GK 700RBII or 1001RBII?

[deeptubes]

Ok so here's a little update.

I finally got the GK head. I've chosen the 1001RBII as I wanted to go futureproof with 8x10' tower or 2x 4x10' cabs. I tested both in the store, but then decided to add those 100€ or so for additional 220W. I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the sound of this GK. It's absolutely astounding. It punches as hard as a rock and it's way better for me than the previous Hartke Ha5500.

Thanks for all the info, you guys helped me a lot. I'm now going to jam a little with my new GK ^^

cya guys and thx for help.

Oh, one more question - my head now supports standard guitar cable and speakon cables. My Hartke cab currently only supports the standard guitar cable. My friend is offering me for a very low price a speakon cable on one side, and standard jack on the other side. Is it worth it, or would it not make a difference?

When I replace the Hartke cab with two GK's or one 8x10' I'll switch to speakons ofc. But for now I want to get the best I can from my Hartke cab and the GK1001RB-II Thx for answers.

You'd probably be better off having a speakon jack added to the back of the cab.
I've got a 1001RB-II pushing an SWR Workingman's Tower (8x10). It sounds AMAZING and will rattle your bones! When I crank it up, stuff falls from the ceiling. No exaggeration.

 

[mouthmw]

I use a speakon-jack cable. Jack goes into my GK, speakon goes into my Ampeg 810.

 

[ljazz]

I have been nothing but impressed with my 700RB-II. It has more than enough power for the majority of my gigs (and for loud, outdoor gigs with a heavy hitting drummer and no PA support, I have a 2001RB ). That being said, I have not had a chance to A/B it to the 1001RB-II. It's really a win/win scenario, and as others have said, it may come down to whether or not you like the GK growl, which you can get more easily with the 700.

Tom.

Not to derail this...... but really, the 700rbII pushing enough cabinet(s) will get you there with the outside stuff too. I had a chance to do an outdoor gig last summer pushing a ampeg 810, and it was glorious sounding! Going any louder would have necessitated everyone going through the pa, because I was burying the drums, guitars and keys as it was. I missed being able to use the HMS though.

Another topic.......
I think a big improvement to any of the newer RB's is to add something to the front end to beef up your input level, because there is so much head room at the input stage..... especially with most passive basses. Using the gain on my EBS MultiComp like you would the input gain on some heads really opened up the tone I get from the head (tube sim mode is killer!). Getting as much gain into the power section without clipping makes the already great sounding heads even better.

 

[mmbongo]

Oh, one more question - my head now supports standard guitar cable and speakon cables. My Hartke cab currently only supports the standard guitar cable. My friend is offering me for a very low price a speakon cable on one side, and standard jack on the other side. Is it worth it, or would it not make a difference?

Those jacks are for SPEAKER cables, not GUITAR cables!! Good Lord don't plug a guitar cable into those jacks

 

[Sparkl]

Hmm ok.

Now, first of all - where have you guys been till now? With an exception of few all were reccomending the 1001RB-II.

Well anyway, here's a few things I noticed.

It's true that this head is a monster. Loud as hell. But I put my head to 50% in volume and guitar volume to 1/3, and I can get a growling sound out with no problem at all.

And I can't imagine growling even more as it is awesome at even 50% head volume, 1/3 guitar vol.

Now yeah, I just said guitar cable for the box so that u guys would easier identify my situation. I'm now on speaker cable for now, until I buy a GK set with speakons. It's loud enough for now as it is. With 2 4x10' I think that this head will just become a stage killer

But as I tested at my friends markbass cab, the speakons are quite louder than the standard speaker cable, are they?

Anyway, I'm happy with the 1001RB-II as I'm always happy to have something extra under the hood for some big stages. You never know where you end up eventually and the 700W@4ohm seems to be quite handy Oh, we'll see.

Am yeah btw I was thinking of maybe putting a 800W of cabs to 8ohms? How would that sound? I somehow find even the 8ohm Hartke cab (it's a quite trebless cab or at least it was while on HA5500) punchy enough with my sting5 H/H and the GK cab is even punchier. So how would an 8ohm setup sound like? The head would then work @ 8ohms, so 460W mode. If i would someday need the 700W@4ohms, I would sell the cabs rather than the head. Seems like it's easier selling a cab rather than the head.

