GK, MESA, Bergantino, Barefaced - choosing

[alexclaber]

Thanks for chiming in Alex. This is helpful. Going with only input from fellow bassists here and videos as a means to demo sounds, I thought I preferred the sound of the Three10 over the SuperTwin. Maybe I don't know the difference between colored and uncolored sound

The videos are certainly a helpful starting point - but I subject the vast majority of our customers to my own personal version of the Spanish Inquisition, and once we've gone through that (the questions and what the answers reveal are not always obvious) it's very very rare for someone to be unhappy. So email us (me!) if you'd like to go through the minutiae.

 

[groovaholic]

The usual suspect example tones I am shooting for:
Alice in Chains – Man in the Box
Metallica – Enter Sandman
Queensryche – Jet City Woman

So here are the amps and cabs I am considering:

Amps:
Gallien-Krueger Legacy 800
Mesa Subway D-800+, WD-800
Bergantino Forte D

Cabs:
Gallien-Krueger Neo 212
Mesa Subway 212, or 115
Bergantino NXT 212
Barefaced Three10

Mike Starr and Jason Newstead used Ampegs, and Man in the Box and Enter Sandman both sound like SVT's to me.
I'm not as sure about what Eddie Jackson used with Queensryche; I see both SVTs and GK 800RBs on his gear list - but Jet City Woman has an SVT sound to me too.

I'm a big fan/user of the GK Legacy, but I'm not sure the Legacy has the right rumble for that tone - the Mesa Subway WD or TT heads might get you closer.

Earlier, someone mentioned the Genzler Magellan - that might be another great option. Between the clean and overdrive channels and the two different contour settings, it covers a lot of ground, and it's built incredibly well.

Cabinets are what actually connects the sound to your ears, so it might be worth a road-trip to demo whichever amp you choose with a variety of cabinets. Chances are, you'll know it when you hear it.

 

[Jugghaid]

Amps have color (and texture) too, and in some cases more color than cabinets (depending on the amp or cabinet).

Agreed. It really depends on the gear. My Trace V6 has a ton of color. My Gloclenklang Heart-core had very little. Either through an Eden 210+115 stack will sound like the amp through the Eden speakers. Either through my Berg NV610 will sound very different.

It's a recipe. And all the ingredients matter.

 

[DwaynieAD]

I like gk and they can get REAL nasty if you want em to

 

[57pbass]

As already mentioned the MESA D800+ might not get you this desired sound unless you throw some pedals into the chain..but it’s a great head and I use mine along with the WD800 often.

I don’t Play that type of music but think it’s safe to say that most bands that play this style are LOUD. You should really consider those 1200 watt class d heads to give you some additional headroom..

 

[groooooove]

all great choices. you literally cannot go wrong.

 

[Altitude]

No experience with the Forte but I’ve run a GK Legacy 800 and a Mesa D-800 in the last couple years.

My tone goal is a little different than yours, but I settled on the GK and I think it might be better for you too. The Mesa amp was built like a tank, very loud, but was a little dry for my taste. I like the “sparkle and grind” signature GK tone. I normally take out a passive Valenti J5 with single coils and pressurewound strings to rock and top 40-type gigs, and the GK sounds great clean in that setting, pushed the tiniest bit.

Now that I think of it, the Mesa D-800 and 800+ would seem to be a great choice for a guy who likes to run a lot of amp modeling in the preamp stage. Those amps are great at taking whatever you give them and making it louder without really adding much of their own color. This would not include the TT-800, which I have not owned but understand has a lot of personality.

Note - the GK Legacy heads are not the quietest. There’s audible hiss at stage levels. It’s not enough to bother me but people do mention it sometimes.

One other option would be the GK MB Fusion series and whatever new product they replaced those with recently. Those have tube preamp sections and an adjustable countour circuit that the Legacy heads don’t have. I have an MBFusion 500 as well and I might like its tone even a little more than the Legacy, though it’s not as loud. The form factor is so small that I take it out on IEM gigs as a no-cabinet preamp.

 

[Eric Ryan]

Also if you like 12s, don't sleep on the Darkglass 212. I'm not a fan of their amps, but that is a nice cab

+1 for the Darkglass. I feed mine a steady diet of about 850 watts & it kills!!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I know this type of topic has been brought up ad nauseam on TB, but here goes anyway. Looking for opinions on modern amp/cabs from various manufacturers. The “Spector Haz Lab” tone is what I would like to nail. I have a Spector NS-2A (Kramer era made in Korea) upgraded with active EMG P/J and it has the Korean HAZ Lab preamp. I would like to acquire an amp/cab that compliments the Spector.

