Confused as where to go after my combo

[Minininjarob]

My GK combo, which I love, an MB112mk2, appears to have bitten the dust - I can’t seem to fix it (I do know electronics a bit and I can’t see anything wrong with it) which is annoying for a £600 combo. 

i want to get a new amp but would probably prefer a separate head and cab. But it’s a minefield and I don’t have the luxury to swap things around if what I buy doesn’t sound right. 
 

I’m thinking a 2x10 cab with an amp in the 500w range would be a good step up from what I have now but still be compact enough for use at home but be good for the sort of gig I hope to do one day. 
 

Play with a pick mainly rock/punk stuff. 
 

Needs to be relatively lightweight as it’ll get moved often. 

 

I was hoping to sell my combo to go towards the new setup but it looks like a no-go now so I maybe have £500 to spend on it all. 
 

Ideas?

[Reggaebass]

8 minutes ago, Minininjarob said:

My GK combo, which I love, an MB112mk2, appears to have bitten the dust - I can’t seem to fix it (I do know electronics a bit and I can’t see anything wrong with it) which is annoying for a £600 combo

Is there no one who could maybe have a look at it for you before you spend out on another setup 

[nekomatic]

Is it the amp or the speaker that’s packed up? If nothing else, it should be possible to do something with whichever bit still works - for example take out a dead amp unit and use the speaker with another amp head. 

[Minininjarob]

4 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Is there no one who could maybe have a look at it for you before you spend out on another setup 

Can’t seem to find anywhere in West Yorks that will look at it. 

[Minininjarob]

2 hours ago, nekomatic said:

Is it the amp or the speaker that’s packed up? If nothing else, it should be possible to do something with whichever bit still works - for example take out a dead amp unit and use the speaker with another amp head. 

It’s the amp. I studied electronics and i can’t figure out what’s up with it. All the components I can test seem ok and all the connectors are ok, continuity seem ok. No idea what’s up. 

[Reggaebass]

6 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

Can’t seem to find anywhere in West Yorks that will look at it. 

Maybe have a look or ask here 

 

[uk_lefty]

If you love the GK and it truly is beyond repair, your answer is GK. You can read everyone's opinions, go through tons of chopping and changing different sorts of gear, but if you know what you like and like what you know you've already got the answer.

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

Maybe have a look or ask here 

 

Thanks - I will ask but they are a long way from me. 

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

If you love the GK and it truly is beyond repair, your answer is GK. You can read everyone's opinions, go through tons of chopping and changing different sorts of gear, but if you know what you like and like what you know you've already got the answer.

I’ve only ever had one amp, this one, so am open to anything. 
The GK stuff is really expensive too, new and used. 
Thanks for being the only person to try and help with what I asked for though!

Edited June 23, 2023 by Minininjarob

[Ed_S]

Just my opinion, and I'd never try to frame any of it as fact, but...

 

I'd say you're on the right track with a good 2x10 and 500W head for the vast majority of gigs - I've arrived at the same rig myself after 24 years of swapping and changing. However, the cab needs to be good and the budget you've got right now will only buy the head (I'm talking new with warranty as I personally don't see second hand gear as being worth the risk) so for now I'd use the combo as a cab, spend the budget on a new head and start putting some cash aside for the right cab later on.

 

With the amp section out of the combo, it might be easier to send it off further afield and see if it can be fixed relatively cheaply. If so then great, but only slot it back together and sell it as a worker to finish off the new cab fund, as there's no point selling it half way through and scuppering your plan by forcing yourself to buy 'something that will do' with what you have in the pot at that moment. If it's still broken by the time you have the cab funds anyway, then either put the combo back together and see what you can get for it as-is, or part it out and flog it on in bits.

 

My current rig along the same lines is a Markbass head (pretty much bang-on £500) and a Barefaced Two10 (about £700, but really does the job) so of course I'd recommend that as I play rock/metal (on a 5er, with a pick) with it and I know it works.

[BassBunny]

As someone who has tried a ton of different amps over the years, before going ampless, I found Ashdown to be my favourite. 

The Rootmaster is a fabulous amp if you want lightweight. The ABM is industry standard and I loved the Retroglide.

The other advantage with Ashdown is that they have the best customer service on the planet. The can repair anything they have ever produced and are more than reasonable.

[Minininjarob]

58 minutes ago, Ed_S said:

Just my opinion, and I'd never try to frame any of it as fact, but...

 

I'd say you're on the right track with a good 2x10 and 500W head for the vast majority of gigs - I've arrived at the same rig myself after 24 years of swapping and changing. However, the cab needs to be good and the budget you've got right now will only buy the head (I'm talking new with warranty as I personally don't see second hand gear as being worth the risk) so for now I'd use the combo as a cab, spend the budget on a new head and start putting some cash aside for the right cab later on.

 

With the amp section out of the combo, it might be easier to send it off further afield and see if it can be fixed relatively cheaply. If so then great, but only slot it back together and sell it as a worker to finish off the new cab fund, as there's no point selling it half way through and scuppering your plan by forcing yourself to buy 'something that will do' with what you have in the pot at that moment. If it's still broken by the time you have the cab funds anyway, then either put the combo back together and see what you can get for it as-is, or part it out and flog it on in bits.

 

My current rig along the same lines is a Markbass head (pretty much bang-on £500) and a Barefaced Two10 (about £700, but really does the job) so of course I'd recommend that as I play rock/metal (on a 5er, with a pick) with it and I know it works.