 

[Sparkl]

Another topic.......
I think a big improvement to any of the newer RB's is to add something to the front end to beef up your input level, because there is so much head room at the input stage..... especially with most passive basses. Using the gain on my EBS MultiComp like you would the input gain on some heads really opened up the tone I get from the head (tube sim mode is killer!). Getting as much gain into the power section without clipping makes the already great sounding heads even better.

Well I have an active Sting5 H/H which already has a VERY strong signal.

"""""""""""""Getting as much gain into the power section without clipping makes the already great sounding heads even better."""""""""""""

Well that's the thing with the 1001RB-II ) It won't clip no matter what you do. Even with an active bass with a strong signal like the sting. That happend regularly to me with the HA5500 head.

 

[hyp.spec]

I've had both heads and am currently rocking the 700rb-II.

I agree with everyone else that getting that 'grind' just doesn't happen so easily with the 1001rb-II... its got too much clean.

As far as I'm concerned, if you're looking for modern, hi-fi, poppy-slappy tones, go 1001rb-II.

If you're looking for grunty, dirty, grindy tones for rock/hard rock/metal etc, then 700rb-II ALL the way.

 

[wave rider]

Hows the 700 or 1001 sound with the fEarful and or nEarful cabinets?

Folks want a bit more watts to utilize the potential of these cabs, I've thought the 1001 might be the right fit in that way...

=wr=

 

[Ogge]

Interesting thread! While I have no opportunity to try GK gear where I live I'm collecting as much input as I can from TB. Than I will know what to focus on when the opportunity comes.

About the 700 rb2, most people say you hit the sweatspot at a lower voloume and the tone is a bit warmer than the 1001 rb2. But how is the 700 rb2 compared to the fusion 550. They are almost the same wattage but the fusion got a tube pre section. Wouldn't the fusion be an even better alternative for you guys prefering the 700?? Maybe someone here has tried them both or all three?

 

[Ogge]

YouTube - Thank You

Can anyone tell if it's a 1001 or 700 Sharay Reed is playing through?

 

[tombowlus]

Interesting thread! While I have no opportunity to try GK gear where I live I'm collecting as much input as I can from TB. Than I will know what to focus on when the opportunity comes.

About the 700 rb2, most people say you hit the sweatspot at a lower voloume and the tone is a bit warmer than the 1001 rb2. But how is the 700 rb2 compared to the fusion 550. They are almost the same wattage but the fusion got a tube pre section. Wouldn't the fusion be an even better alternative for you guys prefering the 700?? Maybe someone here has tried them both or all three?

I own both. The Fusion 550 definitely has more harmonic content, and it makes the highs seem more bright, clear and exciting. You can get fairly close to this with the 700RB-II's Presence control, though. The lows on the Fusion 550 are bigger, and it's more "round" than the 700RB-II. The 700 is more focused in the mids, and is more consistently solid from top to bottom. The "drive" on the Fusion 550 is very much determined by those six valve stages (three tubes). On the 700RB-II, part of the magic is pushing the output section closer to its rails (and it's worth noting that many amps sound terrible when you push it to the rails; GK is the exception, not the rule, here, IME).

We bench tested the Fusion 550 back in Invalid Link Removed (568 watts into 4 ohms), but have not done the same for the 700RB-II. As far as the "seat of the pants" feel goes, the Fusion 550 does feel louder. I'll also add that we used the Fusion 550 when developing our burst power test (which did not debut until issue #4), and the Fusion 550 was capable of fairly long bursts (certainly as long as the initial transient attack) at over 800 watts.

 

[Ogge]

Thanks for such a great respond!

Man I wished there were GK gear to try in my local music store....

 

[hyp.spec]

I own both. The Fusion 550 definitely has more harmonic content, and it makes the highs seem more bright, clear and exciting. You can get fairly close to this with the 700RB-II's Presence control, though. The lows on the Fusion 550 are bigger, and it's more "round" than the 700RB-II. The 700 is more focused in the mids, and is more consistently solid from top to bottom. The "drive" on the Fusion 550 is very much determined by those six valve stages (three tubes). On the 700RB-II, part of the magic is pushing the output section closer to its rails (and it's worth noting that many amps sound terrible when you push it to the rails; GK is the exception, not the rule, here, IME).