The usual suspect example tones I am shooting for:
Alice in Chains – Man in the Box
Metallica – Enter Sandman
Queensryche – Jet City Woman

This demo from Ian Allison sums the tone up pretty well:

This sounds pretty cool to me as well:

So here are the amps and cabs I am considering:

Amps:
Gallien-Krueger Legacy 800
Mesa Subway D-800+, WD-800
Bergantino Forte D

Cabs:
Gallien-Krueger Neo 212
Mesa Subway 212, or 115
Bergantino NXT 212
Barefaced Three10

I know I would probably be perfectly happy with any of these, or combination of these, as I don’t have that sophisticated of an ear, but I can’t try any of these out before buying. So that is why I am here. I have been pouring over the GK, Mesa, Berg, Barefaced threads and seem to change my mind several times a day on which direction to go.

A few thoughts:
- The GK seems to be the best value and might give me the “nasty” tone I am looking for.
- The Mesa stuff looks awesome and gets an awful lot of love here. Not sure if it is too “polite” or is it flexible enough to cover what I am shooting for.
- Berg, again looks top shelf, but not sure if it is too high fidelity for what I am looking for.
- Barefaced cabs – I am really interested in the Three10 cab (3 ceramic magnet drivers) and wonder if it is all it is cracked up to be. I like the look of matching amp heads and cabs, but I could see putting any one of the above- mentioned heads on top of the BF cab.

I appreciate all of you TB bassists that can provide me any wisdom from your personal experiences with this equipment, and any recommendations (including any mix and match recommendations). Cheers!

 

[BigBadBen67]

I've always liked the sound of the Bergantino gear. That said I've found myself gigging with a Barefaced Super Twin and either a GK Legacy 800 or GK Fusion 500 S. Of the two I prefer the Fusion but probably not enough to get rid of the Legacy. They are both super versatile heads. And the Barefaced Super Twin is a 1250w cab that only weighs 40lbs and sounds killer. Hard to argue with that.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

No experience with the Forte but I’ve run a GK Legacy 800 and a Mesa D-800 in the last couple years.

My tone goal is a little different than yours, but I settled on the GK and I think it might be better for you too. The Mesa amp was built like a tank, very loud, but was a little dry for my taste. I like the “sparkle and grind” signature GK tone. I normally take out a passive Valenti J5 with single coils and pressurewound strings to rock and top 40-type gigs, and the GK sounds great clean in that setting, pushed the tiniest bit.

Now that I think of it, the Mesa D-800 and 800+ would seem to be a great choice for a guy who likes to run a lot of amp modeling in the preamp stage. Those amps are great at taking whatever you give them and making it louder without really adding much of their own color. This would not include the TT-800, which I have not owned but understand has a lot of personality.

Note - the GK Legacy heads are not the quietest. There’s audible hiss at stage levels. It’s not enough to bother me but people do mention it sometimes.

One other option would be the GK MB Fusion series and whatever new product they replaced those with recently. Those have tube preamp sections and an adjustable countour circuit that the Legacy heads don’t have. I have an MBFusion 500 as well and I might like its tone even a little more than the Legacy, though it’s not as loud. The form factor is so small that I take it out on IEM gigs as a no-cabinet preamp.

After 2 years with a Mesa WD-800 it’s really flexible. Probably the most flexible amp I’ve ever owned. 3 band parametric midrange EQ, amp dampening, HPF. Tons of sound shaping options. The cooling fan has long lasting high quality roller bearings, hence the fan is not dead quiet, but used at any appreciable volume level, you will not notice.

 

[RGerhart]

I know this type of topic has been brought up ad nauseam on TB, but here goes anyway. Looking for opinions on modern amp/cabs from various manufacturers. The “Spector Haz Lab” tone is what I would like to nail. I have a Spector NS-2A (Kramer era made in Korea) upgraded with active EMG P/J and it has the Korean HAZ Lab preamp. I would like to acquire an amp/cab that compliments the Spector.

The usual suspect example tones I am shooting for:
Alice in Chains – Man in the Box
Metallica – Enter Sandman
Queensryche – Jet City Woman

This demo from Ian Allison sums the tone up pretty well:

This sounds pretty cool to me as well:

So here are the amps and cabs I am considering:

Amps:
Gallien-Krueger Legacy 800
Mesa Subway D-800+, WD-800
Bergantino Forte D

Cabs:
Gallien-Krueger Neo 212
Mesa Subway 212, or 115
Bergantino NXT 212
Barefaced Three10

I know I would probably be perfectly happy with any of these, or combination of these, as I don’t have that sophisticated of an ear, but I can’t try any of these out before buying. So that is why I am here. I have been pouring over the GK, Mesa, Berg, Barefaced threads and seem to change my mind several times a day on which direction to go.

