Anxiously awaiting the arrival of a GK MB115!

baddarryl · #1 11-10-2010, 05:45 AM

So after months of blabber mouthing on TB about which small amp to get for practice and smaller gigs I settled on this one. Advertised on flea bay as new which I got for considerably less. Should be here today and I will let you all know what I think. Whoopee! Thanks for your help all. I wish real life was like TB!

baddarryl · #2 11-10-2010, 06:07 PM

So far so good. Only tested in the bedroom. Will take it to church tomorrow night for practice and see how the xlr out is. I cant believe the amount of tones this thing has. Handles my low B wonderfully and is overall very punchy for a 15. I can get that GK growl no sweat. Hell of an amp for $400. Blows away a Peavey TKO I played a few weeks back (and I am a Peavey fan). Taller than I thought it would be, but not bulky. Do wish it had a mute and speaker out, but I will never need an additional cab for it as this is a secondary rig. Very light, carry all day one handed. Certainly loud enough. Good choice so far.

bassist4dalord · #3 11-10-2010, 06:13 PM

Congrats! I bought one from a TB'er this Summer, and I've been really satisfied with it. Great for dorm room practice, studio use, and everything in between.

bassist4dalord · #4 11-10-2010, 06:15 PM

I am however considering having side handles installed. Sure, it's super light. I just like heavy-duty side handles instead of top handles

baddarryl · #5 11-10-2010, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassist4dalord

I am however considering having side handles installed. Sure, it's super light. I just like heavy-duty side handles instead of top handles

Yeah, that was my first thought actually.

xring · #6 11-11-2010, 02:07 PM

I bought one new about a week ago. I never played thru one, I just read the reviews here. Not too happy with the tone. I'm playing an SR5, a Human Base, and others. I have to put the MXR M80 and/or my BDDI in front to make it sound decent. Straight in has a very tubby tone to it. I can't see how to get the back off to get some insulation in there? Maybe it will improve after some break in. I haven't pushed it yet.
What with that, I'm glad you like yours!

**BigDaddyO** · #7 11-11-2010, 02:10 PM

Back doesn't come off. Have to take the grill off and remove speaker to add insulation.

xring · #8 11-11-2010, 02:23 PM

I was afraid of that. Thanks.

shoot-r · #9 11-11-2010, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xring

I bought one new about a week ago. I never played thru one, I just read the reviews here. Not too happy with the tone. I'm playing an SR5, a Human Base, and others. I have to put the MXR M80 and/or my BDDI in front to make it sound decent. Straight in has a very tubby tone to it. I can't see how to get the back off to get some insulation in there? Maybe it will improve after some break in. I haven't pushed it yet.
What with that, I'm glad you like yours!

Since it's new can you return it?
Does the store you got yours from have the MB 210 in stock to try?
My ears preferred the 210 over the 115, maybe your's would to.

Gotta ask, the name "xring"...you a shooter?

xring · #10 11-11-2010, 03:05 PM

I got it from MF. I figure for the price, I'm not going to do much better and wanted an inexpensive amp. That's what I got. It's my 3rd string rig anyway, so I'll sans amp it and call it a day. I might add insulation but I have no rattles now. Don't know if I want to press my luck.
Shooter? Yes! One of my favorite hobbies. You know the other.

baddarryl · #11 11-11-2010, 10:22 PM

Took it to church tonight. Gain on 4 master on 4 was plenty loud (we are pretty loud for a praise band). Xlr was good enough for live use but ridiculously placed backwards as has been documented. Experimented with tones and was impressed with the variety from super clean to too dirty! Just what I was looking for. Sounded pretty tight with my passive Foundation V. Not gonna replace my SWR rig, but a great addition for my purposes. Cant beat the price.

baddarryl · #12 11-13-2010, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baddarryl

Took it to church tonight. Gain on 4 master on 4 was plenty loud (we are pretty loud for a praise band). Xlr was good enough for live use but ridiculously placed backwards as has been documented. Experimented with tones and was impressed with the variety from super clean to too dirty! Just what I was looking for. Sounded pretty tight with my passive Foundation V. Not gonna replace my SWR rig, but a great addition for my purposes. Cant beat the price.

Starting to favor the tone over my SWR! Could be in the market for a GK head now!

xring · #13 11-18-2010, 05:31 PM

I too, recently took it to practice at church. My observations were different from my basement review above. I have previously been playing at church with my B rig: Kustomgroove 1200, Sans Amp RBI, compression. Ran all this through an Aggie GS212, or sometimes a S410, both 4 ohm. I was waaay overpowered for this smallish sanctuary, but was a little apprehensive going to 200 watts from a single 15. I was wrong. I set the master at 3 o'clock, the gain @ 11, and my active bass' volume was maybe a 1/5 of a turn up. It was more than enough to easily hang with drums, guitar, piano. I did learn that it was very difficult to get enough mids and treble, even using the horn, to not buried in mud. I had to kick in my MXR M80 to add some sizzle to cut through. I was VERY aware of that NOISY (amp), making the horn too fizzy to keep engaged during quiet times. I ended up shutting it down, and really cranking the highs on all eq's in order to get some bite and definition with the Human bass. The amp was much quieter that way. I think GK needs to re-think the horn set up (noise wise). Even with a level control, one could quiet it without killing it. I'm going to take my SR5 Sunday. I know that will have enough highs for sure. One last thing. This amp is extremely strong in the lower registers. I have the bass flat, and the amp and pedal bass controls dialed waay back, and it still has killer bottom. The contour switch has no application in a live setting IMO. The switch should be labeled PFM (Press for mud). I'd like to see the price go up by maybe 150, with a horn control, and maybe a standby switch. Overall, I'm glad I got it, due to the amazing weight and ability to project alot of clean volume.

king-albert · #14 11-18-2010, 06:05 PM

I had one up until a few weeks ago. I used it for baritone guitar. It actually sounded pretty nice for my tastes. The funny thing is, the thing is so light that when I played it at stage volume it would shake itself so much that it would actually move a few inches across the stage. I had to scoot it back to its spot every couple songs during a set. I played it pretty hard and ended up blowing the speaker in practice one night. At that point I knew I needed something a bit bigger. Nice little bugger for the $$ though.

xring · #15 11-21-2010, 11:24 AM

I'm thinking that these speakers need to break in a bit before they show their true colors. My MB 115 was making some killer tones at church today. No effects in line either. I think I heard the "GK Tone" today. I like it alot.

shoot-r · #16 11-21-2010, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xring

I'm thinking that these speakers need to break in a bit before they show their true colors. My MB 115 was making some killer tones at church today. No effects in line either. I think I heard the "GK Tone" today. I like it alot.

Goooood...We got another one hooked on GK!!!

Now if I can get ya to start shootin' in USPSA/IPSC and NRA Action Pistol matches!