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GK MB150 or GKMB212 or?

#21
depending on the sound you want, the drum machine, the amp, and the cab you will probably want something that can do 'full range' ie a PA, acoustic guitar amp (maybe not the most ideal) or a KB amp. It's also important that you have full range EQ available for it as low/mid/high is not going to properly shape the tone you would get from a full acoustic drum kit. Electric bass & guitar amps are not as likely to be really deliver what you need, although between those two a bass cab with a good tweeter is the better choice.
 
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#22
Rooibos99 said:
Hey All, this is my first post here and I want to say thanks to all the folks here who've helped me while I've been lurking for the past year or so. I've searched all over this forum and a few other places and can't seem to find a straighforward answer to this question:

Will a GKMB150 with the ext cab be loud enough for small-medium gigs with a drummer? I have had a chance to play a Mb150 and gotta say I fell in love with it, but I'm worried that even with the extension cab it won't be loud enough. What does talkbass think, and are there any other amps I should be looking at in the $1000 range?

A little background on this thread. I have a solo show coming up in may, go figure the same week I agreed to the show my old modded yorkville block 100k decided it was done with my abuse. I run a drum machine and a loop pedal into this keyboard amp and I need an amp thats going to be loud enough for both of those applications. I played with that keyboard amp for years in bands and it was severely underpowered. The MB150 + ext cab might be a huge increase in volume to my ears but I just want to get some more opinions before I drop the cash.

Cheers!
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I've owned both. Go with the 212. You won't be sorry.
 
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#24
I play through an MB112 and it's damn loud. Never had a problem with drummers, horns, or a guitarist that loves to crank his amp. (I'm GASing for the MBP112 extension, but I never would really need it, even for gigs. That's how loud the combo is.)

With the combo alone, you *might* need more oomph at a gig if you're not running through a PA or FOH - but any of the GK combos + extension cabs are gonna give you enough juice for a live show up to several hundred people.
 
#25
ok-djmiller said:
I play through an MB112 and it's damn loud. Never had a problem with drummers, horns, or a guitarist that loves to crank his amp. (I'm GASing for the MBP112 extension, but I never would really need it, even for gigs. That's how loud the combo is.)

With the combo alone, you *might* need more oomph at a gig if you're not running through a PA or FOH - but any of the GK combos + extension cabs are gonna give you enough juice for a live show up to several hundred people.
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Does it state the speaker frequency range in your manual? I'm trying to figure out if I can run my drum machine through it without harming the amp
 
#28
Rooibos99 said:
Does it state the speaker frequency range in your manual? I'm trying to figure out if I can run my drum machine through it without harming the amp
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I really doubt that the amp itself would have trouble with the drum machine. As for the speaker, I would imagine at normal listening levels and without excessive low EQ most speakers/cabs that can handle bass guitar would handle a drum machine without any issue.
 
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#29
Al Kraft said:
I really doubt that the amp itself would have trouble with the drum machine. As for the speaker, I would imagine at normal listening levels and without excessive low EQ most speakers/cabs that can handle bass guitar would handle a drum machine without any issue.
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Yeah thats what I'm afraid of, that I will need to fill a small gig with this bass amp and will blow the speaker with my drum machine. I'm working on expanding to a full band but right now its just me and my boxes. As much as I really want the mb212-ii I'm afraid its just not going to fit the bill if I need to fill a room of 50-100 people with drums and bass. I've nailed it down to a roland kc + line out into a powered speaker, or a powered speaker + powered sub with something like the aguilar tone hammer preamp pedal.

Sincerely appreciate all the help from everyone ITT. I don't want to clog the board up if this thread is getting redundant but the discussion is excellent.
 
#30
Rooibos99 said:
Yeah thats what I'm afraid of, that I will need to fill a small gig with this bass amp and will blow the speaker with my drum machine. I'm working on expanding to a full band but right now its just me and my boxes. As much as I really want the mb212-ii I'm afraid its just not going to fit the bill if I need to fill a room of 50-100 people with drums and bass. I've nailed it down to a roland kc + line out into a powered speaker, or a powered speaker + powered sub with something like the aguilar tone hammer preamp pedal.

