Crate produced a genuinely genius product: The Powerblock.
Less than 10 lbs, over 100 watts, could be run in Stereo, and didn't sound terrible. It was a gigging musician's answer to prayers for an emergency back-up amp, and if you live in a city where you take mass transportation, it solved so many logistical problems that it was worth it's weight in gold.
Seriously: the Powerblock was a stroke of genius.
What did Crate do?
They discontinued it.
I agree.. Not only was it a great pedal platform, but it had a great mid gain overdrive tone on it's own.. Maybe the best SS tube style crunch I've heard..
Even with all the rest of the Crate hate in this thread.. While they always felt rather cheap and were usually a bit thin sounding, they really did do a decent job getting a nice high gain tone suitable for thrash.. And also the gx130 head (I think that's what it was called) did work pretty good for even heavier styles.. In fact, one of my buddies still has that head and it's always fun to play.. I would buy it from him, but the gain channel has volume fluctuations and it'll prolly die within a few days of me buying it, of course