Perhaps GK should have picked a handful of gigging pros here on TB to market test for 6 months before release?
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Gallien-Krueger MB2-500: Part II
- Thread starter Kelly Lee
- Start date
They have a very large list of endorsing artists, I cant believe they havent give it some kind of stress test...
Personally, I think the approach is perfect. If they took a bunch of artists, the feed back would most likely be slow, if at all. They way they are doing it they get real time results, often the same night as a gig or day of purchase, right here on TB. The owner/designer check back daily, sometimes hourly, to talk over problems, or upgrades. Have any of you ever been able to field test a product, and be part of the design/upgrade process. If you don't like the idea, stay away or don't buy one. I think it's an unbelievable opportunity in todays market place to actually have input as to what the final version will be. You have an issue, they are on it, address it, and replace it. WHERE do you ever find that in the current economic time we live in?
That makes sense for the few of us crazy gear heads on Talkbass. For the other 99% of bassists who buy one of these at Guitar Center and then it's buzzing, etc., not so much.
I totally disagree with your point in general. A product that is not ready for market should not be shipped to the general market, where the assumption is that all this 'testing and tweaking' has been done. Remember, most bass players don't have multiple amps, and the 'interest' in sending back a brand new piece of gear multiple times to get it right.
I'm pretty sure there isn't a sign over these at GC saying 'here's a new amp that is almost right. We would love for you to buy one, and then when stuff goes wrong, we will fix it right away and send it back'.
What a line of BS you believe that figuring out your headphone jack distorts and sending it back to be repaired is design input. Or your amp shuts off during a gig and having it repaired is an upgrade?
To Ken's point the average Joe walks into GC buys this amp goes to a gig to find it doesn't work properly, pissed about the unreliable gear GK is putting out these days he goes back to GC returns it and pickups up a markbass head that works without issue.
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I gotta' go with Ken and Peter on this. Customers should not be treated as involuntary beta testers. Period. If a product is in general release, it should be rock solid.
The beta test phase should've taken place previously, and only the testers agreeing to provide both timely feedback and rigorous testing should even be allowed to participate.
Beta tester feedback should be about fixing bugs. Customer feedback should be about feature enhancements.
I manage software development, and that's the way we do it. If a product is released, and it fails in the field. It's a failure, and should never have happened. Plain and simple.
That said, I don't believe Bob has ever actually intended to use customers this way anyway.
i don't think gk intended this to be a test. maybe i have too much faith in them but i think these were tested. what company wants to put a bad product out there? i think no matter what testing they did, there were going to be some bugs. some people have gotten the first version and haven't had a single problem. if it was an over all goof then everyone that got an A00 should be sending theirs back. i have an A02 (just what i ended up with) and it seems to be fine. i have an issue with my headphones but i'm not sure that's the amp just yet. could just be my cheap wal-mart headphones.
i think gk jumping on the fixes as fast as they are shows a few things. 1 - they don't want their customers to have a bad product (they care about their customers and their company name). 2 - (IMO) they didn't expect these issues and wanted to get them cleared up as soon as possible.
i would like for it to have come out and not have any issues. but i'm fine with they way they are handling the problems.
I tested one of these heads at GC and it was good, but I was not going to leave my Markbass LMII for it. What makes me now wonder after reading this thread is....which version was I using and maybe it was not the best version? Or maybe it was the best one? (I'm sure the guys at GC wouldn't know what I was talking about if I asked anyway).
Regarding the 'debugging' that users are doing for GK on this head, it is reminiscent of Microsoft and any of their software products. The need to 'rush to market' results in a product that is less than optimal and needs to be tweaked with version upgrades, patches, headaches, etc.
Regarding the 'debugging' that users are doing for GK on this head, it is reminiscent of Microsoft and any of their software products. The need to 'rush to market' results in a product that is less than optimal and needs to be tweaked with version upgrades, patches, headaches, etc.
We agree. I'm sure they didn't plan this, and I agree their customer service is stand-up. And while most/all products aren't perfect on initial release, I think It's just unfortunate more of this stuff wasn't caught prior to that. Again, tho, for the customers with the right temperament, I think GK is doing a great job of being very responsive.
If this had been a new start up company, now matter how fast they fixed the problems, we would be all over them on TB flamin' the hell outta them. I loved GK products, I swapped my RB800II for the RB1000II and almost instantly regretted it. I went back to GC to return it, but my RB800 was already gone. Eventually I went to the LMII and have had zero issues. I bought another one to leave at the practice room. I almost thought about trading that one in on a MB500. The honest salesman flat out told me not to go with the MB500 as they were having a lot of returns. He went on to say that about half come back before the 30 days. Some have buzzing, some have feedback, some just flat quit. I find it really hard to believe these issues didn't come up during R+D. If it happens to us at the first or second gig, I'm sure it would happen within the hours of testing that are performed during R+D. Just my 2 cents.
Does anyone here have an accurate number about how many were sold that had no issues?????? No guesses, but solid numbers??
who is gonna know that besides GK, and why the hell would they post it here???????????????????????
Exactly what I was thinking.
Bottom line is, I think we've seen enough repeatability, as well as GK's response, as well as the documented revisions addressing these concerns, that they're real and significant enough. Not sure what other proof of significance is necessary.
and you also have to factor in the amount of complaints here on talkbass will be more vocal than in the general population - the amount of press on the issues with these amps is greater here than elsewhere. Not saying that it excuses the issues, but just something that people online should keep in mind. There arent thousands of posts from every Joe who picks on up with no issues, but there are from the TB'ers who do have issues.
Very true, but I don't think it discounts the issues to the status of "insignificant except for at TB" (tho in some cases this is also true).
right - these issues still should have been resolved prior to mass distribution, but the sample from TB might make it seem worse than it actually is was all that I was trying to say.
cool.
I've sold mine, so I probably wont chime in here much anymore except to say that if I were getting a GK again, or a micro head, it would be this one. To my ear it sounds identical to the 1001RB-II, but in a smaller lighter package. And with GK's customer service, if I did get one with issues in the future I'd be happy knowing they'll do everything they can to make it right as soon as possible.
Peace
I've sold mine, so I probably wont chime in here much anymore except to say that if I were getting a GK again, or a micro head, it would be this one. To my ear it sounds identical to the 1001RB-II, but in a smaller lighter package. And with GK's customer service, if I did get one with issues in the future I'd be happy knowing they'll do everything they can to make it right as soon as possible.
Peace
is it safe to buy one of these yet. What model do I need to ask for A04??? thinking of eventually getting one from RMC audio.
