Do GK amps have reliability issues?

#122
NotFlea said:
I am on my 3rd MB in less than a year- first MB Fusion 500 developed this loud hum- Sweetwater replaced it with a new unit. Second MB Fusion worked great until the MUTE switch on the front panel broke. I got to thinking it was the model or a bad batch so Sweetwater even swapped it for an MB 800 which I play through a GK 2x12 NEO cab and it has been sweet for 6 months- I don't gig a lot but do take it around to practice pretty frequently. So far the MB800 has been great.
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Huh - I'm a GK fan - but I had a mute button issue on my MB Fusion 500 also - and another problem. To fix both cost me $125. The head was bought used off of TB. I got it in 2014 but it was built in 2010. Thread here:
GK MB Fusion 500 - mute button fries head
 
#124
I've had my 800RB's forever and it's the oldest piece of equipment I own. Been my amp for almost 30 years, can't bust 'em.

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#125
A friend had an MB800 for three years. The power section had an issue (distortion) and because it was out of warranty, it cost him $147.00 for repairs. I had two MB800's that had issues. The RB series seems bulletproof in comparison. Will never buy another MB series again.
 
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#127
snake23 said:
It was very disappointing,I was excited about playing through one for the first time and based on what I've read and seen about GK it seemed like that's what I'm looking for. I once again have no way to try one now that the only one they have is broken. What makes it worse is that they didn't seem to care that it was broken,they didn't even pull it off the floor. I hate guitar Center anyway but there is no where else to go in my area. I was wanting the 1001rb with the 412 neo cab.
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I brought my bass to a local GC the other day to test out a MB 500 Fusion and its big brother the MB 800 Fusion and I had no problems. These were floor demo models and both sounded great. The controls functioned properly and the units as a whole felt like solid pieces of equipment.
 
#128
I have the MB 200, 500 and 800, and fortunately none of them have had any problems, but admittedly they don't get used as heavily as my Mesa or Aguilar gear (I own 10 different heads). A friend, who is very careful with his equipment, had the input jack on his MB 500 fail within a few years of purchasing it new, but his old RB has been bulletproof.

I think every manufacturer today is to some degree at the mercy of "the component market" supplier quality and even with the best attention to detail in assembly, there will always be an occasional issue. I believe GK pays a lot of attention to quality as part of their business culture and certainly has been responsive in terms of customer support when I've called or known people who called with questions or issues.

I tend to order a lot of my gear from Sweetwater and I sometimes wonder if who you buy from, in terms of how products are handled/treated before you get them, isn't a bigger part of the failure rate equation than we might realize.
 
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#129
Used 700RB-II for several years and it was rock solid, zero issues. Moved to a few different brands and wanted to go back to GK. Got 2001RB used, seller claimed it was as new. It was not. Volume pots were so used up, you could look at them and they would move, it had severe cutting out problems too. A friend of mine (bandmate actually), opened it up to reveal horrible hack job fixes that were done to it, worst solder job imaginable, just terrible, on both preamp and poweramp, and a blown thermistor. He resoldered all the bad solders, replaced two pots and a new jack (the old one was loose as hell, and probably not original) and replaced the thermistor. The amp is now kicking ass again, and shows no weakness *knocks on wood*. I don't blame the GK RB amps, I blame idiots who missuse equipment and idiots who then proceed to "repair" it while they're not fit to repair a broken plastic toy box with glue, let alone an amp!
 
#131
Doug Parent said:
A friend had an MB800 for three years. The power section had an issue (distortion) and because it was out of warranty, it cost him $147.00 for repairs. I had two MB800's that had issues. The RB series seems bulletproof in comparison. Will never buy another MB series again.
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I had the same experience first hand with my MB2-500, power section died after heavy use, and between bench time and parts (whole new module), it cost me nearly $250. Probably should have just bought a new MB500 in hindsight.

My 700RBs have seen just as heavy use (I've owned 3! to date) and haven't had a single issue.

I could also be completely wrong on this front, though I also subscribe to the belief that if I did have an issue with one of those RBs it likely wouldn't require a swap of the entire power section, and such a large expense.
 
#132
Hopkins said:
From personal experience I would bet that you would be more happy with a 700rb II. The signature GK sound comes from pushing the amp, the 1001rb has so much clean headroom you have to get ridiculously loud before you achieve that signature GK sound.
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Unless one enjoys the ridiculous amount of clean headroom provided by the 1001rb, as I do.
 
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#133
Doug Parent said:
A friend had an MB800 for three years. The power section had an issue (distortion) and because it was out of warranty, it cost him $147.00 for repairs. I had two MB800's that had issues. The RB series seems bulletproof in comparison. Will never buy another MB series again.
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I have always thought electronic products were almost invincible these days and am surprised to see knocks on some of the major bass amp brands.

The Fusion 800 looks like the perfect amp, but posts like this (and I have seen several) make me want to steer clear.

