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GK mb200 ultra light head?

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#81
Mine came in tonight. I plugged it into my Goliath III for a few minutes and played a little 5 string modulus into it. This thing does have some volume and sounds very nice. Cranked the gain to about 11:30 and thats about all I could stand before really upsetting the other members of my family. :)

I don't have hum. I do hear a little hiss with the tweeter on, but I can quiet it by cutting a little treble. Its not anything that comes close to being audible when playing though.
 
#83
I'm still in the honeymoon period. I brought it to stupid loud practice the other day. With the 10 db switch switched, the volume on the L-2000 at about 3/4 and the gain on the MB-200 at 1:00, the head hung in well when pushing two Nahas Bag End copies. It'll work for what I bought it for: home practice and backup head.

Mike
 
#84
I'm still quite impressed after using mine in a variety of situations. You definitely need to have a reasonable set of expectations as to what this head can do, but within its quite respectable limits, this head's a real winner in my book. :cool:
 
#86
I have hum with mine that comes thru the spkr cabinet also, even with volume fully off. Following this tip from Wes, i plugged a set of headphones with a male minijack into the Aux In port in the back of the amp - and the hum became virtually silent. I unplugged the phones and the hum came back. Apparently something is not grounded or ??? with that Aux In port...i guess...? Can someone from GK answer this?




Wes Whitmore said:
I was using the MB200 tonight, and the hum was completely gone. Dead silent. I was using a 3.5mm cable between the amp and a laptop playing some MP3s. The laptop wasn't plugged into the power brick. As soon as I unplug either end of the 3.5mm cable, the hum would come back. Maybe you other guys with the hum can chime in if they experience the same thing.
Wes
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#87
Wes Whitmore said:
I was using the MB200 tonight, and the hum was completely gone. Dead silent. I was using a 3.5mm cable between the amp and a laptop playing some MP3s. The laptop wasn't plugged into the power brick. As soon as I unplug either end of the 3.5mm cable, the hum would come back. Maybe you other guys with the hum can chime in if they experience the same thing.
Wes
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I'm thinking there's an open circuit at the aux. in jack when a cable isn't plugged in--similar to having one end of a guitar cable plugged into an amp while the other end isn't plugged into an instrument = noise pick up.

A long shot: Have you tried putting the DI out's pre/post switch to the post position to hear if doing so makes a difference in the hum level?

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#88
Has anyone tried playing either amp through a single 4 ohm cab such as a svt 410 or 610? I played the micro vr through a pair of 210's at guitar center but they didnt have the gk mb200 and didnt have an ampeg 410 cab. I asked to try the vr on a 610 or 810 but they just laughed and some lady tried to convince me you need at least 350 watts for a gig worthy rig. I would have gladly bought a svt cl and had the watts to spare but im looking for a head in the vr's price range not the cl's.
 
#89
JI99 said:
I have hum with mine that comes thru the spkr cabinet also, even with volume fully off. Following this tip from Wes, i plugged a set of headphones with a male minijack into the Aux In port in the back of the amp - and the hum became virtually silent. I unplugged the phones and the hum came back. Apparently something is not grounded or ??? with that Aux In port...i guess...? Can someone from GK answer this, otherwise i will probably send the amp back.
Jim
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Does plugging in the headphones mute the speaker output? If so, was the hum coming through the headphones?

EDIT: I just looked at the block diagram and saw the headphone/lineout tap on the path to the speaker output, so the headphone line-out jack mutes the speaker output.
 
#91
Yes. And when i plugged headphones into the AUX IN it was not to try to use them, it was simply to see if the 3.5 miniplug would eliminate the hum as the other poster experienced. And as i mentioned, it did. (that was the only minijack i had around the house). I'll contact GK. Oh, and the DI pre/post button has no effect on the hum.

EDIT. i should add that this is a great little amp. The full huge rich real deal GK-watts sound, from that dinky little box. Sensible EQ that really works. Don't care too much for the preset contour sound (on/off only) but that is only my taste and you might love it. The input pad switch perfectly tamed the huge output from my piezo bass. Keeping in mind the reasonable limitations of what settings in which to use the MB200, GK has hit a home run with the amp. Also, on my amp using headphones does NOT mute the external speaker cab, i have to unplug it if i want phones only.

scubaduba said:
Plugging something in to 3.5mm input jack does eliminate the hum. Plugging in headphones does mute speaker out.
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#92
when i plugged headphones into the AUX IN it was not to try to use them,
Click to expand...

