GK MB150E Head + Hartke 2x10XL cabinet!?

[peedu07]

Hello!

I'm thinking of buying a Gallien Krueger MB150E Head and Hartke 2x10XL cabinet. I plan to use it both on db and electric bass. I play mainly electric but I really want to find a set that suits both.

I live in Estonia so I can't test almost anything here except for Hartkes and EBS amps. I can buy this set new here for about 900EUR (it's about 1100$).

about my playing style and bands:
I play in tow small jazz trios (bass, drums, sax and bass, drums and piano), in a 8-piece jazz band, in a bigband and a lot of session projects. I'd like to use both electric and upright almost in all these projects. And since I always have to carry around my upright and electric (warwick thumb-5.5KG!!!) then I have my mind set on small combos or quite lightweight combinations of a head and a cabinet. I use a lot of slapping tapping and harmonic action on the electric, and I like to do a lot of slides with the upright, I also like a growling upright sound (i dont have a pickup yet for my upright but I'm looking towards wilson or K&K double big twin).

If anyone could suggest me something different in the price range of 800-1250USD then please let me know!

What I like about the GK head are the features including compressor/limiter, a wide range of different eq and contour settings, and effects looping possibilities, the easy weight, and the fact that this series amp has sounder on about 10000 albums. And the Hartke just has good sound and attack for electric.

and links for the gear:
http://www.samsontech.com/products/p...D=38&brandID=3

http://www.gallien-krueger.com/products_mb_hd_150e.html

thanks in advance!!!

And if you have any other questions concerning my playing style, equipment or anything else then let me know and I'll be keen to answer.

Peedu
from Estonia

[AMJBASS]

There is nothing wrong with that setup except that the GK MB is a little underpowered. It might even be better to just spend a bit more and get one of the RB series heads like a 400RB or a 700RB. A lot more head room for a cleaner sound. Otherwise, if you like the sound, go for it.

[peedu07]

Thanks for the help!

Here in Estonia the only companys I can get my hands on are: ebs, hartke, swr, ampeg, carvin. Can anyone recommend me a good cab from the selections of these companys and which would hopefully solve my needs?

[peedu07]

anyone?

just for the record, a guy offered me a Ebs Drome 15" combo for 1300USD, does someone think it's better than what was listed previously?

[greitzer]

Originally Posted by MichaelVee

Another experiment I tried was to hook up a Carvin DCM1500 1500 watt power amp to the MB150's line out. YOUCH! TONS of volume, and excellent tone.

In my way of thinking, this is a truly flexible setup... use the tiny MB150 for small venues.. add the power amp for bigger or louder gigs.

Could someone explain what a "power amp" is? How's it different from a regular amp? Thanks.

[cnltb]

the preamp makes it nice before the poweramp can make it loud.Sorry,the only way I can say this...

[fdeck]

Like cnltb said. A bass amp contains a preamp followed by a power amp, or you can buy these separately. The preamp contains the controls, and boosts the input signal up to a fairly standardized level. The power amp typically provides pure gain and few or no controls, but boosts the signal up to the voltage & current levels required to deliver a lot of power into a speaker.

The traditional distinction between preamp and power amp is convenient in a number of ways. The preamp is a small-signal circuit that runs on a low voltage power supply. Details of preamp desing, particularly frequency response, give an amp its characteristic tone. Preamp design is a bit of an art for this reason.

The power amp is more of a pure engineering problem, having to deal with high voltages and the management of heat. But modern power amps contribute minimally (or not at all) to tone.

[bolo]

Originally Posted by peedu07

anyone?

just for the record, a guy offered me a Ebs Drome 15" combo for 1300USD, does someone think it's better than what was listed previously?

peedu07, based on the requirements in your original post, I was going to ask you if you had considered an EBS combo.

Disclaimer: I have never heard an EBS combo myself, only read about them. But what about the Drome 12" for example? I'm making a very broad generalization here, but I think a fair number of people prefer smaller drivers for upright instead of a 15".

[hdiddy]

The Hartke 2x10XL cab definitely didn't work for me. Too boomy, mushy, and undefined for DB. Sounds good for electric but I'd look elsewhere. The sound I was getting from that cab with my DB was pretty much completely unusable. I tried to make it work but with an EA IAmp500 (it's not the head that's the problem here), it sounded awful. My $.02.

[Wil Davis]

Originally Posted by hdiddy

The Hartke 2x10XL cab definitely didn't work for me. Too boomy, mushy, and undefined for DB. Sounds good for electric but I'd look elsewhere. The sound I was getting from that cab with my DB was pretty much completely unusable. I tried to make it work but with an EA IAmp500 (it's not the head that's the problem here), it sounded awful. My $.02.

I agree - I had a Hartke 2x10XL (until it was nicked from my storage unit) which I tried on a couple of gigs with my MB150E, but was disappointed for the same reasons. I have a 112MBX extension cabinet which I use when I need more power (or more speaker-area, actually) - I've found that combination to work very well (see other threads).

- Wil

[Jaromir]

I would also recommend the GK MBX speaker cabinet to use as an extension speaker for the MB combo. One wouldn't expect it, but it really sounds great together with the combo and surprisingly loud and deep. And you avoid any unexpected interactions between speakers of different designs, which is especially important for DB. I have tried Hartke Transporter series 2x10 and Flite 112 as an extensions with the MB combo and both sounded great at some rooms and terrible at others. With the MBX you will definitelly get more consistent results. IMO

[carved czech]

Originally Posted by peedu07

Thanks for the help!

Here in Estonia the only companys I can get my hands on are: ebs, hartke, swr, ampeg, carvin. Can anyone recommend me a good cab from the selections of these companys and which would hopefully solve my needs?

Try AMPEG PB210H, 400W cab, speakers with neodynium magnets.Very portable, you can carry with one hand (14,5kg) I am using it (with alltube head) for my electric and sometimes (with GK 150MBE combo) for upright , when I need more air ( big band).

Anyway I agree with JAROMIR - the best sound with MBE HEAD you can get is GK MBX speaker cabinet (one 12" speaker, 100W RMS). But this pretty the same as GK 150MBE COMBO.For bigger situations not enough powered...