Gallien-Krueger 1001RB 210 Combo

built in 2000.play R&R & gospel.plenty of power when it works

i use a fender p bass special & a peavey 5 string. it is quiet. very clean.

here is where it gets ugly. I used this amp in church @ low level.for about 1 yr. then I took it out for some rock& roll it smoked the first time it was used. after 8 months in auth. repair center it came back only to burn again. this time it was 11.5 months in same auth service center. the first time I plugged it in, poof!!
it set in my garage for 2 yrs. svc center stated it was old. I have used it less than 2yrs total. my tech guy says its cheaply built, & needs new power amp. can this really be fixed? expensive boat anchor!!

played for 40 yrs. I now use a hartke ha5000. it works every time. I dont really like tweeking it because its touchy, but it never lets me down

I'm just a guy who picked up on playing bass about five or six years ago and just does it for the sheer enjoyment. I reciently purchased this amp used at uptown music and I???m overwhelmed at all the features it offers. I love the over all sound and the boost feature is what I???ve had the most fun with so far. Even playing at lower volume, it rattles the windows and you can really feel it when you???re hitting the lower notes. The voicing features are new to me and while I???ve experimented with them, I can???t seem to make them make any impact on the over all tone. I use both finger picking and pick playing styles and this amp really fits both very well. It???s punchy without sounding to tinny. It???s just got a rich full over all sound that you can make rumble if you want to that really makes it a lot more fun for me to play. I???ve downloaded the owner???s manual from the internet. It???s very informative to the point of being intimidating. thirteen pages of information, and four of them are all I really need,

I didn???t really know what they were referring to when they mentioned making your bass ???Growl.??? I do now. Out of all the array of sound sculpting options that I???ve played with so far, this is the coolest. Bring up the boost setting and play, and you get goose bumps. It really enhances my playing experience, I have songs that I???ve played for years and now when I play them, it???s like they all have torque. I caught my self in the mirror and I was all 1986 MTV rock star wide stance playing and really cutting loose. I???m rediscovering that ???cool??? sensation again and I like it.

I haven't had it very long, but it seems built really sturdy. The only thing that bothers me so far is that you have to pull the telescopic handle up when you're playing, or it starts to buzz really bad,

Very much features, the 1001RB 210 Combo has ist all. Too much to list here, so look through the other reviews or go to the GK website.

Playing over a pa, i use this combo without an additional cab, the wedge design helps here a lot. Playing on rehearsals, or smaller gig's without pa, i use an additional cab (very good Warwick W411 Pro, i can recomend it) and with 700 W RMS at then 4 Ohms, there is plenty of power to shake the house.

Only a few things i don't like with this amp:

- The cooler blows on top of the amp and so you always have to take great care to keep this place free. To me this is annoying.
- The handle on the top, i removed it, this amp is too heavy to seriously use it.
- The layout of the frontpanel. The Mute switch is too small. Tweeter Hi-Cut and Woofer Hi-Cut should be placed on the rear. If you mic it in a live situation and accidentially hit one of these small switches, your sound can be changed drastically. Okay, this is a bit unrealistic, but never say never.

So almost everything is fine and it get's 9.

I had the possibility to compare the GK with an SWR Super RedHead in two rehearsals. With the SWR you, at the first go, can get a very nice, sweet sound. The GK not even comes close to this. But i buyed the GK because of it's sound. So what? Yes, the tone is by far not so nice, but it cut's through and this is what i really need.

I tried to get them sound identically, the GK flat and fiddling on the SWR Pots to get the GK sound and vice versa. I found them very different, especially at a frequency range around 250 HZ. It is simply impossible to push the SWR at this frequency to the level of the GK. I experimented with to the max raised frequencies between 200 and 400 HZ. This causes the SWR to cut better though the band's sound, but it always sounds a bit muddy. Never so clear, dry and direct as the GK. The woofer of the GK probably is much harder stuff.

