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Amp upgrade Recommendations

F

fburke

Nov 25, 2009
43
1
Beverly Ma
#1
I got into a band again about 6 months ago after about a 10 year hibitaus and because my practice Peavey Basic 50 wouldn’t be adequate for a band / live setting I wound up picking up a GK Backline 600 head and a 4x12 gold series cab for the low sum of $200.00 to get me going.

I am using a Carvin LB20 passive bass, and I use a Ibanez SR1000 active as my secondary bass both 4 strings. I also have a Crate 1x15 but I do not use both speakers at the same time due to impedance mis match.

Needless to say I now agree with the bad reviews I read about this low cost set up.

I can’t seem to get the punch I want from this I seem to have issues with my mids, and tend to sound muddy, on the low end, I also seem to have the amp up pretty high to get my volume level even with others. This amp has 2 channels and I only use the clean I am not a fan of bass distortion. I like a nice clean punchy sound, but I do like to vibrate the stomach a little.

What I do like about this amp head is
Tuner port out and tuner bypass button on the front of the amp.
Push button attenuator when I switch from my active bass to passive I don’t have to change ports.
Direct out with EQ selector so that you can still have control over sound

What I don’t like

Over all sound
4x10 is pretty heavy about 94 lbs

I guess I would start with upgrading the head. What sort of power wattage should I be looking for? I feel this one just isn’t powerful enough.

Then I will look to upgrade my cab or cabs to a better and hopefully lighter ones. Any suggestions on this? I primarily play hard rock/ metal

I am kind of a moron when it comes to all the specifications 8 ohmes 4 ohm phasing ect 1 caqb or 2 and what the accual differences are …I just want to sound good!

I figure if i buy used i will be looking to spend about $1000.00


Thanks!
 
#2
Lots of options in your price range especially used. As for wattage I like a minimum of 500 but you'll get more volume out of more speakers. So a 500 watt amp thru a 210 wont be as loud as a 200 watt amp thru a 410.

my picks...

Head: Gallien Kreuger 800RB or 1001RB

Cab: GK Neo410 or 410MBE
 
#3
bassguppy said:
Lots of options in your price range especially used. As for wattage I like a minimum of 500 but you'll get more volume out of more speakers. So a 500 watt amp thru a 210 wont be as loud as a 200 watt amp thru a 410.

my picks...

Head: Gallien Kreuger 800RB or 1001RB

Cab: GK Neo410 or 410MBE
Click to expand...

+1 one on the above if you like the GK sound. I might also add the 700RB-II to the list. You can find those used for a little over 3 bills. Cabinet is another thing entirely. Do you want light weight, huge lows, sealed cab, modularity, etc? I went from a Goliath II which was a heavy MF to a fEARful cab. If you build it yourself you could have a great cab (15/6) for around $500. With the head you have I think I would upgrade the cab 1st to see how things sound with your existing head. I've never owned the BL seris but I've heard they are not a bad budget head.
 
#4
Just my opinion but I would say the Goldline cab is your biggest problem with your tone. I would get a cab first then upgrade to a different head. If you want to stay with G-K you can't go wrong with any of their RB series heads and Neo cabs. I used to own a G-K 700RB-II paired with a Neo 212 cab it was a great sounding rig.
 

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