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Gallien Krueger or Ampeg!!

#41
ihateusernames said:
That should sound amazing!
Click to expand...

It will.

I was running the same combo (1001RBII and 610HLF) for a while. However it was WAY more power than I needed. A family member ran into some hard times, so I sold my 610 to help her out.

Now, I'm running through an Ampeg 48HE and Avatar 210 neo. It sounds great too. I eventually want to run the 210 with an Avatar 212. I think that will sound awesome.

Here's a quick clip of my current stack in case anyone is interested (never mind the wrong notes - first time playing this song as a group):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hMTbfsqqwA0

Also, any of the other band clips from that user will be me with my 1001RB and 610 (except the roadhouse blues clip, my rig, different player):

http://youtube.com/user/fender7avrik

Of course, all these clips were recorded with a digital still camera, so they're not the greatest feats in audio quality.
 
#42
98dvl said:
It will.

I was running the same combo (1001RBII and 610HLF) for a while. However it was WAY more power than I needed. A family member ran into some hard times, so I sold my 610 to help her out.

Now, I'm running through an Ampeg 48HE and Avatar 210 neo. It sounds great too. I eventually want to run the 210 with an Avatar 212. I think that will sound awesome.

Here's a quick clip of my current stack in case anyone is interested (never mind the wrong notes - first time playing this song as a group):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hMTbfsqqwA0

Also, any of the other band clips from that user will be me with my 1001RB and 610 (except the roadhouse blues clip, my rig, different player):

http://youtube.com/user/fender7avrik

Of course, all these clips were recorded with a digital still camera, so they're not the greatest feats in audio quality.
Click to expand...

Do you hav a pic of you old rig by any chance:hyper:?
(GK 1001RB II & Ampeg 610HLF)
 
#44
I've owned most of the Ampeg pro series (3, 4, 6-pros, an SVT-CL, and an SVP-Pro preamp), and two ampeg cabs (610HLF and 8x10E). I've only owned two GK products, the 800RB, and the old 2000RB. To be completely honest, all of it sounded great, but out of everything, I really regret selling my SVT4-Pro and SVP-Pro preamp. That was easily the best-sounding, most versatile, and loudest setup I've owned next to my current Mesa/Boogie setup. In fact, I totally regret selling it and probably should have kept it; I traded it off on complete impulse :[ The preamp's tone was warm and flexible, and the "drive" option gave it a tasteful amount of grit. The amp itself was outstanding; it retained the Ampeg tone, but each of my basses retained its own colors. Plus, it was very versatile. I could use whatever cabs they had at the gig due to its dual-poweramp configuration. I still wish I'd have kept that setup, or at least the preamp...... :[

The GK stuff was OK. My 2000RB had too many issues, so I just sold it at a loss and bought an 80's 800RB. It was extremely tough and reliable, the tone was good, and it was loud enough to serve as my backup and rehearsal amp. I ultimately got rid of it to aquire my Warwick Fortress Flashback. My Mesa never showed signs of needing a backup, and I was getting tired of hauling a bunch of extra stuff to shows that I never used.
 
#46
for RHCP sound, a GK is much better than ampeg for sure.

before even changing your head or cabs... a stingray or G&L 2000 will really help you nail the 'flea' tone. unless you have been hiding a Wal bass in your closet.

a GK 700rbII or 1001rbII will work just fine. I own the 1001rbII, it is killer, dependable, versitle. good DI, on and on... IMO the "horn management" heads work best with the "horn management cabs" like anf rbh 410 (just like flea uses). this allows you to dial in the exact amunt of highs you want. personally, i have 2x neo 212s. awesome cabs. portable, punchy, loud..smart invesment.

IMO i think the 800rb sounds the best of GK heads (i own one too), but it works best with a "tweeter less" cab such as an ampeg 810. if you put the 800rb into a tweeter loaded cab, and i think it gets a bit noisy when the hi-boost or mid scoop are activated. an 800rb into an ampeg fridge is gold! just set all the knobs at noon, hit the mid scoop, and watch out for the awesomeness. there is a reason this combination is/was the usual backline for cartage companies...it rules.

if i were to own any ampeg head it would be the v4b, but i don't think it really sounds that RHCP.
 
#47
I love my GK to death, but in the end, it's your ears that will make the decision. I can, however tell you for the most part, GK has spent more time developing a superior head for most applications, and Ampeg has spent more time developing superior cabs for most applications. There's a ton of exceptions to that, but for the style of music you mentioned, that would be a good start.
 
#48
A solid state GK is the only way to go. Flea currently uses (3) 2001 rbII's as backline. To put in perspective, that's pulling OVER 6KW of ac out of the wall, as the GK amps are about 50% efficient. Output would be about 3150 watts. I'm guessing that flea probably doesn't hear quite as well as he did as a child, now. The really nice thing about playing slap and pop on the GK are the contour and presence control. You can really dial in the perfect tone, and still have enough mids to rock out when called for. The bi-amp feature became completely proprietary on the 1st gen 700/1001/2001. I think this was a HUGE mistake on GK's part. The older 800 simply had 2 different 1/4" outputs, one for lows @ 300wt, and one for highs @ 100wt. They really biffed this when they redesigned the amps. Now you MUST use a GK cab with the 4 wire speakon (I f*cking hate speakons), to utilize the bi-amp feature. BAD GK, BAAD. No bone for you. And not just any GK cab. It has to specifically have this feature, and not all of them do. But, when all is said and done, I still love the tone.
 
