GK mb200 ultra light head?

[metron]

Extremely well, IME.

Thanks Tom. This is a long shot but have you plugged an upright into it?

Im looking for something small for practice at home with electric and upright. This little guy seems perfect but I want something that is usable in a low volume gig situation as well. Not sure if the MB200 or MB500 will be better overall. I was leaning toward the MB200 since I already have a 1001RB-II that works for most stuff.

 

[tombowlus]

Thanks Tom. This is a long shot but have you plugged an upright into it?

Im looking for something small for practice at home with electric and upright. This little guy seems perfect but I want something that is usable in a low volume gig situation as well. Not sure if the MB200 or MB500 will be better overall. I was leaning toward the MB200 since I already have a 1001RB-II that works for most stuff.

I have not tried my upright through it yet, sorry.

 

[Adam Bomb]

It Has Arrived.

I saw it (and picked it up!) at GC on the way home from work yesterday, but it has been in the box since I brought it home. Had to turn around and go to a bass lesson and then a jam. I was tempted to meet it at the jam, but that seemed like needless drama. Anyway, that would have been hasty. I don't get to buy too much gear these days, so, when I do, I like to savor it.

Maybe I'll take it out the box this morning. Sloooooowly ...

--Bomb

 

[scubaduba]

Just got an NS NXT electric upright and plugged it in to the MB200 with 212MBE cab and it sounds great. Plenty of headroom with the passive NXT. I rolled the treble and hi mids off. Cool with earphones.

 

[rockdoc11]

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm a big fan as well. Back story . . . I've been playing bass a LONG time. I started with a blond Fender piggy back Bassman that was only a couple of years old when I bought it.

Over the years I went through the usual litany of bass amps. Over the last 20 years I went from a Mesa Boogie Bass 400 to a rack system that fed an Eden 410 XLT.

In my rack I had a wireless receiver, a half space tuner, an Alembic F1-X pre-amp, and a Stewart World 2.1 (2.1 kilowatts!). It sounded great, but I'm not getting any younger or stronger, and the rack grew heavier with every gig load in, and especially load out.

So a gear head buddy of mine recently bought the new GK MB200 bass amp head. This thing is so tiny that it looks like a toy: 7 3/4" wide, 8" deep, 1 3/4" tall. 200 watts at 4 ohms, four band EQ, XLR direct out, Speakon speaker connection.

I actually laughed when my buddy showed it to me and hooked up to a 210 cab. He smiled and said, "Plug the P bass in, and turn it on."

OMG! The thing sounded huge! I could not believe so much sound from such a tiny package.

So I had to borrow it to try at this weekend's gig, into an Eden 410. The rest of the band had quite a chuckle over this. It was almost like those old ads: "They laughed at me until I began to play."

I boosted the lows and mid-lows a bit, cut the highs and mid highs a bit, and the amp roared through my Eden 410 cab. Tons o' low end. If minimum volume is at 7:00 and max volume at 5:00, I had more than enough volume at 9:00.

This thing kicked butt all night long.

First thing this morning I ordered my own. My rack will go into storage.

I'm still a bit in shock over the amount of deep authentic sound from this tiny thing.

No commercial affiliation, etc., etc. I just can't remember the last time I was so knocked out over a piece of gear.

 

[MIJ-VI]

rockdoc11

Join Date: 09-02-2000

Total Posts: 215 (0.06 posts per day)

Given your TalkBass history rockdoc11, that you would choose to chime in on this particular amp further underscores the positive impression that it has made on a growing number of players.

In spite of the occasional QC issue with a few of G-K's newer products, one thing remains constant: many bass players dig the sound of Bob Gallien's designs.

 

[Adam Bomb]

Yoga was ruined for me today. I was preoccupied by two things: (1) “What is Hip?” by Tower of Power, and (2) my new Nano-Rig of “Doom”.

Pretty darn loud, for what it is. Sounds great.

Here, being dwarfed by my Mini-ROD:

That was this morning. A little while ago I went down into the lab and took my new NRO“D” out for a spin. Granted, everybody’s the thunder god until the drummer starts playing, but I was impressed. That little 112 couldn’t take much of what this head is putting out, though.

