Gallien-Krueger 1001RB Head

Go to gallien Krueger's webpage and download the pdf manual.
The amp has everything you need!
I use it live and for recording (no mor di recording).

You can get any bassamp sound you want! I'm serious. Any style you want. From ultra clean tu tubey, from bright to deep reggae bass. Just use the eq (one plus would be a sweepable frequency know, like a parametric eq but you don't need it here...).
The fan is temperature controlled, if it's on- very silent. great for playing at home.
It has enough power for big open air gigs.
My personal search has ended here. I have no more any other brand in my head. I only think in sounds and styles now and make music!
I've compared it to EBS, Epifani, SWR and Ampeg....sorry boys.
I write this review because I'm relly happy with it and as said: my search has ended here (we musicians are always searching!!). I have time for inspiration and music.

Have it for a couple of weeks. Until now no problems.

I wrote them one time- never got an answer.
my local store does a better job!

I play since twenty years as a pro and have recorded and produced albums. be a critical listener. I would it buy over and over again.

Has everything you need! Studio and live. For details download on theyr webpage the manual as a pdf. One equalizer knob with bandwith to choose would be good but is nearly not necessary with what the amp offers (that's the only reason for rating 9)

I use it with a Bassline Incognito Jazzbass. With this amp you can get any ampsound you want and any sound for each style. From pure clean to deep woofy reggae (just turn down all treble and push the bass up). Marcus Miller, Aston Barrett to Jaco- no problem! Good tube sound feature. I played an SWR 350, testet different other heads. My search has ended here forever. I don't want to make any stupid hype here but's the truth. The fan only starts at a certain temperature. It's silent and don't interrupt my playing at home. Also no noise at all. It gets not distorted at high volumes (I use a 410 RBX Gallien Krueger- with an additional 15inch speaker you might burn down the house....). Also use the direct out to go into my console and record the bass. No need for micing. Also forget recording direct through d.i. box. This way is way more musical. Just dial the right sound on the head and use the post eq switch. Ready, go, finish.

Wrote one time with a question before bought the amp- never got an answer (not so my music store!)

I play since 15 years and never heard a versatile and also good sounding amp as this. As wrote above: get any sound you want! Get an SWR sound, EBS sound, Ampeg etc. But: with this amp I don't think anymore in band names. I think in sounds and styles! Make music and don't think about the equipment. Ok- I have to go and play......

I like the D.I. output, level control, ground lift and pre/post EQ as it gives total control of what you wish to send to the mixing console. Especially that it is a VERY quiet send signal. The tuning mute is an excellent feature that's got me out of a lot of noisy muso' set-up sessions. The contour/presence doesn't make much of a statement, and the printing on the face of the unit wears out too quickly. The EQ and Biamp controls work very well. This amp is a great work horse.

I use a Washburn with EMG active pickups and Yamaha with active humbuckers, both are 5-string. I pump mostly cabaret style music and find this amp is a clean sound that doesn't mess up my guitar sounds. It has big balls in the volume department and the controls are effective in changing the sound tone. I love the way it makes my 18" speaker dance crazy at high volume.

I did have a lot of trouble with intermittent crackle and constant signal dropout, shortly after I bought it. It explains why I got such a good price for it. I found the problem was from the contour control. The problem is really quite easy to fix as I had a similar problem with another amp, but to a greater degree.
The other amp made HUGE pops when using certain controls, whilst the GK just crackled and dropped out. I fixed the problem by CAREFULLY opening up the noisy control pot, and with an ear bud and car polish, I cleaned the wiper blade and the carbon strip. Then clean with a soft cloth, it removes the oxide that makes the crackle noise. YOU MUST pick out any fibres left from the ear bud, I used tweezers under a magnifying glass. Result is whisper quiet controls.

I did bring the amp back for the crackle and signal dropout, but it stayed in their workshop for weeks and they still couldn't find the problem. They did make an effort by leaving it switched on for hours hoping the problem would surface but the controls don't move when you're not there, so I found the problem myself by mistake.

Play bass for 25 years, had several amps, still have Fender Bassman, Carlsbro, sold my Laney. I prefer my GK over all, as it is just the absolute best for compact size and pumps my 18" & 2 - 10" box nicely. If it was stolen or lost I would do it all again and get another.
It has everything I want in a bass amp. I've been told it has a "cold" sound but I say it's HOT!

