I've tried to like the TH500. It's a nice amp and excels in many areas but really, I only liked it through big cabs, and big cabs like the DB410 are just too much to deal with. There was never enough high end for me with the TH500. I'll certainly check out the AG700 but really, my Demeters are everything I could want in an amp.
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Official Barefaced Bass Cab Club
- Thread starter Stumbo
- Start date
- Apr 15, 2010
- 3,914
- 7,324
- Disclosures
- Spector Artist
Both the 400 and 800. They sound the same, but the 800 is louder and has a bit more weight behind the notes as you get loud. They have the smooth warmth and high end of a tube amp. A very 3D sound.
- Apr 15, 2010
- 3,914
- 7,324
- Disclosures
- Spector Artist
800 here. Love it with the 10" BF cabs. It's also wonderful with the 12" models.
Attachments
Gigs have been really down for the last three months. So far I have about three gig hours on the One10 I got last December, zero hours on the second I got last month, I get my MB800 back from the GK Stockton factory on Monday (loose wire harness was causing shorting of the signal) and my first REAL gig with the rock band and the whole enchilada is not until March 24 ...ooo, I'm dying here!
I know its gonna take a few hours to have the One10's fully open up (the first one will probably bloom first since it does have one moderate gig under its belt) but most of the gigs I have until March are quiet. I'm still gonna bring the stack to each gig to get them SOME exposure!
I know its gonna take a few hours to have the One10's fully open up (the first one will probably bloom first since it does have one moderate gig under its belt) but most of the gigs I have until March are quiet. I'm still gonna bring the stack to each gig to get them SOME exposure!
uf, it's so hard to describe sounds! I'll try...
First of all, I generally use a MarkBass LMIII. The BB2 sounded good, no doubt, but I felt the bottom end was a bit too 'loose' for my liking and it could get boomy easily. It also had a great deal of 'clarity' and that wasn't working for me. A lot of people love that and would dislike the Two10 for that reason, but I found the Two10 to be more to my liking. There is enough bottom end and it just doesn't get boomy for me, I can get a fat sound that retains the definition of the low notes very easily.
I have also come to realise that I don't like a lot of high treble in my sound. I have generally owned cabs with tweeters or multiple drivers that give them a fullish range type of sound. I always assumed that if you have a full range cab then you can always EQ it to taste taming anything you don't want. But then I experienced a couple of small TKS S112 cabs and I fell in love with them. They are not very powerful and they don't have a huge low end, but I found they suited me very nicely: they probably roll off at around 4-5KHz and it seems that's plenty bright for me. They sound sweet and very flattering almost with anything I play. The low end is not enormous, but there is enough and there's great definition and... I just found them much more pleasant for me. And I insist: *for me*.
But then I tried the Two10. The Two10 is a lot closer to the TKS S112 than the BB2, but it is a lot more powerful and it has a very authoritative low end that retains definition... I like it very very much: it's got pretty much what I like about the TKS S112, and it improves on the things they lack: power handling and low end.
I generally use a MarkBass LMIII, and usually a Stingray or a Precision. My main band plays originals, a mix of ska/funk maybe a bit of reggae too... We have prominent basslines that get heard as well as felt. The Two10 just does a great job with minimal fuss. With the BB2 I fiddled with my EQ a fair amount. I guess the 'baked in' sound of the Two10 is just right for what I was after.
I play in a couple of other less busy bands on the side. One is ska, and the other is a RATM tribute. I had a bassist in the audience who noticed the Two10 and came to ask me if I bought it because of the Tim Commerford connection :-D (No, I didn't)
I'm sorry I can't explain it better. I just want to emphasise that I did not think the BB2 was bad, it's just that I prefer other cabs but I can see how it can be very attractive for other people. And also that the Two10 has plenty of top end and it's not the "retro old school" cab I thought it was (which is why I avoided it at first)... I'm glad they dropped the "Retro" from the name, because the cab is a lot more versatile than the name implies and you can certainly do 'modern' tones (think any of the million players of the active Jazz bass solo bass brigade
)
Got my BT2 delivered on Friday 
I feel like a baby now. Jesus christ this thing just sounds amazing. Never had so much clarity through the mix NO WAY. And I am talking about Gallien Krueger, SWR, Epifani, Mark Bass. Even a friend of mine who has a bunch of custom built cabs with Electro Voice speakers, RCFs and Beymas admitted that this thing sounds huge and was surprised at the volume and energy coming from a cab like this. The tweeter is finally a dream to hear to. All the other tweeters I had in my other cabs from brands mentioned above mostly sounded so harsh that I really mostly had them turned all the way down or only slightly open. Here you really get a very good transition from a nice vintage tone to pure HF and the tweeter blends in so good that it always maintains the nice blend between the speakers and the tweeter.
