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Gallien-Krueger MB2-500: Part II
- Thread starter Kelly Lee
- Start date
Running a line out into a PA is not the best practice from a noise rejection / ground loop perspective hence the whole balanced input / ground lift structure of the DI schemes. I would not consider a line out run into a PA as a "reliable" way for a gigging musician to gets things done.
So if you use the DI with all its noise rejection merits running your post EQ signal power to the board, you get significant volume drop when going clean. This makes the foot switch unusable in my opinion. The scheme I proposed earlier would not detract from anything and would only make the amp more flexible for the same coin.
I'm the one that received a brand new A00 from GC online a couple of weeks ago, which arrived 2/5/10. I called GK a few days later and they said that they would upgrade it free of charge, and they did. Within a couple of days of sending it to them, I received a brand new A07, which works great. The entire unit and even the packaging was all new. GK's customer service really came through.
I agree with all that you say. I would perfer that the DI be post Master and Boost Master if set for post eq. I am just not sure that this is typical for for the DI output settings. I cannot agree with saying they should just drop the boost feature and lower the price of an amp that already blows away the competition when comparing tone and features. I have implemented mods on several very popular guitar amps like my Fender Hod Rod Deluxe due to it not suiting my preferences and maybe this could be a simple thing that we could modify. If you have an idea of how we can make this modification, I would be interested. I am only saying that I like having the boost channel and perfer not to give it up. I have limited experience with using DI prior to this amp and I appreciate you sharing your ideas and experience.
I am not saying to drop the boost feature. I was saying get rid of the clean channel switch option if the DI levels don't match and save some money on the amp.
Or keep the knobs as they are and just rearrange a few things inside the amp.
What you theoretically need is the ability to match the preamp levels of the two channels before they go to the DI and power amp.
What I originally proposed was to get rid of the Master B as a power amp knob and instead replace it with a either preamp gain adjust on the clean channel or a preamp attenuation on the boost channel. Then all you need is a single Master Volume. The two advantages I see are:
1) You can get the same relative levels to the DI as the power amp
2) If you want to turn up or turn down one of the Master Volumes, you don't have to do it with twice to re establish your original clean to boost volume relationship.
It would not be too hard on paper. Although I have not seen a schematic for the MB2-500. It would most likely involve an opamp circuit that uses one of the existing pots assuming the existing pot's resistance value is adequate for the new purpose of preamp gain trim. And it would involve rearranging the switch points. It is not completely out of the question but it would be a fair number of solder joints. If I find a use for the clean sound in a live environment I might go there. I have only used the head twice live so far and I have run the boost channel exclusively in those situations.
*Quote from Jerry Ziarko post # 873: "I picked up the latest revision (A07) in November, and it has been solid for me with no issues whatsoever. It handles the "B" just fine. I own a 20+ yr old 400RB and have owned a 1001RBII, and would stack it right up there with them in tone. I do laugh sometimes when I turn around and see it sitting there on the cabinet though. I've owned effects pedals that were bigger."
The 1001 RB II and MB-500 (A07 in my case) are real similar tonally. Not exactly the same but very close. You can definately tell they are from the same family. Unless you need the higher horsepower, the convenience of the MB-500 package make it a prime choice IMO.
Many say the 1001rb II is more inherently clean than the warmer 700rb II.....is the MB2-500 more on the 700rb warm side or dry clean 1001rb side ?
This may have been covered already but;
[1] Do both the Master & Master B controls work when Boost is engaged?
[2] Has anyone compared it to any MarkBass? (power, tone)
[3] Any details about the EQ upgrade?
[1] Do both the Master & Master B controls work when Boost is engaged?
[2] Has anyone compared it to any MarkBass? (power, tone)
[3] Any details about the EQ upgrade?
I respectfully disagree.
This is the closest amp to the 800RB that I have heard from GK.
It's close but because of the power amp topology can't be the same.
I love it way more than the 700 or the 1001 I used to own because it has the magic button that neither of the 700 nor the 1001 have.
cheers,
Charles
No. Master only works when the boost channel is off. Master B only works when boost channel is on.
I did an AB in the music store with a GS112 cabinet for what its worth. I found the GK to have a tighter and more emphasized low end (it was deeper). The Markbass had an upper mid emphasis in comparison that I could not dial out. However, I bet the Markbass would be great in a mix. I just liked the GK sound better. And so did my non biased guitar buddy. The other advantage of the GK is the thin profile. It fits great in a lap top computer bag.
The EQ upgrade is subtle. I believe I read that the treble, high mid, and low mid were slighty boosted relative to the original EQ in the first units. This was to allow the EQ in the flat position to be like the 700RB with the 5 string swtich engaged. IME with both an older version MB2-500 and the 700RB, I could emulate the 700RB EQ by the slight boost. There is a presence circuit in the 700RB that is not in the MB2-500. When the presence circuit is at 0 on the 700RB, it accounted for the slight difference in the original MB2-500 EQ.
I agree, I'll take my MB2 over both my 700RBII & 1001RBII
IMO it's closer to the 700 than the 1001...
I also agree that it's very close to the 800RB (the main reason I got it)
that and it fits in my gig bag
Cheers
I got a chance to play the MB2-500 for quite a while yesterday. I compared it back and forth against the Mesa M6 and MarkBass LMIII, through the same cab.
After owning a 400rb since 88' and a 700rb II this year, I have to say the MB2-500 is definately more toward the 400-800rb tone/feel/voicing IMO. Which I was happy to find.
And as Uncle says, as far as between the 1001 and 700rb, it sounds more like the 700rb. But only due to the warm factor. This MB2-500 is so much more like the vintage GK tone as opposed to the more recent "rb" stuff IMO.
Yes I definately heard the same upper mid in the MarkBass LMIII. As you say it probably works nicely in helping you stick out in the mix. But I never had a problem with that using my old 400rb. I'd rather be present in a mix with smooth low-mids than often annoying upper-mids. So that was a plus for the GK MB-500 (I guess they dropped the 2 from the name now).
However I did notice the Boost button did add a good amount of what seemed to be upper-mids when pushed. But they didn't have that boxy sound/feel to them like the LMIII did. And the upper-mids the GK Boost added seemed to be over a wider freq. range. Maybe that was why they sounded different from the LMIII dominant upper-mids.
I wonder if the MarkBass F1 has that present,boxy upper-mid? I haven't played that amp in a whle. But when I did I really liked the added focus it had over the LMII. That F1 seemed to be a real nice amp from what I recall.
I was shaking my head at the first line, then I scrolled down and saw the kicker. I spit milk and cheerios on my keyboard and monitor. Thanks a lot.
:scowl:
I was shaking my head at the first line, then I scrolled down and saw the kicker. I spit milk and cheerios on my keyboard and monitor. Thanks a lot.
:scowl:
Two quick questions:
Can this amp properly drive a poweramp?
Is this amp awesome?
There is a line out that is proporitional to the preamp and master gains. I would assume it is of appropriate line levels to drive a power amp but I have not attempted to use it in that manner.
And yes the amp is awesome.
