GLX212 Review

2x12" speakers. 120 watts. 3 channels. 16 onboard effects. 4 different reverbs, flange, slow/med/fast delays, a couple different kinds of chorus, touch wah, reverse wah, octave, doubler, rotating speaker. Effects loop.

Features:	9
Sound:	9.5
Reliability:	9.8
Impression:	9.5
Overall rating:	9.5
Users rating:	7.6
Comments:	9

Featured review by: unregistered, on july 12, 2005

Price paid: $ 454.25

Purchased from: The Music Shoppe

Features: Made: 2004 (last year they were made in USA). Styles played: everything from emo to grunge to punk to blues, you name it, I play it with this amp. Channels: 3/4 (lead/rhythm/clean/EFX). Honestly, for the price and what you get with this amp, it is the best amp I have ever owned. I love the EFX channel 'cause I am a very minimalist type player when it comes to FX, and it provides me with a small sampling without having to buy a slew of pedals. The 120 watts of power sound great, with plenty o'volume to go around (I'm the guy who always needs to turn down). I play with a Mexican Standard Tele and I adore how it comes through, plus my band has arranged a minor backline sponsorship with a local music shop, so we can use cabs whenever needed, I can't wait to hear this amp with 6x12's. One of my favourite features though is the tuner/mute button combo, goodbye Dano Tuner, goodbye TU-2. // 10

Sound: As I mentioned I use a Mexican Telecaster, I play play mostly with my selector in the bridge position (hey, that's how I like it), and it can match up to whatever musical style I push through those 12" speakers. It has incredible low end and palm muting on the rhythm channel at 6 is enough to make my drummer complain about testicular vibrations. I only use Planet Waves cables when I play, and because of that I have absolutely no noise problems (I swear by then, and will use nothing else). I love the two distortion tones, they are incredibly versatile, and switch frequently, depending on the song, and my mood; the clean channel gets loud enough to bag-punch you from behind, and hold out even as the volume rises. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This thing is beefy. There's just no two ways about it, and using Boss pedals, and knowing their reliability, I've developed a tendency to be rather violent when switching channels, and I give'er s--t when I stomp my buttons. My pedal has been thrown across the room; had me drop off speakers onto it to switch channels, and she's still going strong with no signs of slowing. // 10

Impression: Suits my playing, suits my guitar, suits my abusiveness, and no matter what I compared it to, I just couldn't find anything I liked this much, at least not under $1000. If it were stolen, I wouldn't simply replace it, I would find out who stole it and ensure they never walked again, then replace it. I love it, straight up. // 10

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: rockdude375, on may 19, 2008

Price paid: $ 274.5

Purchased from: Sound Control

Features: The main features of this amp are: Solid state x2 12" speakers; 120watts; Extension speaker output; input and output sockets for an external effects loop; intergrated tuner situated on the top of the amp; 3 main channels (clean, rythmn, and solo); DSP effects unit. I have had this amp for just over a year now, I bought it from Sound Control where it was then serving as a display model as it was the only one of that model they had left, and I was running on a tight budget. I play mainly metal and rock, and the sound of this amp is pretty good for a solid state amp, and with the styles I play. The clean channel can be nice and crisp when you need it to be, and subtle and soft at other times. The rythmn channel is very versatile and can be played with anything from light, bluesy overdrive; to pretty distorted rock and metal sounds. The solo channel, although the distortion and 'voice' controls are very good, does not have it's own equalisation settings, which I have occasionally found to be a problem with the things that I play. I don't, however, particularly use the rythmn and/or solo distortion channels, because in my opinion the distortion is too soft and smooth; which is why I use a seperate disotion pedal because I prefer a much more crunchy and sharp distortion sound; but when I do need a smoother distortion, I have no complaints with the ones the amp itself offers. I also find the channel Switch pedal very usefull, as it eliminates the need to stand next to the amp if you need to Switch channel through a song. The Switch pedal also acts as an on/off Switch for the DSP effects, which is even more useful. The DSP offers the usuall things such as several different reverb types; different lengths of delay etc. but also offers a few extras; for example: Chorus, flange, rotating speaker effect, touch wah, octave divider and doubler. For my personal sound, I always have a touch of reverb and delay, which I get from my ME-50, because I don't think the reverb and delay from the amp iself is subtle enough; however, when I need extra delay/reverb/chorus etc. I use the amps, because it gives the effect the boost that I think is necessary. Unfortunately, this amp does not have a headphone output, which I find annoying because it is not always practical for me to play with the amps speakers. At this current moment I mainly use this amp at home for practising, however I have performed recordings with it, and intend to perform gigs with it. I think it makes both a good practis and a good performance amplifier; in terms of both volume (which I assure you, there is plenty of), and sound. The power of this amp is ample for anything I would play at a gig; and if I was to play a gig where I'd need the amp to be louder, I'd have it mic'ed up anyway. Altogether this amp has some pretty good features with it, there are a few that I'd maybe like it to have, bbut nothing that majorly hinders anything I play. // 8

