A bit disappointed with my GK MB200

SSCBA · #1 05-02-2011, 06:33 PM

Hi, I've recently aqquired a GK MB200 head and had some time to play and compare it with my previous head (Kustom DE200).

I used a passive Jazz bass and, at the beggining set the eq flat.

The first I could notice was, IMO lack of volume. Using a cheap 2x12 I had to push it to 12' to get decent ammount of volume. My kustom with gain and master set at 10' got much louder, and IMO had a fuller sond. I'm not referring to fuller as fatter, because the GK has a fatter tone, but the Kustom was like fuller regarding the frequency range (both were flat)

When pushing both at what would be the louder they can get wihout distoring, and adding some eq, the Kustom was much louder and fuller, with crisper highs. It slapped much better (gain on the GK was at about 3').

What really surprised me is that the GK is rated at 140W @ 8 ohms (at what I was running them) and yhe Kustom is rated at 120W @ 4. The kustom was really louder.

Based on the opinions I've read here about the GK (that stated it was loud for 200W) I'm somewhat dissapointed

In my country return policies are not as yours, so I'd have to stay with the head and do my best to get a better/louder tone. I also dig the size/weight.

I also felt the preamp wasn't too responsive to eq changes.

Have any of you had similar experiences?

Could that be a cab problem (If so, why the Kustom gets louder and more responsive at lows and highs?)

Thanks in advance

craig.p · #2 05-02-2011, 07:28 PM

Couple of comments:

1. MB200 "flat" is anything but. If you're interested in what the flat setting really is, take a few minutes and chase down, somewhere in the MB200 mega thread, my pic of the front panel of my BX250 set to mimic the MB200's flat setting. The GK is a bass-heavy amp. Many GKs are. This is common knowledge. It doesn't surprise me that the Kustom would be better at reproducing the treble content associated with slap style.

2. You're confusing volume with sensitivity (or gain). A volume-control setting has absolutely nothing to do with an amp's capabilities volume-wise, or with its merit relative to a different amp.

3. It's hard to escape the thickness of the MB200, but I'd start by cutting bass way back, rather than by increasing treble or mids. Even if you are able to achieve a relatively flat tone balance, though, there's still that bit of "grunt" -- a veiling effect -- that goes along with GK amps. I can't prove it, but I think it's done with slightly nonlinear biasing of the input stage or something else fairly early in the signal path. Again, this thickness is common knowledge when it comes to the MB200 and many other GK amps. It's a GK, after all, and therefore it's sort of unfair to knock it for being what it is.

SSCBA · #3 05-02-2011, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craig.p

Couple of comments:

1. MB200 "flat" is anything but. If you're interested in what the flat setting really is, take a few minutes and chase down, somewhere in the MB200 mega thread, my pic of the front panel of my BX250 set to mimic the MB200's flat setting. The GK is a bass-heavy amp. Many GKs are. This is common knowledge. It doesn't surprise me that the Kustom would be better at reproducing the treble content associated with slap style.

2. You're confusing volume with sensitivity (or gain). A volume-control setting has absolutely nothing to do with an amp's capabilities volume-wise, or with its merit relative to a different amp.

3. It's hard to escape the thickness of the MB200, but I'd start by cutting bass way back, rather than by increasing treble or mids. Even if you are able to achieve a relatively flat tone balance, though, there's still that bit of "grunt" -- a veiling effect -- that goes along with GK amps. I can't prove it, but I think it's done with slightly nonlinear biasing of the input stage or something else fairly early in the signal path. Again, this thickness is common knowledge when it comes to the MB200 and many other GK amps. It's a GK, after all, and therefore it's sort of unfair to knock it for being what it is.

Thanks for your input. I agree that knobs being set flat don't provide a "flat" (or what's commonly known for) sound at all.

I didn't use specific volcabulary because my english is pretty basic and don't want to mess up even more what I was trying to say.

I don't knock them at all! I was just really suprised that the Kustom was much louder than the GK (tried a lot of different settings on both), eventhough the GK is rated 20 Watts more (I know that insn't a significant increase in dB).

If someone has a Kustom DE200/Acoustic B200 and a GK MB200 could please do a comparison?

IngerAlb · #4 05-03-2011, 01:28 AM

DE200 is - IMO - very conservative rated at 200W RMS. It can get a lot louder than some 500W amps

And the sound has a lot of pressure.

I don't know how the GK sounds by comparison, but I must say I'm quite tempted to get one myself - their amps have a nice warm sound, yet very articulated and gritty.

lowendblues · #5 05-03-2011, 04:56 AM

GK's are bass heavy. Knobs straight up at noon produces a very bassy tone.

I run my MB115 combo with the bass at about 10:00 oclock, same with the low mid, high mid and treble around 2:00.

Maybe GK could chime in with what exactly "flat" is.

You just have to experiment to get your tone, every amp seems to be a little different these days.