Minininjarob

Just plugged my 280w GK400rb into some old and pretty knackered (and probably not very efficient) Warwick 8ohm cabs in our rehearsal rooms and I couldn’t turn it up much at all it was so loud. Easily kept up and could drown out the loud drummer next to me if I wanted. Didn’t go past maybe 30% power into the old 4x10 and 1x15 cabs. Was pretty much as loud as the Trace Elliot 600w thing I disconnected (and I hate sorry TE fans).

I have a GK 112 combo and it’s amazing. Was playing with a band in a bit of weird room and I was too loud!! They aren’t cheap though. The other amp I was going to buy was a Fender Rumble 200 or 100, they just sound wonderful, aren’t expensive 2nd hand and while not as light as the ultra light stuff they are still light, one hand carry, and a fraction of the price of a MB and sound better to me.

I sneakily managed to pursuade the amazing @ossyrocks to sell me one of his GK amps before he bought every single GK head in the UK. Tried it out with his Barefaced 3x10 and it was perfect and WAY louder than its 280w suggests. I think the combo of an older big transformer quality amp like this and a lightweight cab is the holy grail, and I adore the GK sounds, my favourite players have all used them at one point. Yeah the head weighs a few pounds but it’s an easy one hand lift so hardly much of a disadvantage. I don’t have a cab, a speaker cable or even a power lead at the moment so it’s just sitting there relaxing at the moment in its rack bag. Took it apart and it looks great inside…. Thankfully I was sold the rack ears with it ( @ossyrocks may regret that) but I am very appreciative as I would prefer it in a rack case. Saving up for a cab now!

Thanks very much, if you could think of me when you are selling the 400 I would be so grateful. The only reason I thought about the 12” cans was that I have a 200w 12” GK combo now but from what you say the 2x10 is perfect for me, and I certainly would not need to go bigger. I’d like it to be a one time purchase and your repeated purchases and experiences will save me money - thanks!

I am looking at BF cabs and a bewildered at their range - I’ve only had a GK combo so far so can’t use their guide as to what to get. Would you reckon a 400rb into one of their 2x10 or 2x12 would cope with a loudish rock band in small/medium venues with no PA? I kinda want something that’s easily portable with the GK sound hence thinking your setup is perfect - don’t want to buy something cheap as my first head/cab setup then with I’d gone with BF!

Please someone sell me a 400rb !!! That’s exactly the set up I want. 🤤

I worked in retail a long time and you are right the worst people to have in charge are people who don’t understand retail, and even worse don’t understand the intricacies of specialist retail. Music shops to me are very like the cycle shops I used to spend a lot of money in. You need people who know their stuff, don’t force their own opinions on people and listen to people’s needs. If you get that than it doesn’t matter about having a huge variety of stock, as you’ll get people coming back again and again. I haven’t bought a bass from PMT but I’ve bought all sorts of accessories very happily and will continue to go there to support them as they are the nearest shop to me - Richtone is a little bit further in the opposite direction but harder to get to but they are excellent too. I always make the excuse to buy something when I get advice from them too and I would never try something out knowing I would buy it online cheaper.

I like the Leeds store, they have a decent amount of basses in, they have reorganised it and made more space for bass. Always really helpful and nice to deal with.

I tried a MB combo and thought it sounded great but I just cannot get past the yellow colour. I know it shouldn’t bother me but I cannot stand the colour yellow (or orange) for some weird reason. If they did them in white or black as well I’d be looking to buy one as I picked up one of their 4x10 cabs recently and was so shocked at how light it was, it’s beyond ridiculous how light they are.

I was amazed too! I didn’t even know our desk could do that but then I am pretty clueless about them. 😂

One of the pro engineers in our church once showed me his plan for the service for just the bass. He had 3 different cab sims ready for the bass for different songs (we are on IEMS) based on how the bassist played them, this was on top of the eq work. I was amazed at the detail and care he took - and speed he did it at - really getting the best out of the amateur musicians on the stage. Our team do workshops on tech too, such as mic technique and how to choose what to have in their IEMs and is now doing workshops for the different groups in the musicians teams eg rhythm section, vocals, brass and keys etc.

We are very blessed in our church to have 2 professional live sound and lighting engineers who have taken time to train others to work the (bewilderingly complex digital) desk we have. It is not an easy job at all, and anyone who doesn’t do it as a pro career but can still achieve a good sound for the congregation should be cherished!