Most other tweeters when open to the max really sound like you are playing through 2 cabs. 1 cab being a tweeter, the other cab the rest
I love it so far!
Still don't know whether I should sell my GK and try something else or stick with it... It has been with me for basically almost 10 years now I yearn to try something else but everyone here says how good these cabs work with GK amps and I really don't know what to do. Or should I trade it for a Fusion 550... Perhaps.
I feel like a baby now. Jesus christ this thing just sounds amazing. Never had so much clarity through the mix NO WAY. And I am talking about Gallien Krueger, SWR, Epifani, Mark Bass. Even a friend of mine who has a bunch of custom built cabs with Electro Voice speakers, RCFs and Beymas admitted that this thing sounds huge and was surprised at the volume and energy coming from a cab like this. The tweeter is finally a dream to hear to. All the other tweeters I had in my other cabs from brands mentioned above mostly sounded so harsh that I really mostly had them turned all the way down or only slightly open. Here you really get a very good transition from a nice vintage tone to pure HF and the tweeter blends in so good that it always maintains the nice blend between the speakers and the tweeter.
Most other tweeters when open to the max really sound like you are playing through 2 cabs. 1 cab being a tweeter, the other cab the rest
I love it so far!
Still don't know whether I should sell my GK and try something else or stick with it... It has been with me for basically almost 10 years now
I yearn to try something else but everyone here says how good these cabs work with GK amps and I really don't know what to do. Or should I trade it for a Fusion 550... Perhaps.
Congratulations!Got my BT2 delivered on Friday
I feel like a baby now. Jesus christ this thing just sounds amazing. Never had so much clarity through the mix NO WAY. And I am talking about Gallien Krueger, SWR, Epifani, Mark Bass. Even a friend of mine who has a bunch of custom built cabs with Electro Voice speakers, RCFs and Beymas admitted that this thing sounds huge and was surprised at the volume and energy coming from a cab like this. The tweeter is finally a dream to hear to. All the other tweeters I had in my other cabs from brands mentioned above mostly sounded so harsh that I really mostly had them turned all the way down or only slightly open. Here you really get a very good transition from a nice vintage tone to pure HF and the tweeter blends in so good that it always maintains the nice blend between the speakers and the tweeter.
Most other tweeters when open to the max really sound like you are playing through 2 cabs. 1 cab being a tweeter, the other cab the rest
I love it so far!
Still don't know whether I should sell my GK and try something else or stick with it... It has been with me for basically almost 10 years now
Some amps you might check out are: [yeah, check out the Fusion 550], the Genzler MG800 (should be in the GK universe tone-wise, but with a lot more versatility), the Handbox R400, the Bergantino B|Amp, and the Eich T900.
Hear a lot of good things about the MB Fusions with the BF 12" drivers. I want to try one someday with mine.Got my BT2 delivered on Friday
I feel like a baby now. Jesus christ this thing just sounds amazing. Never had so much clarity through the mix NO WAY. And I am talking about Gallien Krueger, SWR, Epifani, Mark Bass. Even a friend of mine who has a bunch of custom built cabs with Electro Voice speakers, RCFs and Beymas admitted that this thing sounds huge and was surprised at the volume and energy coming from a cab like this. The tweeter is finally a dream to hear to. All the other tweeters I had in my other cabs from brands mentioned above mostly sounded so harsh that I really mostly had them turned all the way down or only slightly open. Here you really get a very good transition from a nice vintage tone to pure HF and the tweeter blends in so good that it always maintains the nice blend between the speakers and the tweeter.
Most other tweeters when open to the max really sound like you are playing through 2 cabs. 1 cab being a tweeter, the other cab the rest
I love it so far!
Still don't know whether I should sell my GK and try something else or stick with it... It has been with me for basically almost 10 years now
Yeah I will be going to the store next week with my mega cab and I will try all the fusions I can get my eyes on.
I agree that the GK MB200 is a really great combination with the One10. I have long thought so, but was reminded the other night when I played a gig where the tube amp I was using, an Ampeg PF-50T, did not sound good in the venue (using a One10 at that time). It's "signature" frequencies made it hard to dial out the the inherent resonant frequencies of the room. Now, usually I love the PF-50T, in a lot of situations. But when I switched to the MB200 on the first break, it dramatically improved the sound-- much more nimble and the EQ more effective. I also usually use the MB200+One10 at home.
The GK MB Fusion 800 also works very well with the Barefaced 10's, the Four10 being a very good pairing.
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Today's "Troubling Question" comes from BigEarl in Austin (who is totally uneducated on such matters, and frankly, too lazy to research them)...
