I got my GK in the mail on Friday and used it on my gig last night. It was a jazz trio with piano, bass and vocals so the volume was low and the GK was more than enought to fill the room. I have a carved Weiss bass and a Realist pu and they both seemed to work good with the amp. I left the contour switch off and contour levels at zero like it suggests for URB in the manual. Everything else was set fairly flat but I did drop the bass a tad and boosted the high and low mids. The room is carpeted and has a pretty muffled tone to it. Overall I dug the sound I got from the GK MB150 but I would like to have a bit more high end cut to my tone than I had last nigt. I want to wait and get used to the amp before I go turning lots of knobs on my first gig with it . I was most pleased with the 25lbs and what that meant to my easy load in and out.
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Double Bass First gig with GK MB150S
- Thread starter armybass
- Start date
Hi.
Congratulations! I hope you'll be satisfied with this old, trusty gear... As many DB players have written, this amp has its limits, but it works very good in general.
I bought mine in June and have played many gigs- in trio, quartet, septet, with vocal and two or three rehearsals with big band. Sometimes it's good to place it on a chair, sometimes it works great standing on the floor.
I think it's good to have different options for different acoustic situations- I have Schertler Stat-B (louder ,but coloured), Realist (very natural at low volume, but muddy when you play louder), Fishman B-II preamp and old BP 100 which is not so bad (it works amazing with my second bass equipped with gut strings).
I like this small, lightweight, friendly amp more and more...
Regards
Pat
Congratulations! I hope you'll be satisfied with this old, trusty gear... As many DB players have written, this amp has its limits, but it works very good in general.
I bought mine in June and have played many gigs- in trio, quartet, septet, with vocal and two or three rehearsals with big band. Sometimes it's good to place it on a chair, sometimes it works great standing on the floor.
I think it's good to have different options for different acoustic situations- I have Schertler Stat-B (louder ,but coloured), Realist (very natural at low volume, but muddy when you play louder), Fishman B-II preamp and old BP 100 which is not so bad (it works amazing with my second bass equipped with gut strings).
I like this small, lightweight, friendly amp more and more...
Regards
Pat
Its a great amp. I was planning on selling mine when I bought another small rig (flite 1x12 & AI Focus) but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it. I actually still use it quite a bit for low volume stuff - sometimes it's just easier to grab the combo. The reason I bought the other rig is that as stated above it does have its limits. At higher volumes it really doesn't kick out much low end but how could you expect it to - its so small!
At higher volumes it really doesn't kick out much low end but how could you expect it to - its so small![/QUOTE]
There are some situations, when I need more low end and volume... I'm thinking about ext. cab- what is your opinion about MBX112?
Regards
Pat
There are some situations, when I need more low end and volume... I'm thinking about ext. cab- what is your opinion about MBX112?
Regards
Pat
I had MB150S for some time. Bought it used, with the speaker replaced, maybe it was not not original speaker, ´cause I did not like the sound, could not set the right EQ...I sold it, bought AI CONTRA. I hated its shape,downfiring woofer,weight...I have changed it for an very old MBS150E and now I am so happy - plus ext.cab AMPEG PB210 for louder gigs. Welcome to the club!
I really think those amps could be alot better if they had a better speaker in them.
Oh, and the treble knob on mine sounds horrible; I've no use for it at all (maybe it's up a 1/4th of the way).
All in all, I've had mine for 11 years now and it's still going strong.
*knocks on wood*
Generally I keep the contour in the middle, everything flat on the eq (except for treble), high boost at zero, and I don't use the limiter.
Of course every room needs some tweaking. I love when I get a decent sound in a room and then try those settings somewhere else and it sounds like an electric cello. LOL.
Oh, and the treble knob on mine sounds horrible; I've no use for it at all (maybe it's up a 1/4th of the way).
All in all, I've had mine for 11 years now and it's still going strong.
*knocks on wood*
Generally I keep the contour in the middle, everything flat on the eq (except for treble), high boost at zero, and I don't use the limiter.
Of course every room needs some tweaking. I love when I get a decent sound in a room and then try those settings somewhere else and it sounds like an electric cello. LOL.
Actually I think I misspoke in that post; I probably keep the bass at around 9 oclock and treble at 9 oclock, with the 2 mids in the middle.
I do keep the contour in the middle though...I'm using an underwood and a realist depending on the room.
I do keep the contour in the middle though...I'm using an underwood and a realist depending on the room.
pat.p said:
I've been using my MB150E for all of my recent gigs. I have an MBX112 which I use with the MB150E for those gigs which require more volume - I've found the combination to be perfectly adequate for my needs. It is important to get both the amp and the extension off the floor - I have a couple of small stands, but milk-crates or chairs will work also.
- Wil
If I was smart, I'd start a very high end, high dollar version of bass specific milk crates. There really doesn't seem to be anything better for elevating a bass amp, especially the GK. I almost swiped a carload of them from the Space Needle last weekend, but then I remembered that they probably had security cameras and I'd really like to get asked to play there again.
Gents,
I have one of the older 200mb amps. Would the 112mbx work as an extension speaker without blowing up the whole rig? I'm looking for a little more volume and a wider spread to the sound. Will also use the Fishman platnum as a pre-amp. All advice will be appreciated.
Jim
I have one of the older 200mb amps. Would the 112mbx work as an extension speaker without blowing up the whole rig? I'm looking for a little more volume and a wider spread to the sound. Will also use the Fishman platnum as a pre-amp. All advice will be appreciated.
Jim
You can add another 8 ohm extension, no problem. I used to regularly use an extra cab with my 200MB.
Wil Davis said:
Absolutely; I forgot to mention that....I almost always put the amp on a chair, although it depends on the room....sometimes it does sound better on the floor (hardwood floors usually). If it's carpet I put it on a chair. If it's a cavernous sounding room it goes on the chair.
MJE,
Thanks a ton. Appreciate the advise. Will be going into G.A.S. mode this week end for the extension speaker.
Jim
Thanks a ton. Appreciate the advise. Will be going into G.A.S. mode this week end for the extension speaker.
Jim
Big Mike,
Afraid it's too late. The Cleveland is out of the bag, so to speak. BTW, Mike, when can I expect to hear a few more cuts of you tearing into your Cleve? Really dig what you have on TB so far.
Scott,
Did you catch the "Cabin Fever" shows this year? (We played one of the Night Owl concerts). You're exactly right man, small world. Am playing in a bluegrass trio ("The Frailers") with Leo Szydlowski, formerly of "Lone Ridge" and "Virginia Crossroads" and a killer guitar picker, Donnie Geronimi here in the Richmond area. We're trying to hook up for a Graves Mtn. thing in April, if you can make it we definately have to hook up and jam some.
Jim
Afraid it's too late. The Cleveland is out of the bag, so to speak. BTW, Mike, when can I expect to hear a few more cuts of you tearing into your Cleve? Really dig what you have on TB so far.
Scott,
Did you catch the "Cabin Fever" shows this year? (We played one of the Night Owl concerts). You're exactly right man, small world. Am playing in a bluegrass trio ("The Frailers") with Leo Szydlowski, formerly of "Lone Ridge" and "Virginia Crossroads" and a killer guitar picker, Donnie Geronimi here in the Richmond area. We're trying to hook up for a Graves Mtn. thing in April, if you can make it we definately have to hook up and jam some.
Jim