#52
jayce bass, you make a valid point with the old 800's using the split 1/4's for their bi-amping system, but that's due to the technology they were delt with at the time. Technology advanced, and so did most bassists' wants. The need to control the tweeter and the drivers seperate became key in achieving tone for some players. Hence the use of speakon cables. Speakon is a much more secure, and reliable connection over 1/4's, so they handled two problems. Like i said, i see your point, but you may have missed GK's point. Although you hate speakons, the majority knows it's a better connection.
 
#53
jjl5590 said:
why do you hate speakons?
Click to expand...

Because they're a pita when your drunk and trying to pack things up after a show.:hiding:....not that I would ever have too much to drink, mind you.....:eek::eek::eek::eek: I'll stick with 1/4"'s forever. And, they did this to make it proprietary. "You must buy our cabs to use bi-amp feature." That is B.S. They could have gone with 2 normal speakons, or speakons and 1/4" like they have anyway.
 
#54
Jayce Bass said:
The bi-amp feature became completely proprietary on the 1st gen 700/1001/2001. I think this was a HUGE mistake on GK's part. The older 800 simply had 2 different 1/4" outputs, one for lows @ 300wt, and one for highs @ 100wt. They really biffed this when they redesigned the amps.
Click to expand...

I just bought an 800RB, it has 1/4" outputs - one set for lows @ 300w and the other for highs @ 100w.

How is that different?
 
#55
The crossover for the 800rb is also ridiculously low compared to the crossover in the new 700/1001/2001 amps that is much too high @ 5k. With the 800rb, you can adjust the crossover freq though, and that would be nice, if it went higher (so you wouldn't send too much lowmids/highish mids to the tweeter).

It was probably thought out that, when it was released in the 80's, the low imput would power a "big driver" or "big cab" (something like a 2x15 or an 8x10) and the hi would mainly be used for upper mids/highs reinforcement by powering a 2x10 or 2x8 with or without a tweet (or just a simple array). In that aspect, it was revolutionary, it's just that many cabs today are way more efficient and the need for a separate cabinet to run full-range is gone, thus the bi-amp function of the new amps wich only powers the horn.

PS: I've heard of people on the BFM forums powering their HF section with the GK bi-amp function, so it's not proprietary like the manual says (and it supposedly doesn't sound as good as having the amp run full-range due to the crossover being an octave too high). It's just that no cab manufacturer apart from GK uses bi-amp function in a single cab while opting to not have a passive crossover inside the unit and having it instead inside the amp.
 
#56
Jayce Bass said:
Now you MUST use a GK cab with the 4 wire speakon (I f*cking hate speakons), to utilize the bi-amp feature. BAD GK, BAAD. No bone for you. And not just any GK cab. It has to specifically have this feature, and not all of them do. But, when all is said and done, I still love the tone.
Click to expand...

Not true...

Any cab (preferrably one with a tweeter or other high frequency driver) can be used with the 4 wire speakon cables...

However, you'll have to do some handy work wiring things up correctly.

There's nothing proprietary about the bi-amping. All you need are the correct connectors (on cabs and cables), the correct speakon cable, and the correct wiring set-up in your cab.
 
#57
Wayne 3-13 said:
Do you hav a pic of you old rig by any chance:hyper:?
(GK 1001RB II & Ampeg 610HLF)
Click to expand...

Not sure why you want to see what it looks like... But, I don't have any pictures.

It looks like this head:

prod_1001rbii.gif


On this cab:

SVT-610HLF_LG.gif


Actually, found a picture of it... Taken at a Halloween party:

DSC_0098.gif
 
#58
Just a heads up, the Gk crossover (5000khz) is as people have said, wayyyy too high. I tried my Dr. Bass 212 wired up that way and it sounded like someone castrated it.

If they had gone 3500hz it'd be magnificent. As it is I'm not even sure it'd work well with Gk cabs, unless they've somehow figured out a way to make a 10-12" woofer cover cleanly up to 5khz :).

I wonder if someone will figure out a mod like that someday, or if GK will set an adjustable horn crossover on their next line? Hope so.
 
#59
rpsands said:
Just a heads up, the Gk crossover (5000khz) is as people have said, wayyyy too high. I tried my Dr. Bass 212 wired up that way and it sounded like someone castrated it.

If they had gone 3500hz it'd be magnificent. As it is I'm not even sure it'd work well with Gk cabs, unless they've somehow figured out a way to make a 10-12" woofer cover cleanly up to 5khz :).
Click to expand...
SVT 810's do 5k cleanly. As a matter of fact, I could probably name a lot more speakers that do it than don't.
 

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