The magical Crate PowerBlock

fenderhutz · #1 09-30-2007, 10:40 AM

I have to say, good job Crate.

I was using my Crate PowerBlock for a practice amp since I got rid of my Trace Elliot this past week and it sounds pretty darn good. I got it on closeout last year for 99 bucks at a local guitar shop. 75 watts stereo 4ohm or 150 bridged at 8ohm. RCA in, direct out, headphone out. It's a true beast. It also has some kind of tube emulation built in that has some growl to it.

Anyone use one of these as a backup or a practice amp? I am seriously looking into getting 2 single 10 cabs rated about 100-150 watts each @ 4ohm and using this thing for a while.

I have been using for a 4x12 guitar stack I had sitting around for studio stuff when I played my tele but this amp even sounds perfect with a Bass Pod since it really doesn't color the sound.

Anyone else?

BassMan99 · #2 09-30-2007, 08:39 PM

I often take mine as a backup. So small its great. I have a single 15 8 ohm cab coming I plan to test with it

fenderhutz · #3 09-30-2007, 08:41 PM

I am actually buying a Hartke Transporter 2x10 cab rated at 150 watts at 8ohm to use as a small practice amp.

I wish I would have kept my trace 1513 for the little monster. I mean tone wise it kicks the daylights out of most combos.

lowendgenerator · #4 09-30-2007, 08:46 PM

My buddy used one with an Ampeg 4x10 as a backup, it sounded just like a bass amp.

fenderhutz · #5 09-30-2007, 08:47 PM

It is really versatile, monitor backup, guitar amp, practice amp, bass amp.

Deepwoods · #6 10-01-2007, 08:37 PM

I'm picking one up tomorrow brand new in the box from a guy that works at St. Louis music. I plan to use it with either a newer Sanamp bass di with the increased output or a Zoom B2 into a Dr. Bass 8 ohm 115 with horn. How do you all hook this thing up to get the most output and best tone?

Rugaar · #7 10-01-2007, 09:09 PM

I ran mine thru a PV 212 guitar cab for awhile. I got a pretty cool distorted bass sound but not much clean, probably due to the speakers more than the amp.

My guitar player's using it now because his amp's being fixed. It sounds pretty good when he uses a few effects to warm it up a bit. (sounds a bit flat otherwise)

I got mine when GC had them on sale for $69. I got 'em to throw in a speaker cable, too. Oh yeah!

srxplayer · #8 10-01-2007, 09:20 PM

I had one for a while that I used for guitar. I used it with one of those Rocktron 1 X 12 cabinets that looks like a PA cab. I liked it at first but after a while I felt like it always had a bit of fuzz even with the drive turned all the way down. I ended up returning it and buying a Line 6 Spider III 1 X 12

I never tried it with my bass.

fdeck · #9 10-01-2007, 10:01 PM

I noticed the same perpetual fuzz too, and also sent mine back. But I loved the concept, and sent Crate a suggestion to come out with a bass version.

RickC · #10 10-02-2007, 10:22 AM

This thread spurred me into action. I've had a PowerBlock sitting around gathering dust for about a year now, just one of those things I bought in a bb-inspired feeding frenzy. Been thinking about trying it out as a backup bass head for gigs, and last night I did just that.

Took it to band practice, using a passive J-bass and driving a 1x15 EVM loaded Thiele box. Man, it worked great! Good tone, and no problem hanging with two guitars, keys, and drums. I ran the gain, treble, and bass all at the 12:00 midpoint settings, but found I had to cut the mid control back to 9:00 to get a good tone for bass. Master was almost all the way up, at about 4:00, but no noticable heating at all running like that for several hours. I played with the bridge switch in back, but didn't notice any apparent difference in tone or volume at either setting. And note that with the gain at 12:00, I wasn't getting any crunch. Pushing the gain up gave even more volume and some very usuable grind.

At $99, this thing is a winner for bass. Thanks for the inspiration, guys

/rick

Bryan316 · #11 10-02-2007, 12:09 PM

You know.... my brother doesn't really have a power amp backup for gigs. He uses a Simul-Class 2:90, but if a tube went out, the gig would be cancelled.

It would work as a Community Backup for us. Any one of us could get our rigs to work with either no preamps/effects, cuz his practice pedal board (Boss ME-8) sounds quite okay for practices, either of my guitarists could feasibly use it to save a gig. But if their power amps went, they'd have nothing.

