Gallien Krueger is Awesome

[Joe Louvar]

I’ve been a Geeker (GK user) since the early 80’s. I’ve also owned many other bass rigs over the years - Ampeg, Fender, Mesa, Trace, etc, but I’ve always owned GK 800RB’s and 400RB’s amps at the same time. And I’ve also been using a GK MB115 for jams, church, and bar size gigs and it works and sounds great. I plug my Fender P bass straight into my MB115 and with the MB115 only weighing 35lbs I can load in, setup and load out in minutes (really fast). Oh, and GK didn’t have MB115 covers when I bought my MB115’s either (I have two MB115s - 1 first generation without vent and fan on rear and 1 second generation with vent/fan - no MBP power cab’s available back then) so I had studioslips.com make custom covers for my amps - my amps still look like new, so I recommend covers. Now I have GAS for a new tiny 21lb, 100 watt GK MB110 as soon as become available. I really like the GK sound.

Originally Posted by Mike M.

Still very happy with my MB115 combo. Bought it in February of 2011, I use it at church and it serves my needs very well.

I noticed on the new site that they have covers available. When I bought my amp I was told GK did not offer covers. I could use one!

[anarchipur]

From the thomann samples I like the 1001RB/700RB better than the MD fusion.

Are these GKs both versatile enough to be able to model completely different sounds?

On the one hand the GKs are famous for the Justin Chancellor (Tool) sound (punchy lows with clear highs). Great!

On the other hand I would also like to be able to achieve that dirty hairy hot-tube stoner rock sound (which is typical for the Ampeg amps)

Did anyone try these two directions with the GK 1001 or teh MB fusion..?

Just as a very general example, here both isolated bass tracks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ1nAnJg1lo
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL4o-_nJvOA

[ljazz]

Originally Posted by steve_rolfeca

The Session-Music vids are totally useless- different player, different cabs, different bass, and very different recording technique.

However, if you select the rock-speaker and rock samples on Thomann.de, you get a pretty accurate take on the slightly darker sound of the Fusion, contrasted against the uber-clean MB500 and the fatt-and-fizzy 700RB-II.

Man, those 700rbII samples....... Fat and Fizzy..... excellent description..... What a killer head! The "fat" is the reason I love mine. Recently picked up a '90 400rb that is just a tad bit more "lo-fi'ish", but equally killer. GK has pretty much everyone covered with their product line-up.

[ArvindJayaram]

I really like the Gallien Krueger sound, Duff Rose McKagan and Flea are my bass heroes! Looking to buy one as soon as possible, I think the pricing for a Made-in-USA product is astounding. I hope that this excellent and most awesome approach by Mr Bob Gallien translates into super volumes! Have a feeling with my stock (haha, thanks guys) ESP, I might be able to delve into some wimpy-style, Lemmy-esque power chording as well!

- Jimmy Rage

[xroads]

Originally Posted by inthevelvet

I really just got into playing bass last year, I played guitar for many years before that. I bought a mint used MB112 as a "starter" amp for $215. I keep wanting to upgrade, but I've yet to be able to justify it. Granted I usually go into a PA when playing gigs, but even at large venues with ~1500 people, many folks came up to me after complimenting me on my bass sound. I just switched to a 5 string, and figured for sure this little guy couldn't handle the low B, but it does with no problemo. All this from a 28lb amp...crazy!

Similar here: just bought an MB200 and a MBE 212 for getting into the bass world. After a few gigs and lots of rehearsing, I have no need to upgrade; this little rig has handled everything so far (and I got the MBE 212 for 255 Euros new, which I thought is a pretty good deal....).

[PlungerModerno]

Originally Posted by anarchipur

From the thomann samples I like the 1001RB/700RB better than the MD fusion.

Are these GKs both versatile enough to be able to model completely different sounds?

On the one hand the GKs are famous for the Justin Chancellor (Tool) sound (punchy lows with clear highs). Great!

On the other hand I would also like to be able to achieve that dirty hairy hot-tube stoner rock sound (which is typical for the Ampeg amps)

Did anyone try these two directions with the GK 1001 or teh MB fusion..?

Just as a very general example, here both isolated bass tracks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ1nAnJg1lo
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL4o-_nJvOA

I've an mb fusion, and I suspect you could get close to both of those sounds with either head - but for the Oliveri (Queens) track sound you'd best start with a P, a pick, and some sort of fuzz. That's what my ears and brain report!
On the Tool track Chancellor is using a Stingray IIRC - with an active bass or pretty extreme settings on the amp it may work - but I'd suspect effects like compression and an eq would be needed to do it well without the MM preamp and bass characteristics.