Thanks. I was looking at one of the Fender Rumble heads, but was worried the increased wattage may be too much for my GK if used as a cab only. It’s a 1x12, not sure on the watt/ohm situation. I loved the Rumble sound on their combos and was going to buy one until I found the GK second hand. 
 

I’m  the same as you I would prefer to buy new, I will probably go to a couple of shops to test out what they have tomorrow. 
 

 

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, BassBunny said:

As someone who has tried a ton of different amps over the years, before going ampless, I found Ashdown to be my favourite. 

The Rootmaster is a fabulous amp if you want lightweight. The ABM is industry standard and I loved the Retroglide.

The other advantage with Ashdown is that they have the best customer service on the planet. The can repair anything they have ever produced and are more than reasonable.

The Ashdown combo sound I wasn't enthralled by when I tested them but their customer service reputation really draws them to me if I’m being honest. No point in using something amazing if it never works. 

[Ed_S]

4 minutes ago, Minininjarob said:

Thanks. I was looking at one of the Fender Rumble heads, but was worried the increased wattage may be too much for my GK if used as a cab only. It’s a 1x12, not sure on the watt/ohm situation. I loved the Rumble sound on their combos and was going to buy one until I found the GK second hand. 
 

I’m  the same as you I would prefer to buy new, I will probably go to a couple of shops to test out what they have tomorrow. 
 

 

 

Fair play, I'd not spotted that it was a 1x12 instead of a 2x10, but it could probably still work in some capacity if it had to.

 

I had a Rumble 500 combo and it was excellent as a utilitarian bit of kit. Not too big or heavy, sounded good and was plenty loud enough. As a result I'd certainly have fewer worries about using a Rumble 210 cab than many others out there, so maybe if I was in your position I'd think about the b-stock one that Thomann have at the moment for £317. If you could stretch the budget a little, Andertons had a 500W TC head for £249 in their sale, so that would be a workable rig but I have no real experience with how those heads sound. Probably perfectly acceptable.

[Chienmortbb]

10 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

Can’t seem to find anywhere in West Yorks that will look at it. 

Try Multicare in Leeds. The repair all sorts including MI products. 

[asingardenof]

I can highly recommend the setup I have with an Ashdown ABM 600 and a Barefaced Two10, both bought secondhand (from some fine members of this site) so cost me £900 in total.

[police squad]

ampeg PF500 is a good choice for a head. I used one for a long time but eventually went to Ashdown RM500 EVO II as I wanted to be using a British product (made in China but I still want to be an Ashdown boy, customer service etc)

 

Has your GK got a send and returm loop? If so have you tried plugging a lead into it. Sometimes they play up and if your put a lead into it, it works.

[Minininjarob]

42 minutes ago, police squad said:

ampeg PF500 is a good choice for a head. I used one for a long time but eventually went to Ashdown RM500 EVO II as I wanted to be using a British product (made in China but I still want to be an Ashdown boy, customer service etc)

 

Has your GK got a send and returm loop? If so have you tried plugging a lead into it. Sometimes they play up and if your put a lead into it, it works.

No it hasn’t. 
 

Weirdly I just took it apart and checked the connections again and it’s working again fine. 

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

Try Multicare in Leeds. The repair all sorts including MI products. 

Thanks will check them out.

[msb]

Good to hear it’s working again. I have the old GK MB150 , the classic with the 12 in speaker. I blew it up , and loved it enough to get it repaired. I also had a GK MB 200 mini Class D head go down after the fan stopped working. It overheated and took out the ICE chip. Once again I really loved that little amp and got it fixed.

I still have both GKs , and they’re doing well.

you should try and find a qualified repair person in your area. Just in case …

[Norris]

I've used a Fender Rumble v3 500 combo for a few years now and it's been great, and should be about within your budget. I'm sure the separate head and cab will be just as good. 

 

You might struggle to find kit to try out in a shop though. Maybe just order it online and then return it if you don't like it - seems to be the way now.

 

Edit: Just noticed yours is working again now. Oh well, as you were

Edited June 28, 2023 by Norris

[Minininjarob]

Still looking despite mine now working. A friend of mine made a cab himself which sounds amazing so I’m going to speak to him to see if I can do the same. 
Now mine is working I can take my time to find what I want. 

[BassBunny]

2 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

A friend of mine made a cab himself which sounds amazing.

There are a number of self build plans on here that are available.

All have been properly designed and thoroughly tested.

[Baloney Balderdash]

It's getting increasingly popular with an "amp-less" setup, so that is an option too.

 

Here you can find some inspiration for that:

 

An "amp-less" setup gives several  advantages over a traditional bass amp/bass cab setup, for one allowing for more precise tailoring of your tone, it will also give you a much more consistent tone whether you practice at home with headphones, at band rehearsal with FRFR cab/PA speaker, or at live gigs through the given venue's PA system, and finally when able to use bands/venues PA system it will be a whole lot easier to transport around.

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[BillyBass]

Polar Audio used to be the Gallien Krueger dealer for the UK.  They aren't anymore and have been selling off all their GK gear on eBay.  Most of the good stuff has gone but they still have some Legacy210 800W combos available.  They are a bit over your budget at £699 but this is about half price!  A new Legacy 800 head will cost £850 from Andertons and that doesn't come with a cab.