Actually I just realized you are in Canada. Bring it in to your local LM and have them help you out.
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Double Bass Looking for today's GK MB150
- Thread starter DuluthDank
- Start date
I've a SB110 and SB106, and unfortunately I just can't get the SB106 to work with my upright, at all.
The 106 was a pawn shop find and I replaced the driver hoping that was the issue, but it still breaks up at even moderate volumes on the E string. Oddly it seems to be OK when using my electric bass, but of course the main reason for the 106 was less weight when lugging the upright to a small club etc.
The 110 on the other hand works great on both UB and EB and fills a 250 person hall at the local university no problemo.
My goto these days, even moreso than my PG BJ-400, which seems like sacrilege.
Not having that issue at all, like you mentioned above it's quite possible, likely in fact that there's still something amiss with the speaker, but who knows.
Since I use the Ehrlund EAP and a Headway EDB/2 H.E. along with the SB 106 I took it down to my luthier's shop where he is carving and fitting a new neck I got from Upton Bass (that's a whole nother story for another time) for my Kolstine Busetto Travel Bass. I brought the SB 106 along and ran one of their basses outfitted with a Fishman Full Circle, it sounded great. I'm not one to play at higher volume levels with a DB. But it was plenty loud at about 1/3 volume, with the EQ controls somewhere between 11:00 and 1:00. So far it's working just great.
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Earl
Supporting Member
Mine distorts a little bit with electric bass on the E string but not on upright. I do not really use it for E bass anyway (I use the SB112).
The pair of those two amps seems like the ultimate price/sound/weight combo. I bought my first SB112 in 2014 that got stolen and replaced right away in 2016. Had the 106 since 2017. Both still going strong, not a lick of trouble (My 106 is missing a couple knobs, I should really get some new ones).
Knobs are always a bit tricky, I’d shot Traynor an email to try and source them directly. Just a thought.
Just looked them up on the Traynor website in the service manual. Ordered with the boys on the sales floor.
Traynor/Yorkville stuff is always easy when it comes to parts. Only company I've found easier is Ibanez with their parts search and breakdown lists.
Great to know, that's not always the case, since I believe Traynor builds their amps in house, they would have replacements. I believe Gallien Krueger has a similar setup. Modern amps
are very reliable for the most part, but there are some outsourced combos, and getting a replacement or repair on one of those units could take a long time.
I think the qualifier here is “for the price.” There are amps and speakers that meet the easy one hand carry and doubling requirements like the original GK, but you generally have to pay a lot more. Acoustic Image, Genz, MAS, etc.
From what I’ve seen the Markbass mini 112 combo has become the de facto new GK, meaning a lot of places and individuals use them, they work well for doubling, and they come at a similar size/weight/volume/price to the GK MB150. The Markbass certainly puts out a ton of volume for its size, though I am not in love with the looks, the tone, or the cube shape for travel.
Like a lot of others on this forum I used the GK 200MB combo for years taking the train in NYC and beyond, and it always lived up to expectations and earned its reputation. When mine finally gave out, I purchased the MB200 head and continue to use it with the 112MBX extension cabinet. It’s not exactly the same as the old 200MB, but it’s close enough and under 20 lbs. total. They discontinued the extension cabinets too, so if anyone has an alternative I’d be interested in recommendations.
Word on the street is GK is getting ready to introduce a newer version of the MB's either at the end of this year or early next year. One of the recent threads had info to that point.
I tried to like the Markbass Mini but the VPF just isn't something that works for me, even all the way off, I feel like it effects the EQ tone shaping circuits. Maybe it's just psychoacoustics who knows. As I mentioned above,
I owned two different GK 200MB (Series I and Series II) combos and own a GK200RCB Head. While the Traynor SB 106 may not sound exactly like the 200MBS but it's close enough for me and all my other cabs were
built by Mike Arnopol which include two different MAS 1x8's and a MAS 4x5. So take that for what it's worth. Just my opinion. The Markbass Nano Mark 300 sounds very good with most any cabinet, you want to put alongside it.
Gotta say, I'm doing an outdoor gig now and another guy is playing my bass with my Double 4 and Fishman pre. Drums, keyboard, guitar, trombone and singer. I hear every bass note clear as a bell. Maybe 10lbs with all the wires and fits in a kid's bookbag.
I’ve changed my opinion on the GK mb112 II.