So I plugged into my Avatar 210. Oh, yeah. This is a real amp. I cranked it and it brought the proverbial noise, and the funk.

The experiment ended abruptly when Mrs. Bomb weighed in on the data collected to that point.

Oh - no hum that I have heard, so far.

I am going to leave that Avatar in a space somewhere, and roll up to the jam with my axe and my 3-pound head (and my pedal board) like a rock star. And the NRO“D” is going to put in some hours at home, too. There have also been some jams I would have to get to by bus; I can do that now.

This little head is the bomb. Worth the wait.

--Bomb
Nano-Rigs of “Doom” Club #1

 

[gpercy1]

hi All
I've had mine for about 3 weeks-gigged last weekend-CLassic rock 5 piece---GK 2 x10 gold and Genz Benz 15 bottoms -It was awesome-Didn't go above 40% on the volume and it sounded good-My sound guy appreciated the chance to get the signal from the Amp in Pre mode for his mix too...Quite sweet! And my back is happy too...

 

[Adam Bomb]

That little 112 couldn’t take much of what this head is putting out, though.

CORRECTION: A very helpful TBer - lofreq, I think - suggested the problem with the cab might be a loose screw or two. He was right! With Gain at Noon (the highest I like to put any amp) that rig is too loud to play without earplugs.

A-mazing.

--Bomb
Nano-Rigs of “Doom” Club #1

 

[scubaduba]

Awesome!!

 

[Adam Bomb]

hi All
I've had mine for about 3 weeks-gigged last weekend-CLassic rock 5 piece---GK 2 x10 gold and Genz Benz 15 bottoms -It was awesome-Didn't go above 40% on the volume and it sounded good-My sound guy appreciated the chance to get the signal from the Amp in Pre mode for his mix too...Quite sweet! And my back is happy too...

Cool! I agree with the "Ultimate Practice Amp" title but it's nice to get confirmation that it is also totally giggable. TY for that. As we go into "rainy season" here in the Yay Area the odds of me gigging with this head are going up.

--Bomb

 

[J-wall]

I have had mine for 2 weeks now - Thank you RMC Audio. these are my rambling impressions.

I am still amazed by it. The love seems warranted to me and I bought it ready to be underwhelmed - after all, Tom Bowlus said that you needed to keep its power in mind when you use it and not ask too much of it. Maybe I do not ask for enough? I was and am still quite overwhelmed!

Apparently some of you play at insanely loud levels. I do not, but I do like to "feel" my notes. I also do not play outside of a church setting often and I have no current access to a drummer, so my needs are not that great, but I am thrilled that this amp exceeds my needs with authority and ease to the point that in my real world playing experiences, if I have ever needed more, I have had PA access.

My cabs are Avatar 112 & 212 (Delta LF), and an Avatar 410 NEO, all are 4 ohms. This amp drives each of them superbly! So glad that TB has debunked the "underpowering your speakers" myth for me. 200 watts into my 1,000 watt cabs sounds great! My other amps are a Carvin B800 and an Ashdown MAG 300. This is my first GK and I think I will be a fan for life. I love the sound, the warmth, the weight, and the simplicity of the amp plus the features of the rear panel. The level of the XLR out is quieter than I am used to (Carvin is adjustable), but my church's Allen & Heath Zed board had plenty of gain to compensate, and my DI was dead quiet, though it is effected by the 10 db pad that I use for my Ibanez. That was just an experiment, I play through my 212 cab at my church. Oh, and I do have hiss through the tweeter, but nothing that is at all unbearable, and the compression sound that has been alluded to at extreme levels (what I think sounds like a delayed "bloom" after the initial attack) is there, but I have no need to play that loudly. But, it did feel good!

Basses are a MIM P and a new Ibanez SRA505 - Does great with both.

I would be curious to know what a "true" flat setting is on this amp. It sounds scooped (all eq knobs at noon) with the EMG HZ's in my Ibby, but it sounds more "flat" with my P - like my B800 set flat, so maybe the Ibby is just that scooped (pre amp was set to flat). However, the low end does seem bigger with the Ibby through the GK than it sounds through the Carvin or Ashdown.

