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GR Bass review

otto B

otto B

Supporting Member
Dec 17, 2007
2,456
2,780
58
El Paso Texas
#1
So, I decided to place a small review about my GR Bass gear, since there is not that much information about it here in TB. First of all, I just to say that this review is from me joyfully passing down the joy of this amazing gear to everyone, I am not related in anyway with the GR Bass brand. I am just blown away about their gear, it’s really a hidden jewel. I just recently acquired the Aerotech 212 slim cab, and the ONE800 amp, and I am blown away about the quality, sound, and how incredibly lightweight it is. I am still amazed that my Aerotech 212 slim cab weights only 28 lbs. and yet still provides a huge loud clean sound. I just recently sold my Trickfish 1K and TF408, and I can say that rig was incredible too, however the cab was a little bit too heavy for me as it weight in at 56 lbs, due to my bad back I had to let it go, and so when when I was in the lookout for a light rig I stubble into the GR bass gear. I have owned a lot of name brand cabs and amps through my 25+ years of playing bass, such as Bergantino, Epifani, Audikinesis, Genz Benz, Eich, Trickfish, Aguilar, Wayne Jones Audio and many other brands and I can say the GR Bass is on the op on my list. All of the other brands are great too, but for my personal taste the GR Bass has become my top number one gear, due to the weight, crystal clear sound and quality. I suggest if you have not checked their gear, do so you will fall in love with it immediately. What makes the Aerotech 212 slim cab soo good is that is insanely light at 28 lbs and still is 900 watts. Their 410 is just 33 lbs and 1200 watts. The sound on the 212 is crystal clear, no color, punchy and fat, it a perfectly well build cab with carbon fiber body, witch when it is match with the ONE800 amp it just incredible set up. The amp is super versatile, quiet, there is an option to shut down the fan for studio mode if need, integrated tuner, loud, small and light. Its just an outstanding combination. I would compare the sound to the Eich as to its clean sound, but quiet and full sound as the Trickfish. In addition to having a great sound is has a great warranty as the gear is covered for 5 years. The GR Bass is a company completely made in Italy and with the distribution to the US by John from Sonata Marketing. John is an outstanding person, he used to be the owner of an amazing shop that was located in Austin called “Bass Emporium” He is an outstanding person that would gladly take time to help you explaining about the gear and other questions you may have. I highly recommend giving him a call for any questions.


Does anyone own any GR Bass gear? What do you think about it.
 

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#2
otto B said:
Does anyone own any GR Bass gear? What do you think about it.
Click to expand...

I think the verdict is still out on the AT cabs. I no longer have the 1x12 - if played at practice level, everything was fine. As soon as I turned the master up to 11-noon, the cab started resonating - loudly. I found another TB'er that posted the same thing with his 1x12 cab. Tightening the grill screws didn't help.

Edit - here's the other post regarding the AT 112. Ultra lightweight 112 cab smackdown!

I still have the 2x10, which has none of those issues. My only gripe is that mine has a really, really poor top handle design. The weight of the cab is all in the front, but they put the handle so the grip is towards the back side. Most awkward 23 lbs. you'll ever carry.
 
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#3
steelbed45 said:
I think the verdict is still out on the AT cabs. I no longer have the 1x12 - if played at practice level, everything was fine. As soon as I turned the master up to 11-noon, the cab started resonating - loudly. I found another TB'er that posted the same thing with his 1x12 cab. Tightening the grill screws didn't help.

Edit - here's the other post regarding the AT 112. Ultra lightweight 112 cab smackdown!

I still have the 2x10, which has none of those issues. My only gripe is that mine has a really, really poor top handle design. The weight of the cab is all in the front, but they put the handle so the grip is towards the back side. Most awkward 23 lbs. you'll ever carry.
Click to expand...


That sucks. I am sure that every cab company may have a batch of cabs that may have something, however it doesn’t mean that all the AT 112 have any issues.
 
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#4
otto B said:
however it doesn’t mean that all the AT 112 have any issues.
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It may. There were some shots posted here on TB of an AT cab with the drivers taken out and there was no dampening material of any kind inside of it. That would be a likely explanation for weird resonance at higher volumes. It would be nice if there were a GR rep active on TB that could address what appears to be a recurrent concern with people that have tried their AT cabs.
 
#6
silky smoove said:
It may. There were some shots posted here on TB of an AT cab with the drivers taken out and there was no dampening material of any kind inside of it. That would be a likely explanation for weird resonance at higher volumes. It would be nice if there were a GR rep active on TB that could address what appears to be a recurrent concern with people that have tried their AT cabs.
Click to expand...

There are other companies like schroeder cabs don’t put anything either.
 
#7
Hi, We are the Canadian GR Bass partner/dealer. We know John at Sonata Marketing, and GR Bass in Italy very well. Sonata is unable to respond because of being affected by the widespread power outage in Texas.

I'd like to try help with some issues raised in this thread. GR AT cabinets don't require any sound dampening materials. The carbon fiber walls are uniquely designed in conjunction with the cabinet drivers. The carbon fiber wall density is customized for the cabinet.
Regarding the resonance or weird sounds at high volume levels; it shouldn't happen. It's possible that specific cabinet has a defect. It's hard to diagnose it without being there and hearing it.
 
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#10
BassnGuitars said:
GR AT cabinets don't require any sound dampening materials. The carbon fiber walls are uniquely designed in conjunction with the cabinet drivers.
Click to expand...
Please explain the physics of this as it doesn’t seem to gel with my understanding of standing waves. The previous “guts” shot of an AT cab posted here on TB showed nothing but undamped parallel walls inside the cab.
 
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#12
BassnGuitars said:
This is the info GR provided to us about their designs.
Click to expand...
If you're a distributor for their cabs it may merit a follow-up so you can answer the question sufficiently for people interested in buying them. Back before the pandemic I was very interested in the slim 212 AT cab as an option on gigs with challenging load-ins. Given the initial reports of weird resonances and the guts shot I mentioned previously I decided to hold off purchasing one until some of the bugs had been worked out. Having a response from the manufacturer, which to my knowledge has not been provided here on TB, would be best, but having one of their distributors provide information from the manufacturer would be a close second and may result in more people feeling confident about a purchase. It would certainly go a long way towards loosening my grip on my wallet :p
 
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#13
We've had no issues with the AT cabinets at all. Our clients/owners/users of AT cabinets are very happy. We have clients using AT cabinets in studios for recording bass tracks. Carbon fiber panels provide dampening and it can be customized by design. Unlike wood cabinets, cabinet dampening material is not required for carbon fiber cabinets.
 
#14
Thank you all for your interest in our products!
I'll try to answer everything I've read in previous posts.
I'm starting to say that the 2x10 cab imbalance has been improved in the second generation and that owners of the first series can contact us to request a replacement.
The cabs, of any series, shouldn't have strange resonances and if any product should have this problem, we are available to solve it.
About the dampening material inside of the AT cabs, in addition to the two layers of carbon, the cabs of the AT series have a patented synthetic foam layer that recreates the characteristic sound of wood. Precisely for this reason there must be nothing inside, the cab is designed to work without any kind of dampening material inside of it.
For any clarification you can contact us here, by mail or whatsapp (whatsapp link on our website)
 
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#15
GR Bass Staff said:
...the cabs of the AT series have a patented synthetic foam layer that recreates the characteristic sound of wood.
Click to expand...
Is it attempting to recreate the characteristic sound of bare wood or the characteristic sound of wood that has some acoustic treatment to dampen out destructive mid-range reflections?
 
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