A few thoughts:
- The GK seems to be the best value and might give me the “nasty” tone I am looking for.
- The Mesa stuff looks awesome and gets an awful lot of love here. Not sure if it is too “polite” or is it flexible enough to cover what I am shooting for.
- Berg, again looks top shelf, but not sure if it is too high fidelity for what I am looking for.
- Barefaced cabs – I am really interested in the Three10 cab (3 ceramic magnet drivers) and wonder if it is all it is cracked up to be. I like the look of matching amp heads and cabs, but I could see putting any one of the above- mentioned heads on top of the BF cab.

I appreciate all of you TB bassists that can provide me any wisdom from your personal experiences with this equipment, and any recommendations (including any mix and match recommendations). Cheers!

I would say probably GK for the amp, and Barefaced for the cab. I've tried both the 12XN drivers from Barefaced, and the ceramic drivers. They are both amazing in their own ways. The ceramic drivers really are incredible for their size. I run two One10 cabs (one with a tweeter, one without) often at loud gigs and they don't even break a sweat. I imagine the Three10 would be just as loud, if not louder, than most 410 cabs on the market these days.

 

[musicmansf]

Having compared be the Legacy and D800+, they're both incredible amps. The Legacy had more upper hi zing (and has the rowdy built in overdrive). The D800+ is more tweakable with the mids. You can basically get any sound you want out of that amp.

I agree with a few others here though that a sealed cab might be what you're looking for in the AIC tone chase. The SVT 810 does that one trick real well.

 

[Thundar]

Just take your pick cause that Spector is gonna GRRRRROWL like a beast regardless

 

[agedhorse]

Having compared be the Legacy and D800+, they're both incredible amps. The Legacy had more upper hi zing (and has the rowdy built in overdrive). The D800+ is more tweakable with the mids. You can basically get any sound you want out of that amp.

I agree with a few others here though that a sealed cab might be what you're looking for in the AIC tone chase. The SVT 810 does that one trick real well.

Using the bright switch on the D-800+ gets it into the "traditional" GK territory also, this is something often overlooked.

 

[bassmaster831]

Using the bright switch on the D-800+ gets it into the "traditional" GK territory also, this is something often overlooked.

Definitely. I have played and bought alot of gear over the years and played live frequently over the years. Aside for a fender rumble combo I use as a beataround/backup, I exclusively use Mesa Boogie gear, currently I have the Subway D-800 and the Subway 1x15 and 1x12, as well as a Walkabout Scout 15” combo. I feel that I’m able to get a fantastic sound, even at flat, no matter the situation and there is always enough headroom using only one cab. As i’m in a wedding/cover band I play a wide variety of music, including grunge, and I’m never wanting of anything. In addition, i feel that the build quality of Mesa gear and the attention to detail is unmatched. I feel that this setup satisfies all of my needs as far as performing live and highly recommend!

 

[crocawombawoof]

Just want to thank all who chimed in on this topic. After a long decision process and changing my mind numerous times, the Mesa WD-800 with the SW 215 is where I landed. Big shout out to @TheRealGru. Terrific guy. He sold me the head here on TB and was great to deal with. Amp is pristine. I found a mint 215 locally.

Couldn't be more happy. There is something special here. My sloppy playing is not rewarded with this setup, but hopefully, it makes me a better player with time! Cheers!

 

[crocawombawoof]

Just want to shout out to @agedhorse. Andy, congratulations on designing this incredible equipment. Your constant presence here on TB is so unique to most business models. I mean where else can you actually have real time discussions with the engineer who designed the equipment you are interested in? Thanks for the education (even if a lot of it is way too high on the learning curve for me)!

 

[agedhorse]

Just want to shout out to @agedhorse. Andy, congratulations on designing this incredible equipment. Your constant presence here on TB is so unique to most business models. I mean where else can you actually have real time discussions with the engineer who designed the equipment you are interested in? Thanks for the education (even if a lot of it is way too high on the learning curve for me)!

The goal is to increase these understanding so that the learning curve lowers. Enjoy your new gear.

 

[eniac]

Congratulations on buying the best of the best. But best of all, it's bunny-approved!