Mine is about 3 years old now. I like the tuner out and the mute button, also the DI. I had a GK 700 rb and a 400 rb before this. It has more than enough power for all of my playing situations. If anything, I don't like the fan on top, because I always worry about crap falling into the amp, but I am pretty careful, so it is not an issue.

I play a 4 string Sadowsky Metro, fretless Fender jazz and upright. I use one or two (depending) GS112 cabs, which I really like also. I play anyting from jazz to country, and I work a lot....3 to 5 gigs a week. The amp is dead quiet, and does not color my sound. I can hear each of my instruments the way I like them to sound.

Never had a problem with any of my GK's. I never carry any back up.

Never needed to contact them for support. Don't know how long the warranty is.

I've been playing 30 years. I also have an GK MB150, which I use for smaller gigs. I would probably get another one if this one was stolen. I like the size and weight. Over the years I've had a ton of differant amps, and I've just had really good luck with this GK stuff.

all of the features it has are very usable. i would like some footswitchability out of it to go from growl to squeaky clean. this amp has plenty of power. even in sound proofed rehersal rooms i have never had to go above half in an attempt to get noise complaints. i would like the effects loop and tuner outs on the back also, but these are all small features when compared to the main one... good sound

this amp gets earns its 10. there is tube tone, solid state tone, and gk tone. if you like gk tone, then there is nothing better. it can get so clean that you will notice every mistake you make. it can get a nasty(in a good way) growl that cuts through anything. and it can do most anything in between. i have played everything from active 5 strings to passive 4 strings all of varying styles and quality. the insturment you choose will show with this amp. play emg's and it will be really bright and clear. play a jazz bass and it will sound like a jazz bass. this is not a one sound for all basses type of amp, it responds to you, to what you play, and to how you play it.

i bought mine 5 years ago and i have never had a single problem with it. it sat by my open window in san diego, a block from the beach, for a few of those years and has bounced around my truck everywhere i have taken it. i didnt even know people had backup amps until i started fooling around on sites like this.

never needed help with the amp. i did need a new cab at one point and they invited me down to try out every cab they made. not to mention they were all pretty cool guys.

i have been playing for 10 years, and since i bought this, it is the only piece of gear i havnt thought about changing. if it were stolen, i would wait till night, listen for the thunder in the distance, and then go shoot whoever stole it. if i missed and they ran off with it, i would buy a 2001 rb just for the power flexability (use 1 side for practice, and double the power for gigs). some may think it lacks features, but i think it has everything it should have. if you want sompression or effects, you are always better off getting them from someone who specializes in those things. if you are looking for 1 tone, get an ampeg, if you want a million features, get a swr mo-bass, if what you are looking for is a good amp... get this!

I believe that the amp was made in 2000. I purchased the amp in of 2001 from Coelho Academy of Music in Santa Maria, California. I play Christian Praise music, Gosepel, blues and funk. The amp has more than adequate features for it's designated use which, by the way is only occasional use at church and practice at home.

The instruments that I am using are a Warrior Signiture five string bolt-on with an 18 volt Bartolini pre/ one soap bar and one Jazz pick-up. I also play a Peavey Cirrus six string maple with an 18 volt pre and two soap bar pick-ups. Both instruments are awesome and a complete joy to play. The amp handles my style and level of play well. The amp is versital and produces clean and quiet sound. The problem that I am encountering is an extreem popping when the amp is turned on and off. This clearly is not good for my speaker cabinet.

Junk!I have read some of the reliability issues in priviously writen reviews on Harmony Central. I would never have bought this amp if I had of known of the lack of quality incorporated into the design. The amp is presently in the repair shop and has been sitting on the work bench for approximately one month. It has been waiting for the GK rep to make a commitment to repairing the problem. The amp has an extreem pop when turned on and off. I had played the voice mail, I'll get back with you game for several weeks. Finally, when I connected with an actual person they could not seem to make a decission as to whether the sevice center that the dealer had sent the amp to was a qualified center. The amp should not have been sold in the first place. Reference Gallien Krueger Memo ID Sm700-1001-01 dated 12/12/01. It states that the 1001RB and the 700RB amps were to be remove from the sales floor and returned to the GK service center for repair. Mine was appearently over looked. At this point, I have requested the repair memo from GK, (Ref. GK Memo ID Sm700-1001-02 dated 12/12/01) which designates the repairs required. I will pay for the repair just to get my amp back.

