Has anyone used a double bass with the GK MB200 micro head? If so how is it and what cab do you use? Thanks.
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Double Bass GK MB200 Micro Head with Double Bass?
- Thread starter Mike Law
- Start date
Yes, I did.
Nice head, but not flat-sounding.
It's colored toward the high-end, so it's probably better to have a darker cab with it.
I had a Wizzy 10 but it was not a good match to my ears.
Nice head, but not flat-sounding.
It's colored toward the high-end, so it's probably better to have a darker cab with it.
I had a Wizzy 10 but it was not a good match to my ears.
I've used my MB200 for double bass often and it has been a useful bit of kit. I initially used it with an EA Wizzy 10, but I'm currently using a home built 1x10" with a Faital 10fe200-4 which is somewhat smoother in the upper mids and treble.
The MB200 does have a baked-in voicing with all the knobs at noon, but it can be dialled close to flat by backing off the treble and bass controls and turning up both midrange controls a small amount. Talkbass member FDeck had determined the optimally flat settings, which you should be able to find with a search.
With the 1M input impedance of the MB200, many piezo pickups will work satisfactorily without a preamp. If you have a cab with low sensitivity or play at very high volumes you might prefer a more powerful amp, though it has always been sufficient for my needs. If you do run out of steam, the limiter is well implemented so it will tend to compress rather than sounding excessively distorted.
I like mine, and feel it would be hard to beat without spending substantially more.
The MB200 does have a baked-in voicing with all the knobs at noon, but it can be dialled close to flat by backing off the treble and bass controls and turning up both midrange controls a small amount. Talkbass member FDeck had determined the optimally flat settings, which you should be able to find with a search.
With the 1M input impedance of the MB200, many piezo pickups will work satisfactorily without a preamp. If you have a cab with low sensitivity or play at very high volumes you might prefer a more powerful amp, though it has always been sufficient for my needs. If you do run out of steam, the limiter is well implemented so it will tend to compress rather than sounding excessively distorted.
I like mine, and feel it would be hard to beat without spending substantially more.
All the comments here jive completely with my experience. I've used the MB200 with very efficient not too bright sounding Bag End S15 cabs and gotten excellent results. Using it with a much thinner sounding much more power hungry EVM-15B in an EV TL606 cab I had to run the amp harder, lost a lot of bottom and didn't like it it much. Matching it with a cab you like is essential.
You mean the Aguilar TH350? I own one and use it a lot with the DB and the Bag End S15 cab. I play loud and it works well for me but might be a little too colored towards the harmonic distortion of a tube amp for some people though. It also costs $200 more. The GK voicing while not my absolute favorite is flexible, easy to use and really seems to work well with a wide variety of pickups and instruments. The MB200 is such a useful little amp for not much money it's hard not to recommend it.
Mine works great for smaller gigs and practices.
K&k bassmax into GK MB200 into a Baer ML112.
I roll the bass back to about 9 o'clock.
K&k bassmax into GK MB200 into a Baer ML112.
I roll the bass back to about 9 o'clock.
Another vote for MB200 coupled with a Bag End s15, but it can get boomy.
What I'd like to find is a single 10 or 12 cab that sounds like my original 1985 GK 200MB combo, only with a bit more volume. Even at 100w it's a wonderful combo amp! The MB200 head is similar but still looking for a (affordable) small cab.
What I'd like to find is a single 10 or 12 cab that sounds like my original 1985 GK 200MB combo, only with a bit more volume. Even at 100w it's a wonderful combo amp! The MB200 head is similar but still looking for a (affordable) small cab.
Bass into FDeck 2 into Sansamp Para DI into MB200 into Fearless F112 (not exactly "affordable"). Spectacular!
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I'm quite happy with my MB200 head. When I got mine, I hooked it up to a real time analyzer and found the "flat" settings:
Contour = Off
Treble = 10:00
Hi-Mid = 2:00
Low-Mid = 1:00
Bass = 10:00
I don't think a flat voicing is the holy grail, but in my experience it's the preferable starting point for finding a good EQ on DB.
Contour = Off
Treble = 10:00
Hi-Mid = 2:00
Low-Mid = 1:00
Bass = 10:00
I don't think a flat voicing is the holy grail, but in my experience it's the preferable starting point for finding a good EQ on DB.
I have an MB800, which is much the same thing, just a bigger output. I like the baked in GK sound. I am currently running it into one Barefaced One10 cab, soon to be supplemented with a second one. The sound suits me just fine, I have found my Holy Grail. I was previously running it into a Greenboy fEARful 12/6, which sounded superb, but even though the Greenboy was not heavy, my crumbling vertebrae dictated I use very light gear.
I Have one that I use with an Eden ex110 cab and it sounds good to me. Many, many gigs on it and it's still kicking after a few years.
Don't think that's right. It's a really surprisingly loud head, even into an 8 ohm Fearless F112: way more than necessary to drive an 18 piece big band with 3 vocalists—and no sense of hitting a ceiling on big notes.
I used to have an Fusion 500MB which was excellent except it had a fan which would kick in randomly. Not a problem on a rock gig with the EB but was an issue in quieter acoustic environments with DB. From memory the 200mb has no fan... (?)