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Double Bass GK 150's - bad points??

C

conor_maccarthy

Mar 1, 2002
27
0
Cork, Ireland
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#1
I am in the process of buying a new combo.at the moment I use an SWR workingman's 15,but it's far too big and hard to transport(especially as I don't drive)many upright players seem to use the GK 150's.so far all i have heard are good things about them.does anybody not like them,or know any disadvantages?i'll probably be using either a realist,underwood or a bass max.thanks for the help.
conor
 
#2
Good points:

Built like a tank, a good punchy sound straight out of the box, small, portable, inherent lack of bottom end means you don't need a hi-pass filter with a boomy bass. If you can get them up off the floor, eg on a stool they project well.

Bad points:
If you want real hi-fi sound, they don't provide it. In large venues the sound can just get lost big-time.

Summary - for a good value working combo they are great. If you are on that elusive search for the ultimate sound, skip the GK and go hi-fi - Acoustic Image or Euphonic Audio.
 
#3
I use a GK150 and really like it. It cuts through a 14 piece big band just fine, with enough bottom to give a nice fat sound. I used to put it at floor level in a speaker stand that aimed it up at 45 degrees or so. Another member on this site (my apologies, I can't remember who or find the post) suggested lying it on its back on the floor- this is now my preferred placement. Gives a sort of omnidirectional sound more easily heard by everyone on stage. In a large venue situation, you should be going through the house PA and not relying on your stage amp to reach the back of the hall/ audience.

I've used an AI Contra, it sounded different, a bit boomy, worked ok. I didn't like it as well as the GK for my playing situation.- higher fi? I dunno, and it's mo' money. The EA is much more hi fi and a lot mo' money.
 
#4
My teacher owns one of these and it is definitely nice. He just plugs an extension cab into it for larger gigs.

The one caveat is I watched him go through a nightmare when it came time to have it fixed. he sent the amp to GK and they were horrible to deal with. I guess it is a difficult amp to work on as he sent it back after they supposedly fixed it so beware of that aspect.

A very nice sounding amp, though.

Dave
 
#5
Pros: weight, size, decent sound with both electric and acoustic basses, lots of preamp features, weight, and size. If you want to double with a combo and don't have a car, this is one to have. Makes a good stage monitor when lifted to torso-level or above. Sounds surprisingly huge if you pair it with an extension speaker.

Cons: sounds increasingly like ass if pushed to the max, but what do you expect from a tiny closed stamped aluminum cab? I've heard of reliability problems, but have had no trouble with mine yet. Can get hot on top, so don't put your rosin there. Expensive for 150 watts.
 
#7
I have an older GK 200 MB with 100W.

I use it for practice as a stand alone, when I play out I add on a Euphonic Audio CXL112.
With this the system gets loud enough for a small rock band.

What I don't like is the buzz from the speaker (transformer is right behind voice coil) and the noisy power / headphone amp (hiss when Master Volume at 0.)


If you want Hi-Fi out of it add a piezo tweeter through a 300 Ohm resistor.

Wolfram
 
#8
I use a 200mb for upright gigs. For a
total killer sound, I use my raven labs
2 channel blender with a realist and an
underwood pickup. Then take the output from
the ravens lab into the effects return input.
This bypasses the gk preamp so that only the
master power knob is used. This little puppy
rocks! Also, when my speaker blew, I relaced
it with a speaker that has a bit wider response.
Hope this helps.
 

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