Best portable bass heads for rock!

If you love the sound of your GK, I think it would be natural to check this out when it releases......

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Gallien-Krueger/Legacy-800-800W-Bass-Amp-Head.gc

Apparently it is supposed to be based and designed with respect to the 800 RB you have

 

The gk mb 500 / 800 is also very nice but has extended treble that I'm not sure the RB does or that you would like. Certainly it makes good sounds for pop punk, and has a foot switchable drive channel with separate master volume for a little extra grind without making you 5x louder.

@4stringmf, where did you see GK say the Legacy sound was modeled on the RB? I mean it makes sense, but nothing I've seen from them mentions anything about the tone profile.

 

Discovered it on here..... New GK 800 Legacy!

The Legacy Series represents 50 years of design, innovation and industry experience at Gallien-Krueger. Bob Gallien remains at the helm of the company, still working in the lab daily, as he did in the beginning, to create the best sounding, most versatile, and reliable professional bass gear available. Because the Legacy Series shares the same designer as the 800RB, it shares the same DNA and the same level of innovation, with a more evolved feature set and construction concept.

The introduction of the 800RB, in 1980, cemented Gallien-Krueger as a leader in solid-state bass amplification, with its signature growl, clarity, power and features that were ahead of its time. The Legacy Series of heads captures that same aesthetic while adding something all its own. From clean, clear, biting tones, to saturated overdrive, the Legacy series has it all. Coming in 500, 800 and 1,200W Class D models, the Legacy heads are ready for the biggest stages, the smallest living rooms, and everything in between.

To improve performance and reliability, the Legacy Series uses a unique interconnection system that eliminates problems that can develop over time from constant vibration and temperature extremes that gear is subjected to with heavy use. Using circuit boards with gold-plated connectors, rather than cables with standard tin connectors, this type of construction delivers a more pure, reliable sound. Features include GK's classic 4-band EQ, overdrive complete with tone shaping, additional voicing filters such as "Bump," "Contour" and "Presence", balanced DI with pre- and post-EQ, an effects loop, aux. and headphone connections, and Load capacity selection, to deliver optimum power into 2-, 2.7-, 4- and 8-ohm cabinet configurations.

 

The ToneHammers are pretty much the tonal opposite of the GK MB series. If you get a chance to try one you definitely should. The TH500 is a great amp, I've loved mine for several years and since there are a lot of them out there you can find them used readily.

 

Seems there is no LPF or it's at a very high frequency if there is one. The GK MB amp sounds brighter than most other amps I've played through. I haven't played through lots and lots of amps, but in my relatively small sample size this has been my experience.

 

I just got a TH700 this week and haven’t gigged with it yet - sounds absolutely huge though with my PBass. Has clarity like a GK, but a much warmer, vintage sound that is closer to Ampeg.

 

The GK MB series are much brighter. The TH has a useful and interesting Drive control that is not an OD but rolls off the very lows and highs.

Demoing bass amps can be hard, the local shops here have very little bass gear, I drove an hour a couple times to one shop and then four hours another time (although it was part of a planned trip to family, nut just an eight hour drive to test an amp). IMHO it is well worth it to bring your bass, cab if possible, etc to try out.

 

Orange you say?
Look no further!
For Sale - Orange Terror Bass 1000 (w/headcase)

 

I hated Darkglass - as far away from the warm/fat/clear tone as you can get. The Ampeg stuff sounds okay, as does the Mesa (Walkabout) - they are closer to what I like, but a very distant second to the Aguilar. I’d never leave my SVT behind in favor of either of those heads - the Aguilar doesn’t feel like a compromise. The Fender Rumble series sounds good to me, but I find their inherent tone to be muddy and have to EQ that out. I like the Genzler head I tried out and their cabs seem super cool too. Haven’t tried any of the others on your list.

 

I use an Ashdown for rock music. I think it is a great compromise between fat/thumpy and bright/growly. I love GK gear, the Ashdown amps I’ve used are very similar (to my ear) but with less of the brittle, crystal clear top end that GK amps have and they are a bit smoother and more musical in the midrange. The growl you want in rock music, though...it’s hard to beat GK for that.

 

300W and very portable? Lots of choices these days, both Cheap and Cheerful!

I like this one: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TX300--hartke-tx300-300-watt-lightweight-bass-amplifier

 

The Fender Rumble heads are really good for the price