I contacted GK many times and attempted to get some direction and arrangements for the amp to be repaired. I could not get my problem resolved. The designated repair point was not acceptable to them and what seemed like a simple fix was turning into a very involved bunch of nonsence. They claimed that they needed to re-qualify the repair station. The warranty was expired and I was willing to pay the bill if need be. However,they could not decide if the repair station should do the work and would not give repair authorization. I believe that they need to focus on customer support and address the repair issues much more expediently. Owen, the repair tech had been repairing GK equipment for many years. As I spoke with him, I felt confident that he could do the repairs. He made contact with the GK support group and they would not get back with him as well.

I have been playing sinse 1980 off and on. My priciple instrument is drums. I write music on my DC16GTE Martin and play hand drums as well.If someone stole this amp I would not replace it. The big reason that I bought this amp was because it was quiet and it had alot of kick. I received the required modification from GK and have authorized the repair. Hopefully, I will be able to rely on it after that. But, I have bought a back-up amp. It's a Peavey MAX 700. So far so good. I don't believe that I can rely on the 1001RB any more. Let the Buyer be ware!

All the features I need are built into this amp. Plenty of power and EQ. The GK "growl" is really appearent when you crank it up. The direct out feature has been very useful at large gigs where the pro sound guy doesn't have to mic my cabs.

I play a Custom P-bass with a single hot soapbar pickup. Classic rock, blues and alternative. This amp gets the job done with it all. Great clean bright tones when required, dirty thick stuff when needed as well.

I have gigged and practiced on the road with this amp for 8 months now and while I do have a backup, I have had no reason to use it yet. I understand from reading some of the other posts that there were some problems with this amp for some other users. I feel that I must comment on my contact with GK so far. I had to ask some questions and get warranty cards for a couple of their products since they where Guitar Center demos (missing paperwork, cords, etc.) I have spoken to several GK reps for quite a bit of time over the last few weeks. THESE FOLKS CARE ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. I have a very good feeling about the warranty on these amps and any trouble I have beyond that as well. I have 2 GK amps and a GK cab and will continue to buy GK products due mainly to the quality of the products and the quality of the folks who build them.

Let's refer back to the above mentioned Reliabilty section - These guys rock.

I have been playing for 24 years - everything from Kustom's and Peavey's to Mesa and Eden - GK finally has what I'm looking for. I also build guitars and basses and know what it takes to run a successful business - I have faith that the folks at GK will stand behind their products and I'll be playing them for many years to come.

The Bi-Amp has several features, like a tuner output jack, XLR direct out with level control, 5/4 string switch... BUT IT DIDN'T WORK! The light came on, but nobody was home!!

The amp made NO SOUND AT ALL. I used the PREAMP direct out to run the bass to my recording console

Dead. Zero. Nothing happened. I was told that 50 or so units shipped that had a diode where a resistor should be. THEY WERE ALL INOPREABLE. There is still a chance you could get one of those DEAD AMPS. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW AN AMP COULD PASS FINAL INSPECTION IF IT DOESN'T WORK!!!

VERY, VERY, SLOW.They were friendly and told me I would have to ship it (a Mark II model) to them for repair. They would pay the freight both ways, but it would take a week each way and 2 days to fix it. I Returned it to Musicians friend for replacement instead. I BOUGHT another unit from MF so it would ship immediately and got a credit when they received the bad amp. I didn't receive the "CALL TAG" FROM GK for UPS return until a week later when UPS brought my replacement from MF. THE REPLACEMENT (a Mark I model according to GK) had another defect, only the WOOFER amp worked. The 50w Tweeter amp was inoperable. I WENT THRU 3 AMPS till I got a good one!!! AND I'm STILL WAITING for the replacement parts promised FRIDAY (3 days ago).

