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Gallien Krueger 800RB Master Volume Question

theholeinthings

theholeinthings

Dec 1, 2012
69
11
Carbondale, Illinois
#1
Today I was messing with the settings on my 800rb after rereading the manual online, and I decided to mess with the master volume and regular volume levels a bit. Usually I set the regular volume (the far left one) and boost to around 2 o'clock and just bring the master (300 watt section) to whatever sounds right for the room, but today I tried something different. Instead I brought the master to 2 o'clock and let the regular volume control my overall volume, which wasn't very loud at all. I did this because the manual said that bringing the master closer to 10 would achieve a cleaner sound, which I thought would be good for various distortion pedals. Now while I was doing this I was using a tech 21 VT pedal set to what I thought was unity gain to my ears. I was also using several distortion pedals such as a Fuzzrocious Grey Stache and Rat Tail. With the VT on, I really liked having the master this high up because it made my distortions sound more explosive when I turned them on, in a good/controllable way...but when I decided to turn my VT off, my distortions sounded dangerously loud which didn't make any sense to me since my cleans with the VT on or off were roughly the same volume. After this scare I decided to tweak with the settings on my amp some more, without the VT on. What I noticed, even at low settings, was that when the master exceeded the level of the regular volume, my distortion pedals became insanely loud, in what sounded like damaging volume. Has anybody else experienced this with the master and regular volume on the 800rb? How are you guys running the levels on your 800rb in conjunction with distortions? Do you guys think it is safe to run my 800rb with the master set high like this in conjunction with distortions. Thanks in advance.
 
#2
First volume knob to the left is a gain knob.
Want to stay clean, keep it lower than 12 o'clock. Want a dirty breakup sound, get it past 12 o'clock.

Boost knob adds volume, warmth, dirt, growl, and distortion the further you turn it up. Want clean sound...keep this knob down to a minimum.

Master volume is your amps volume knob. It adds volume to whatever sound you have found. This master knob is what we use to fill the room. This way your tone doesn't change drastically.

I'm not up to date on pedals and how to apply them to a 800RB.
But...without pedals, you can achieve the GK GROWL by having all your knobs at noon, all contour switches off!
 
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#3
Hi mate, I use an 800rb with BT bass all the time. The reason for your situation is the headroom - since your master is high and input volume low, you've got more headroom from the amp - this means your distortion effects will sound louder, because there is more room for volume/gain. With how you used to run the amp, where you are really boosting the input volume to 2 oclock, there is less headroom, and your input signal is probably already a little saturated.
Long story short, adjust your distortion pedal volumes to taste in either situation, but the reason your distortion SOUNDED like they were at a even volume is because there is less headroom when you saturate the input signal. :)
 
#5
...and!
I run my ('86) 800rb volume at 12 oclock minimum, more if I need more thump. My master and boost are to set the overall volume. I leave eq flat, and the VT bass is for warmth & eq.
Very loud, fat amp - insanely great tones when used with the VT bass or BDDI.
This runs into an English Ashdown 4x10". Bass is a '95 Musicman Sterling, & I play any style & technique - but picks are GREAT with this setup :)
 
#6
Thanks guys, lots of useful info here! jg918, out of curiosity what kind of setting are you sing on your VT? I'd love to try em out. Also, do you guys find that your master volume and boost typically exceed your input volume's level, or vice versa? Just trying to get a feel for how other people are running their 800RBs. Thanks again.
 
#10
jg919 said:
...and!
I run my ('86) 800rb volume at 12 oclock minimum, more if I need more thump. My master and boost are to set the overall volume. I leave eq flat, and the VT bass is for warmth & eq.
Very loud, fat amp - insanely great tones when used with the VT bass or BDDI.
This runs into an English Ashdown 4x10". Bass is a '95 Musicman Sterling, & I play any style & technique - but picks are GREAT with this setup :)
Click to expand...

I also use a GK 800rb and Ashdown 4X10. Sounds very boomy to me. From what I've read, this shouldn't be the case. What are your preferred amp settings?
 
#11
Cranking the master volume on an 800RB really lets the amp open up. R Gallien (RAG here on TB) describes it as "hitting the rails." It is a little backwards in terms of the way I was taught to use amplifiers which was to crank up the gain until the preamp distorts a bit and then back off and use the master for overall volume. With the 800rb and 400rb, if you crank the master, and use the preamp gain to adjust volume, the tone gets really fat and a bit wooly. Some refer to this as the GK growl.
 

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