Sound: I play with an ESP/LTD M-50 guitar, Boss ME-50 effects unit and a Damage Control Solid Metal distortion pedal. I Switch between both the neck and bridge pickups of the guitar, depending on what I am playing, and this amp responds well to both of them; giving a sharp, crisp sound with the bridge pup, and a smooth sound with the neck pup. As I stated earier, I play mainly metal and rock (although I will occasionally play any other style that I feel a desire to explore), and the amp handles what I play very well with the settings I have it on. There has always been a certain amount of back ground noise with this amp, but I feel that this may be due to some kind of connection or grounding problem between my guitar and the effects loop, but even without any effects loop there is still a slight noise, but it's not audiable when I'm playing. I havn't really had the clean channel extremely loud, but at the volumes I have had it up to, I have noticed no sign of the sound distorting. This amp has the ability to create a wide variety of sounds, ranging from punk to classic rock to death metal, and everything else inbetween. Although this amp is capable of producing extremely high levels of distortion, the distortion itself is not very brutal. It is more of a smooth distortion, and this is regardless of whatever E.Q. settings you have it set to. Overall this amp can give some pretty good sound with the right settings, and for a solid state I'd say it's pretty excelent and has a great tone. // 9

Reliability & Durability: At the minute I'd definately play gigs with this without feeling the need for a back up. It has never broken down on me in the time I have had it. The only problem I can see is there might be a connection problem somewhere, as the lights on the front randomly turn off sometimes, but I think this is an individual problem and not something wrong with this model of amp, and this in itself has not made any difference to the sound. The channel Switch pedal is also extremely reliable. I have dropped it, stood on it, tripped over it, spilt coffee on it, dropped things onto it and stamped on it, and it has never failed me. I think the connections of the input/output sockets could be made a little better, as I have known it to Switch the DSP on and off of it's own accord occasionally, but a little fiddle with the cables and it was sorted out. // 9

Impression: My overall impression with this amp is that it's a well made, good, solid state amp, with plenty of power behind it and a pretty decent sound. I've been playing for roughly 2 years now, and the only other amp I own is a little 10watt Kustom practis amp, which isn't really anything to compare the GLX212 to. I havn't really experimented with different guitars, as I only own the one, but I'm certain that it would sound pretty much the same with most other guitars. If I got this lost or stolen, I probably wouldn't buy another one of these, but that's because I'd be after saving up a lot for a tube amp; but if I was after a solid state again, I'd have no problems with buying this again. Or, in fact, buying the speaker cabs to go with it. At the time of purchase I didn't really compare it to other amps, only a few other Crate ones; but I have played on a couple of solid state and half-valve Marshalls, and I still prefer this one. The only amp that I've played on that I found massively better than this, was my friends Engl, which was a full tube amp with about 65watt output; but then again, those are about £800-900, thus will obviously be a lot better than the Crate GLX212. All things considered, I think these are pretty good amps, with good sound, very durable and reliable both physically and sound-wise; and if you are runnning on a pretty low budget and you're after a solid state amp, you should definately go and give these a try. // 9

Reviewed by: unregistered, on april 11, 2004

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: I'm not sure what year it was made, probably 2003. It fits what I play perfectly which is alternative, punk, hardcore, and SKA. It has 3 channels, 2 gain channels, 1 clean. It has SO many effects. $ reverbs, 3 delays, flanger, 2 chorus', Octave effect, 2 wah effects, rotating speaker, and some others. 120 watts is PLENTY of power for a solid state amp. // 10

