I was just looking at a GK 400RB Combo with two 10"s for sale online. Would this be good for double bass? The price is good and a friend of mine who rents backline says the 400RB is very popular among double bass players. I am in need of an amp that can fit on the front seat of my truck. I also saw a good deal on a MB150S that I am looking into.
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Double Bass GK 400RB Combo?
- Thread starter Jake
- Start date
Personally, I think that the MBS would be a better choice than the 400RB. You can carry the MBS in a bag over your shoulder. That would be a little tough with the 210 or 115 400 RB Combos. The MBS has great features that include a 1meg ohm input that's piezo friendly. The 400RB does have a I meg ohm input as well, but it weighs 65 pounds. IMHO the midrange eq of the MBS is very DB friendly. The tweeter looks like a compression horn model
Ric
A friend who doubles on electric and double bass has this amp and likes it. The tilt back / kick back feature is nice, and GK amps are well made and usually long lived. However at 65 lbs, it's a fairly heavy amp and pretty awkward to carry. While it wouldn't be my dream amp for double bass, you could do worse than the GK 400RB combo. BTW the 400RB amp has a 1 meg ohm input impedance, and should work OK with most piezo DB pickups.
Thanks guys. I am hoping I can find a deal on a used AI Clarus and buy a new EA M-Line Wizzy or a Schroeder. Ric, what do you think of the Schroeder Lite cabs particularly the one 12"?
My dad, a jazz guitarist, found a Clarus for $275. At that price I could just get a cab for around $450-500 and I'd have a better rig than the GK MBS (right?) for around the same price.
My dad, a jazz guitarist, found a Clarus for $275. At that price I could just get a cab for around $450-500 and I'd have a better rig than the GK MBS (right?) for around the same price.
Jake,
I don't really have any experience with the Schroeder's. My close friend
Ken Jung who haunts these threads really loves them for EB. All my experience has been with EA cabinets so you couldn't go wrong with a Wizzy, I'm not sure that you can get your hands on the M line version anymore because they were a limited edition small run. Acoustic Image amps tend
to work better on better basses since they have a neutral timber and reproduce the tone of your bass. What series of the Claris is it? I,II or III.
Ric
I don't really have any experience with the Schroeder's. My close friend
Ken Jung who haunts these threads really loves them for EB. All my experience has been with EA cabinets so you couldn't go wrong with a Wizzy, I'm not sure that you can get your hands on the M line version anymore because they were a limited edition small run. Acoustic Image amps tend
to work better on better basses since they have a neutral timber and reproduce the tone of your bass. What series of the Claris is it? I,II or III.
Ric
Ric,
My dad has a Clarus 1 Series 1, I think, I can ask him, that he uses for acoustic guitar. Basss has one in the TBDB Classifieds I am thinking of making an offer on. He's got a thousand posts so he seems like a good TBer. My dad, a New Yorker, warned me about buying used gear from New Yorkers, but Basss seems cool. Do you think $350 is an alright deal for a Clarus 1 Series 1?
My dad has a Clarus 1 Series 1, I think, I can ask him, that he uses for acoustic guitar. Basss has one in the TBDB Classifieds I am thinking of making an offer on. He's got a thousand posts so he seems like a good TBer. My dad, a New Yorker, warned me about buying used gear from New Yorkers, but Basss seems cool. Do you think $350 is an alright deal for a Clarus 1 Series 1?
An AI Series II Clarus and a GK 112MBX (the extension speaker for the GK MB series) sounded far better to me and was much cleaner with more headroom than a new GK MB150 combo that I owned briefly, so I'd say that sounds like a good plan. I haven't heard the Wizzy M, but I do own a regular Wizzy, and I like it very much. It's a great speaker.Jake said:
FWIW I sold my Series II Clarus earlier this year for $400.Jake said:
Basss' Clarus that is for sale seems to have a major issue. Take a look at this thread:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=287315
This looks like a big deal, right? Hopefully another one will come up soon.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=287315
This looks like a big deal, right? Hopefully another one will come up soon.
Jake,
It's difficult to access a problem with a second party amplifier. It could be
a simple fix. I do know this, Acoustic Image is very customer oriented, they would be the ones to contact. But if someone actually modified the amp that's a very tricky buisness. Personally, I avoid those situations with gear. My advice, save your pennies and wait until you can buy a Acoustic Image that's trouble free, that said all my gear aside from one amplifier head and one speaker cabinet are used pieces people sold to me in good condition.
Ric
It's difficult to access a problem with a second party amplifier. It could be
a simple fix. I do know this, Acoustic Image is very customer oriented, they would be the ones to contact. But if someone actually modified the amp that's a very tricky buisness. Personally, I avoid those situations with gear. My advice, save your pennies and wait until you can buy a Acoustic Image that's trouble free, that said all my gear aside from one amplifier head and one speaker cabinet are used pieces people sold to me in good condition.
Ric
Bolo,
Got my bre and my ber mixed up again. I've always had trouble with
those french logging terms.