We bench tested the Fusion 550 back in Invalid Link Removed (568 watts into 4 ohms), but have not done the same for the 700RB-II. As far as the "seat of the pants" feel goes, the Fusion 550 does feel louder. I'll also add that we used the Fusion 550 when developing our burst power test (which did not debut until issue #4), and the Fusion 550 was capable of fairly long bursts (certainly as long as the initial transient attack) at over 800 watts.

So when do we see a power ratings test of the 700/1001?

*wink wink nudge nudge*

 

[ljazz]

It's enough to drive you batty! Do you go for one of the MB's?.... or do you go Fusion?..... or do you go with one of the RB's?...... or the 800RB. I'll find myself gassing for one of the other GK's (I have the 700rbII and an old 800rb) every now and then, but then I go back and plug into the 700rbII, and I realize all is right in my little world.

GK is doing it right for us bassists!

 

[Ogge]

Another question about watts...

I sometimes enjoy slaping and play an active bass with pretty high output and is always scared about blowing a speaker when playing live and the volume goes up (some kind of phobia).

The gk neo 412 handles 1200 watts and the fusion produces 500+ watts at 4 ohm. Is there any risk at all to blow a speaker when the cab is rated at so much higher wattage than the head???

I would love to have a great amount of headroom while I prefer a quite clean tone, but don't see the idea to go for a super strong head (like 1001 rb2) if I will risk blowing speakers instead

Am I just silly to have this phobia of blowing speakers?

 

[Ogge]

What do you say guys, if I use a cab capable of almost the the double of what the head produces, do I still have to be carefull to not blow a speaker?

With my previous rig have felt the head is not what stoping me from from going big volume vise but the cabs...

 

[hyp.spec]

What do you say guys, if I use a cab capable of almost the the double of what the head produces, do I still have to be carefull to not blow a speaker?

With my previous rig have felt the head is not what stoping me from from going big volume vise but the cabs...

You're perfectly fine.

You really can't 'underpower' speakers....

 

[Ogge]

Thank you for the answer, but actually my question is if there is a risk of overpowering the speakers and make them blow because of too much power.

I guess I should be safe while the cab is almost the double wattage compared to the head in my example but I have read that the peeks when playing could be more than what the head is rated to if playing hard on the strings.

Sorry about me being so bad to explain what I mean (I'm from Sweden). The proper question should be:

How much higher must the cab be rated than the head to be absolute sure there is no risk to blow a speaker because of overpowering it?

 

[Zitch]

I use the 1001 RB II with two GK NEO 1X15 Cabs


I use the high power for headroom. I think the GK growl is cool but not for me. I like the extra clean headroom I have with the 1001. I've used the head with a single GK Neo 1X12 at low volume and never worried that it would over power the cab.

700 growl.... 1001 clean..... your choice..... either one a winner

perfect comparison! I went with the 1001 for clean headroom

 

[lbwdog]

Hmm ok.

Now, first of all - where have you guys been till now? With an exception of few all were reccomending the 1001RB-II.

WHAT?? The first page of your thread has many posters telling you the 700RB II is plenty! But if you like the 1001, great.
You now have enough amp power for any venue, with any combination of cabs. Don't even worry about impedance (other than making sure you don't ever run below 4 Ohms).

Someone asked earlier about blowing speakers.
You always have the potential for blowing speakers with almost any amp/cab combination. Just use good judgement, and keep your ears open for stressful sounds from your speakers.

But as I tested at my friends markbass cab, the speakons are quite louder than the standard speaker cable, are they?

there should be NO volume difference, nor any difference in sound whatsoever.
The Speakon benefits are, they lock in place, make a better electrical connection, and prevent possible shock. You can use a standard 1/4"(both ends) speaker cable but, with an amp of this power, I would recommend installing a Speakon on the cab if you plan to keep it. Easily done.

DO NOT use a guitar cable on a head this powerful!