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GK 800rb old/new??

#21
I have an older GK 400RB and 800RB. After all these years, they still sound great, especially for vintage bass guitars with passive electronics. These amps were built to last, and are real bargains on the used market.

I much prefer the older GK amps to their newer stuff. I even have a 20+ year old GK 200MB combo, which to me smokes an MB150 for upright bass.
 
#23
I have an older Gk800rb,Not sure what year tho,I have had it for 16 years and I bought it used,It has the two speaker outputs on the high side,the new ones only have one output on the high side and two on the low side, maybe someone else can tell what year they did the change,
But I can tell you how it preforms... great and bullet proof design in fact it is the only rb that GK still makes, I will tell you this too it is a great match with an SVT 810 cab, Wattage @ 300 watts on the low side is plenty for most gigs,and i think it was under rated on wattage,i have played thru other 300 watt heads that seemed under powerd, They would'nt keep makeing them if they were no good.no fan noise also.
I never had a problem with mine,now i do not use the bi-amp ,and still gig with mine and no prob-blimo.
you can pick a 800rb used as little as 300 bucks and sometimes with extra goodies like a rackcase and tuner included if you look around .
Look in the amps forsale and do a search.I think a few guys have them up forsale now....
Eno
 
#25
another good 400rb experience tonite. medium/loud 4 piece rock band---small dead/dry stage---lakland glaub/400rb/berg 2x10.....sounded killer. punchy, and plenty loud. played amp totally flat and loved it.

from the info on here, it sounds like a well-kept older 800rb would be a good option, with a new one being cool too, as quality has remained high. the hunt begins...
 
#26
MIJ-VI said:
Has anyone here run the 800RB's 300 watt output to their bass cab, and the 100 watt output to a small tilt-back cab used as a bass monitor for a drummer?
Click to expand...

I have not done that, but I have run a cab off the 100w amp for my monitor. For example one or two 1-12's with tweeters running off the 300w for the room and a 1-10 w/tweeter sitting on top of stack for me. In this case I would put the 1-10 on top of the rack the 800RB is in. Works well in situations where you need to bring your overall volume down, but still want to hear yourself, especially on a crowded stage.
 
#27
Band Dad said:
I love the bi-amp feature of the 800RB, and using the 100W "HI" output for a drummer's monitor sounds like a pretty good idea.

My son uses an Avatar 212 out of the 300W "LO" output and an ADA 200W 115 out of the "HI", and it sounds great.
Click to expand...

I was wondering if you could do this with a 700RB head as well. Our drummer would love a monitor at shows as most of the time it's hit or miss if the venue has one or not. If I run another cab as a monitor via the 1/4" jack and my 4x10 via the speakon connector, a) would it work and b) would it split the power in half between the two cabs?
 
#30
an old one would be cool if it's working well, i'm into it. an new one is a safe bet too from what i'm reading here---so we'll see what happens. reliability is key for me.

i did get my 1990 400rb--it's great--bought it from the original owner, well kept and working perfectly. sounds really good at the house into my bergantino 2x10---i'll try it on some gigs soon
 
#31
I saw this thread and remembered how I traded my heavy SVT amp that I loved back in the mid-80s for this new GK800RB amp (which I still have today) from the music store I worked at in L.A.

I played this amp a lot and ran it with the bi-amp feature. I was never really sure what the purpose of bi-amping was... what could I gain from bi-amping? But perhaps since was running just a 1-15" cab with a 2-10" cab on top there really was nothing to gain from bi-amping. Or maybe the cabinets were just not that good.

Anyway, I've still got my 800RB and its seen very little use over the past years. I'm using Eden stuff lately. But this thread has inspired me to get that GK head out of the closet and try it again. It might just sound really cool with the old G&L bass I recently bought. And maybe join the GK club if there is one :)

Can anyone give a reasonable explanation of why you would want to use the bi-amp feature? Or was this just a gimmick of the time?

Have a great day all!!

Dave
 
#32
MikeBass said:
I cool mod is to send it off to Jim Williams at Audio Upgrades and have him rip it apart and rebuild it with new high-end parts(he's the guy who rebuilds Neve consuls out in Cali).
I've heard a few he did- WOW!
Same GK grind and tone, but better. Don't know how to explain it, just "better" sounding.
Click to expand...


