GLX65 Review

The new GLX Series is the top of the line series of analog amps with digital signal processing. Featuring a Crate Custom L 12 in. speaker and 65 watts RMS, the GLX65T includes 3-channel operation.

Features:	9
Sound:	8
Reliability:	9.5
Impression:	8
Overall rating:	8.6
Users rating:	6.1
Comments:	6

overall: 8.3

Featured review by: aMeRiCaNsTrAt21, on december 24, 2005

Price paid: $ 349.99

Purchased from: Paradise Guitars

Features: The amp is very versatile since it has 3 channels. It is perfect for what I like to play rock, classic, punk, metal, and some blues. It came with a channel switch pedal. It has a headphone jack and effect loops - 16 effects. I use it as a practice amp and there is definetely enough power to practice with. // 9

Sound: I've always been a strat player and my Strat works great with this amp. Again it suits all my music styles besides the harder stuff, such as nu-metal. All the channels get noisy and distorted if over 7. This amp can make several different sounds, very versatile. The clean channel will get distorted over level 6. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I wouldn't use it in a gig because it doesn't have enough power, but I didn't buy this amp to bring on gigs with me I bought it for a very nice practice amp and I definetely got that out of it. This amp has never broken down. Which is always great! // 9

Impression: I play almost every style of musice besides nu-metal which is one of the only sdtyles this amp isn't great at performing which is ok with me. I've been playing for 2 years, and I have a 120 watt Crate amp and a little 0 Watt practice amp. If it was lost or stolen I probably wouldnt buy the same amp because of the clean channel gets a little distorted. I love the solo channel when I'm doin my harder stuff. I hate that the clean channel gets distorted when I'm trying to play classic rock or blues. I love the solo channel and the effects. I wish it had a cleaner clean channel. // 7

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: Epigirlaxe7, on september 11, 2003

Price paid: $ 399.99

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: I love this amp! I play pretty much everything. It suits my style and the effects on it are awesome. It has reverb, flange, chorus, delay, even a built in tuner with a mute switch so you can tune your guitar quietly... It's a brand new model. It's got three channels (Clean, rhythm and solo), and 16 digital effects. The speaker is 12" and it also has a light so it'll light up the control panel if you need to. With 65 watts, its plenty for small venues and it's small enough just to practice. // 10

Sound: The sound on it is clear and suits my style perfectly. It's an amp you can use with any kind of music. Since it has 3 different channels and 16 digital effects, you can make a lot of different combinations. Now I won't have to buy a flange pedal anymore!! The distortion on it is awesome on the solo channel. It's too bad it doesn't have a phaser effect on it though. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I haven't had this amp for very long, but I would definately use this for gigs without any backup amps or anything. It hasn't broken down yet, so thats good!! // 10

Impression: I play pretty much anything, and thats what this amp is for. I've only been playing for 9 months. If my amp was stolen or anything, I would definately buy this again, or the GLX212, which is 120 watts. My favorite feature on this amp are the flange effects. It's too bad it doesn't have a phaser effect like I said before. I played other amps in the store, and everytime I went to Guitar Center, I played on that amp with any guitar. If you're considering buying this, BUY IT! It's awesome!! // 10

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: badbrad101, on july 12, 2007

Price paid: $ 200

Purchased from: Musicians Friend, I think

Features: At 3 channels, this amp is very versatile and great for classic rock to death metal. This amp has DSP, which has it's own level control. The 4 levels of reverb are cool; it's like choosing reverb from a knob that goes 1 to 40. At 65 watts, it can be used for small to medium-small venues. It has equalization for the clean and rythym channel, but the rythym's settings are carried on to the solo channel, I wish this amp had separate equalization for the solo channel; I found good settings for the solo channel but they don't sound good on the rythym channel. // 9

Sound: I am using this amp with a custom designed Epiphone LP-100 and a Washburn. The humbuckers make good sound through the amp; a nice thick distortion. This amp is not for single coil pickups. In my opinion, single coils make the amp sound very muddy. Enough of the pickups. The clean is crystal-like. I've read reviews that it is distorted- it isn't. The amp has a very digital distortion. Not tube like at all. The rythym channel sounds like AC/DC and guives you good classic tones. The solo channel starts to buzz, ring, and interfere if the level is over 5. However, the lead guitarist from my band seems to like playing on it. The halfstack version of this amp would probably sound good. The effects sound good. The flange is way better than the flange on my lead guitarist's Marshall MG30DFX practice amp. Not even funny. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I have used it in 4 shows with no problem at all. It's sat in the sun in the back of our car for a day and still sounded perfect. This is my second Crate amp, and they are bulit like steel. I can't even loosen the screws. It stacks up in durability easily against Marshalls. Never broken down. Nothing more to be said. // 10

Impression: I have been playing for about two years (coming up) and owned several amps. This is best by far. I play classic rock, classic metal, and light metal. This amp suits the styles perfect. Channels sound great, really minimal static (except for the solo channel, mentioned earlier). It's got everything you need to play with and it's extremely versatile. If lost or stolen, I would by the stack. All around good amp. // 8

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: nexteyenate, on june 17, 2006

