Crate Powerblock 150 Great or Crap?

[maxguitars]

there's one on CL locally and I thought about checking it out. Anyone have any opinions to share?

 

[fearhk213]

I have one. Tonally it's flat and lackluster. The feel is tight and on the not very dynamic side. It's certainly not an exciting amp to play in regards to the tone or feel, but there are definitely worse amps out there too. They don't have a lot of gain on tap, so you'll likely need a boost or distortion of some sort depending on the tones you're going for. With the class d power amp it can also get loud as all get out too. We used it a couple of times in rehearsal, and it had no problem hanging with a two guitar metal band, so it makes an awesome backup for gigging. I wouldn't want to use it as my main amp tone, but it's a keeper IMO. The size, volume, and "ok" tone make it the perfect backup amp.

 

[Badronald]

I carry mine as a backup to every gig.
With my pedalboard it's the perfect backup amp.

 

[NS10Fan]

Careful buying used. Put it through its paces loud. Mine started having an issue with a flashing LED and intermittent sound at good volumes. Luckily, the guy selling it refunded my money, but I got lucky. Here's a thread on the issue I found at TGP.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=233623

 

[maxguitars]

Thanks for advice!

 

[harddriver]

I had one. I thought the quality was total crap with no punch to the sound, sent it back as soon as I could.

 

[squank]

Backup amp only imo.

I carried a Digitech RP250 and Powerblock to every show as my backup rig for many years. Very compact/light and nice to have that comforting insurance when playing live.

 

[Schaf]

I carry mine as a backup to every gig.
With my pedalboard it's the perfect backup amp.

You got it. At practice, I use to run a MI audio crunchbox( when they were all the rage). through mine and a 4x12 and my band mates would be amazed at how it sounded. I swear I could have hid that set up and nobody would have known that it wasn't a Marshall with a TS. Didn't quite have the feel of a tube amp but it worked great as a backup.

 

[evhfan]

I carry mine as a backup to every gig.
With my pedalboard it's the perfect backup amp.

THIS

It's helped me a few times this year when my amp blew fuses (got that sorted out with a power conditioner/regulator) that I run now.

But it DID save me...and I always carry it as a backup