Sound: I'm using it with a Fender Standard Mexican Strat with a Seymour Duncan hotrail in the bridge position. The effects are AMAZING. I experiment with them alot, like playing the verses to "Anarchy in the U.K." with the flange on. It's great at high volumes. The distortion can go from a light crunch to a dark and thrashy tone. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This amp is built like a TANK. It's amazing. It could probably withstand anything. I don't think it will ever break down. Could definatly gig it without a backup. // 10

Impression: It's a great match for what I play. The only other amp I own is a Fender Frontman 15G. I only have my standard Strat too. I've been playing for about a year. If it was stolen or lost, I'd go find the person, destroy them, make sure they never slep again, or if that fails, buy a new one.I love everything about it. It has everything I want and then some. // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: deanguitars, on march 09, 2004

Price paid: $ 500

Purchased from: Guitar Center - Indy

Features: This amp has great features. I no longer need my tuner. The illumination is pretty cool also. It's got an Out jack, 2 12inch speakers which are always nice. Footswitchable channels!!! Effects loop also. And the multi effects aren't bad for effects built into the amp. I'd prefer my delay, cause there's has no parimeters, and obviously a controllable wah. But this amp has great features. // 8

Sound: Well I didn't buy it for the features, I bought it for the sound. I couldn't find any other amp that was better in my opinion for that price. I tried some Marshalls around the same price and didn't like them. The distortion is great and has 2 channels. The solo channel gives you more of a Mesa Rectifier distortion. The shaping gives you great versitility. And in the Rhythym channel, you have a lighter more mellow distortion which is great for classic rock kind of distortion. The distortion is what sold me the amp. And the clean channel is awesome too. Well I have a cheaper guitar as of now, so I get a little hum. And I haven't had it all the way up so sorry I can't tell you if it breaks up or not. But I've talked to ppl who've purchased this and they say it doesn't break up. And I play stuff like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Zeppelin (every now and then), Blink 182, Godsmack, P.O.D., and Red Hot Chili Peppers. This amp works for it all. // 10

Reliability & Durability: The durability is great. The footswitch holds together great. I'd feel confident with taking this to a gig w/o a back up. It's never broken down on me. And it holds together nicely. It is a tank. // 10

Impression: I love this amp. It's a great value also. And if your looking at the 4hundred dollar GLX below it that is the same except lower watts, I'd recommend saving up and getting the GLX212 instead. Because the 2 12inch speakers give out a little more clear sound when you get the amp up in the 5's and 6's (volume notches). And it's definitely a gigable amp. And if you feel the need for some more power, go buy a cab, this amp has an out jack. Once again, your not gonna find any other better amps in this price range. I chose it because of the great distortion and value. And if someone stole it I wouldn't hesitate to go buy another. So I'd definitely go try one. And if your wondering if you should buy it, as Nike says "just do it". // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on february 24, 2004

Price paid: $ 500

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: Awesome effects 16 built in. They are very good. This amp is loud I play with a Fender strat with seymour duncan invader pickups and it is sweet. 3 channels rythym, solo and clean and digital effects to add to any of them. // 10

Sound: Like I said I use a Fender strat with seymore duncans, I play punk alternative rock. I play in a band and with drums and bass blaring I only have to turn it up to 5. Great distortion very clean when on clean channel. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This thing is built like a tank it is 50 pounds and has never had any problems. // 10

Impression: Awesome Amplifier Go Buy One! // 10

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: teenagemisfit2, on february 11, 2004