The other way round, it is also completely impossible to get a GK sounding like this RedHead. As i said, there is not even a chance to come close to it. May be you can adjust a comparable frequency spectrum, but the RedHead has this nice, singing tone, a GK will never produce.

Concerning loudness, the GK is louder. Played solo both can be loud enough for rehearsals, even if your bandmates play very loud. On a gig it depends on the venue. Using an extension cab, the GK can be significant louder, at 4 Ohms it delivers 700 W RMS. But more watts don't mean directly louder, it above all means more power wich can be used to get more loudness. There are cabs with 200W RMS, significantly louder as some others with 400 and even more watts. Considering this point of view, the RedHead with 450 W RMS at 2 Ohms also can be really loud, using a matching cab. Connecting a cab at a powerful amp be carefully to use a suitable cable and never use an instrument cable.

Only comparing in a dealer's testing cabin, i'm shure, i buyed the SWR. But in playing with my band, i clearly recognized the GK's strong points. We play mostly Punkrock and Rock and for this stuff it stand one's ground.

I love them both, these are very good and versatile, professional combos. But with my band the GK fit's better for me. If i can afford, some time, i will additionaly buy the RedHead, only for it's sweet tone.

In my personal opinion the RedHead is the better companion for Blues, R&B, Jazz. If the quality of tone is important, take the RedHead. If you want a very powerful, massive, dry and cutting thru tone, take the GK.

Now using for a year, mostly rehearsals and everything is fine with it.

Don't needed - don't know.

If stolen or lost, i definitly would buy this combo again. It is very versatile and for a 2 x 10" config easy to carry around. Expensive, but worth the money.

I bought this thing last april, probably one of the most versitile amps ive ever owned, blows the Ampeg stuff away and thats hard for me to say because ive been a die hard Ampeg man for over 30 years, although in my book the old classic SVT with the 2 810 cabs is definitly something to rekon with, and yes I do still have the trusty SVT and the 2 810 cabs, but now im older and hauling that back breaker just isnt worth it anymore, especially when My GK is alot easier to tote around and has a great sound to boot, it has all thee bells and whistles, effects loop, Bi ampable, 4 or 5 string seletion button, mute for tuning, low Z out , boost, which I really like, and seperate controls for woofer and tweeter, man this thing is versatile

the sound from this is unbelivable, such a big sound out of such a compact unit. I can get about any sound I want out of this amp, I mostly just use it as it came as a 210 combo, but on bigger venues i use a GK 410 cab with this and there isnt a venue i couldnt play. My primary 2 basses are a 4 string stingray? active electronics and a ibeneze BTB also active, I also have a 72 P bass and a 4003 ric, and all the basses sound great through this rig, hands down one of the best sounding rigs ive used so far, and ive been though alot of them. I play classic rock, prog rock( Yes, Rush, EMP) funk, and jazz and this rig works great for all of it Very clean when you need clean, very nasty when you crank the boost, if you can play it the 1001 can handle it

I did have a problem with it, about 2 months after I bought it i was at rehearsal and smelled a smell like wire insulation burning, uit was comming from my amp, it never quit on me but I turned it off right away and returned it to guitar center where i got it. guitar center sent it out to GK and they had it about a month before I got it back. They didnt piss with it and just put another circut board in it and I have not had a problem with it since. Ive been giging with it every weekend and play on it at least 1 hour a day, usually 2 hours and it held up good. Ill give it 7 since I belive a amp that new shouldnt of had a problem and they raped me on shipping $65

didnt really deal with GK themselves, Guitar center sent it out for me, but I have to say they did fix the problem and its been good ever since, but like I said earlier shouldnt have had that problem in the first place , I think they could have authorized guitar center to just give me another amp at thier exspence, but then again guitar center could have did that too but thats another story

if I wouldnt have had the problem with It I would give it a solid 10, it sounds great, has all the features one would need and a powerhouse for its size, if it were stolen i would fin another one for sure , I love this amp

This is the newer version with the Mark II amp. Check the Gallien website for all of the up to date info. Most of the features have been stated in previous reviews. Pretty much a straight forward combo for everyone in a compact enclosure. The only thing possibly missing would be a drink holder on the side for when you tilt it back, kidding.

