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Seamstander · 05-26-2005, 12:08 PM

I just picked up the BT220 at Guitar Center for 400USD (I drive a hard bargain.)

My initial thoughts on it are quite good. Its built very, very well.

I really like the clean channel on it actually. It is very, very bassy. Obviously, it is EQable but with the EQ flat it is pretty bassy, probably because of the 15" residing in the cab. It resonates on all notes, not just some as I figured it would with a ported cab. Its not very punchy, but its a 1x15. Looking for throaty mids? Look elsewhere. You really have to stretch for those mids, but it can get really nice slapping tones. The EQ is nice, has good +/- decibel values. Can't complain about anything in the clean section. Quite warm actually, but doesn't have that GK growl, but hey, its not a GK amp!

I haven't tried to power any external cabinets with it yet, and have not yet practiced with a band so I can't comment on how loud it is, but I can feel it in my chest and become scared when putting it past half. Its loud, but I'm not sure how loud it will be in a band context, probably fine, but my last amp (BX1200) was not nearly loud enough for my band. So we'll see.

The tuner on top is nice touch, with the mute button it is even nicer. The tuner is not bad either, it has a nice quick response and is quite accurate. I don't have a strobe tuner to compare it with, just an in tune piano.

The distortion channel is very, very high gain. It starts breaking into metal fuzz at about 1. But hey, its a Crate. I currently have it set to 1/2 and its a nice (god forbid, current Limp Bizkit) bass tone. The point where it is just breaking up and getting dirty but not fuzzy. I really like it, the shape knob also noticeably affects the channel. I think I am really going to grow to like the dirty channel. There is no EQ for it, just the shape.

As for the construction, I'm not really concerned much at all, except for the footswitch. I stomp pretty hard, and thought Behringer's footswitches were very well made, almost Boss quality. While the Crate footswitch isn't exactly made of plastic, I can see it breaking the future. Hopefully it won't, but the casing seems to be fairly thin SECC or something. As for the amp, I'm not concerned about it all. I think it will last a very long time. It has a vent on the top for the power amp section, so I guess stacking extension cabs on the top it out of the question. The BT100 and BT220 have casters, which make it a bit easier to haul around, but they are still big, so make sure it can fit in your backseat.

The Octaver on this thing is decent too. It's response is pretty good. Adds a nice bottom to both clean and dirty channels. It sounds really cool to have the dirty channel at .75 and the octaver on playing high up the neck. I nearly creamed my pants.

The footswitch toggles channels and the octave function on and off, which is all I can ask of it.

As far as connectivity goes, its pretty nice. For some reason they have a headphone out on the front. I don't know why this on this amp, it seems like an amp that is not a bedroom amp and would be used mainly for practices shows, but I'm not complaining about more features. Also on the front, is a L/R (red/white) style CD input. Nice for hooking up stuff to jam to or drum machines. The power switch is also on the front, which I really like.

On the back, its pretty standard. It has an effects loop (send/return), footswitch jack, external cabinet jack (1/4" jack) and a balanced XLR out. The balanced XLR out also has pre/post toggle, gnd/gnd lift toggle and a volume knob. Pretty nice for gigging.

All in all, I give this amp a 4.7/5. I don't give it a perfect because:

- The distortion channel has way too much gain that it is very hard to find a nice smooth distortion.
- The cab has no tweeter. I just had to include it. I know it doesn't say it has a tweeter, but a tweeter would increase the sound range of this amp so much. I know its nitpicky.
- The mids could be better, but again, its only a 15".
- Questionable footswitch durability.

The reasons I gave it high marks:

- Built very well. Durable.
- Awesome bass. The lows on this amp are very nice.
- Footswitch is very useful.
- Input/Output choices are plenty and all work well.
- Tuner is a very nice touch.
- Seperate EQ/tone control/level for each channel.
- Octaver. I love them.

05-26-2005, 12:08 PM	#14
Seamstander Justified Denials Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1,434	I just picked up the BT220 at Guitar Center for 400USD (I drive a hard bargain.) My initial thoughts on it are quite good. Its built very, very well. I really like the clean channel on it actually. It is very, very bassy. Obviously, it is EQable but with the EQ flat it is pretty bassy, probably because of the 15" residing in the cab. It resonates on all notes, not just some as I figured it would with a ported cab. Its not very punchy, but its a 1x15. Looking for throaty mids? Look elsewhere. You really have to stretch for those mids, but it can get really nice slapping tones. The EQ is nice, has good +/- decibel values. Can't complain about anything in the clean section. Quite warm actually, but doesn't have that GK growl, but hey, its not a GK amp! I haven't tried to power any external cabinets with it yet, and have not yet practiced with a band so I can't comment on how loud it is, but I can feel it in my chest and become scared when putting it past half. Its loud, but I'm not sure how loud it will be in a band context, probably fine, but my last amp (BX1200) was not nearly loud enough for my band. So we'll see. The tuner on top is nice touch, with the mute button it is even nicer. The tuner is not bad either, it has a nice quick response and is quite accurate. I don't have a strobe tuner to compare it with, just an in tune piano. The distortion channel is very, very high gain. It starts breaking into metal fuzz at about 1. But hey, its a Crate. I currently have it set to 1/2 and its a nice (god forbid, current Limp Bizkit) bass tone. The point where it is just breaking up and getting dirty but not fuzzy. I really like it, the shape knob also noticeably affects the channel. I think I am really going to grow to like the dirty channel. There is no EQ for it, just the shape. As for the construction, I'm not really concerned much at all, except for the footswitch. I stomp pretty hard, and thought Behringer's footswitches were very well made, almost Boss quality. While the Crate footswitch isn't exactly made of plastic, I can see it breaking the future. Hopefully it won't, but the casing seems to be fairly thin SECC or something. As for the amp, I'm not concerned about it all. I think it will last a very long time. It has a vent on the top for the power amp section, so I guess stacking extension cabs on the top it out of the question. The BT100 and BT220 have casters, which make it a bit easier to haul around, but they are still big, so make sure it can fit in your backseat. The Octaver on this thing is decent too. It's response is pretty good. Adds a nice bottom to both clean and dirty channels. It sounds really cool to have the dirty channel at .75 and the octaver on playing high up the neck. I nearly creamed my pants. The footswitch toggles channels and the octave function on and off, which is all I can ask of it. As far as connectivity goes, its pretty nice. For some reason they have a headphone out on the front. I don't know why this on this amp, it seems like an amp that is not a bedroom amp and would be used mainly for practices shows, but I'm not complaining about more features. Also on the front, is a L/R (red/white) style CD input. Nice for hooking up stuff to jam to or drum machines. The power switch is also on the front, which I really like. On the back, its pretty standard. It has an effects loop (send/return), footswitch jack, external cabinet jack (1/4" jack) and a balanced XLR out. The balanced XLR out also has pre/post toggle, gnd/gnd lift toggle and a volume knob. Pretty nice for gigging. All in all, I give this amp a 4.7/5. I don't give it a perfect because: - The distortion channel has way too much gain that it is very hard to find a nice smooth distortion. - The cab has no tweeter. I just had to include it. I know it doesn't say it has a tweeter, but a tweeter would increase the sound range of this amp so much. I know its nitpicky. - The mids could be better, but again, its only a 15". - Questionable footswitch durability. The reasons I gave it high marks: - Built very well. Durable. - Awesome bass. The lows on this amp are very nice. - Footswitch is very useful. - Input/Output choices are plenty and all work well. - Tuner is a very nice touch. - Seperate EQ/tone control/level for each channel. - Octaver. I love them.