G-K tiny combo amp???

[bultaco]

Hello All, I just saw a guy playing through a tiny.. (VERY small) Gallien-Krueger combo amp...!!
It looked about 12" tall, 12" wide... and I think read, "ME lll" on the front.
It sounded AMAZING for this TINY amp!! I can't find it on Google...

Who knows where to get this???

Is it still being produced??

Thanks.

[dogbass]

Well, if this is what you saw:

http://www.gallien-krueger.com/products_mb_series.html

its still being produced. Its a pretty amazing little unit that's been around for awhile....

[audiomitch]

Was it this one?

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend....FSg1gwodfFGjJw

If you were in Oakland, CA when you saw it, it might have been me!

[KJung]

Classic combo that has been in production for probably 30 years +/- in one form or another (I've owned all three versions through the years). Great, warm, midrange tone in a very small box. DB players love these. I used one for my jazz gigs for years. The 'E' series has some effects and semi-parametric EQ, while the standard just has 4 simple bands of EQ, which quite frankly, is the way to go for this combo, since it kind of 'sounds like it sounds' no matter what knobs you turn.

Here's a clip of my old one in a jazz setting with a Music Man bass (just skip to the middle to hear the bass tone... live with a mic on the combo). Great, warm, punchy tone, surprisingly loud, and pretty cood for those situations where you don't need a lot of low end nor sizzle up top. MUCH higher quality IMO versus the newer GK micro stuff, if not as loud and wide sounding.

http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=116669

[KJung]

Originally Posted by audiomitch

Was it this one?

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend....FSg1gwodfFGjJw

If you were in Oakland, CA when you saw it, it might have been me!

If it was 12 by 12, he's talking about the MB150.

[worxforme]

I used one for about ten years.

In this case, good things come in small packages.

[basswalker2004]

I have one and love it... Practice on it every day, use it for rehearsals and smaller gigs.
I've always wondered how 4 or so would sound together... could make a killer rig :-)

[62bass]

I've had one also for a year now. I use it all the time. Just played a trio gig with it on Saturday night.

Wonderful little amp. If you get one, get the matching extension cabinet which weighs a paltry 16 lbs. You'll get increased output and an even bigger sound.

I can't say enough good things about this amp. Works with all my basses which all have different sounds. On Saturday I used my old G&L SB1 with Thomastic flatwounds. Beautiful warm but still punchy and articulate sound. The other guys loved it and couldn't believe such a little thing could sound so good.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by basswalker2004

I have one and love it... Practice on it every day, use it for rehearsals and smaller gigs.
I've always wondered how 4 or so would sound together... could make a killer rig :-)

Did you see that picture and interview with the guy with Bad Company who uses a pair of the combos with an extension cab for each? He said he "ripped out the speakers and put in (I think) JBL 12s." Don't know if I'd try that but just stock that would be a nice 300 watt 4x12 rig still easy to cart around.

[dalkowski]

It's either this or and MarkBass 121 Combo for me. Decisions...

[KJung]

Originally Posted by dalkowski

It's either this or and MarkBass 121 Combo for me. Decisions...

VERY different thing. The MB121 combo will be MUCH wider, deeper and with the ability to go into the upper treble range with the tweeter. Amazingly, they are about the same weight I think. I'm not a fan at all of those little piezo tweeters with no attenuater that MB uses in that combo (although you can control the upper treble output with the variable lo pass filter (called the VLE) on the head.

Both are very nice for what they do. The MB150 GK combo has a very specific voice... warm, and very mid range voiced... no highs, no real lows. For a jazz setting or a DB, that tone is beautiful, as you might hear from my clip above, especially is you are using a bass (like the Music Man on my clip) that puts lots of deep lows and upper treble into that amp... makes it sound very nice to me.

I would also consider looking at the Genz Benz Shuttle6/112 combo. That is a very nice sounding small combo... cool design with the 'amp clamp' thing, very small and light, and a bit punchier than the Markbass combo, but with much more lows and highs than the little GK combo.

Depends what you want. I just don't dig the MarkBass combo tweeter in that smallest unit, so as much as I love that brand and their heads, I don't really recommend that particular combo. IMO there. They do have a larger 112 combo with a compression driver that seems to be much better, if a bit larger and more expensive.