This is an incredible sounding combo amp. The head has a very tubey sound for being a solid state amp. This sounds great with the EQ flat and for a box that is this small produces an amazing ammount of sound. Great pop and slap tones you can hear this on http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/elementmusic Under the song "Wish"

This is only about a year old and I've had no problems.

Hopefully never have to speak with them

I've owned a Hartke 3500, Ampeg SVT III PRO, Art Nightbass preamp, BBE 383 Preamp, SWR Redhead, Eart Sound Research, Peavey Firebass,GK 1001RB first version stand alone head, and many others that I've gigged through on a regular basis. Not that I'm an expert, but I've owned a few pieces of equipment to form an opinion. Over the years I've used quite a few different products and I this little combo has me grinning ear to ear. The sound is smooth and the bia-amp gives you that much more control on dialing in the sound. I use this with a 5-string Modulus/Fender jazz Frankenbass, and an old Upright and the sound is very clean, loud, and defined and I pretty much keep the EQ FLAT.....amazing. The only problem I see with combo amps in general is that the manufacturers NEVER seem to match good speakers with good combo amps. What I mean is that I was able to blow the 2 10" cones in my SWR Redhead without too much problem. The GK seems to hold its wait but the low B string will Bottom out the tens without too much trouble at high volumes. Ultimately the internal speakers need to either be paired up with a 15" or a pair of 10's that will handle the low B, this won't remedy but will take some of the load off of the internal 10's. If you are driving a 4 10 cab with this you'll never notice. Ultimately like the SWR Redhead and this GK the only real problem is weak speakers that can't handle the power that the heads deliver. If money would allow the best solution would be to replace these with some Eminence Deltalite 2510's or the same special made speakers used in ACME cabinets. They handle more power and weigh less, this combo is a little on the heavy side. The speakers are the weak link on this whole cabinet, but are still of great quality, If you don't have a 5 string you would probably never even notice. Not perfect but can be tweaked to perfection, for an extra $150-200 to upgrade the internal speakers.

Tremendous amount of features. The flat sound of the amp is almost perfect for my taste, however I sometimes add bass in rooms that need it. The contour and presense give addition flexibility. Everything else is very gig-friendly (great sounding DI with variable gain, tune mute, separate tweeter and speaker volume controls, etc.). There is no compressor control, however the amp naturally compresses the sound at extreme peaks, which I greatly prefer. The amp is small enough for trunks, but it's heavy. The wheels and extended handles are awsome. I just wish they had made the handle longer ...

I play this combo primarily with my Fender American Jazz Deluxe and G&L 2000. I chose this amp over the Eden Metro because of sound and punch. The Eden had better sweetness and depth at lower volumes, but when it came to gig volume the GK kept it together and really kicked out full, deep sound, whereas the Eden broke up into distorion. The GK sound is tubey and slightly compressed, which is perfect for me. You can really emphasize midrange growl, or scoop the mids for great slap tone. Again, the flat setting are best for me. Cutting through is not a problem. The DI sound (do this pre-EQ, by the way) is extraordinary.

Never had a problem, although there is a loud pop when turning the amp on or off. You need to turn down all the volume controls to prevent it. I've heard that this defect was corrected in later models

N/A

If stolen or lost, I would be inclined to buy this model again. It is perfect for stage/practice/small gig volume, and I simply add a Bag End 1x15 to cover any other volume requirement. The DI signal really cuts through the mix in a PA, and given my experience with Trace Elliot, Eden, Alembic preamps, Hartke, etc, I can't see me going away from this brand. I also don't see a need to have an addition rig. This puts out 540 watts into 4 ohms. With a quality extension cabinet, that should probably cover most situations. There are very few products I would rate as a ten, and I give this a nine simply because of the price. It's a great amp at an expensive price.