"I have two One10's, but I'd like to add two more to create a righteous stack of a vertical 4. I know I add 3db every time I double the driver area (1 10" = 95db, 2 10" = 98db, etc) so I can figure I will match the BF Four10 in sensitivity of 101db, but what about frequency range? Is that strictly connected to the dimensions of the cab? And how about max output? Will that change by adding speaker. Thank you."
"I have two One10's, but I'd like to add two more to create a righteous stack of a vertical 4. I know I add 3db every time I double the driver area (1 10" = 95db, 2 10" = 98db, etc) so I can figure I will match the BF Four10 in sensitivity of 101db, but what about frequency range? Is that strictly connected to the dimensions of the cab? And how about max output? Will that change by adding speaker. Thank you."
Thanks for the input guys
I would love to get myself a nice lightweight class d amp and I owned a lot of those amps but they all ended up being sold and my trusty gk 1001 stayed.
Reason? I owned the genz benz streamliner 900, ebs reidmar, markbass little mark and some others. The preamps were nice on all of them, especially the streamliners tube preamp. But for some reason, every class d power amp I have had always sounded by far subpar to my gk 1001 preamp.
My streamliner 900 sounded A LOT better when I had it wired through the send return loop with my gk. So, streamliner send -> gk return.
Much punchier, and every note had more weight behind it.
So, the gk mb 800 fusion vs. fusion 550...
I bet that the fusion 550 has a nicer sound just because of the power amp quality. It is bulkier and heavier by far, but...
What do you guys say?
I would love to get myself a nice lightweight class d amp and I owned a lot of those amps but they all ended up being sold and my trusty gk 1001 stayed.
Reason? I owned the genz benz streamliner 900, ebs reidmar, markbass little mark and some others. The preamps were nice on all of them, especially the streamliners tube preamp. But for some reason, every class d power amp I have had always sounded by far subpar to my gk 1001 preamp.
My streamliner 900 sounded A LOT better when I had it wired through the send return loop with my gk. So, streamliner send -> gk return.
Much punchier, and every note had more weight behind it.
So, the gk mb 800 fusion vs. fusion 550...
I bet that the fusion 550 has a nicer sound just because of the power amp quality. It is bulkier and heavier by far, but...
What do you guys say?
That combination looks as potent as I'm guessing it must sound!Got my BT2 delivered on Friday
I feel like a baby now. Jesus christ this thing just sounds amazing. Never had so much clarity through the mix NO WAY. And I am talking about Gallien Krueger, SWR, Epifani, Mark Bass. Even a friend of mine who has a bunch of custom built cabs with Electro Voice speakers, RCFs and Beymas admitted that this thing sounds huge and was surprised at the volume and energy coming from a cab like this. The tweeter is finally a dream to hear to. All the other tweeters I had in my other cabs from brands mentioned above mostly sounded so harsh that I really mostly had them turned all the way down or only slightly open. Here you really get a very good transition from a nice vintage tone to pure HF and the tweeter blends in so good that it always maintains the nice blend between the speakers and the tweeter.
Most other tweeters when open to the max really sound like you are playing through 2 cabs. 1 cab being a tweeter, the other cab the rest
I love it so far!
Still don't know whether I should sell my GK and try something else or stick with it... It has been with me for basically almost 10 years now
I'm also curious about that bass that's in the background on the right in the top picture. Is that a honeyburst Musicman?
Four One10's would be a 2ohm load, I assume you have an amp capable of that?
While I defer to Alex in all such matters, who may soon come along to set me straight, but my guess would be there would be a negligible difference in frequency range, although the larger box of a Four10 might give just a teeny bit more bottom.
Four One10's stacked would seem to me to maybe more of a topple hazard.
A Four10 has one vertical pair producing highs, the other vertical pair, not. 4 One10's would have all 10's producing high end so a column of One10's may give better high-end dispersion than, say, a 2x2 configuration; but the high end on a Four10 and 4 stacked One10's should be about the same.
I really like the Four10, so it stays. I'd like to add the mythical maybe-someday switchable 4ohm/12ohm Two10 So I could go "Six10" by combining them.
But, for a vertical column of 10's, I'd think a pair of Two10's would be best... more stable than 4 One10's.
And yeah, your overall perceived volume will increase with the addition of cabs.
You sir have guessed correctly
It is a honeyburst Musicman Stingray5 H/H
Yeah the gk1001 and bt2 really sounds huge
Yes, 2 ohm capability for the amp is a must (thinking Quilter Bass Block, which according to Pat Q will go to 2ohm but higher volumes might cause some clipping, I don't play at those volumes.) Also, I would plan to stack them on their side so as to eliminate the topple factor.
Really I'm just seeing if it is a viable option to spending more $$ on 2 Two10's or 1 Six10.
