Help, please! Need advice on buying an amp and cabinet

[ColinDeacon]

I have been looking for a bass amp and I finally found one that I am interested in. It is a Backline 300W head and a backline 8X10 800W cabinet. The guy is selling them both for $400. Do you guys think I should buy it? Is Backline a good brand? Would it be loud enough to play at venues, like cafes, with a full band?

Thank you for your help!

[scottfeldstein]

I assume you mean a Gallien-Krueger Backline 600. Yes, GK is a good brand. That amp by itself sells new for $300. A GK 8x10 cab is worth hundreds more.

If this rig is as described and functions properly, I'd buy it in a minute.

[RickenBoogie]

+1 good starter rig, should keep you going until you start playing the "chase the tone" game- but for a bar band, that rig should do nicely.

[ColinDeacon]

Yes, it's a GK. Thank you very much for your reply. Something I noticed when I tried it out was that I couldn't turn the volume very high because it would distort. Is this normal?

[scottfeldstein]

I guess it depends on what "very high" means. That amp is overmatched by the cab, that's for sure. I'd want 500 to 800w to drive that sucker, but it really depends on the volume you play at.

Sounds like you better pay close attention to whether any of the speakers in that 8x10 cab are blown. Smarter folks than me can probably tell you how to determine that.

[RickenBoogie]

Yes, that would worry me too. Make sure it doesn't have any blown spkrs.

[B-string]

What did you do to "turn up"? The "volume" control is the "Master" on your far right. The "Boost" control adds "hair" as well as gain.

[scottfeldstein]

True. I have a boost on my GK and I never turn it up past half, as it gets too gritty.

[Joe Louvar]

If it distorts badly when you crank it up - don’t buy it!!!

[ColinDeacon]

So basically, if I turn it up the boost too high I should expect some distortion; but I should be able to turn up the master volume without getting any distortion? If I do get distortion when turning up the master volume to high levels then there's something wrong?

[Joe Louvar]

The boost isn’t a distortion box - it just adds a little more drive or grit as the others call it - if you can’t get a loud clean sound out of the rig - it's messed up, so don’t buy it!!!

[tom once dead]

+1 to the general answers people are giving.
That cab should easily be able to handle whatever the head can put out. If it's distorting (and you don't have the boost up very much) stay away from the rig. There's obviously a reason he's selling it all so cheap.

[B-string]

With no Boost and input gain set properly the master should be pretty clean up to about 3:00 position. Boost will overdrive the power amp, so if you add Boost decrease the Master. Its in the manual and believe me high Boost with high Master will get nasty if you want that.

[chaosMK]

Backline isn't the greatest stuff. Hard to dial in much of a tone. But if you are starting out and just want some sheer volume, that rig will do it and the price is decent. I'd try to haggle a lower price out of him.

An 8x10 will be more than enough to play cafes!

[scottfeldstein]

Originally Posted by chaosMK

Backline isn't the greatest stuff. Hard to dial in much of a tone.

I object. GK is all about tone--a very specific tone. It excels at a growly, mid-heavy tone. If you want a bass-heavy, Bob Marley boom, forget it. It's more Geddy Lee than that.

[SVE]

You should check the classifieds for a better head, I know there's some GK 1001RB-II and 700RB-II action in there. You might want to think about how your transporting the 8x10 also...