ossyrocks

The 400RB-II was advertised here for quite a long time, months in fact. But it was collection only from Edinburgh. After a bit of back and forth, we agreed that I would arrange the courier, and it duly arrived. The 400RB-III has been on Reverb for about 6 months, so I put in some cheeky offers and again, after a bit of offer/counter offer, we agreed a price. The MKIII is superb too, very much a GK 400RB amp in the vein of the earlier one. I can get it to sound almost identical to the MK-II. Astonishingly, I have invested a grand total of £470 for BOTH amps inc. shipping. These represent my best value purchases ever. Rob

I have an Elf in the bag as backup. I have actually used it as my main amp on a couple of gigs. They were small walk in off public transport gigs, but it was fine. In terms of of tone, there’s not much between the Elf and anything else I own, it sounds great. The only thing I would say is that the fan is quite loud for home practice. It’s ok on a gig where you don’t notice it, but at home I couldn’t deal with it.

Ok, I've got them to sound almost alike tonight. All it took was a slight increase in low mid and bass on the MK-III, about 1 o'clock as opposed to flat. The Mk-III also needs to be higher on the input Volume to achieve the same level in the room, with both Masters set at noon. This could simply be differences in pot tapers as the MK-III is actually supposed to be louder in terms of wattage. I'm very happy with these. Who'da thunk it? Rob

So, the GK's are multiplying. This arrived today, a MK-III. All working well and sounding good. I actually downloaded the manual for this one, and I'm thinking now that I was using the MK-II in a way not intended. I have been setting the Volume around noon, the boost around noon, and bringing up the Master to suit for volume in the room. The manual on the other hand says to set the Master and Boost at noon, and then bring up the Volume to set the levels. This kind of goes against anything I've heard of before and I would be interested to know how you guys use them. I know @shug sets the Master and Boost high and uses the Volume to set the level. I've had about 10 minutes with them this afternoon, just to make sure everything is working. I'm going to do some more comparisons tonight or tomorrow. My first impressions are that the MK-III does not sound exactly like the MK-II, but it's really close. It may have a softer attack and be ever so slightly brighter, but it's still very very good, and I'd prefer it over the other amps I have. This exercise has also made me wonder if the MK-II needs a service, as setting the Master volume higher, (ie at noon) introduces a noticeable but not unreasonable 50hz hum. The MK-III which arrived to day is almost silent even at high Master settings. Anyway, all good fun! Rob

Not in my experience. It was a good solid reliable quiet effect that did its job. I don't use it anymore mind you, I'm straight in these days. Rob

It’s the Princess and the Pea, in bass context.

It does feel more different than the dimensions would indicate. My two early 70’s feel quite slender, and the 78 feels fuller, even though it’s only 1mm different front to back. It could also be the profile, the 78 could have a bit more shoulder, although I haven’t directly compared this. The 78 is the lightest of the bunch though at only 8lbs 9oz, so it’s a delight to play. Rob

I currently have 3 70's P basses. They are all around 41mm nut width. My 70, and 73 are very similar profile, my ideal profile in fact, and feel just great in the hand. They are 22mm front to back at the first fret. The 78 is slightly bigger at 23mm, but it does in fact feel like more then that. It does feel bigger.

That's interesting and useful info Brian, thanks. (loving the '70 P bass btw) My knowledge of vintage Fender logos comes mainly from their amps, of which I've had many. On the amps, it was tailed logo until '72/73 and then no tail thereafter. Rob

A very nice bass, and a very good price (if it was in the UK). The cost of import is prohibitive though I agree. I'm going to stick my neck out here and question the "original case". In my mind, it should have a "tailed logo" in '68. They only dropped the tail in '72/73. Rob

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_of_Sound_(Grateful_Dead)

Ah, good analogy. In addition to using Labella flats on all my P basses, I am also a dedicated Volvo driver. I think I'm on my 7th Volvo. I've had a 940, and two 740's too!. Rob

I’d like to know what you think after a little while with it. We do have different goals tonally. Your Big Baby cab vs my 3x10, and you have a more hifi tone from what we discussed at the bass bash. They are good though, I can’t see how anyone would fail to like them. I do fancy an 800RB, so if you ever feel the need to part with it, you know where I am. 😂

