not sure when my amp was made, but I'm sure it wasn't too long ago. It's very versatile, it can play many different styles of playing ranging from Rock to Funk very nicely. It has two channels, clean and distortion with channel switching. It has more features than I would need right now and a few I probably will not use for a long time. I use this amp in my room and it has much more power than I need. It also came with a foot petal, a built-in chromatic tuner, headphone jack, CD player input, and an input for an external speaker. The only I have to say about the tuner is if you are just slightly flat or sharp, it will say you are sharp or flat until you are pretty much perfectly in tune.You would have to acually use the tuner to understand what I am saying. The foot petal can Switch distortion on/off and octave on/off. The octave feature produces a mixture between distortion and clean sounds, which sounds pretty cool. // 9

Sound: I use a Yamaha RBX375 Bass with this amp and it works nicely. I play pretty much any kind of rock and it does a perfect job. The amp is very very noisy especially with the distortion feature on. I use this in my room right now, and it can shake my room with the volume on level 2. I'm sure on level 10 it could shake my house. I'm sure the amp can play a variety of sounds, so far I've only played by fingerpicking, picking, and a little bit of slap bass and it played very nicely. The distortion plays very nicely, but also very brutally. The distortion on this amp is better than the distortion on my guitar amp. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Weighing in at 46 pounds you better believe it's durable. It is covered by a carpet like material, speakers protected by a steel grille, and the corners are covered by a strong plastic. I would use this amp in a gig without a backup. It has never broken down on me and I don't think it will anytime soon. // 10

Impression: So over all this is a great amp. It gives me great sound with the power that I need. I have been playing for about one year and I used to use a Fender Rumble 15W, and this amp was a very good step-up from that amp. If this amp was stolen, I would probably buy it again unless I found a better amp for a better price. I love this amp because of how much more control you have over your overall sound and tone. I don't think I would need the petal or distortion features that much, but it would be better to have it now than need later on down the road. // 9

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: the transaction, on november 07, 2005

Purchased from: Starr Music

Features: When I first bough this efore I bought my Boss pedal I was kind of lost but near a week before I bought it I noticed that I could adjust the distortion on the amp very well (I play electric guitar and bass guitar on this amp and its perfect for my needs). It does not have any other effects besides the distortion, I really wouldn't ask for any other effects, because I feel that using an effects processor is more practical, and has a better sound (ex. GNX4, which has an 8 track recorder too). This amp has enough power for me and for anyone else unless they need to deafen your audience, even though this amp is only 50 watts it has pleny of volume a good tip is to not adjust the master volume much and just adjust the level which greatly reduces "white noise." The only problem is this amp does not allow for a great sustain when playing 5-string bass. // 8

Sound: I'm using some Greg Bennett signature bass and a Squier Affinity Strat electric guitar through this baby. This amp greatly suites my music style which is Linkin Park, and the distortion on this amp emualtes the pedal used by Linkin Park very well. The clean channel does distort at ver high volumes. The distortion will play everything except death metal and grunge. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This is a really though amp, I'll admit a bang it around a lot moving it but it still sounds great, I've never had it serviced and itýs still as good as the day I bought it. // 10

Impression: All I have to say about this amp is that if you want a reliable amp that has a good amount of volume, this is the amp for you, wheather using it with a bass or an electric guitar this amp is great, I'm always getting Crate bass amps for all my guitar from now on. // 10

overall: 8.3

Reviewed by: GreenDayChris, on october 11, 2005

Price paid: $ 274.5

Purchased from: Sound Control

Features: This amp was made fairly recently I believe, prbably in the last 3-5 years. I find this amp pretty versatile, I play punk, rock and ska through it and with a slight bit of tweaking can get a good tone for everything, I find boosting the low mid really adds punchiness to my tone. Also due to the amp having a built in distortion it would be good for metalheads too. by using the supplied footswitch you can have clean, a blend of distortion and clean or out and out dirtiness. It also has an octave channel, which tracks the note you are playing an octave down and sounds pretty cool, especially when playing on the higher frets. This is also switchable on the footswitch. I don't really use this that much though. The amp has a headphone jack and a CD input jack. I really like the 4-band EQ as the low and high mid controls add a lot of versatility. I use this amp for home practise, band practise and gigs, it is OK for small gigs, but for larger ones it could really do with more power, I kind of wish I had brought the 100W version. I believe the amp to be solid-state. It also has a built in chromatic tuner. // 9

Sound: I mainly use the amp with my Peavey Foundation 5, which has high output singlecoil pickups in. With this I can obtain a great sound for punk, rock and ska. Boosting the low mid adds an extra punchiness which is great for punk and rock, whilst boosting the highs add that funk/ska sound. With the distortion on, it is a good amp for punk, hard rock and metal players. The distortion can go from crunchy to pretty massive, all this goes together to form a very versatile amp. I don't find this amp noisy, not even on distortion, I have played it at near full volume without problems. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I have used this amp several times for gigs, without backup and it has never let me down. Of course if I could afford it I would have a backup, but it isn't a priority as I have had no problems yet. I have owned this amp about a year. // 8

Impression: This amp is a good match for my punk, rock and ska styles, and I believe it would suit pretty much anyone, from metal to funk. I have been playing about three years and also own a Peavey Foundation 5, Tanglewood Warrior 3FH and a Crybaby Bass. If this amp were stolen I probably wouldn't buy it again, because, whilst it is good it doesn't really have enough power for 'large' gigs. In fact the only thing I dislike about this amp is the lack of power, and the size of the thing. I compared it mainly to the Fender Rumble series, and chose this because of the extra versatility I thought it had. // 8

Comments

[kirbyrocknroll]

This amp used to cut out my sound sometimes on the dist channel, but it went away somehow. I think I just overworked the amp.

[n-train00]

Ya... not a great amp. Get a GK.

[churrp]

yeah my distortion channel gets cut out as well. i usually play through a clean channel but i some times play it on distortion. the octave and the chromatic tuners dont really do anything for me. the tuner is slow as hell.

[musenath]

RBX375 + BT50 = me very very happy and shadownite i'll take your advice thanks
at the moment i only got a crappy £35 amp but i have the RBX170 which is good!! not quite the RBX375 though but i'll get a job soon!

[Legion(Viktis)]

I have used it with a Cort KX1Q guitar. Having it already detuned to C the amp + the distortion sounded great to me. I also did like the sub octave effect. Dislikes? The way it cuts out instantly when input drops. I could not get good sustain out of it this way.