Played a slightly louder gig with pa and sound man. Not a huge awesome sound system so I was not inclined to go through it.
I brought my GK mb112 II plus powered 12” box.
It was not satisfactory. Too boomy, the notes were not clear enough for me to hear intonation and easy to feedback. The amp I should of brought was old faithful, the Ampeg fliptop. I have played this exact same gig with the Ampeg and it was wonderful.
The GK is ok for a restaurant date or when you need something a touch more than pure acoustic.
For a real stage performance, nope.
I'm surprised to hear you call the MB112ii boomy, as the reason I use that amp is to how focused and non-boomy it is. I feel like it has a high pass filter built a bit higher than most amps, and produces a somewhat more narrow frequency range that is a bit upper mid forward and sits in the mix really well. It wouldn't be my first choice for upright though, as to me the mids are a bit aggressive. I like the MB110 for upright.
Boomy is a close description. Boomy with a hint of feedback.
It has been two years since I regularly used the GK. So on my first gig a couple of weeks ago, with a hard hitting pro drummer who was kindly holding back, I noticed it was not really cutting it with the 5 piece group. It gets what I would consider a passing grade. I use a Realist pickup.
So I got this call for last weekend, featuring a singer, different band, and the stakes are higher. In preparation I played the GK in my music room going through a variety of settings, to find the best sound at a bit of volume. Last minute I decided to include the powered 12” speaker just in case.
Rather disappointed all round. Sure, I got compliments but I’m not happy.
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Strange. I’ve used that exact setup in all kinds of environments, and the last thing I would call it is boomy. In fact, my description would be the exact opposite of yours. Lol.
For me it’s all dependent on the bass, pickup, amp and finally the room itself. If you change any of those variables you get a very different sound, before you even
adjust the tone and volume controls.
adjust the tone and volume controls.
At one time I decided to purchase the 200MK extension cabinet for my 200MB. I even had a technician install a tweeter cut out on the extension cab. Using two cabs made it more prone to feedback and bass bloom. Years later I tried using two Euphonic Audio VL 108’s paired with my Walter Woods MI-400-8. Same result feed back and bass bloom. In both cases I guess it was to much of a good thing for DB with a Underwood or Realist Transducer. Just my take. With a bigger Euphonic Audio VL 208 there were no issues.
So bought both the GK MB110 and Markbass CMD121P from Guitar Center and did a comparison at home (the GK was used, the Markbass was new but heavily discounted). To my ears, the GK wins hands down in terms of tone. This goes for bass guitar with flats and rounds, as well as my Full Circle equipped Yamaha SLB200. I know Markbass amps are flat when set flat, but from what I have learned, their cabs are quite colored. There was a significant upper mid presence in the CMD121P that the 4 band EQ wasn't able to effectively tame. I'm not averse to mids, and had the GK set to "flat" with the mids boosted and lows and highs rolled off, and still strongly preferred the overall sound of the GK.
To my ears, the GK also seems to have a built in high pass filter, (probably to save the speaker) which combined with the 1 megaohm input impedance, i think will actually make my preamp unnecessary with this amp. I also like the frequency points of the 4 band EQ better on the GK, and it seems more effective and intuitive to my ears. The "high" dial is set to 10K on the Markbass and 4K on the GK...pretty big difference. In years past I would have called the GK a secret budget sleeper option, but unfortunately their prices have basically doubled since the MB ii line was released around 10 years ago. If a used one can be found in the $200 to $400 range, it may be the way to go.
I also own a GK MB112ii, and did own a MB150 in the past. IMO the MB110 actually is the most natural of all these (although it's been years since I've played the MB150, so take that for what it's worth).
Now time to bring the Markbass back to Guitar Center.
Greg Clinkingbeard
Commercial User
I play through MB combos which are house amps at two local clubs. An FDeck HPF is very helpful with those. The high input impedance tames the piezo quack and cutting the low end junk really tightens up the tone. Still, the GK MB150 will be diff it to replace.
Having played several gigs with the Traynor SB 106 it's now my go to amp for small stages, bad load ins, and trio gigs. This is an amazing amp. Having had a GK 200MB (series I), a GK 200MB (series 2) a GK RCB 200 Head, and a MBE
the Traynor is equally as loud if not a bit louder and the EQ will get me exactly what I want from my Double Bass and Pickup.