Ric
Is this the one for sale on craigslist Tampa Bay? I was considering that amp too. It's a good deal and hardly used, but I think the other suggestions on this thread may be a better way to go. I like GK gear but I wouldn't want to cart around that big of a combo on DB gigs. I use a GK MB150S (which I like very much) and I plan to get a GK 400RB-IV head to pair with a small cabinet for EBG and doubling gigs.
- Steve
Hey Steve,
It probably was the one on the Tampa Bay Craigslist. So the MB150S sounds good? I'm not really sure what to get. My dad, who is a guitar player in NYC, says that just about all you see up there are Walter Woods heads and GK MB combos. Well, I can't afford a WW's and I've heard a lot a bad things about the MB combos on TB, so I was thinking about ordering a Euphonic Audio Wizzy and borrowing a head from a friend until I can find a deal on a Clarus Series II or an iAMP.
Ric, Rob, Bolo: I have a question, what are the best deals for 112 speaker cabs? I'm considering EA, Aguilar, Avatar, & Schroeder. Also, has anybody heard the Ampeg Portabass Combo with two 8"s? It's got a good price, plus it looks nice.
That says a lot right there, doesn't it? People on TalkBass don't like it, yet all the NY pros are using it.
A lot of the gear I own and have owned (strings, pickups, amps, basses) has been bashed to some degree here. I guess that why there are more choices than ever in the vast world of bass gear.
Honestly, I undestand why some people don't like the GK combos. Compared to some of the newer and/or boutique amplification, it is not a "hi-fi, natural, transparent, my-bass-only-louder" type of amp. The amp has a sound character of it's own which you either like or you don't. I like it because it's so portable, puts out a lot of sound, takes up very little room on crowded stages/theater pits, never sounds boomy and the active 4-band EQ and voicing filters let me control the crucial midrange frequencies that allow me to dial out harsh mids for a smooth, deep sound or add some midrange punch to cut though on a noisy stage or in a room with bad acoustics. My SWR WorkingMan's 12 with it's bigger cabinet and tweeter would just sound muddy in these situations. My biggest beef with that amp is the inability to control the midrange frequencies.
I've compared the GK to an AI Contra more than once and I prefered the "direct" sound of the GK every time. I will say that an AI Clarus through AER cabinet sounded great, but now you are talking about twice the price of the GK. I'm sure the EA, AER, IA and AEIOU gear does sound more natural, but as far as a big sound in a small, tough package the GK is hard to beat and a lot of people besides myself seem to think it's a great amp for amplifying a double bass. It's versatile too. I've used it to drive a 2x12 cabinet at rock band volume levels and with the internal speaker switched off it could have driven two of them.
End of GK commercial.
Good luck on your amp quest.
- Steve
Jake, I don't really know which is the best deal ... sorry. That kind of gets into the whole price / performance / what sounds good to you thing. I don't have first hand experience with any of the brands or speakers that you listed except EA.
So I'll stick to what I do know - I like my Wizzy a bunch, for DB and for slab.
Regarding the Ampeg PB combo with a pair of 8's, I seem to recall that Wilbyman tried one, and if I recall correctly he didn't care for it that much. Maybe you could send him an email or PM.
Admittedly, I don't know a thing about the NY pro scene. But I can only imagine that transportation and portability are key issues for those guys & gals. That has to dictate to some degree their choice of gear.
My situation is different. I've been earning money part-time as a musician since 1979, but my environs are what you might label as "suburban." I drive, there's ample parking, and I have what I consider a relatively easy two trip load-in and load-out w/ my DB on one trip and my gear on a cart on the next.
I probably wouldn't want to schlep a double bass, a 40 + lb. Wizzy combo, a Solstice, a case for my AMT and a small gig bag around either if I were in a dense urban setting like Jake's dad.
Jake,
I have known some acoustic guitar folks who swear by the AER gear.
I played through a AER Domino about a year and a half ago. It sounded very nice, but they are pretty expensive and I think that Acoustic Image and Euphonic Arts have EQ sections and filtering that give them more flexibility with the Acoustic Bass. AER, Hevos, and Markbass all make nice units but since they are built in Europe, repairs and cost make them a little more difficult to service. If you want to look at the different models go to Link Removed. It's a really nice site and they show all the features.
AER's Basic Performer (AER's only true bass amp) lists for $1,799.00. You could get a really nice Acoustic Image or Euphonic Arts set up for that kind of change.
Ric
I have known some acoustic guitar folks who swear by the AER gear.
I played through a AER Domino about a year and a half ago. It sounded very nice, but they are pretty expensive and I think that Acoustic Image and Euphonic Arts have EQ sections and filtering that give them more flexibility with the Acoustic Bass. AER, Hevos, and Markbass all make nice units but since they are built in Europe, repairs and cost make them a little more difficult to service. If you want to look at the different models go to Link Removed. It's a really nice site and they show all the features.
AER's Basic Performer (AER's only true bass amp) lists for $1,799.00. You could get a really nice Acoustic Image or Euphonic Arts set up for that kind of change.
Ric
