NAD: GSS 06B400BH Bulletpack-B100

[Audumbla De Koe]

Hi you all, wanted to share my experiences with my my new GSS 06B400BH Bulletpack-B100 amp.
GSS or Guitar Sound Systems is a small amp and cab builder in France, his goal is to build very small and lightweight amps with a very clean and neutral sound. He makes bass and guitar amps and also some tube amps, I think his work is well known for his power amps: the Sumo's.

I was into a small amp and was intruiged by the concept of the company and the amps he makes. So some GAS for GSS was suddenly there.

The B100 gives two times 100 Watt R.M.S. over 8 Ohm, but since I have only 4 ohm cabs the builder paralleled the outputs and now its 200 watt over 4 ohm, I also needed an upgrade for the PSU to let this amp work over 4 ohm.

Waw, this little thing delivers the goodies! For my hardcore punk band it is loud enough for rehearsals and the sound is very tight and neutral indeed, I get my dirt from pedals and it sounds really good, enough headroom and no loud fan or anything. After an hour of playing with the volume almost maxed out it was a bit warm but not even hot.
My intentions are not to use this as my main amp for loud gigs and rehearsals, more as a back up and also for jams or little projects, so i can go by bike with al my stuff with me.

The builder wants to build neutral and clean amps, I think the EQ is a bit limited, i can make a nice sound the way the amp is now but I think I need an extra EQ for the treble side of things. The EQ is 2db cut or boost with frequency centers of bass at 100 hz, mids at 400hz, treble at 1,6Khz, now I miss a little boost around 3K, but I don't think I have a very standard bass sound...

Wanted to share my experiences with GSS cause I think this company is making interesting stuff. Also is Didier (the builder) very helpful and responsive!
I think the prices are also really good, check it out!

Pics:

 

[16Hz]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I own a Bulletpack-B100 as well and I was particularly interested by your comment regarding headroom and volume.

May I ask whether you are using the B100 directly with your bass, or if you are running any external preamp in front of it, like the BBE booster in the picture?

The reason I ask is that my experience has been somewhat different. I've owned the GSS 06B400BH for almost a year now and, while I really appreciate its size, weight, build quality and the support from Didier, I've always felt that the available volume and headroom were lower than I expected from an amplifier advertised as 2 x 100 W RMS @ 8 Ω.

My bass teacher and I have tested it with several basses, cabinets and setups, and compared it with other small bass amplifiers. In our tests, the available volume and clean headroom were consistently lower than we would have expected from an amplifier advertised as 100 Wrms.

Didier has always suggested that there may be another factor in my setup, but after many months of testing I still haven't fully understood the discrepancy.

That's why I'm curious about your setup:
Which bass are you using? Are you using any external preamp, compressor or boost? Do you feel the amplifier still has significant clean headroom left when rehearsing with your hardcore punk band?

Thanks!