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GK mb200 ultra light head?

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#222
Roadkill said:
I'm looking for something that just fits the amp so it doesn't get scratched up when thrown in the car or a bag full of other crap?
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I just put mine in my bass gig bag.

Also, my original unit had a hum all the time. I returned it to GK and my replacement does NOT hum as the old one did. I have yet to test the DI though.

Only downside, and this corresponds a bit to the quote above, the unit I got back has a small scratch on the front of it and from what I can tell, the front plate seems to be painted plastic (where the writing is) attached to metal behind it. I guess it is a refurbished unit, but that is no big deal to me.The paint will scratch off apparently, so some protection is in order, but it seems pretty tough.

I still love it!
 
#223
J-wall said:
I just put mine in my bass gig bag.

Also, my original unit had a hum all the time. I returned it to GK and my replacement does NOT hum as the old one did. I have yet to test the DI though.

Only downside, and this corresponds a bit to the quote above, the unit I got back has a small scratch on the front of it and from what I can tell, the front plate seems to be painted plastic (where the writing is) attached to metal behind it. I guess it is a refurbished unit, but that is no big deal to me.The paint will scratch off apparently, so some protection is in order, but it seems pretty tough.

I still love it!
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The front panel is die cast aluminum.
 
#225
Had a chance to really crank the MB200 this weekend through my Bergantino 610. Wow! I was really blown away. I can't believe how much volume this little amp can put out with plenty of low end as well. Plus it ran very cool and the fan never kicked on. It may not be the best choice for some feature-wise but for what it is, this amp is a real winner.
 
#226
metron said:
Had a chance to really crank the MB200 this weekend through my Bergantino 610. Wow! I was really blown away. I can't believe how much volume this little amp can put out with plenty of low end as well. Plus it ran very cool and the fan never kicked on. It may not be the best choice for some feature-wise but for what it is, this amp is a real winner.
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I've done the exact same thing and was amazed at the results.
 
#227
Yesterday I spend some time ABing my MB200 against my vintage SVT through the Bergantino NV 610. Odd comparison I know but they are sitting right next to each other so I figure why not. Now I'm not going to wax poetic or anything here. The SVT is louder and has more tonal options. It sounds better no doubt. It's bigger. And heavier. :hmm:

I should mention that my SVT has not been serviced recently. Can't say if it's biased. The tubes are newer but the caps are old. It has always ran fine for me though and it sounds really nice.

Anyway what I found is that roughly the amount of clean volume I can get from the amps is comparable. :eek: As one would expect the SVT has more thickness and power in the low end. More ripping midrange and all that. But for sheer volume, the MB200 is keeping up with the big dog. I was shocked.

This should not be misconstrued though. The MB200 is not an SVT killer in any way nor does it really do anything at all better than the SVT. (besides direct out and headphones I guess :rolleyes::D) In short this little amp can "hold a candle" to the SVT. Perhaps the Ampeg could run better with proper service and new caps but still. Considering the weight to volume ratio, for a brief moment I had disrespectful thoughts about the gigantig back breaking SVT. :hiding: I'm keeping both for now. Just wondering when I will use the SVT again.
 
#228
jnewmark said:
Has anyone tried this head as just a preamp into a power amp?
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KPJ said:
I plugged the line out of my MB200 into the return of my MB500. Worked just as you'd expect. It would make a great pre for a power amp.
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I think I am about to try this. I've got two cabs in our rehearsal space. The 115 takes 200 watts and the 210 takes 500. Both 8 ohms. If I can find a good Black Friday deal on a power amp I am going to get one to drive the 500 watt cab, using the MB200 as a pre so I can keep the GK tone for both.

The MB200 driving both cabs was almost loud enough. Right now it's just me and a drummer, but we get pretty loud.

--Bomb :bassist:
Nano Rigs of “Doom” Club no. 1
 
#229
metron said:
Yesterday I spend some time ABing my MB200 against my vintage SVT through the Bergantino NV 610. Odd comparison I know...
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Yeah, but still very interesting. I agree with you that the two heads don't and won't really appeal to the same players, having so little in common in the grand scheme of things, but it actually does not at all surprise me they both had about the same amount of perceivable clean volume.

I've NEVER been impressed with the SVT's ability to be loud and totally clean, but then again, that's not what that head is really designed to do (IMHO).

The true beauty of an all tube head is the harmonic nature of its distortion. That means, UNLIKE an SS head, when it breaks up, it does so in a particularly musical way. So you can push the amp to higher volume levels and the resulting breakup doesn't really hurt you... in fact, quite the opposite, it's desirable (for those who love these heads.)

Anyway, cool post! :)
 
#230
Vic said:
The true beauty of an all tube head is the harmonic nature of its distortion. That means, UNLIKE and SS head, when it breaks up, it does so in a particularly musical way.
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Have you actually tried the MB200 WFO? IMO it sounds fine with just a hint of crunch. There's definitely a limiter in there too and with a passive "P" bass clone I get a large amount of compression - I kinda wish I could switch off the limiter and just get more of that GK "crunch" - but that's what the MB500 is for. If the MB200 had a "master" it would be perfect but is quite a deal as-is.

BTW I'm running it WFO with a pair of 8 ohm 1x15's in series for maybe 80-90 watts? Still enough for a rehearsal I think.
 
#231
Roadkill said:
Have you actually tried the MB200 WFO? IMO it sounds fine with just a hint of crunch. There's definitely a limiter in there too and with a passive "P" bass clone I get a large amount of compression - I kinda wish I could switch off the limiter and just get more of that GK "crunch" - but that's what the MB500 is for. If the MB200 had a "master" it would be perfect but is quite a deal as-is.

BTW I'm running it WFO with a pair of 8 ohm 1x15's in series for maybe 80-90 watts? Still enough for a rehearsal I think.
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Yeah, and while drive isn't really my thing, I know it's ok for some, but still not gonna' really be the same thing as with the SVT. Just sayin'. :)
 
#236
Roadkill said:
"Ye of little faith" ;)

I have a special "Y" cable I made that goes from a SpeakOn to two 1/4" plugs
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But HOW did you make the cable? If you connected the pluses together, and the minuses together, that's still parallel and still 4 ohms, not 16. UNLESS you went to the massive trouble to wire + to - to + to - literally in series INSIDE your Y adapter. This is kind of a pain, and totally unnecessary, which is why I still sorta' doubt you did this.
 
#238
Vic said:
UNLESS you went to the massive trouble to wire + to - to + to - literally in series INSIDE your Y adapter. This is kind of a pain, and totally unnecessary, which is why I still sorta' doubt you did this.
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That's what I did and this cable was made so that I could run more than two monitors off a 4 ohm rated amp. What's with the "totally unnecessary"?
 
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