I'ma look for a Powerblock, and then we'd keep it in the car with the ME-8 in a gig bag of some sort, as an emergency gig kit. Along with our usual spare parts cables strings and tools.

alexclaber · #12 10-02-2007, 12:25 PM

I was very hopeful about mine but couldn't seem to find a way to get all sort of volume without the gain stage adding distortion. Sold it for a profit at least! I'd love to see them release one without the amp simulation and distortion - I'm sure there's a market for guitarists that get their sounds from PODs as well as us bassists.

Alex

Bryan316 · #13 10-02-2007, 12:28 PM

Well the Powerblock is good enough for guitarists, but I'd doubt it would work as a full-time bass amp. It'd have to be triple its power to stand up to a real gig. But as a backup or low-volume practice, it's valuable. Plus, you can ask the sound guy to give you some bass in the monitors, albeit not much low end, just enough to get you through the gig.

fenderhutz · #14 10-02-2007, 12:34 PM

It's got three speaker outputs. 2 75 watts @ 4ohms and 1 150 watts at 8ohms and a bridge button. I would run it bridged at 8ohm into a single 15 or 210 cab not rated higher than 300 watts.

srxplayer · #15 10-02-2007, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdeck

I noticed the same perpetual fuzz too, and also sent mine back. But I loved the concept, and sent Crate a suggestion to come out with a bass version.

I liked it too. I loved that it packed so much SS wattage in such a small easy to cary amp. It also had a D.I. out w/ level control that I really liked.

Had it worked out for me I was going to buy an Avatar 1 X 12 guitar cab for it.

Nedmundo · #16 10-02-2007, 02:44 PM

I had one for awhile as a backup bass head for gigs. It was a backup guitar head also, because our lead player never brought extra tubes. We never used it, but I liked the extra security.

I had to play around with the EQ to get a decent bass tone. But those tones were definitely in there, so I was mightily impressed. (I posted my preferred settings in another thread. Can't remember them now.) One of my guitarist buddies is a tone fiend, and has a huge collection of vintage and recent tube amps. He uses the Powerblock as a backup, and thinks it's outstanding.

Band broke up, so I sold my Powerblock for a very slight profit.

RickC · #17 10-02-2007, 02:57 PM

Haven't tried mine onstage yet so we'll see. But we typically play medium size clubs (up to 300), always have PA support, and I typically run just a 1x15 or a 4x10 for stage volume. Based on my experiences at practice last night, I'm thinking it'll be enough. But just barely. If you were running very loud on stage or trying to drive a room like that directly, I can see where it might not be enough.

/rick

Deepwoods · #18 10-03-2007, 05:34 AM

Got the 'Block yesterday and had a chance to hook it up. I ran my Sansamp bass di into one of the RCA inputs and got plenty of volume in bridge mode through a Dr. Bass rx115. It will work perfectly for my application and will replace my Ampeg B100R for smaller shows. I needed the space in my garage and the 115 is part of my large stack. I tried it with guitar by running a Roland Microcube into the same input as well as running direct into the front panel. I definitely heard the digital hiss/distortion that people talk about even at the cleanest settings. I don't think I could use if for guitar. I'm happy with it for bass though.

on1ne · #19 10-04-2007, 08:27 PM

I'm a little confused about how I should connect the Powerblock if I want to use it with a single 4 ohm cab. The bridged output is for 8 ohms and delivers 150 watts.

The stereo outputs are for 4ohms and yield 75 watts each side. Would I have to use one of the 4 ohm stereo outs. Is it OK to leave the other side empty?

Why are the 4ohm single channels only half the power of the amp at 8ohm. I thought the 4ohm outs would pull more power.

fdeck · #20 10-04-2007, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by on1ne

I'm a little confused about how I should connect the Powerblock if I want to use it with a single 4 ohm cab. The bridged output is for 8 ohms and delivers 150 watts.

The stereo outputs are for 4ohms and yield 75 watts each side. Would I have to use one of the 4 ohm stereo outs. Is it OK to leave the other side empty?

Why are the 4ohm single channels only half the power of the amp at 8ohm. I thought the 4ohm outs would pull more power.

You would leave one of the channels empty. It's OK for the amp.

The bridged output is more powerful because it is using both of the power amps normally used for separate speakers when in stereo mode.