Very versatile, great having the biamp ability. Nice to be able to get 'growl' when you want it. Also nice that it has extra power for an additional cab if you want to add one.

Great tone, very nice eq, able to get 'growl' sounds if you want. Horn is a bit noisy "hiss" when it really gets turned up, but not unreasonably so...

BOOOOO! It died on the first gig! It wasn't even very loud when it blew up - only about half volume. Right from the start I noticed a lot of movement or 'bounce' in the woofers compared to other cabinets - it concerned me but I figured it was just the cabinet design and porting and that GK must know what they are doing.... Something of this price and reputation shouldn't have this happen - the torn woofer was replaced, but if this happens again it's going back permanently and I'll move on... What good is a great sounding amp if you can't depend on it!

Quick replacement of blown woofer

Great sounding amp - who knows if it will hold up - I hope I just got a dud the first time around - I am really going to put the replacement to the test and if it dies again then I'll move on to SWR.

This amp fits all my styles and needs. I play anything thing from jazz to metal. it has everything you will ever need. it has effects loops, tunner mute, and other cool stuff. This amp is by far the best amp i have ever played through. Pleanty of power 400 watts with tweeter.

its the best i ever played, what else can i say?

built like a tank

never delt with them

its worth every pennie.

My 2002-built 1001RB210 combo is one of the most versatile pieces of bass equipment that I ever had the chance to work with. I use it for many different kinds of music, from old-time classic jazz over latin, jazzrock, soul, r&b and even some theater and musical work. It is extremely powerful (compared to size), and has all the features that I need: DI-out, 4-band-eq (that I hardly ever use), 540w+50w bi-amping, etc.etc. ...
One of the best features is the rockback cabinet. You can tilt back the combo and use it as a personal monitor. Add the wheels and the pull-out handle, and you got a very transport-friendly amp.

8 out of 10. Powerful, punchy, clear or crunchy (to taste). The tweeter adds some nice sparkling to the sound. Unfortunately the tweeter also features a little hiss and noise if you crank it up. On the other hand: the volume levels that are achieved with this piece cranked up are far beyond the point where the hiss will be a problem.

I have been using it for a while, no problem whatsoever. If it is as rock solid as my first GK amp (a 200MB combo), it will never fail me. Time will tell.

First I wanted to go for the 700RB. I even had it at home already when I noticed that the hiss was featured too prominently. I checked back at the store, compared it to the 1001RB that they had there, and found that the 1001RB was much more silent. They gave me the 1001 for the price of the 700 "to compensate for my inconvenience". Not a GK decision, but nice anyhow. Never dealt with GK support as I never had to.

The pricetag may seem a bit high compared to U.S. standard, but those cost quite a lot here in Europe. If it got stolen or lost, I'd try to get another one (or whatever comes really close to it). I love the rockback feature, which finally caused my decision to get this one. I also tried out the SWR Super Redhead, the Eden DC-210-XLT, the Ashdown C210H-500 and the Glockenklang Soul Combo. All of them are really nice amps with excellent sounds, and if I had to travel and to use rented gear, every single one of them would please me :-) but the GK with it's rockback cab is what works best for me.

The active tone controls have a very wide tonal range. I love the brightness the tweeter adds.

With my active electronics, 6 string Washburn, it sounds great just a little shy of 50% on all four tone nobs. I built a 1X15"+2X10" speaker cabinet to go with it, and it gats just as loud as I could ever need it to be.

Once, while I was running 2 extension cabinets, it over heated and went into safety shutdown mode.

Plenty of power, very versatile. When I'm playing in my church band, it sounds great by itself. With my punk, rock and roll, and funk bands, I stack it on top of my extension cabinet, and I'm good to go . . . at any volume. It sounds awesome, and the tweeter really cuts through.