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Which GK Amp Best...
- Thread starter jmattbassplaya
- Start date
I'm surprised no one recommended the Fusion 550. No one wants tubes in their GK?
Haha, I guess some of the appeal to me is that most of their amp line is SS. I'm coming from a (dominantly) tube and hybrid background, so getting a straight SS head sounds like a cool change to me
Right now I'm really leaning towards the 700RB and 1001RB. I don't tend to get 'stupid loud' in my bands, but I do like the ability to have a clean tone at a high volume. From this thread, it seems like the 700 might fall a little short on that need. Either way, I'm pretty excited about checking one of these bad boys out - and if one of you guys would purchase one of my Ampegs so I have enough money to buy a GK that would be awesome!
my GK800RB is sitting on the floor in front of me collecting dust. it blew up twice, the first time I replaced some power transistors, the 2nd time I brought it to GC who sent it to california, it took forever to get it back, they actually shipped it back but no one would sign for it or something so it went back to cali, and then came back all the way to the bloody East coast, they also weren't too helpful with renting me replacement gear meantime. when I finally got it back, I opened it up to see what they'd replaced, they'd replaced everything. I had a shiny new amp in my scratched up old chassis. I was happy. til I started using it, and it blew up again. someone told me there was a design problem with the power transformer end of this thing that they knew about but didn't want to reconfigure their assembly line to fix. that's what he'd heard anyway. all this soured me considerably on that company. someone on here suggested I contact GK and see if they'd help me out, would they? I need a new rig now. my SVT doesn't have the power I need.
From what I've heard on the forums, GK has EXCELLENT customer service. In fact, Mr. Gallien is even a member on TB, but I don't know his username.
GK contacts
Warranty
[email protected]
Tech
[email protected]
[email protected]
Artist Relations
Brian Clark
[email protected]
209-234-7300 x105
No "inherent" flaws in the 800RB since ever (and pretty much unchanged in over three decades). The main flaw is people trying to run a 4 ohm cab from the "high" amp, a 2 ohm load from the "low" amp and people trying to run both amps into one cab.
Mr Gallien's user name here is rag.
An 800RB blowing once is unusual, after visiting the factory in California....unheard of?
Warranty
[email protected]
Tech
[email protected]
[email protected]
Artist Relations
Brian Clark
[email protected]
209-234-7300 x105
No "inherent" flaws in the 800RB since ever (and pretty much unchanged in over three decades). The main flaw is people trying to run a 4 ohm cab from the "high" amp, a 2 ohm load from the "low" amp and people trying to run both amps into one cab.
Mr Gallien's user name here is rag.
An 800RB blowing once is unusual, after visiting the factory in California....unheard of?
I have the 1001RB-II as my primary amp, and it slays everything in sight. I tend to get growl pretty easily, but my band tends to play really loudly. 
I leave the contour set to zero.
I leave the contour set to zero.
I have an old 1001, which is equivalent to the current 700RB, and a new 1001RB.
New 1001? More power than I need, but boy is it loud and can drive multiple cabs with ease!
The old 1001? Mine's got dirty pots and is kinda noisy, but it is very growly at lower volume.
Don't recommend that. I got one at a discounted price. It stopped working, and I got it repaired under warranty, only to have it quit again AFTER warranty.
I'm not one for separate pres and power amps, anyways
Funny (weird). I used to use an old Demeter with a QSC. That combo was heavy, and I never got what i wanted out of them Sold the Demeter. After the RBP experience I got a Sansamp rackmount to drive the QSC. Not the GK sound but OMG what power! More like an Ampeg. I used it for a while with the metal band I was doing original stuff with. It was much appreciated. However, I returned to GK for the blues and rock gigs I was getting.
thanks, well I don't know what to tell you, you've heard of it now. I didn't make the cab mistakes you site either. I had a hartke 2x10 and a 12, used that rig with no problem for a long time. the 2x10 cab started to open up, I tried replacing the speaker wire, but it kept frying. I doubt I can find the paperwork as far as the warrantee goes.
What wire where was frying?
G-K should have records if you registered the unit.
the wires coming from the back of the Hartke speaker cones kept frying, they'd work then cook. replacements would do the same so I gave up replacing them. could be an internal short in the spider? d: I never registered anything with anyone.
I've been steadily gigging a700RBII since I got back into playing a year ago. I always liked the 800RB's when I was playing before. I considered a 1001 RBII but went with the 700 since I run thru a DI to the board amd didn't need the power of the 1001. I've always had plenty of growl on hand.
That sounds like the speakers are bad. The 800RB has no protection circuit by the way, if your speakers or speaker wire shorts.....amp is damaged (Robert Gallien kept the design as when he first designed it so protection was NOT added later).
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Like you I was having difficulty deciding between the 700 and 1001rb. I went with the 700 and am very satisfied by the clean headroom as well as the growl. I could have spent more money and had more power but for my needs (loud, heavy rock) I am perfectly content.
I know this has been said a lot on here but 800rb all the way. Don't let the low power rating scare you this thing is loud, has punch for days and gets dirty at sane volumes. I run it through a gk neo 810 and I don't ever turn it up past 4 and I play in a loud rock/ pop punk band. I just got the 800 about 2 months ago and I will never use another amp. I have an Ampeg svt 3 pro, and a 700rb. The 700 is close but the Ampeg lags way behind to both of these amps. My choice is the 800 hands down.
Or, wait for the 400rbIV to come back out!
I have the 700rbII and 800rb. Both of these are solid choices. I have to be a bit more selective with cabs for the 700, because you need to be hitting the rails to get the growl. I try to take as little cab as possible when I play the 700, that way I can keep the master up high. Rolling off a touch of the lows, and keeping all of the filters off yields 800rb tone all day long.
The extended low end, variable contour and presence of the 700rbII makes it much more versatile than the 800...... and it weighs several pounds less. And if you have a GK neo cab, then you can make use of the HMS!
I have the 700rbII and 800rb. Both of these are solid choices. I have to be a bit more selective with cabs for the 700, because you need to be hitting the rails to get the growl. I try to take as little cab as possible when I play the 700, that way I can keep the master up high. Rolling off a touch of the lows, and keeping all of the filters off yields 800rb tone all day long.
The extended low end, variable contour and presence of the 700rbII makes it much more versatile than the 800...... and it weighs several pounds less. And if you have a GK neo cab, then you can make use of the HMS!