My wife has gone away for three nights with my step daughter today. I had a meander back from dropping her off in Manchester, having lunch with my daughter and my grand daughter in Ramsbottom, and then called in for a brew with some old friends from school. However, that leaves me alone in the house for three nights, so inevitably this happens. All the gear comes out, and I've been trying everything against everything else,. Remarkably, there is no contest, for me, and the tone in my head, the Gallien-Kruegar 400RB is the best sounding amp I own, by a country mile. This has been an interesting experiment. It doesn't matter how much money you throw at amps, the one that works for you, just might be the cheapest. Of this pile, the Elf is a more than adequate backup/spare, and sounds great at 4 ohms through the BF 3x10. I have a GK 400RB-III coming this week, to compare to the 400RB-II, but I think that's it, I'm done. No need to buy other amps. Looks like I have a few to list in the classifieds now. All of them are great amps in their own right, and would be superb on any gig too, but I need to thin this pile down a bit. Rob Edit: Those are all the settings I was using whilst comparing the amps.

When you retire, just open a shop, you could live off the proceeds for at least a year!

I seem to have a few bass heads at the moment, not "loads", but a few, and I've just bought another today. The idea is that it's a transition, from one set of amps to the other and that the older ones will be sold. It's similar with basses, there are 5, not a huge number by some standards here, but I probably only need three of them. Then, this week I got into conversation with our drummer after seeing a room in his house with a LOT of kit in it. It put my thoughts on how much gear we might have into perspective. He has 23 snare drums! 23! There are 6 full kits of various kinds, lots of extra toms etc, and over 100 cymbals. Non of this stuff is low end either, it's ALL top quality gear. He's currently having a kit custom made in JAPAN! Anyway, if you think you might have too much kit, think about our drummer, and you'll be alright for a bit. Rob

That's what the product description says, but look at the pics and the item title.

I do expect my strings to outlast me. Having had flats on a all mine now for at least two years, there is no way I'm looking to replace them, they just feel and sound right. Rob

Well, I'm going to get an idea very soon, as I just bought this one off Reverb (and not for the full asking price either). https://reverb.com/uk/item/79551626-gallien-krueger-400rb-mkiii-bass-head-amp-black-silver I'll post again when it's here and I've done some A/B tests. Rob

Duly noted on the patch lead. I have tried one in the loop to make sure it works with, and without, and have put a couple of patch leads in the bag for gigs in case they are needed. Another question, do you have any experience of the 400RB-III, ie the 3rd version, and how it compares to version 2? Thanks, Rob

Just watched this. I like him, and I like his company, and their attitude. It does make me want to use his gear. I have too many amps at the moment, I'm thinking all I need is the GK 400RB and a TE Elf in the bag for backup. The rest can go! However, I will probably keep one more amp, which needs to be decided. Rob

Blimey! You've got all the GK's! I tried a Legacy 800 at the bass bash and was quite impressed with. How does it compare when A/B'd against a 400RB? Rob

@shug I think the 3x10 is easier to move around than the 2x10 I had. It has more handles, plus it has wheels! I have an old case it almost fits the GK, but I’ve ordered some foam to make it fit better. I do like the wireless setup, I don’t know why I didn’t do it before. I have the Boss WL20’s and a NU-X one on a higher frequency too, in case of problems, but I’ve never had to use it.

Ooooh, would you look at that....'tis a thing of beauty. I'm relatively new to the bass world, although now I'm here, it feels like home. As a consequence, I missed ALL of these amps over the past decades, and I'm still going through the process of seeing what works, and what doesn't for me. I'll gladly take recommendations from trusted sources and check them out, hence the GK 400RB as used and recommended by @shug. My amp background has been entirely vintage valve stuff, and I still have a couple, but it's generally not powerful enough unless it's too heavy to move. This is my first non-valve amp that isn't Class D, and I can tell the difference. If you ever feel inclined to let yours go, please let me know. Rob

How did the mark IV compare with your original mark II tonewise?