DO NOT BUY THIS AMP.
I read the Harmony Central ratings before I bought the GK. They were pretty good. THATS why I'm writing this review to PRINT THIS WARNING. If I had read a negative review like this one, it would have saved me alot of headache. I started this process for my son's February 3 B'day. I did't get a good amp until March 11 (and I'm still waiting for them to ship a crossover and a horn for the speaker cabinet that the 2nd amp blew.

This is a follow up to my first review written almost two years ago.

See reliablity section for new information.

In my first review written here almost two years ago I gave it a 10.
Now I have new info. I owned my first GK for over 10 years and never had a problem. But this one has start to crackle and distort for no reason. I treat the amp like gold, it's never been out of the paded gig bag I bought when I got it, so it has been well protected. This intermittant electronic problem is now a major pain in the ass. Drop my reliablity score for this amp down to a 4 because I see no good reason why this amp should start to crap out now. The signol has become compressed and unreliable, it cuts in and out for no reason.
All this makes me wonder why GK dropped the 1001RB for the Newer 1001RB-II so fast. It was only in the stores for less than a year as a "current" product.

I believe it is well past warrenty now.
Not sure how to get it repaired, could cost alot to fix.

Not very happy about an amp I took very good care of and now has turned out to have problems.

This review is for a GK 1001RB model (the original one, as opposed to a 1001RBII).

Feature-wise, this amp is put together well. Many things a gigging bass player needs, not many things that you don't. My personal favorites of things I didn't have on my last amp and now love are the following:
1. Built in direct out (which makes me happy because my sound tends to come out of the PA more like I want it to, and it makes sound guys happy because they don't have to worry about having another potential feedback source from a mike or whatever). I really didn't give much thought to this feature when I bought the amp, but now that I play shows once every week or so, I'm glad it's there.

2. Tune-mute, and a separate tuner output. I use a rack mount tuner with my gear because often it's about impossible to ask your bandmates (not to mention the whole club) to keep quiet for a sec while you tune. To this end, the amp supports this well. I like the fact that I can go straight from my bass to the amp with nothing in between; personally, I feel this is a key to good tone. The tuner output lets me do that. Additionally, there is a small "tune-mute" button that is thoughtfully placed next to the volume knob. Better yet, when tune-mute is engaged, a red LED comes on (again, near the affected control) to let you know it's active. I've only had one time when I went to play and the tune-mute was on and I didn't realize it, and it was only because I was pretty drunk, but even in my inebriated state, the light quickly told me at a glance what I screwed up as opposed to having to look at the position mark of every knob (which can be difficult to see onstage anyway).

3. This amp has a generally well-layed out left-to-right approach on the sound. The various jacks are placed on the sides (probably to avoid cords obscuring control view), which is fine, but the knobs start on the left, with volume (thankfully, 1 control is fine), and then go through the logical progression of steps, with presence/contour, EQ, and ending up with your boost (not sure what the point of "boost" is), and finally, your bi-amp controls (which need to be manipulated even if you're using the 1/4" non-bi-amped output). To me, this amp just feels like a bass amp designed for bass players as opposed to a guitar amp that was sort of re-hashed for bass.

4. Plenty of power. The back of the amp says 540 watts. I think the manual says that it's about 275 watts RMS. That's probably a conservative rating. One thing is for sure: equipped with an appropriate cabinet (I use an Ampeg Classic 1-15"), you will never get lost in the sound. You can easily do battle with multiple guitarists with stacks and you *will* come out on top, if need be.

The only features that I don't use are the effects loop (I don't use effects), and the bi-amping capability, but many people do, so it certainly makes sense for them to be there; they're not frivolous items.

The only thing I wish it had from time to time is a graphic EQ; granted, it's got a 4-band EQ, and presence/contour controls but even with all the knob twiddling I feel like my low E string is not as loud as the others (particularly the A string). This may be a problem with my bass (Fender mexican-P) or cabinet (Ampeg Classic 1-15"), but it seems that with a 15" the highs should roll off faster than the lows. I don't really notice this with other amps with this bass so I'll assume it's either the amp or the cabinet (perhaps resonant on the A note).