Price paid: $ 319.99

Purchased from: Music Emporium - Altoona, PA

Features: This amp is packed with features. It has 3 channels: solo, rhythm, and clean. The distortion on the solo and rhythm channels is very customizable. It replaced my metal zone as my primary distortion. It has 16 effects, most of which are forms of delay effects, which is okay with me, but I would have liked to see a phaser effect built in to this amp. This amp is great for the style of music I play. I play classic rock and nu-metal. For features, this amp is stacked. // 10

Sound: When I was using my Strat, for some reason it got all distorted and weird when it was around 7 or 8. When I got my Jackson Dinky, that was no longer a problem. It sounded great. It suits my musical style perfectly, but only after I got a guitar with a humbucker. I never tried increasing the volume on the Clean channel because almost everything I play needs to be distorted. This is definitely a good sounding amp. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Thankfully, this amp has never broken down and it doesn't seem like it will. This amp hasn't failed me yet. I plan on using it on a gig without a backup because I honestly can't afford a backup. My bank account was pretty much empty after I got this amp (I'm only 13). I have to transport the amp from one place to another quite frequently necause I use it with my band and for practice purposes as well. This is a very reliable amp. // 10

Impression: I have been playing for around 3 months, and I use a Jackson Dinky. As I have said before, this amp is perfect for nu-metal and classic rock. If my amp were stolen, after I have cried for 10 minutes, I would definitely go buy it again. I love all the effects and it's durability. I reccomend this amp to everyone. // 9

overall: 9

Reviewed by: rustyburrito55, on january 03, 2005

Purchased from: Daddy's Junky Music

Features: I love this amp. It has 3 channels, clean rhythm and solo. The clean channel is great but it breaks up when the volume it up to about 7. It has an efect loop and comes with a footswitch which controls all the channels and the DSP. The effects aren't that great. The only ones I really use are the chorus, reverb, and rotating speaker. // 8

Sound: I use it with a Ibanez AM73. It souds great for any styles of music. The clean channel is amazing when you add a bit of reverb and the rhythm and solo channels can do anything from a bluesy sounding mellow distortion to something like billy corgan. The clean breaks up at high volumes which is kind of a bummer. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I have used this amp for a lot of gigs and it's never broken down. I would and I do gig with it without a backup. // 10

Impression: This is a great match for any style music. The only things I don't like about it are that you cant get a nice warm overdrive and the effect combos aren't that great. If it were stolen I would probably buy something else because this thing is expensive new and for the same amount of money you could buy a Line 6 or something that comes with better built in effects. My favorite feature is the rotating speaker effect and that it comes with a footswitch. // 8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on august 13, 2004

Price paid: $ 325

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: The Crate GLX65 features 65 watts, 1 12" speaker, 3 footswitchable channels (footswitch included), an independent effects loop, built in tuner and mute button for quit tuning. The channels include clean, rhythm, and solo. The clean has its own Eq, but the rhythm and solo share. The solo channel features a gain, shape, and volume knob. The effects include, 4 reverbs, 3 delays, 2 flangers, rotating speaker, octave divider, touch wah, inverse wah, doubler and a few combos like flange and reverb, tremelo chorus and reverb, and flange reverb and delay. Its a pain you can run only 1 effect at a time, and it would be nice if the solo channel had its own eq. // 8

Sound: I use a Shecter XXX with stock seymour duncan pickups and I play alot of blues, rock, punk, and metal. The rythm channel is good for Ac/Dc and Black Sabbath tones, while the solo channel is better for trash, and nu-metal. The clean channel is sounds great and is very versatile. After you reach 3/4 volume all the channels become very distorted and starts cracking. Overall both distortions are a bit noisy, but they get the job done. // 6

Reliability & Durability: I have never gigged with it because it doesn't have enough power, but for practice use this thing works perfect, apart from having troubles with the jack, it hasn't given me any problems. // 8

Impression: For punk and classic rock this amp is a good choice, but for nu-metal, and metal I didnt find it to my liking. It's noisy so all your fast runs get meshed together. If it were lost/stolen I probably wouldnt buy this amp again because I need someting bigger. I really like the clean channel, but I feel most of the effects go to waste because I don't use them often. // 6

Comments

[1h81337]

this amp's distorted tone is so horrible, way too digital... i do like the cleans though

[apbell52]

yea, i agree with the distortion.. i mainly use the clean and the rhythem channel. Great practice amp though

[apbell52]

oh, and i also just use a Boss DS-1 pedal for distortion with this amp... doesnt sound bad

[_ZarockeR_]

i mean when i first got it the tuner was wierd so i hed to go in and fix it. and the other day when i was practicing it sounded like i blew the speaker but 3 days leter it worked magically again.weird but overall i like it.

[FryingNemo]

I thought the distortion sucked, too. I even tried using a Metal Muff on the Solo and Rhythm channels, running a "balancing act" of sorts. It was shitty and noisy on the Solo, and okay on Rhythm. But then I tried distorting the Clean channel...it actualy sounds pretty good to my ears. That actually helped get a better tone for me. So, if you're getting this amp for distortion, don't. You'll have to use something else as your main source of distortion. The cleans, however, are pretty nice.

[FryingNemo]

Oh, and the effects are pretty nice, too. Definatly not on par with any external pedals you may own, but still conviniant and fun to mess around with.