Several years ago, I played in a band that lacked one very important element. A bass guitar player! At the time we wanted to record our music, but it lacked the life and fullness that the bass guitar adds to the overall sound. We were also relegated to using a cassette tape recorder, so I could not go back and record the bass on another track later. This left us in a situation where our keyboard player tried to add the bass notes so we could get out and play all the gigs we were booking. While this helped, it did not give the same depth of sound that a real bass guitar adds.

As digital home studios become more affordable for musicians, many guitar players are turning their attention to learning other instruments like the bass guitar. With much of the computer based recording software on the market you have access to more tracks than you will ever be able to use which allows one person to play several instruments on a project. The bass guitar is a logical transition for a guitar player to make if there is not a bass player available for recording.

Most guitar players do not want to sink a lot of money into a bass rig, so they are going to try to find an inexpensive bass guitar and amplifier that gives them the best results. The BT100 bass amplifier by Crate is a great value with tons of features and tone.

BT100 Bass Amplifier



The BT100 is a two channel bass combo amplifier. You get a clean channel and a distortion channel that can be selected by using the channel switch button on the control panel. By adding the Crate "CFS-2" footswitch (sold separately) you are also given the option of blending these two channels together for added tonal options. I would like to point out that without the footswitch, you can not blend the channels in this way. You are only given the option of using one or the other.

The BT100 features a 15" Crate Custom speaker powered by 100 watts at 4 ohm, giving you plenty of power for studio use or for playing a small to medium venue. It also includes some features that are usually reserved for much more expensive amplifiers. These features include:

Built in Tuner – This is a fully chromatic tuner which allows you to tune on stage. There is also a mute button that allows you to tune quietly.

Octave Control – This feature adds a second signal to your sound that is one octave below the input signal. These signals blended together let you create and shape some very exciting sounds.

Built in Limiter – This keeps your sound clean, even while pushing the amplifier to its full potential power. This is an automatic function with no control settings.

CD Input Jacks – Plug in your CD player and practice and jam to your favorite bands and songs. Using the output level control on the sound source, you can get the perfect volume for a good mix.

Balanced Line Out – This can be used to send a line level signal to a device such as a mixing board or recording console. This section also has a Pre/Post switch that allows you to determine if this outgoing signal will be before or after the EQ section. This is very helpful for those players that like to hear the equalized sound when they are playing, but would like the flexibility of equalizing the final sound at the mix down stage.

Other Features

· Carpet covered cabinet design for durability.
· Effects loop sends and return for connecting outboard effects.
· External speaker jack for adding another speaker.
· Ground lift switch to reduce hum in the balanced signal output.
· 4 Band EQ section on clean channel.
· Headphone Jack.
· -15dB/0dB switch for Active/Passive pickups.

The Sound Test

Crate offers a section in their manual with suggested starting settings for styles ranging from Rock, Jazz, Country, Funk, Solo Fuzz, and Super Fat Fuzz. Being that my bass guitar experience is for the most part in Rock and Country, I naturally set out to familiarize myself with these settings first.

For this sound test, I selected my BC Rico bass guitar with active pickups. The first thing I did was select the -15dB setting to compensate for the high pickup output. Using the clean channel first, I dialed their suggested rock setting. As with all the settings, they are just suggested starting points, and I found myself making some slight adjustments to suit my personal taste.




I was immediately impressed with the quality the BT100 put out. This amp has some serious muscle for its size. You can easily get the windows rattling with this amp. Even when driven to high volumes that BT100 maintains the sonic integrity of your sound. I really enjoyed the tight, even sound these settings gave me. The BT100 gave me sounds that I would be very satisfied with on a recording.

I must admit that I enjoy playing a clean thumping bass sound on most music that I play. I however wanted to try out the distortion channel, so I set up with the "Super Fat Fuzz" setting. Once again, I was amazed at the quality of the BT100. You can genuinely get this amp growling. This is great for those of you that like to thump out some hard rocking bass lines. The octave control adds very cool textures to your favorite settings. I enjoyed this control on the clean channels, but it really made its presence known on the distortion channel.

I can’t say I know where this idea came from, but I got this crazy impulse to plug an acoustic guitar into the BT100. Mind you, this was not an acoustic bass, but rather a regular acoustic guitar. I have always been unsatisfied with the results of plugging into a regular guitar amplifier or even a mixing board. I rolled off some of the bass end and concentrated on the mids and highs in the EQ section. I was actually amazed at how good my acoustic sounded through this amplifier. The results were far better than what I have been able to get out of an electric guitar amplifier. I will admit however that there is still no substitute for a dedicated acoustic amplifier or recording directly with a good condenser microphone.

Closing Thoughts

About ten years ago, I had the opportunity to play through a very old Crate amplifier. I was so impressed with the sound that I immediately looked to buy a brand new one. Unfortunately, Crate had seen a downturn in quality control at around the time I was looking for one. They began to gain a reputation that was less than shining, and their amplifiers were being considered only a beginner only amp. The reason I tell you this is because I want to stress the fact that Crate has retooled their lines in both guitar, acoustic, and bass amps, and are once again turning out very good products. The BT100 is a very good example of this.

I found the BT100 to be an adaptable bass amplifier. It has enough power for a small venue as well as home studio use. The quality is very good in both construction and sound. The two channel operation gives you flexibility in several styles of music. The BT100 has enough options to take a beginning bass player well into the intermediate stages of their playing journey.

Whether you are a home studio operator looking to add some low end to your music, or a guitar player looking to add a new dimension to your playing skills, the BT100 is well worth consideration. Based on my testing, I award the BT100 the "Rig Ready" and the "Guitar Gear Heads Approved" award for 2006. Take one for a spin. I think you will find it a quite satisfactory bass amplifier for the applications I have stated.



Gary Allen

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