Looking at a new (used) head

[NYgiant]

Is there some reason you are looking only at GK? There are other great amps out there, Genz Benz, Markbass as well as others. You'll get your best deal through the TB classifieds IMHO.

You know…. I really don't have a specific reason. I started researching and looking at heads a week or 2 ago and just kept seeing good reviews on the GK. But I guess I'm open to anything that is reliable and sounds good.

 

[NYgiant]

Well, I found a used MB500 on here for what I think is a very good price. I think I'm gonna go that route since I currently don't have a functioning head unit.
Was looking at an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 for a little bit, but more than I really wanted to spend. Hopefully I'm making a decent choice.

 

[Thumpin6string]

You know…. I really don't have a specific reason. I started researching and looking at heads a week or 2 ago and just kept seeing good reviews on the GK. But I guess I'm open to anything that is reliable and sounds good.

Even though Genz Benz is no longer around, they still are serviced by TBer Agedhorse. You can get a 300 watt Shuttle 3.0 or a 600 watt 6.0 pretty reasonable. I run a ShuttleMax 12.0. They are high quality and excellent amps.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Looking for some opinions here. Own a SWR
Workingman's 300 head, Workingman's 4x10 and SWR Basic 2-way 1-15. The head stopped working for some reason. Speaker switch light turns on but the light next to the power button doesn't. No sound comes out and the red clip light stays illuminated. Guessing the transformer is shot.

Was looking at used heads online and I think I'm gonna go with a used Gallien Krueger 1001RB. Was also considering the GK MB500 used. I have never played through either but have researched it and came across posts on this site as well as YouTube and it seems like they are good amps. I'm assuming it's at least 15 to 18 years old or more? I'm also assuming it would be a big step up over that workingman's 300 that I bought back in 1996 and is the only one I've ever owned.

I've never had an understanding for watts and ohms. I just bought the head, plugged it in and played as a 22 year old know it all. Now that I'm much older, I've been doing some reading and can't believe I never paid attention to that aspect of it. At any rate, I have some questions I was wondering if anyone here could help me out with. Will either one of those GK amps be a big improvement? What about using either one of those with the cabinets that I own?

The other thing is, both of my cabinets say they are 8 ohms. The 4 x 10 says 400 watts and the 1 x 15 says 250 W. What happens if I have them both hooked up to a 4 ohm head at the same time vs one or the other?

if I use one of the 2 output jacks on the GK 4 ohm head to one of my 8 ohm cabs, I'm only getting half of the specified wattage, correct? The 1001RB says 700 watts at 4 ohms and 460 watts at 8 ohms. But if I use both output jacks on the amp to each of my 8 ohm cabinets, they now become four ohms each and you get a full 700 watts? How is that for 700 divvied up between the two cabinets? Will they blow, considering the ratings on them are 400 for one and 250 for the other?

If you are looking at the lead sleds (class A/B amps) that weigh in the high tens or low 20's of pounds, you should be able to get some really good prices on some great amps. I'm a fan of Eden and DNA amps and cabs and spent many years as one of the moderators on the Eden forum. Eden made some amazing class A/B amps. There are still a fair amount of Eden WT550 amps around and they are great amps. They'll put out 300-watts into 8Ω (single 8Ω cab), 500-watts into a 4Ω load (a single 4Ω cab or two 8Ω cabs), and either 620-watts or 750-watts into 2Ω (two 4Ω cabs or four 8Ω cabs). The 2Ω power went up to 750-watts in 2005. The amp itself generates extremely clean, clear, articulate and warm sound as all the Eden WT series do.

The Bass EQ has a 30Hz shelving control, three semi-parametric EQ's covering all three octaves available to a bass, and a shelving control for the treble typically set at either 2KHz or 2.2KHz. It's a super versatile EQ so you can dial in whatever sound you want on your bass, and the semi-parametric controls can also be used to isolate and compensate for room anomalies like a boomy room from a bouncy stage or a room that eats the high frequencies.

Most of the time though, I run my Eden WT5000/800 (normally 500-watt amp upgraded to 800-watts) with the EQ flat except for a little boost in the low-mids. Mine is a dual powerblock amp and it has two discrete power sections that can be bridged together if desired. I typically boost it up to 1:30 at 250Hz, keep everything else flat, bypass the auto-compressor, and turn the Enhance (shape) control all the way to the left (off) using my passive Jazz Bass. You can actually boost those low mids anywhere between 250Hz and 550Hz to get nice presence and definition when playing in a group. I like it at 250Hz, but some of my Eden and DNA amps have the low-mids pre-set at 500Hz. And in actuality, I ran the low-mids at 500Hz using my Eden WTDI (Direct Input stompbox with built in Eden WT preamp) at a pro recording studio in Seattle and just got the best sound from my Jazz onto the recordings with it.

If you have any questions about the Eden amps, let me know. I can also supply manuals to most of them in pdf format if you need one.

 

[Ostie]

It sucks when your Workingman ain't working.

 

[NYgiant]

It sucks when your Workingman ain't working.

No kidding! Must be a union workingman!

 

[Ostie]

No kidding! Must be a union workingman!

You could say that his Workimgman's Dead.

 

[J-phatt]

No kidding! Must be a union workingman!

There was no Right To Work For Squat clause in the manual.