Sorry for my confusion. It was obvious in your original post. :)

I'm glad this head appears to be as good as I had hoped. Maybe I'll put a mini-jack end from some defunct headphones in the aux input for gigs and recording to clean up that potential hum problem...
 
#93
No worries, in re-reading my earlier post i can see i was not all that clear. In any case, this amp is definitely worth checking out.

basslinejam said:
Sorry for my confusion. It was obvious in your original post. :)

I'm glad this head appears to be as good as I had hoped. Maybe I'll put a mini-jack end from some defunct headphones in the aux input for gigs and recording to clean up that potential hum problem...
Click to expand...
 
#94
kevinsk said:
I'm thinking about having a friend from the states bring one over with him to Europe for me. Anyone have any idea what the procedure is for changing the voltage on the mb200? I've read in this forum that the mb500 has a jumper on the board that can be switched to swap voltage fro 120 to 230/240. Any chance it's the same on the mb200?
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#95
basslinejam said:
Does plugging in the headphones mute the speaker output? If so, was the hum coming through the headphones?

EDIT: I just looked at the block diagram and saw the headphone/lineout tap on the path to the speaker output, so the headphone line-out jack mutes the speaker output.
Click to expand...

Got mine a couple of weeks ago and it is dead quiet - no hum at all - both through the speaker cabinet and headphones. Also, on mine the headphone input does not mute the speaker - you need to remove the speaker cable to practice silently.

I've been testing out the MB200 along side the Micro VR, both through the SVT210AV and my Scout 12" cabinet. Having a very hard time deciding which will be returned - they are both great heads. Through the SVT210, the MB200 is punchy, warm, and growls increasingly as you push volume (probably the lower sensitivity). Dead quiet for practicing at low volumes. Through the Scout, its a full range, smooth, deep, punchy, with some sparkle. It loves the 4 ohms for clarity. I returned a GK Neo112 that just didn't speak to me. I love how quiet the MB200 is, and you can practice at a very low volume and it's still so clear and full sounding. My one gripe is that they made the aux input route to the speakers and mix down to a mono signal. This head covers a lot of ground and sounds great flat.

It's O/T from this thread, but the Micro-VR's biggest flaw is the ridiculously loud fan - which seems contrary to the design goal of a practice and close mic recording solution. I really like how on the Ampeg the aux in maintains the original signal so you can practice in high fidelity through your phones. The MB200 aux in doesn't sound that great.

This is all IMO/IME, so YMMV.
 
#96
I checked mine today. There is some amp noise that comes through my speaker if I have the gain at noon or higher, but it is pretty quiet. I have to have my ear right in front of the speaker to hear it. I certainly wouldn't call it hum. It's the same with and without a plug in the AUX jack. It isn't any different from any other head I have owned. Plugging in headphones doesn't mute my speaker out.
 
#97
I messed around with the 200MB tonight. The DI has the same buzz as the power amp does. If I plug something into the aux input, it silences the buzz in the amp, but not the DI out. I can't really use it, so it's time to get it repaired I guess. First time I have ever had to send a GK back under warrantee, so I guess I'll call them tomorrow and see how it goes. It sounds so good, I want it to be right.
Wes
 
#98
Wes,

Please let us know what GK's take is on this,
mine seems to be a ground problem, when i
touch the amp hum goes away,yet when i use
my active bass it's not there..
 
#99
Well, I just got one of these little beauties. I have been using a GK MB115 for the past year and it it is an excellent all around choice for an easy carry amp. It has served me well for both rehearsals and gigs. I felt something was missing from my sound and was definitely looking for more flexibility. I had been using the MB115 out of necessity. Once my situation changed financially, I was able to get an Aguilar GS112/112NT stack and picked up an MB200 as well. The MB200 with a single GS112 was not as loud as the MB115, but it was definitely fuller sounding. The MB200 with pair, awesome! I am using a tube pre to warm up the sound and a compressor to even things out. The MB200 with the 2 Aggies will handle most of my gigs (small bars, Legion halls) easily. I will have an MB500 for those times that I need even more power and flexibiltiy, but I expect the MB200 to be the workhorse.
 
#100
Wes Whitmore said:
I messed around with the 200MB tonight. The DI has the same buzz as the power amp does. If I plug something into the aux input, it silences the buzz in the amp, but not the DI out. I can't really use it, so it's time to get it repaired I guess. First time I have ever had to send a GK back under warrantee, so I guess I'll call them tomorrow and see how it goes. It sounds so good, I want it to be right.
Wes
Click to expand...

Any word? I'm curious what GK had to say.
 
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