Sincerely appreciate all the help from everyone ITT. I don't want to clog the board up if this thread is getting redundant but the discussion is excellent.
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If convenient, you might call GK (ask for Jason) or email them to see what they recommend. IME they will give you an honest, fact-based recommendation in the context of knowing that that if you buy from them there is a warranty they'll have to honor.
 
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#31
Al Kraft said:
If convenient, you might call GK (ask for Jason) or email them to see what they recommend. IME they will give you an honest, fact-based recommendation in the context of knowing that that if you buy from them there is a warranty they'll have to honor.
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Jason was very helpful and just to have some conclusion to this thread here is his response:

"For what an MB212 costs and the fact that its not specifically voiced for flat freq. response like a PA speaker would be there my be better options that are worth checking out. However, I do think the MB212 will likely work fine.

The only thing that I can see as something we don’t design for is loud sustained hi freq. that a keyboard is capable of. I suspect any PA speaker is probably designed in a similar way as out bass amp tweeters but having not tested them I cant say for sure."
 
#32
Rooibos99 said:
Jason was very helpful and just to have some conclusion to this thread here is his response:

"For what an MB212 costs and the fact that its not specifically voiced for flat freq. response like a PA speaker would be there my be better options that are worth checking out. However, I do think the MB212 will likely work fine.

The only thing that I can see as something we don’t design for is loud sustained hi freq. that a keyboard is capable of. I suspect any PA speaker is probably designed in a similar way as out bass amp tweeters but having not tested them I cant say for sure."
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This is what led me to my original recommendation to consider a high end powered speaker like the QSC line. There are certainly other brand name options, but their stuff just comes to mind first for me.

Thanks for sharing what your learned!
 
#33
Al Kraft said:
This is what led me to my original recommendation to consider a high end powered speaker like the QSC line. There are certainly other brand name options, but their stuff just comes to mind first for me.

Thanks for sharing what your learned!
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Just to tie off a loose end, I ended up going with a roland kc-600 to replace my keyboard amp with the sub out on the amp going into a markbass cmd 112. As to my ears I couldnt be happier and it suits my needs excellently. The markbass alone sounds phenomenal on bass, being that its my first real bass amp anything would blow me away. Seriously, I did not know what I was missing using exclusively keyboard amps all these years. With the drum machine and loop pedal into the kc 600 and my bass into the markbass Ive jumped up a huge margin with the overall quality of my sound. Cheers all and thanks for the help!
 
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#34
Rooibos99 said:
with the sub out on the amp going into a markbass cmd 112.
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While I would normally recommend against this since bass cabs/speakers are not the same as sub-woofers, on that particular Roland I think the sub out is actually a full range signal (at least according to the simple wiring diagram in the manual). IME most "sub out" jacks are frequently delivering a fat dose of frequencies that are not always healthy for a bass cab - in fact many of us protect our cabs from those frequencies with a HPF.

Congratulations on getting the sound you were after. IME Roland Keyboard amps are very impressive machines and hold up well over time.
 
#35
Hundreds of gigs with this rig. Plenty for a "real" drummer and guitarist playing 100w half-stack.
smallgigrig.jpg
 
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#37
zon5string said:
Hundreds of gigs with this rig. Plenty for a "real" drummer and guitarist playing 100w half-stack.View attachment 3401328
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I had the same rig years back. Wish I'd never sold it! I even did a few gigs w/just the combo (power trio blues band). I also had a GK 410/115 stack that I used for big gigs, which def had more low end booty. I used to carry the combo as my spare head. It could drive that stack just fine in a big club, or just driving the internal 12 plus the 410. Sure was easy on the transport! I even had the carry bags (w/shoulder straps).....talk about the ideal 1 trip schlep!
 

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