The mb fusion has a nice overdrive tone on both channels (they share an EQ) - channel B sounds a little more ampeggy, while A sounds more Classic GK like. I've used both channels to get pretty heavy sounds - but with the EQ + gain you can shape the amount of and tone of the distortion fairly well.
Each channel can be shaped pretty well while crystal clean to my ears also.

If you can try the heads before you buy that's great, if you are buying new (or b-stock with a return policy) you may be able to do it with near-zero risk.

LINK TIME!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuM0qtCna5w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoigB...eature=related
Both demos are decent, the first is more 'intimate' but the second shows you how much the EQ can do!

[sumgruuvz]

well i just purchased an mb800 and neo 4x10 8 ohm. should be rockin good. cant wait to see what juicy tones i get out of it

[PlungerModerno]

Originally Posted by sumgruuvz

well i just purchased an mb800 and neo 4x10 8 ohm. should be rockin good. cant wait to see what juicy tones i get out of it

Nice. Should be plenty flexible, and very very loud.

[sumgruuvz]

Originally Posted by PlungerModerno

Nice. Should be plenty flexible, and very very loud.

absolutely. in the future if i ever need another 4x10, ill be pushing the whole 800. but for now, 500 watts will work just fine

[B-string]

Originally Posted by sumgruuvz

absolutely. in the future if i ever need another 4x10, ill be pushing the whole 800. but for now, 500 watts will work just fine

That's 804 watts at 4 ohm and over 1000 watts sustained burst IIRC BGM's tests

[musicman666]

Stop with the praises fellow TBer's ! Bob may realize with all the demand and praise for his products that he could easily raise his prices....Sheeezzz!!!!!

[B-string]

Originally Posted by musicman666

Stop with the praises fellow TBer's ! Bob may realize with all the demand and praise for his products that he could easily raise his prices....Sheeezzz!!!!!

LOL! That is were Bob (RAG) differs from other brands. He is utmost an engineer, he takes great pride in offering an excellent product at a price point that most working musicians can afford.
He could have gone for a price point closer to corporate owned "Ampeg" or maybe CA. based Mesa a long time ago. Ain't his nature or way of doing business

[Joe Louvar]

I played with a drummer, Congo player, keyboardist, two guitarist, and a harp player last night and my little GK MB115 combo kicked butttt, fat with bite - I love the GK (RaG’s) sound.

[sumgruuvz]

Originally Posted by B-string

That's 804 watts at 4 ohm and over 1000 watts sustained burst IIRC BGM's tests

i know. poor guitarists. suckers lol

[B-string]

Originally Posted by sumgruuvz

i know. poor guitarists. suckers lol

Get um

[ArvindJayaram]

Originally Posted by sumgruuvz

i know. poor guitarists. suckers lol

Now if only you could convince them to raise you in the mix at the same ratio as your peak bursts to theirs, lol

- Jimmy Rage

[Jack]

I've had a 1001-II, first generation Neos (a 1x12" and 2x12") and I'm now the proud owner of an MB Fusion. That 1001 is the only piece of gear I regret selling, there are times I miss it's limitless power and it's the best sounding amp I've ever owned but I sometimes struggled to reign it in and get it to open up at sensible volumes. And whilst it was certainly sensibly sized, it was nowhere near the micro MB Fusion. The Fusion isn't limitless in the same way, but the limits it does have are incredible.

Very, very happy GK owner and user here, keep it up Bob.

One thing I've noticed is that other brands tend to be used by 'artistes' and rockstars, whereas GK seems incredibly popular with working, touring bassists. Turn on Jools Holland or something similar and it seems pretty much every session and backing bassist is using GK.

[gjbassist]

Well I have strayed from the GK fold a bit, but I'm still a fan. I recently sold my 1001RBII, MB200 and Neo 212 cabinet. The RB was just overkill for me and I wanted a smaller more modular rig. I liked the tone of the MB200 but it was not quite powerful enough and only allowed for one cabinet. I was going to get an MB500 until I found a great deal on a new Genz-Benz Shuttle 3.0. I still have my GK Neo 112 cabinet and a second one on the way I just purchased from another TB member. The 2-112's and the Shuttle should make a nice portable rig.

[Blankandson]

Manuals are mostly old (no longer sold in the big stores) or discontinued models. Several of the links I tried (review of MB200 amp for example) take you to a blank page. There is one very interesting graphic on the page for the MB amps. A photo shows that they now have the daisy-chain output. I'm assuming the 200w MB200 will have one also - don't know as the manual is not on the website. Maybe new manuals are being written as we read. Hope so. I think that little MB200 with one non-powered speaker and an additional powered one would go a LONG way to solve some of my odd venue needs.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by gjbassist

the MB200 .............. only allowed for one cabinet.

Huh?