NAD: GK Legacy 800

[BassAdder60]

Just added this amp to my gigging collection. 
Never played or owned GK gear but I’m very impressed 

 

The amp tone is very good and easy to get the sounds out suitable for rock that I play but would work with any genre. 
The onboard drive is also very nice and adds the grit when required.

Its a very loud 800w head and I like the fact it will run down to 2ohms 

 

Costing a little over £500 these are very nice amps and come with 2yrs warranty as new 

 

I’ve certainly been around the houses these last two years trying Ampeg, Ashdown, etc and I like what I hear. 
 

It will be my “ other” amp and will alternate between my ABM600 depending on gig etc 

 

Recommended 👍

Edited July 1, 2022 by BassAdder27

[hamfist]

Whats the noise floor like ?  The main criticism one hears about these (and in fact some other GK amps) is that quite a few units can have a slightly high noise floor.

 

I so so nearly pulled the trigger on buying one of these. I just decided I couldn't live without the 12 band EQ I have become used to on my Trace.

[BassAdder60]

The “white noise” GK issue I think I’ve read about isn’t an issue 

The amps have a natural bright tone which can be turned down using the treble control. 
I can achieve the same brightness and hiss if I boost my Abm600 heads treble control 

I don’t think it’s a fault with GK I think they are designed from the start to have a bright tone. Back off the treble control and I can make it dark and vintage sounding.

The drive is very good too and can be level adjusted ( solo boost perhaps )
 

The fans are whisper quiet too which you don’t get in many amps today 

 

Good EQ points that work well with my PBass and Stingray 

Edited July 2, 2022 by BassAdder27

[ern500evo]

Very nice. I went through phase of trying several Class D heads, TC RH450 & 750, Aguilar TH500, GB Shuttle 9.2, Darkglass M900 and the GK MB Fusion. I kept the GK way longer than I kept any of the others. To my (admittedly cloth) ears, GK amps have a really good core tone. I only changed it as I fancied going back to something heavyweight while I still could. Congrats on the new amp! 

[BillyBass]

I will be interested to hear how you get on with this, after the honeymoon period. 

 

I have never played through a Gallien Krueger but I get the impression they will be my sort of head.  I like a brighter tone, I use nickel round wounds, and leave the tone knobs on my passive basses full on.  My Ashdown RM800 is fine but I have a markBass head that is too dark and I might swap it for one of these Legacy 800s.

[BassAdder60]

8 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

I will be interested to hear how you get on with this, after the honeymoon period. 

 

I have never played through a Gallien Krueger but I get the impression they will be my sort of head.  I like a brighter tone, I use nickel round wounds, and leave the tone knobs on my passive basses full on.  My Ashdown RM800 is fine but I have a markBass head that is too dark and I might swap it for one of these Legacy 800s.

They are a brighter amp compared to say Ashdown and Ampeg.

Inherently more mids too. 
Once you find the tone you want they are very nice sounding, very loud too.

Hopefully reliable, we will see 

At just over £500 new they are a good amp to consider ( EBay via Polar ) 

[thisisswanbon]

1 hour ago, BassAdder27 said:

They are a brighter amp compared to say Ashdown and Ampeg.

Inherently more mids too. 

Was really interested in these when they came out, but don't GK amps usually have a baked in mid scoop?

[BassAdder60]

6 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

Was really interested in these when they came out, but don't GK amps usually have a baked in mid scoop?

The opposite in fact, more than enough mids in the Legacy. 

[thisisswanbon]

5 hours ago, BassAdder27 said:

The opposite in fact, more than enough mids in the Legacy. 

I'll definitely check them out in that case!  How does it compare to your Ashdown "heft" wise?  I'm not sure I completely believe in the A/B vs Class D thing, but after having a few class D I have reverted back to my 20 year old GK 1001RBII head.

[gjones]

I've got a couple of GK MB D class heads and they're pretty bulletproof and extremely loud.

Edited July 12, 2022 by gjones

[BassAdder60]

30 minutes ago, thisisswanbon said:

I'll definitely check them out in that case!  How does it compare to your Ashdown "heft" wise?  I'm not sure I completely believe in the A/B vs Class D thing, but after having a few class D I have reverted back to my 20 year old GK 1001RBII head.

The Legacy 800 is very loud and more powerful than my ABM600 or certainly as close to it.

The best way to describe it is a less bassy, more mids and top kind of tone 

With good EQ adjustment you can go super bright or deep and punchy and full.

The ABM can go deeper and fuller but often find it’s not really needed 

I think for an American built product at just over £500 it’s a great amplifier.

With Bob still running the company and directly being involved in the design ( as an engineer and musician) says a lot for the well thought out design. 
They are not a huge company so in that comparison not too dissimilar to Ashdown etc 

At first I struggled to get my Stingray sounding how I wanted it ( too much mids ) but my PBass sounds really nice. 
String gauge change on the Stingray made a far better match with the amp 

Edited July 8, 2022 by BassAdder27

[BassAdder60]

I gigged the Legacy 800 last week and it did a fine job.

 

Ih has a definite clarity to its tone so more modern sounding perhaps. 
 

I’ve learnt a new trick too with the Drive engaged ( loses a little bass ) and that’s max out the amps bass tone and this balances out with the drive on. Then use the Edge Control to brighten things up. 
Im liking it plus for home use it sounds great with headphones 

[BillyBass]

5 hours ago, BassAdder27 said:

I gigged the Legacy 800 last week and it did a fine job.

 

Ih has a definite clarity to its tone so more modern sounding perhaps. 
 

I’ve learnt a new trick too with the Drive engaged ( loses a little bass ) and that’s max out the amps bass tone and this balances out with the drive on. Then use the Edge Control to brighten things up. 
Im liking it plus for home use it sounds great with headphones 

There is a video on YouTube of an interview with Robert Gallien.  He says the amp isn't designed for home use and sounds clanky and bright; this is on purpose as the amp is designed to stand out from the mix.  This sort of made sense to me, and your post confirmed it, i.e. not a vintage amp and not for the Jamerson/Pbass/flatwound tone...but would probably suit me down to the ground.

 

GAS is getting worse