[dalkowski]

^^^ That's good info I can use, thanks. I don't want that upper treble, esp with no attenuator. But I DO want "real lows," to the extent that I can get them in a small combo.

[JxBass]

Originally Posted by KJung

Classic combo that has been in production for probably 30 years +/- in one form or another (I've owned all three versions through the years). Great, warm, midrange tone in a very small box. DB players love these. I used one for my jazz gigs for years. The 'E' series has some effects and semi-parametric EQ, while the standard just has 4 simple bands of EQ, which quite frankly, is the way to go for this combo, since it kind of 'sounds like it sounds' no matter what knobs you turn.
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=116669

Having also owned this great little combo I agree with Ken on all fronts, including my preference for the MB150S after first trying the MB150E.

I also owned the 12 lb extension cab that gives you 2x12 at 150w. While larger extension cabs will give you more sound, the compactness and coolness of the two MB150 cabs cannot be beat for tone and portability, IMO.

[Wes Whitmore]

Originally Posted by KJung

Classic combo that has been in production for probably 30 years +/- in one form or another (I've owned all three versions through the years). Great, warm, midrange tone in a very small box. DB players love these. I used one for my jazz gigs for years. The 'E' series has some effects and semi-parametric EQ, while the standard just has 4 simple bands of EQ, which quite frankly, is the way to go for this combo, since it kind of 'sounds like it sounds' no matter what knobs you turn.

Here's a clip of my old one in a jazz setting with a Music Man bass (just skip to the middle to hear the bass tone... live with a mic on the combo). Great, warm, punchy tone, surprisingly loud, and pretty cood for those situations where you don't need a lot of low end nor sizzle up top. MUCH higher quality IMO versus the newer GK micro stuff, if not as loud and wide sounding.

http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=116669

That is a sweet tone...plays that B string pretty darn well...

[KJung]

Originally Posted by dalkowski

^^^ That's good info I can use, thanks. I don't want that upper treble, esp with no attenuator. But I DO want "real lows," to the extent that I can get them in a small combo.

That VLE control on the Markbass heads is pretty cool. You can chop of the top end wherever you want, which makes that nasty little piezo less of an issue. Worth hearing anyway... BIG low end out of that little box.

K

[KJung]

Originally Posted by Wes Whitmore

That is a sweet tone...plays that B string pretty darn well...

It is an amazing little box for what it does, and yes, while it of course won't reproduce the E string fundamental much less the B string's, it does a very good job with the higher harmonics of those deep notes, which is where the note definition and articulation live anyway, especially in a context like jazz or fold playing, where you don't really want the rumble anyway.

[bultaco]

Thanks guys; but... so far.. the two links to show what the amp looks like.. do not show "the one".

It's TINY... not a 12" speaker, and not two 10's. controls are on the front... not the top.
It has a either a ME or MB and then what looks like three one's, or "ells" lll
Maybe this is an old model and they do not make it like this anymore?
Google search and all music stores that come up do not show it. The smallest G-K amp looks too big.

Did this tiny amp have one 10" speaker? or one 8" ???

[bultaco]

Nope.. not this one.. smaller.

QUOTE=audiomitch;9842903]Was it this one?

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend....FSg1gwodfFGjJw

If you were in Oakland, CA when you saw it, it might have been me![/quote]

[KJung]

Originally Posted by bultaco

Thanks guys; but... so far.. the two links to show what the amp looks like.. do not show "the one".

It's TINY... not a 12" speaker, and not two 10's. controls are on the front... not the top.
It has a either a ME or MB and then what looks like three one's, or "ells" lll
Maybe this is an old model and they do not make it like this anymore?
Google search and all music stores that come up do not show it. The smallest G-K amp looks too big.

Did this tiny amp have one 10" speaker? or one 8" ???

If it has MBIII on it, it should be the small, metal boxed MB150EIII that we are talking about (picture in post 2, not 3). It is basically about the size of the 12" driver. If it isn't that one, I have no idea. GK did make a guitar version of that little box with dual drivers... very small, maybe 5" drivers, but I can't imagine anyone playing bass throught it.

Genz Benz makes a little Shuttle 3 with an 8" driver. It has a head on top (doesn't really look like a combo).

[Wes Whitmore]

http://www.gallien-krueger.com/manua...III-Manual.pdf