Price paid: $ 500

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: Crate GLX212 (solid state)- 2 twelve inch speakers, 120 watts of power. I got this amp brand new not too long ago and its amazing. 3 channels, crystal clear clean, rythm and a solo channel. each channel has its own EQ knobs...high mid and low on the clean and rythm channels and a "shape" knob on the solo channel which is pretty nifty. the shape knob is kinda like a mixture of all 3 EQs into one which at first i was disappointed by, but if you play around with it enough, you can get some pretty cool tones from it. This amp also has 16 onboard effects which are pretty cool...not like your typical sucky onboard effects...4 different reverbs: small room, med. room, large room and concert hall, flange, slow/med/fast delays, a couple different kinds of chorus, touch wah, reverse wah, octave, doubler, rotating speaker, all pretty nice effects. this amp has an effects loop, but unfortunately, no headphone jack, which is one of the few disadvantages of this tank. Mine came with a steel 3 button foot switch, 2 buttons for channel switching and one for the effects that ive stomped the crap out of and it still holds together quite well. One feature i really like about this amp is the DSP channel tracking system for the effects. with this, you can assign a different effect to each channel, such as chorus for clean, reverb for rythm and delay for the solo channel, and switch between the channels and they will keep their assigned effects in memory, even when power is cut from the amp...the effects wont change until you manually do it on the knob on the amplifier, which is one of the reasons i chose this over a Marshall 212. the effects are pretty impressive for just onboard effects, but for some of them, a seperate foot pedal or a floor processor would be ideal, but they still hold their own. For example, i prefer using a cry baby wah over the built in wah, but thats kinda a no brainer. also, the rotating speaker effect is a little dissappointing...doesnt sound too great, just kinda sounds chorus-y. this amp has more than enough power to hang with the rest of the band...i can get plenty of volume out of it without pushing it at all..when i play in my room, turn it to 3 or 4 and hear things rattle :-P // 8

Sound: i play through this amp with an Epiphone Les Paul Standard and a couple boss effects pedals and it sounds awesome. i play a whole lot of different genres of music...oldies, rockabilly, rock, punk, emo, rock,a little bit of blues and this amp covers it all. with the rythm channel, you can get some really warm crunchy sounds that suit blues and soft rock quite well, but on this channel, the distortion is a wee bit weak...not exactly metal/nu-metal material. the clean channel is amazing...when Crate says clean with this amp, they mean clean its also very versatile. put this baby with chorus and reverb and its sound is incredible. when it comes to the lack of crunch on the rythmn channel, the solo channel makes up for it, enough to the point where sometimes its too much. like i said earlier, with the shape knob on the solo channel, you can get heavy bottom end cruch sounds to high trebley sounds and everything inbetween if you play with it. this amp really has some bottom end to its sound. this amp has plenty of power...ive gigged with it and never had to push it to the point where it or another amp like it would break up at high volumes, so im not sure about where and if it breaks up and high volumes. however, at high volumes you do get a bit of feedback if you stand in close proximity to it. bottom line- very versatile sound..way clean clean channel, very versatile rythmn channel and a biting solo channel. // 8

Reliability & Durability: this amp, like other crates, is built like a tank. mine has been jumped off of, knocked over and dropped once and it still sounds like it did out of the box the day i got it. it hasnt broken down on me ever, but i havent had it that long. im confident with Crate's 5 year warranty if this thing ever goes out on me, and i dont think it will any time soon. i would definitely gig without a backup with this 212. // 10

Impression: this amp suits my music style and like i said, is very versatile. if it were stolen, i would search high and low for the F#&$er who took it and beat his arse. if that didnt work, i would definitely go out and get another one. this is an all around great amp, i love the channel tracking system, the 3 channels and the all around sound. but you dont have to take my word for it...go down to your local guitar shop or guitar center and plug into one of these and see for yourself what you think. // 8

Comments

[musicfreak003]

dudes what about metal u think i'd get enough distortion?

[Metalocalypse09]

oh yeah... definitly. this thing has an obscene crunch to it (especially on the solo channel). VERY good for metal.

and its black with a red glow.

\m/ METAL \m/

[rockdude375]

iv just bought this lol....these reviews fill me will a great confidence...and i only got it for £149

[RHCPROCK!]

where did you get it for £149 !??? i'm looking for a new amp because i still have my first one which is completly s**t and this amp sounds amazing, especialy if you got it for £149

[Topbosslegend]

I also got it for £149 : Bought mine from Sound Control.

[General Fox]

Got one and I'm pretty satisfied with it. Only problem is you can't tweak the effects, only their level. Still like Line 6's Spider distortion better, but Crate's still has a pretty nasty bite.

[guitarmaniac327]

Just got this today at a Pawn shop for $135! GREAT AMP!

[coolguitar50]

i bought one for only $50.00

[coolguitar50]

i paid only $50 for my Crate GLX212