Now I am gassing for a pair of GK 112 NEO-II's!

Thank you Mr. Gallien! Great product, sir!

 

[MingusBass]

I had a unit that had a slight hum and while it didn't bother me that much I figured if the unit was supposed to be dead silent then I would prefer to have one that worked perfectly. It was definitely a grounding issue, so I swapped it for a new one with no hum to be found.

Can't say enough good things about this little head. Amazing for the price.

 

[craig.p]

UPS delivered mine this morning.

First cab I tried it with was one of my Avatar B212s with disconnected crossovers+tweeters. As you know, these cabs go very deep, right down to the fundamentals. (This capability on their part is often mistaken for muddiness simply because bass players aren't used to this type of low-end extension.) This match was a home run, giving all the extension I expect from this cab, along with lots of tightness and definition that I normally associate with large class-AB power amps containing highly-regulated power supplies. (Think QSC and Peavey sleds, legacy Crown, and so on.) When I needed a more-punchy sound, I simply rolled off the bass control a bit, maybe to 10 o'clock, and I got exactly what I was looking for.

So I'm thinking, Tweak one knob and nail it?!? Nah, it can't be that simple. I shut off the GK and disconnected it.

Next I put it on top of my old Peavey 1x15 loaded with a Carvin PS15 driver. This cab/driver combination has always been a problem for me for two reasons. First is that this is the shallow-depth cab, which is tuned high and can't put out any really serious bass, no matter the driver. Second, and this is just my own opinion, the PS15 can tend to get migraine-class brash in the midrange, even in this cab, which I've stuffed with heavy damping material on all sides except for the back of the baffle board. It's a hard cab to EQ to "rightness." Well, I connect the GK to this guy, turn it on, and even with the tone controls straight up, I can tell this is going to be a good match. I turn the bass control to just a little before 2 o'clock, and suddenly I have a range that goes nice and deep, in a cab containing a speaker that, on paper, ought not to be capable of that without a lot of fuss and fine-tuning. And, the midrange has been tamed, too, no longer overpowering things -- it's no longer irritatingly "shouty."

Another home run.

However Bob G decided to voice this thing with all the controls straight up, it gets me in the 9-ring with two cabs that couldn't be more different. With a minor tweak of the bass control, neither cab has sounded better, and I'm comparing this to 1) a BDDI + QSC RMX-1450 combination and 2) the amp/head section only of a Carvin MB15, both of which are highly capable when it comes to tone structure. In both test cases, i.e. the B212 and the Peavey 1x15, tight but very deep and solid tone with almost no "tuning."

I'm sure there are many secrets Bob's keeping close to his vest around this thing's tone, but one choice he made that obviously was wise was to choose a 60 Hz knee for the bass control, rather than a 40 Hz one -- and to make it a shelving control, too. This was key to reducing the fundamental output of the B212, and to increasing that of the Peavey with the PS15. A lower knee point would have left a lot of the B212's fundamentals intact when the control is cut, and when boosted a bit for the Peavey, would have left a response "valley" in the 50-70 Hz range which is where that cab goes more or less AWOL.

Of course I'm not going to expect the MB200 will be able to deliver the dynamics and authority of the RMX at stage volumes, but I can always wet-feed the MB into the RMX, leaving the MB's speaker output unused, and hopefully get the best of both, assuming the MB200's sound derives exclusively from the preamp/tone circuits.

As others have already said, if this MB200 experience represents what's to be had with the beefier GK models, I can definitely see myself with a higher-end unit, or maybe a second MB200 so I can run one per eight-ohm B212 for a total of 280 watts.

Bob, this was an outstanding piece of work on your part, and I thank you for it.

 

[naturalkinds]

Geeze guys. This high praise is almost trumping the initial TB reception of the LMII. And this lil' dude is just a little bigger than a stompbox!

 

[KPJ]

It's actually smaller than some stomp boxes.