Very disappointing.
 
#134
Back in the 70's I bought a 500 watt Phase Linear power amp for a DJ service I ran with a buddy of mine. The PL was cheap horsepower compared to Crown. Regarding reliability, the sales guy made this interesting observation "a 10% failure rate would be horrible, but that means 90% of people will be happy".
 
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#135
On a positive note, I read in another thread that the MB800 Fusion now has quieter fans vs the older ones that some folks complained about in the past (and also led me to steer clear).

I'm looking for a different class d amp now because the fan in the Ashdown that showed up at my house today sounds like a 747 idling on the tarmac.

I do love the EQ points on the Fusion 800 and it's in a class by itself in terms of a triple tube preamp for under $1000. Might have to roll the dice. Guess I could keep the jet engine as a backup.
 
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#136
I remember back in the mid 90's asking someone who had owned a 800RB how it was and they said it was a great amp but the one they had caught fire..which sort of put me off em' for a while...but you never known how people treat their gear..shortly after I got MB150 combo to use for band practice and the thing used to get red hot on the top heat sink..but that might have been because I had it hooked up to 4 ohm Peavey 1516 cab..


Leslie
 
#137
Doner Designs said:
I have always thought electronic products were almost invincible these days and am surprised to see knocks on some of the major bass amp brands.

The Fusion 800 looks like the perfect amp, but posts like this (and I have seen several) make me want to steer clear.

Very disappointing.
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It is disappointing and I share your views. FWIW I never heard of any issues with the Fusion 800. I own an Alembic F1X preamp and found out that the choices made for parts by Alembic wasn't guided by cost but by quality alone. It's an expensive piece of gear but I am learning to appreciate that philosophy in terms of reliability. Its true that bassists have a wider range of choices today but the product line that appeals to the lowest echelon price wise is helping create a disposable mentality.
 
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#138
I've gigged an MB Fusion 500 heavily for over 5 years now. I had to re-do one solder joint, no other issues. I don't consider that unreliable, and GK CS was all over it working with my local tech. Every working amp I've had has needed repair at one time or another, and it's a pretty long list. I will buy an MB again, and would like to try the MBF 800 some time ...see how much difference the extra headroom makes. GK farmed out production to Asia at one point, but only briefly - not sure what resulted. I believe production is all back in Stockton, Ca now. I would buy GK with confidence, personally.
 
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#139
TomB said:
I've gigged an MB Fusion 500 heavily for over 5 years now. I had to re-do one solder joint, no other issues. I don't consider that unreliable, and GK CS was all over it working with my local tech. Every working amp I've had has needed repair at one time or another, and it's a pretty long list. I will buy an MB again, and would like to try the MBF 800 some time ...see how much difference the extra headroom makes. GK farmed out production to Asia at one point, but only briefly - not sure what resulted. I believe production is all back in Stockton, Ca now. I would buy GK with confidence, personally.
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I appreciate the perspective. Granted, road gear is different from other consumer electronics, especially for guys who bang stuff around. I treat my stuff with TLC and never buy used because little dents and scrapes bother me enough to pay extra for new. The single solder joint, which you describe as a small thing, would be unacceptable to me. I would rather pay double and know it's not going to break. My guess is that the solder joint you describe was not done right in the first place, otherwise it would not have come loose.

Having said all that, I am on the brink of trying a Fusion 800 because, with the contour and deep switches, it effectively has 7 band EQ at exactly the frequency centers that I would choose. I can't say that about ANY other amp. The tubes are a bonus on top of that. I'll probably roll the dice, but it will go back if there is too much fan noise. Sounds like that problem has been resolved though.
 
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#140
Doner Designs said:
I appreciate the perspective. Granted, road gear is different from other consumer electronics, especially for guys who bang stuff around. I treat my stuff with TLC and never buy used because little dents and scrapes bother me enough to pay extra for new. The single solder joint, which you describe as a small thing, would be unacceptable to me. I would rather pay double and know it's not going to break. My guess is that the solder joint you describe was not done right in the first place, otherwise it would not have come loose.

Having said all that, I am on the brink of trying a Fusion 800 because, with the contour and deep switches, it effectively has 6 band EQ at exactly the frequency centers that I would choose. I can't say that about ANY other amp. The tubes are a bonus on top of that. I'll probably roll the dice, but it will go back if there is too much fan noise. Sounds like that problem has been resolved though.
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I've fixed solder connections on old Acoustic, SWR, Eden, Ampeg & GK amps over the years. I'm not sure paying double would have prevented any of it. Even heavily rack-mounted gear can take a beating from load-in / load-out and truck travel. I expect if I kept my gear at home, I wouldn't have needed to fix any of those amps mentioned.

I do hope we both get to try out the MBF 800. I absolutely agree with you about GK's EQ, plus I'm personally addicted to the way the MB amps (and Gk in general) present the hi-mids. Their EQ approach is very well thought-through and time tested.
 
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