Gallien Krueger MB212-II Report

[fatcrabb]

Just received my GK MB212-II this afternoon.

I had an MB210 which worked out well at practice and church for a year or so, but I wasn't overly confident pushing it in higher volume situations. Given the reliability issues some had been experiencing I decided to give it the heave ho last month. After reading how Robert Gallien has been personally taking care of his customers and the fact that GK brought production back to the U.S. for the new series, (and the high marks MoeGBeaner gave for his 212), I decided to jump back in with both feet.

I have band practice Thursday and a loud club gig, (two half stacks and a drummer), on Friday. Should have a pretty good idea of what this puppy can do by the weekend. Will give the full report.

[Connor Elliott]

Looking forward to it!

[Daniel Piper]

Awesome mate - post it up in the GK club thread too. Those series II combos are looking like a well played upgrade to the series I

[fatcrabb]

Will do Amigo!

[Davyo]

I compared my GK MB210 series ll to my new MB212 series ll,,, my MB212 was the clear winner !!!!!!

The MB212 ll is quite an impressive combo to say the least.

Look forward to hearing your feedback on yours.

Cheers
Davyo

[HMZ]

I would love to get one of the new MB212II's. I have a MB112II that I love for practice and small gigs. I had an MB112 series 1 that served me well but
it took a really bad fall loading into a gig one night and never worked again.

[JACink]

Originally Posted by HMZ

I would love to get one of the new MB212II's. I have a MB112II that I love for practice and small gigs. I had an MB112 series 1 that served me well but
it took a really bad fall loading into a gig one night and never worked again.

Would you say that the MB112 & the MB112II sound the same?

[HMZ]

Originally Posted by JACink

Would you say that the MB112 & the MB112II sound the same?

I would say yes but the main thing is with
the newer ones they fix the DI placement.
On the older ones the had the DI positioned
where you could not get the release button
on the cable. You had to use a knife to get
in there. Now it's accessible.

[fatcrabb]

Well.....

I took the new rig last night to practice and unfortunately we had a room that had crappy, (maybe none at all), insulation and it was boomy as all get out. I was not able to dial the amp in to where it wasnt feeding back a little into the pa at the lower registers. Not the amps fault by any means, just really bad acoustics. All I can say at this point is this amp has headroom galore, but I was really bummed I couldnt give it the full workout. $12 an hour doesnt seem to buy much in the way of rehearsal space anymore.

"Why, back in my day we used to put carpet and egg crates on the walls blah blah blah.............."

Have a high volume gig in a room that has very good acoustics tonight so tomorrows report should be another story. Will post video also, (if you all promise not to bag on my sloppy bass playing).

I can say with impunity that the fit/finish and build quality of this amp is light years ahead of the series that it replaces. Aesthetically this amp is a work of art.
Stay tuned.

[B-string]

No judging on the playing Looking forward to it.

[fatcrabb]

Well.....

Did the gig last night and this amp shined like diamonds. This amp had more than enough grunt to keep up at relatively high volumes, and to my surprise the sound cut right through the mix. No farting out whatsoever, (although I do play a four string). I had some reservations as my old MB210 had a tendency to be "super bottomy" which I liked at lower volumes but when cranked up always caused concern that I was going to blow a speaker. Not so with the 212.

My bass is a tad on the "clangy" side so I had the horn off, with the limiter on and contour button off. I had it eq'd relatively flat, (everything near the 12 o clock position with the lo mid at 3 o clock). The boost control dialied in for that nasy GK growl

Unfortunately the guy taking the video was at the left side of the stage near one of the guitarists amps so its hard to hear the bass, but at leat you get an idea of what kind of output this righteous little combo is capable of.

http://youtu.be/LXeU28zh2tQ

[Timmah]

Just curious- what amp is the guitarist playing through?

[fatcrabb]

The guy in the left is playing a Fender with a 4x10cab and the one on the right is using a Blackstar with a 4x10 cab.

[B-string]

Just got my phones back, that sounds like it was slaying the room .

[fatcrabb]

For the weight and size of the unit it was pushing some serious air. I A/B'd it with my Bergantino AE410 - Markbass LM3 and volume wise it held its own.

In the interest of full disclosure however I have to say the amp started smoking later in the evening. It smelled like something was burning so I shut it down. The rig was still functioning with now measurable loss of power, but I shut it down nonethless. I wanted to wait to see how GK would take care of the situation before I made any judgement calls. They've already arranged to have a new one sent out.

[Jim C]

Sorry you had a problem and good on GK for taking care of business.
Some of these micros have been plagued with problems.

I have owned 19 amps over the last 30 years and not one of them has ever failed (although there were some routine tube replacements along the way). OTOH only 2 were micros and Aguilar and Markbass do seem to have the best reliability records based on what I read here.

[lefty007]

Originally Posted by fatcrabb

. . . the amp started smoking later in the evening. It smelled like something was burning so I shut it down. . .

LOL. This thread was going really well until this point, no?

[fatcrabb]

I have to say as a former GASoholic I've owned just about every amp known to man. The only amps I remember having any issues with was a Carvin R1000, (which was stellar for 3 years or so before it went to amp heaven), and the MB combo's.

In fairness to GK they said it was most likely excess residue that might have been burning given the fact that the amp was still live and no sound or power loss.

I dunno. I've played GK products since the 80's and the bulk of their product line has been bulletproof. The fact that they brought their manufacturing back from China tells me they care about their name. I'll give em the benefit of the doubt and keep on truckin', as they say.

[Epitaph04]

Thats some good CS if GK is fixing you up like that though!

I have to say thats some serious low end coming from that amp in the video clip!

[fatcrabb]

The replacement is on its way. Scheduled to be here on Monday.

I'm in Phoenix next week :'o(

That means I won't be able to crank it up until next weekend.

The saga continues......