As stated before, I use a Mexican Fender P-Bass. Not the greatest bass in the world, but it works for me without too much trouble. I also have a Squier Jazz Bass, and have played some various cheapo basses through it. The only thing I've noticed is that if you have cheap equipment (like a crappy bass or pickup or electronics wiring), this amp will make it painfully obvious, quickly. Aside from that it has no noise of its own. I notice no real distortion until I turn it up very loud (probably 2/3 of the way), and hit a low E hard. I think most of this distortion is actually coming from the cabinet however, and not the amp.

This is the part that scares the hell out of me. I only discovered Harmony-Central about a week or two after I bought this amp, and saw that several people have had problems with it. I think you must either get a good one or a bad one, as I've now owned this amp for six months and I haven't had any problems. Perhaps what helped my chances was that I bought a Guitar Center floor demo model, so it had been used a bit and sort of "burned in."

As far as overall durability goes, it looks pretty solidly built. The amp is certainly light-weight, and it's small (compared to it's peers, it doesn't look like it should be able to make the kind of power it does). I had fears of my clumsiness breaking a jack or bashing a control knob and screwing it up, because I'm hella-clumsy and anyway, if your gear gets handled by others (and it eventually will), they'll never treat it as well as you'd like. To allieviate my fears, I bought a SKB 4-space rack and mounted the amp and my tuner in it; now my stuff has covers on it when I'm not using it or it's being transported, and I don't fear damage like I used to. Maybe my impression was unwarranted, but I think subconsciously part of me equated lighter-weight with easier-to-break.

While I've personally not had any problems with my amp, the horror stories of sudden death (which seem to be about 50% of the reviews here) make me still throw my backup head (Randall R-300) in the car. For these reasons, I'm putting my reliability rating dead-smack in the middle; I've had no problems, but your mileage may vary.

I have not dealt with GK. From what I read from others, I hope I never have to.

I've been playing bass about ten years; this was the first "nice" amp I've had. Everything else I've had before has been secondhand Peavey stuff (reliable but not the best sounding) or whatever was laying around.

When I played it in the Guitar Center showroom this went up against everything (including SWR and such). Pricing forced me to eliminate most of the SWR stuff in this power range, and I didn't care for the Mesa setup for one reason or another). There were other amps out there, but as I narrowed it down the only serious contender (a toss up in price) was the Ampeg SVT 350-H. At the time I felt the Ampeg sounded better, but I'm not sure if I'd feel that way now or not. The reason that I went with the GK was because they didn't have any of the Ampeg SVT-350H models in stock, and they wouldn't sell the floor model (I wonder why). I needed the amp that day, so I decided to go for broke and go with the GK. Now I'm glad that I did; at the time I wasn't interested in rack-mount equipment (looks ugly, etc.) and I wasn't interested in rack mounting my amp, so I didn't care that you couldn't do that. Now I use a rack for it's utter practicality (damn the looks), and its oh-so-nice to have all your stuff in one rack box; it makes for a damn quick setup since I just leave all the cables plugged in and coil them and a powerstrip into the rack case. So all I end up carrying is my bass case, the rack, and the cabinet. If I had gone with the Ampeg, I would be carrying that, cables, my tuner, more assorted junk, etc.

Another point of comparison with the SVT-350H is that this amp (at least on paper) has more power; I've never had to turn this thing all the way up (in fact, 2/3 up is as high as I've ever needed to go), but I wonder how the Ampeg would compare when playing them at high volumes in terms of headroom. I can assure you that you won't easily run out of room with this amp; since I was in a non-isolated showroom, I never got to play the Ampeg loud enough to know.

If it were lost or stolen, I would buy another 1001RB unit (obviously it'd have to be used at this point). I would not buy any of the new-line of gear that GK makes. Functionally, I guess they're the same, but GK's new 2004 styling absolutely sucks; I hate it. I like the simply black face with white lettering silkscreened on it. A good, simple, high-contrast layout. Don't waste my money making me pay for stupid styling or badges that will fall off; the equipment is either good or it's not, and trying to apply "styling" to it only makes it look dated sooner. Soon, they'll be the avacado-colored appliances of this generation. Ampeg wins points for this; the SVT series has not changed in looks over the years much and I really like that; the SVT-350H I was going to buy looked exactly like something Sid Vicious used.

So, in the end, I love my GK amp, but reliability-wise, I can only speak for mine, because apparently it's hit or miss with these things. I give it a 9 overall for that reason.