This is about as esoteric as it gets. I didn't know Jim was even
doing these mods anymore. Many L.A. guys were doing this
awhile back. You're right, its hard to convey how much the
Williams mod changes the quality of the tone, yet still retains
the GK800 sound.
As a matter of fact, I know my old RB800 has a lower power
rating than my LMII, but I swear the GK seems like it has more
headroom. The Williams mod also brings up the quality of the DI.
 
#33
dave2 said:
{snip}

Can anyone give a reasonable explanation of why you would want to use the bi-amp feature? Or was this just a gimmick of the time?

Have a great day all!!

Dave
Click to expand...

The 800rb in biamp uses the 300 watt amp for lows only, it makes the low end deeper, rounder sounding. Subjective I know, but the available headroom from the 300 watt amp becomes dedicated to the low end only. You control the crossover point to the "high" 100 watt amp.
Many bassists are biamping by using outboard crossovers these days. Robert Gallien's feature was the first to introduce this to the bass player's world.
I used to biamp to a 215 and 115or 210.
 
#34
smem said:
I've recently acquired a 1999 800rb and its awesome. GK builds good amps. Period.
Click to expand...

True: all GK stuff, old and new, sounds great

smem said:
..If someone is telling you "GK just doesn't make 'em like they used to" either hasn't got any recent experience with the newer gk stuff or is lying to you.
Click to expand...

Ask a technician or, if you have the skill, open and older and a recent 800RB: GK doesn't make 'em like they used to.

If your old enought you should remember that 15-20 years ago a brand new 800RB was a much more expensive head than it has been in the recent years
 
#35
B String said:
This is about as esoteric as it gets. I didn't know Jim was even
doing these mods anymore. Many L.A. guys were doing this
awhile back. You're right, its hard to convey how much the
Williams mod changes the quality of the tone, yet still retains
the GK800 sound.
As a matter of fact, I know my old RB800 has a lower power
rating than my LMII, but I swear the GK seems like it has more
headroom. The Williams mod also brings up the quality of the DI.
Click to expand...

i wonder if he does any mods to the 400RBs..
 
#36
Yes he was moding the 400rb series as well.

As for pricing of the newer 800rb....larger production runs and not using the old heavy iron transformers reduces cost massively. I guess Robert Gallien could have priced the amp out of reach of most bass players but that's not Gallien's way of doing business! I for one am very glad he didn't fallow MTI,SLM or LOUD's business models.
 
#37
Totally off topic but that Jim Williams/Audio Upgrades mod sounds really intriguing. I've got an '89 800RB that's been heavily abused by previous owners. It still sounds great and I gig with it often but I've been thinking of doing a total restoration and this mod seems like the first thing that should be on the agenda. Thanks, B String - both of you :D
 
#38
XtraLongScale said:
Totally off topic but that Jim Williams/Audio Upgrades mod sounds really intriguing. I've got an '89 800RB that's been heavily abused by previous owners. It still sounds great and I gig with it often but I've been thinking of doing a total restoration and this mod seems like the first thing that should be on the agenda. Thanks, B String - both of you :D
Click to expand...

Interestingly enough, when I brought my 800 to Jim Williams,
he looked at it....called it a total piece of crap made with the
cheapest parts, cutting as many corners as possible. He then
threw out a few more swear words before he agreed to work
on it. Of course I've seen Jim do this with reps from major
companies who specialize in very upscale mixing consoles.
He's a very quirky guy, but the mod he did to these GK800's
were wonderful, while still letting the amp sound like a GK800,
only better.
 
#39
B String said:
Interestingly enough, when I brought my 800 to Jim Williams,
he looked at it....called it a total piece of crap made with the
cheapest parts, cutting as many corners as possible. He then
threw out a few more swear words before he agreed to work
on it. Of course I've seen Jim do this with reps from major
companies who specialize in very upscale mixing consoles.
He's a very quirky guy, but the mod he did to these GK800's
were wonderful, while still letting the amp sound like a GK800,
only better.
Click to expand...

There's something new - a cantankerous tech ;) I'm gonna send an email to Audio Upgrades tonight and see he's up to it.
 

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