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GK mb200 ultra light head?

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You're right, Solar, probably not a big difference in volume, but there could be a significant difference in dynamics, especially if, with the same pair of 2x10s, the MB were running close to WFO; the LH would still have a few dB of headroom left.
 
This little bugger sounds great and really fills a void for me. The elusive rehearsal ready head that fits in a gig bag that doesn't cost $700-1000. It may not push 500W like my MB F1 did, but it is smaller... and not $800.

Haven't run the MB200 through my Sadowsky SA410 or TC RS210 yet, but I spent a few minutes playing it through a 1x12 TC Electronic cab and it really sounds good. Great with a P with flats and punchy with a Jazz with rounds.

To early to tell as I haven't rehearsed or gigged it yet, but I think I really like this little thing.... maybe more than just a practice amp. Don't get me wrong, I will be dragging my 200W Orange tube amp to large and outdoor gigs, but smaller gigs? This might just do great with a quality 2x10 cab.

My other first impression is that it doesn't sound anything like the 700RB-II, 1001RB-II or 800RB's I have owned in the past which I found a bit strange. Maybe I just need to play around with the EQ and Contour switch a bit more and use it with bigger cabs.
 
This little baby is doing much duty at the Bomb residence - it is now my go-to home practice amp (sometimes into a cab, sometimes into phones), and the one I crank for hours at my Friday drum & bass jam. Not a hiccup so far. *knock wood*

--Bomb :bassist:
 
Got mine last night and played it with my Spector. Reminds me a lot of my old 200rb and my 200RCB. Niether of those had the boost control. The contour was not as drastic as I expected. I have to wonder if they tamed it a bit on the newest run. The one on my MB212 was over kill. Seemed Fairly quiet as far as noise or hiss through an EV Eliminator monitor. Can't wait to run it through some bigger speakers at this weekends gigs.
 
First problem on mine, but it's a mechanical one. One of my handles is loose, so I popped the cover to see if I could fix it. The handles are held in place with the same type screws used for the cover, but there's nothing to keep the screws from backing out, e.g. Loctite or similar. But... there's no room to get even a small screwdriver in there. The amp would have to be disassembled to get at the screw. So, I might throw a little blob of silicone or clear nail polish onto the screw to keep it from backing out all the way and finding its way into the amp's guts.

The cover screws are cheap quality -- some type of soft alloy. They have a fine-pitch machine thread and are torqued down very tightly. Maybe someone goofed when he was torquing that one handle screw.

The pots are small square bits, but I can't tell whether shafts poke through holes in the front panel, or there are no shafts and the knobs themselves have shafts that enter the pots' bodies. (I don't feel like yanking a knob and risking busting something.) It appears the pots are not secured to the panel. The board to which they're mounted is secured to the frame with standoffs, though. I suspect "pot support" is done via the mating between knobs and front panel. In any case, it looks durable. I pressed on the knobs, and nothing moved inside.

I took gut shots while I was in there. If anyone's interested, I'll post 'em, but frankly, they were yawners, and all they'll do is put you to sleep. No surprises. It looks like quality construction, apart from that handle/screw business. Everything that vibration might otherwise jar loose is siliconed. Nice clean layout, too.
 
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Gut shots, in no particular order:

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The thing that scares me with this MB200 as seen in the board pics is that the board is part SMD, part analog. That means that whenever you get a problem with it AFTER the warranty, chances are it's not gonna be fixable. You'll have to buy a new one. To me, it's not a good investment. I'm glad I saw this before pulling the trigger on it. Now I know it's not good for me.
 
The thing that scares me with this MB200 as seen in the board pics is that the board is part SMD, part analog.

Do you mean part SMD, part hole-through? SMD is not the opposite of analog. And Class D is analog for the most part, regardless of how it's sometimes advertised.

Many competent techs these days can work on SMD gear, assuming factory support is available. How cost effective that would be on a $200 amp remains to be seen though...
 
Its made of 4 to 5 replaceable components boards. If you toast more than just a few components on a board, it will be cheaper to replace the whole board. To answer a question about the knobs, just pull them off. The knob slips over the post of the pot that passes through the front. Most of the metal on the MBs use chinese alloys.


It looks like you have a shorter than it should be molex jumper like mine has. Its the one just below the fan picture where they have to heavy gauge molex connectors. The left one pulls really tight and the connector doesn't sit exactly vertical. It still makes connection though.
Wes
 
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