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The mighty GK 400RB

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dougjwray

Jul 20, 2005
7,043
7,896
#1
On Saturday night, I played a concert and brought my GK 1001RBII, plus my usual backup: a 400RB, which I bought new in 1985.
I love the 1001RBII for its headroom, mainly because of the beefy lows. Actually, I didn't need volume on Saturday night... this was a show with three singers, an acoustic guitarist and me.
So, when unpacking, I realized that I'd forgotten the power cord for the 1001RBII, and had to use the 400RB. You can guess the rest: It's a somewhat boomy room, and the little guy sounded better. It had warmer, more musical mids, and the lack of beefiness worked to its advantage in that room.
Last month, I played a private party in a fairly small room that was all glass and tile-- no carpet, drapes, or anything. I struggled with the 1001RBII's EQ for quite a while, and finally thought, "Hey, what about the 400RB?" Again, it was perfect. (This was with a drummer and two loud electric guitarists.)
Other amps have come and gone since 1985, including an Acoustic 370, an SWR SM400 and an Ampeg SVT-3 Pro, but the 400RB seems to be the one I'll never get rid of.
I'm just sayin'... :cool:
(At the party, I resorted to my stock SX Precision Bass with roundwounds-- it's rude enough to cut through two guitarists and a drummer. At the concert, I needed more class, and used two Fender Jazz Basses, one alder/rosewood with flatwounds, the other ash/maple with roundwounds. At both shows, I was using a GK 210RBH cabinet.)
Okay, that's enough about me...
 
#2
The front ends on those amps are more alike than not - If you can dial in the 400, you should be able to dial in the 1001 just as well. My suggestion would be to start with the EQ dials at noon, contour off, presence off, 4/5 switch in the appropriate setting and then listen to the two amps. They should be darned close except for the volume.

Then setup the 400 as you like it and mirror the settings on the 1001, they should still be pretty close, again volume excepted.
 
#3
I agree that they're more alike than not, but disagree that they sound alike to THAT degree.
With over 30 years of gigging experience, I know how to use their differences to my advantage. (Or like to think I do.)
I do usually start out with everything flat, as you say, but the 1001RBII has way more low end with the contour control off than the 400RB does with the contour control out (the analogous setting).
This could fall into the "subjective" category, I suppose.
 
#4
The 400RB's pre is the same as the 800RB I own, which is set-up quite a bit different than the RB-2's pre-amp.

The 700RB-2/1001RB-2's I once owned had more low bass available, which I mostly eq'd out to get a good band mix in indoor rooms.
 
#5
LAG said:
The 400RB's pre is the same as the 800RB I own, which is set-up quite a bit different than the RB-2's pre-amp.

The 700RB-2/1001RB-2's I once owned had more low bass available, which I mostly eq'd out to get a good band mix in indoor rooms.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
Also, there's the factor of being able to make the less powerful amp work harder at lower volumes.
 
#7
I have a 400RB that rarely get's any use but I still hold onto it just in case.

It's a nice compact size with a great handle for carrying it around (granted it's not small by today's standards). The thing is bullet proof and sounds great.

400RB's are a great bargain on Ebay these days too.
 
#10
A couple of years ago, I played a backline supplied, outdoor gig on the Mississippi River in New Orleans. It was a windy, fall evening, and when I arrived at the venue, I see the bass amp was a 400RB with two cabs. I start thinking "This won't be enough", but when we opened the show, I was pleasantly surprised. Did the gig with no strain, and had that great G-K sound that I've enjoyed for twenty one years!!
 
#12
I still say, if I ever decide to call it a day, my 25yr old 400RB will be the last piece of gear I sell. And to add to the conversation, I had a 1000RBII that I used for about three years. While I loved the sound of that amp, I still felt the 400RB, while not nearly as much headroom, sounded better. There are tons of tonal options on the 1000RBII, but I felt there was too much redundancy in the eq section's knobs.
 
#13
Played thru one at the House of Blues in Chicago. It was the monitor guys head that was still there from the night before. I had heard good things about these recently from a buddy here in Nashville and figured I'd check it out.... All I have to say is that I bought one of my own 3 weeks later.
 
#15
4Mal said:
The front ends on those amps are more alike than not - If you can dial in the 400, you should be able to dial in the 1001 just as well. My suggestion would be to start with the EQ dials at noon, contour off, presence off, 4/5 switch in the appropriate setting and then listen to the two amps. They should be darned close except for the volume.

Then setup the 400 as you like it and mirror the settings on the 1001, they should still be pretty close, again volume excepted.
Click to expand...

Disagree - a high-power amp at volume 2 sounds a lot different than a lower-power amp (same EQ) at volume 8. And, I'd say that a high-power at 8 STILL sounds significantly different than the lower-power at 8 (especially with really low power amps), althought not radically different. I'd probably prefer the higher-power every time (at high volumes)
 
#17
I just got to bass gigging after 15+ years playing guitar with a couple of bands. The first thing I did was to bid on a nice, used 400RB. It just arrived today and I'm having a blast! It was my favorite amp back then, still is. Now all I need is a nice 4x10 neo cab to go with it:)
 

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