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Has anyone tried to use one of these Gallien&Krueger aluminum amps as guitar amp?
Talking about the GALLIEN KRUEGER MB150E-112 III
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08-10-2011 07:20 AM
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Actually, yes, I have.
I used to be a bassist (about 7 yearsish?) and I played through a GK for a little while and they've always been very "lead-ey" bass amps, strong midrange, etc.
My high school jazz band instructor had one of these though, and I would always bring in my Hartke bass amp because those little guys didn't give enough beef for me to cut through our 12 person combo, but our guitarist decided to start using it. He loved it. Bought it. I tried the amp and had a similar reaction (but I didn't buy one... I'm a tube guy).
Have you tried it? Are you thinking about it? What have you heard?
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Just took a closer look... The one that I've tried is probably 5 or so years older than that one. But that one was good. The only difference that GK probably made is a fuller bass response, which now for guitar might be overkill. But you should definitely try it.
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I'll have a trio gig on September 2nd and the bass player has one (G&K) recently bought. We just decided to go an hour earlier or so to the venue so I can check the amp with my guitar.
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I've seen Jim Mullen gigging with a tiny GK and getting a great tone.
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I have a GK 200MV which I bought at a NY shop some 20-odd years ago for no good reason that I can think of. Moved to France and still have it because no one will buy a 120V amp with no real purpose here! (I have a separate transformer which is almost as large as the amp).
I've used it many, many times with acoustic guitars and it's beautiful, although you can't really push the volume as it puts out 100W into what look like 2 four-inch speakers! I used to play a mic and guitar through a mackie mixer into it - plenty loud enough for garden parties.
Now I occasionally play my ES-335 through it to get a low-volume smooth jazzy tone. I need to experiment more with taking it's external speaker output into a more versatile cab... I just looked online and it seems that this little amp had/has a great reputation so what you're looking at should be really useful too. You can see what it looks like here:
Rare, versatile Gallien-Krueger GK 200MV amp (02/11/2011)
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Actually, the GK MB 200 series amps are all the rage over on the Steel Guitar Forum for the guys who are trying to lighten their load. They are pairing them with the Sica Neo Bass speakers with great results even with guitar. They claim the EQ on these amps are well suited for stringed instruments. Check out Ken Fox Vintage amp page.
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I have the GK MB200 and like it a lot, it works both for my Takamine classical electric and my solid bodies but I am not very tone-picky. I can use the power amp too if I want to bypass the bass preamp/eq and use my tube preamp pedal.
Originally Posted by Mark James
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My favorite 'guitar' amp for years was my SWR-400 bass head into a Goliath II 4x10 bass cabinet. Fantastic clean tone -- if I wanted distortion, I used a pedal.
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i love my g-k! because i play chords/walking-bass style, it's the perfect amp for me. i also adore my lil polytone amp as well.
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I had a Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0 for while that I tried with my guitars. It seemed very sterile no matter how I tweaked it and would not take my Bad Cat 2-tone tube pedal worth a dang.
My next amp is going to be the GB MB200. I have tube amps and a Standel Studio 6x10 that sounds superb but like the elders on the Steel page portability is paramount to me now as well. YMMV.
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Yeah, I often say bass amps are the jazz guitarists secret weapon, unless it sounds too sterile to you. But in that case, what can help -- an EQ pedal?
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I used an older (borrowed) 150 many times and it worked well. It was a little sterile for my taste, but was well built, had plenty of clean power and was very portable. I used a little outboard reverb and had a workable, pleasant sounding unit. My take is that if you find a used one at a decent price it can be a good buy, but in the $800 range for a new one I think there are quite a few better options for guitar.
Last edited by AlohaJoe; 08-16-2011 at 06:22 PM.
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i like to use a bit of chorus (the g-k has a nice-sounding chorus built in). Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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Yeah a MB200 with a good Neo speaker would be a very light Originally Posted by Mark James
powerful package ..........and not too much dough
Anyone recommend a good cheap 'light' 12" enclosure
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What do you guys think? Do you think that it would compare favourably with, say, a ZT-club or even a Henriksen combo? I'm specifically thinking here of using it with a good, mellow archtop. Originally Posted by pingu
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I've been thinking of looking for a used MB200 head to use as a portable backup. I've been using an EHX 22 Caliber as my backup, but the MB200 would give me more (more power, EQ, 4 ohm cab ability, etc).
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Tthe bassist in the Funk band i work with uses the GALLIEN KRUEGER MB150E-112 III
I have not tried it at all as i play a tele with that band but after readign this thread, i will be takign my archtop along hext week to have a try.
Cheers all.
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I am one of those "guys" from the Pedal Steel Guitar forum who is using the MB 200 and a Sica 15" speaker cab. Sounds great with all of my guitars ( Gretsch, Gibson and Taylor T5) I use a pedal board ( Paisley overdrive) and love the clean tone platform. I played with my new VHT Ultra 6 head into the Sica cab. It sounded ok, but I guess I've become used to having a nice "clean" amp sound. YMMV
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Does anyone know if the GK MB200 and 200MV have any commonality in the amps? I imagine that they are quite different...
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Sorry to resurrect the thread!
I am mainly an amateur bass player and have a GKMB150E with a second 12' speaker extension. I use a piezo fretless bass with tape wound strings.
Have this system for years, maybe more than 10 years and never tried on guitar.
For guitar I have a custom made tube amp based on the Fender BassMan circuit.
I plugged the guitar (Eastman T386/Tele/Dearmond X155) on the GK, and surprisingly it's very well suited for jazz.
Actually I found it much better than the tube one. More focused, more clear, specially for chords. Much more "in front" sound. I liked a lot!
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Sorry for posting somethign completely off topic but one of my dream amps as a kid was the GK250ML
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I'm also a long-time bassist who got bitten by the 6-string bug a couple of years ago. I picked up a used MB200 as a backup bass amp and also to use as a practice tool for quiet hors in the house since it has headphone out and auxiliary in. I have been really impressed with the tone for guitar and am also curious what folks are using for small, light speaker cabs (preferably 10 or 12 inch open-back). I've also kept up with the pedal steel forum interest in these amps and can see that amp working well for that purpose, but I don't really feel the need for a 15 inch speaker. Thanks for any advice. Originally Posted by pingu
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Like Tony I have a 200MV which I bought in NY back in the 1990s. Back then I also had a cheap 12" extension cab built - closed-back and with a Beyma speaker (which I think are made in Spain), which is dark-sounding but complements the GK really well for getting a jazz tone.
I used that setup for years, until getting an Acoustic Image + Raezer's Edge 10" rig. Funny thing, when I got the RE cab I automatically assumed it would sound really well with the GK amp as well. I plugged it in and it just sounded ... well, awful! My cheap old Beyma speaker cab is so much better with the GK. Go figure...
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