I am still very impressed by this amp. Through my Aguilar GS112/112NT stack I get good volume and solid lows. With the single GS112, the volume is good, but the lows lack a little, as could be expected. The beauty of this head, in addition to its tone and power, is its simplicity. Four EQ knobs and a gain and you can still dial in a number of different tones. It works very well with preamps, also. It matches very nicely with my ZOOM B9 and most of the amp models in it. Plus it fits in the Access MultiFX bag along with the ZOOM for easy transit!

 

[tombowlus]

I was just playing my MB200 (and MB500 and MB Fusion) over lunch today, and I remain very impressed. When I first saw one of these at Winter NAMM, I have to admit, it seemed like a cool little toy. But after putting it through its paces and playing with it for some time, I now feel that not only is it a highly viable backup amp, or practice amp, but I can see a lot of situations where this would be a fine gigging amp.

It does have its volume limits, and you need to have realistic expectations, but its capacity will probably surprise some folks.

 

[craig.p]

The beauty of this head, in addition to its tone and power, is its simplicity. Four EQ knobs and a gain and you can still dial in a number of different tones.

I think this is a great point. Back in my computer operating-system days, I was talking with one of the authors of a now-defunct industrial-strength virtual-memory subsystem. She told me that she was getting lobbied by the field folks to make one particular (critical!) VM parameter adjustable, rather than cast in stone. The operating system already had a few dozen parameters that were adjustable, and if you weren't careful or informed, you could really get yourself into trouble. I'll never forget her words: "Hey, if I give these guys another 'knob' they can spin, then someone's gonna spin it [and screw things up]."

I think this is where a lot of folks get into trouble -- with heads that contain bass and treble controls, parametrics that can overlap the bass and treble controls, feeding graphic EQs that overlap the whole range, all possibly fed by an active bass that has its own set of bass and treble controls. Not to mention stomp-box tone shaping. It's no wonder lots of people can't find a sound with setups like this. I mean, kit this complex as a whole is almost begging to be misconfigured.

In neither the computer example nor the amp example am I trying to damn the uneducated end user. All I'm saying is that there's a lot of value in protecting him from his own ignorance during his learning curve, especially when it's done as thoughtfully as on this little GK.

 

[KPJ]

I was just playing my MB200 (and MB500 and MB Fusion) over lunch today, and I remain very impressed. When I first saw one of these at Winter NAMM, I have to admit, it seemed like a cool little toy. But after putting it through its paces and playing with it for some time, I now feel that not only is it a highly viable backup amp, or practice amp, but I can see a lot of situations where this would be a fine gigging amp.

It does have its volume limits, and you need to have realistic expectations, but its capacity will probably surprise some folks.

I play some smallish Legion halls and the MB200 with the Aggies handles them with no problem. Playing my MB500 after playing the MB200 does put things in a different perspective, though! I am glad to have both heads. Each have their place and roles.

 

[Sifl]

I think this is a great point. Back in my computer operating-system days, I was talking with one of the authors of a now-defunct industrial-strength virtual-memory subsystem. She told me that she was getting lobbied by the field folks to make one particular (critical!) VM parameter adjustable, rather than cast in stone. The operating system already had a few dozen parameters that were adjustable, and if you weren't careful or informed, you could really get yourself into trouble. I'll never forget her words: "Hey, if I give these guys another 'knob' they can spin, then someone's gonna spin it [and screw things up]."

I think this is where a lot of folks get into trouble -- with heads that contain bass and treble controls, parametrics that can overlap the bass and treble controls, feeding graphic EQs that overlap the whole range, all possibly fed by an active bass that has its own set of bass and treble controls. Not to mention stomp-box tone shaping. It's no wonder lots of people can't find a sound with setups like this. I mean, kit this complex as a whole is almost begging to be misconfigured.

In neither the computer example nor the amp example am I trying to damn the uneducated end user. All I'm saying is that there's a lot of value in protecting him from his own ignorance during his learning curve, especially when it's done as thoughtfully as on this little GK.

This is so true! I had an LMII with a Sansamp in front and recently realized I wanted (needed) something simpler. I traded the Sansamp for a GK 400rb and I haven't been happier! Now I think I'm gonna trade the LMII for one of these little guys!