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fish · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:22 pm Post subject:

CRATE POWERBLOCK (CPB150)

This is the famous-then-discontinued CPB150 aka Crate PowerBlock. Very much sought after within the MFX users' fraternity. Dubbed as the world's smallest full-featured stereo guitar amp, this lil' monsta features the following:

* 150W mono/75W stereo
* Single-channel FlexWave preamp
* Gain, level, and 3-band EQ knobs
* Headphone jack
* RCA inputs
* Effects loop
* DI
* Left, right, and mono speaker outputs
* Switch mode power supply
* 4-1/2 lbs.
* Padded travel bag

Nothing to shout about the front panel, but look at this back panel:

So many ways in hooking this thing up i.e. direct input, FX loop, RCA/CD in. For output you can either choose the XLR, mono/stereo or in my current case the headphones. I bought this thing just purely to amplify the sounds from my GT-8, period. No sound coloration. And this can be achieved (from my reading) by feeding your MFX unit thru the CD input (I need to look for a 1/4" jack > 2 RCA soon).

I won the unit from an eBay bid for around USD 200 including shipping (the unit is around USD 140). Very good deal indeed, mine is like 97% brand new with all the original box, manual and carrying bag. The seller kept the unit as his backup for gigging out and his main amp never went down, so practically unused. From what i read on the net, the market price is around USD150, used since it has been discontinued. When it was selling like hot cakes few years back, one can get for as cheap as USD99 especially from Guitar Center, although the list price was (as appears from my sticker box) USD299. Best bet to get it from eBay or search in the craigslist and ask the seller one by one whether they ship it to Malaysia (that's what i did actually, sadly everybody said NO! :'( ).

When I 1st opened the packaging, I knew for sure that I need to replace the US power cord (one round tip on top, with two vertical tips at the bottom):

It was around 11.30pm. Driven by over-excitement, I looked around the house for the replacement cord and guess what, I ended up using my son's steriliser power cord! Anyway, while waiting for buka puasa time 2 days ago, I went to ACE hardware and grabbed a kettle cord and a universal adaptor. Back to the my virgin experience with the PB, I connected my newly pimped Schecter C-1 into PB's input, set all the knobs at 12 o'clock and jacked in the cans. I slowly turned up the vol of my guitar, and half way thru, it's DAMN LOUD already. 150W of sheer power, whaddaya expect? Cool

Overall, I like the sound produced by the preamp section and the gain is pretty good!

I've yet to try feeding my GT-8 into this amp coz I'm still looking for that RCA cable. Ah, before I forgot, actually this amp was designed to be paired together with the Crate GT112SL, which also has been discontinued. I've asked some dealers around the region, but so far the news is not on my side. Either they don't have it anymore or they can't ship it to our country. Alternatively, I'm planning to build my own cabs (2 units of 1x12 - run in stereo baby!). To get the best out of the PB, I guess the cabs should follow the GT112SL's specs i.e. Celestion G12K-100 (8 ohms), semi-open back etc. Even this speakers also very hard to find... Haiyya, I think I'm gonna use my headphones for quite a time....

Anyway, to give you guys an idea of how this lil' thing performs, just check this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQdWbRXDt4g

Until now, I give it an 8/10 (save some for the RCA connection....)
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