Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

[toneseeker74]

I am not that happy with my 800RB. It is in in near mint condition and was racked its whole life by the previous owner. Everything works properly, no hiss, hum, pops, etc. But...I find the tones underwhelming. I play a Fender PJ and a Fender J bass. My cabinet is a Bag End SB15.

My issues:
1) Compared to my Traynor YBA-1 the 800RB has less lows and low mids, and it sounds dull and lifeless. No juicy fullness at all compared to the Traynor no matter how I set the controls on the GK.
2) It's not nearly as loud as I thought it would be. Running the Boost past 12 o'clock adds too much grit. But if I turn the Boost down to 9 o'clock or below I need to run both Volume and Master past 3 o'clock to get any decent volume.

What's up?

 

[trevorus]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

They're not for everyone. I happen to love my GK stuff, abd I'd gladly dispose of it for you

 

[dystrust]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

They're not for everyone. I happen to love my GK stuff, abd I'd gladly dispose of it for you

What he said. I'm sure you'd find plenty here willing to take it off of your hands.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

Could be impedance mismatch issues. Try the amplifier through different loudspeaker enclosures.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

...the 800RB has less lows and low mids, and it sounds dull and lifeless. No juicy fullness at all compared to the Traynor no matter how I set the controls on the GK.

I had the exact same experience with my old 400RB. It's definitely a solid state bass amp. It does not sound like a tube bass rig at all. I used to run the bass through a Sansamp Bass Driver ahead of the amp. That made it sound like a completely different amp. It added that tube punch and took out the tubby, sterile solid state tone.

The GK always sat right in a mix.

And I found my 400RB's neutral tone to be perfect for bringing out the woody sound I wanted for fretless bass. I turned up the upper mid control for recording melodies on the fretless.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

not really fair to compare a tube amp to a ss amp. the gk isnt a bad amp at all but its not gonna sound as sweet as a good tube amp

 

[marcboomer]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

I have and love mine as my backup head and bring to every gig "just in case".

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

Would you say your yba-1 is louder than the 800? If so I smell something rotten in the state of Denmark.

 

[marcboomer]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

It's an all tube SVT-VR that can not light up sometimes. Quirky but NOT smelly. The RB800 is so small, it fits under my front seat area. It's plenty loud. I've seen touring pros use the RB800 on Ampeg 810's and kick ass. I have backups for eveything except a cab,
learning from experience.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

I was gonna say, gk amps in their respective weight classes are usually among the loudest, and from all I've heard the 800 is no exception. I mean the 800rb was considered pretty powerful when it came out wasn't it? Like I heard people were using this thing for pretty big shows and venues. And in comparison to like a 50 watt tube amp? Something seems up. Granted I have never tried the 800rb, what gk's are usually good for is quick, clean, loud, growly, and punchy tones, which just might not be your bag. But still an investment that turns sour always sucks. I can't help but think something is amiss.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

they are pretty clean and lean without the boost turned up. good amps but not for everyone

 

[everdrone]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

I have a gallien ultralight combo. very adjustable equalizing, great for cleans. horrible for tube/dirty, so I use my tech 21 vtbass pedal and my decimator gstring and it sounds pretty good! not as good as tube though.

 

[toneseeker74]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

Would you say your yba-1 is louder than the 800? If so I smell something rotten in the state of Denmark.

Traynor is not louder, but the GK isn't as loud as I thought it would be before it begins to clip. Will have to try a Sans Amp to warm it up and soften the feel.

 

[AdamR]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

You dont have the input pad in do you ? Make sure your plugging your cab into the Low amp and not the high amp. Make sure its not set to Bi-amp. Run the Low Amp volume up high then dial in your Input volume, Then dial in your Boost. Also run all the EQ voicing out. The mid scoop sucks in the mix. Start with all the EQs around noon and dial them in from their.

I use to run mine with a Neo 212 cab and it was loud enough to be heard over two 100 watt JCM900s. I later switched to a Ampeg 810. Thats a great pairing.

 

[toneseeker74]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

Thanks all. I'm running the GK as people have recommended. Just not sure it's a sound I like. Some people recommend a Sans Amp Bass Driver to give solid state amps a little more of a warm sound. Maybe I'll check one out.

 

[AdamR]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

I didnt care for the Sansamp with mine. I thought the MXR M80 worked better with it.

 

[toneseeker74]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

Also, to clarify...I'm not saying that the GK isn't loud, it's just that it starts to grind at a much lower volume than I would like. I'm looking for more clean headroom.

 

[AdamR]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

Its only 300 watts so unless your using a big cabinet its gonna break up pretty early. Thats why most like it. You may prefer the 1001RB. Tons of headroom and low end.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

The bag end. How many watts is it and what is the impedence? I'm unfamiliar. According to a spec sheet I found on Bag End's site the S15-B the power handling is 200 watts. If that's the case then maybe using a 200 watt cab with a 300 watt head is the problem?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Underwhelmed by GK 800RB

there is no issue running a 300w amp into a 200w cab. actually, that's what you should do so. bass is like live audio in this regard. a 300w amp can send 200w of clean power to the cab and still run not overly hot which is just what you want for bass