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Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$749.00
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10.0
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Description:
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Power Amp:
500 watt Class G solid-state power amp
50 watt Horn Bi-Amp System
Toroidal transformer
Pre Amp:
Six stage all tube preamp (three 12AX7's)
Footswitchable two channel motorized controls
Tube driven four band active EQ
Contour control with 500Hz-800Hz mid frequency select
Deep and bright switch
Mute switch(footswichable)
¼" input jack with active/passive switch (-14dB)
Rear Panel
Effects loop & tuner output
Active DI with level control, pre/post and ground switch
Two Horn Bi-Amp compatible Speakon outputs
Two ¼" speaker outputs (fullrange only)
Rear-vented temperature controlled fan
Dimensions:
19" Wide x 5.25" tall x 10" deep
Three rack spaces
27.5 lbs.
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Author
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totallybacan
Registered User
Registered: March 2009
Location: 21804
Posts: 553
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Review Date: Sat August 15, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $749.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Tone, Power, Durability, Weight (for it's size)
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Cons:
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Size
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After owning this head for a good 3 months, I feel I can now right my first review about it.
The first thing I noticed was that it felt SOLID. Just like my 800RB, this think is a tank. From the first time I plugged it in till my last show which was last night, I have been continually overjoyed and amazed by the tone. You can get a real clean yet strong and defined tone easily out of it. But the true value lies within the tubes. 3 tubes, with dual stages on each one. Compared to other "hybrids" there is no competition. Even if you don't really want to buy this head (which I strongly advise you should) be warned that most manufacturers will only put one, maybe two tubes. It will not be the same sound as this head. When overdriven, it gets a very thick, crunchy overdriven tone, perfect for tons of genres.
Ok, so sure it SOUNDS AMAZING. But how does it perform? One word: Perfect. The only trouble I ever had was my first show with it. It was a charity event and I brought my 18" cab. I had heard that GK is notorius for sounding much louder than the rated wattage. I found this out the hard way when I over exerted an 18" sub with 10mm of Xmax and having the volume only half. That was alot less than the "rated" 350 watts at 8 ohms.
Did I mention it has amazing overdrive?
Now I'm running 2 GK NEO 410's, and they aren't even breaking a sweat when running at 500 watts at 4 ohms.
I will devote an entire section to the knobs. Yes, they are motorized. What does that mean? When you cahnge cahnnels with the footswitch, the knobs move by themselves. However, keep in mind that it isn't the same as pressing a distortion pedal and experiencing a wall of sound suddenly. This sounds much more natural and it's hard to tell when the clean sound ends and the overdrive starts. But you don't have to have one clean and the other dirty. You can have one as a volume boost and one as a full band mix, or one for reggae and the other for pure funky slap. It's totally up to you.
Did I mention it has amazing overdrive?
The only problem I have right now is that I wish I could have bought the Fusion 1050, but sadly it isn't available yet. Had it been though, I would have gotten it over the 550 ONLY because the shows I play will have no PA support 99% of the time.
Did I mention it has amazing overdrive?
To top it all off, it has a very clear D.I. which provides more than adequate volume, unlike LOUDpeg which consistently has too low of a D.I. output.
The best show I have had by far with this head was a pretty big show with several top notch bands. Up till then, I had always used an old SS Ampeg. One of the bassists, who knew I was using this head, came to the show. However, he didn't by this point I had swapped the Ampeg for the GK. Needless to say, after the show, he kept saying how he never knew that my SS Ampeg could sound better than his 70's SVT. At this point I showed him the Fusion and he did a double take. Absolutely perfect.
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www.myspace.com/iamdakotajohn
G&L Tribute L2000 > GK Fusion 550 > 2 GK Neo 410
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