Gallien-Krueger 2000RB Bass Head

this head is a champ I am constantly on the road with it.. it's been dropped stood on and even has fallen down a flight of stairs and it still works like the day I first got it. 8 years now and still runnen great.

running a Ibanez BTB with bartolini pickups
this thing does everything for me from funk to jazz to hip hop to punk it's a wonderful head

like I said earlier this thing has been to hell and back and it woun't stop

everyone that works for this company is awesome didn't get a warrenty with it when I bought itbut everyone had answered my questions that I had on set up and what to run they are really knoledgeable

I wish I had another one

Features on this amp are fairly basic and very easy to use. Tone controls work responsibly to shape tone is a very usable fashion. The lack of bi-amp capabilities is a bummer,

Is used a Carvin LB70 bass with active pickups and played a various types of music. Rock music and blues seem to fit this amp fine. The tone a very clean and can be used for a variety of types of mellow music.

This amp has been rock solid for reliability. No tubes to worry about and the design internally. I could count on this amp to work, unlike my Eden WT-500.

Support with Gallien-Krueger is pretty good. Having them work on your amp can be expensive.

After playing for 3.5 years and 5 bass amps later, I can say that this was one of my favorite amps. IF I could afford to have 3-5 amps at a time, I would have kept this amp for sure. THe tone is better than my GK RB-800. The only thing I wish it had was more power per channel. For outdoor gigs, it can be a litle light for my liking. Overall, it is a fine compact amp that produces great tone.

Needs it's own independent distortion channel.

Only the right channel works. the other is in protet mode.

Way to expensive to even have them just look at it.

I've been playing guitar for 7 years and bass for 2 1/2 and when I got this head I thought it was awsome because of its tone abilities and it's raw power, but the left channel is in protect mode and to send it in to get fixed it would cost anywhere from $250 to $500. So I was wondering if any one has experienced similar problems and might be able to help me out.

I was looking for a head to replace my SVT, after years of changing tubes with this bulky delicate thing I had had it. I bought this amp thinking it would sound like a GK800 only really huge, guess what, it was exactly what I hoped. The contour control is awsome and all the tone controls really shape the sound, forget the SVT, especially the new ones.

I use 3 Modulus 5 string basses. Quantum bolton/EMG's, TBX neck through/EMG's and a Quantum fretless/Bartolinis. I play mostly with a pick and go for low punch and upper mid growl. With the GK 4x10 cabinet rated at 800 watts I can hear every punchy note I play without being loud, it just magically cuts through the mix with no funky over or under tones, again the tone knobs especially the contour knob does it. I use a BB Maximizer a bit if I need it.

How about this. The amp was sitting on top of the 4x10 cab and I yanked it forward by the back of the head, you guessed it the head and cab slammed forward onto the floor knocking me out of the way (duh) I thought "thats it" . . . wrong I set it back up and I've been using it for months no prob. I can't believe this myself.

Haven't needed any repairs yet, I'm happy to say

I've been playing for over 20 years, I've spent 10's of thousands on pre-amps, power amps, combo's and cabs. I've scaled down, I use the 2000RB with the GK 4x10 and sometimes add my custom 18"EVX speaker rated at 1000 watts@4 ohms, the rig then runs at about 3 ohms which is fine the 2000RB will drop to 2ohms. I have a TC electronics pre into various power amps for my secong rig.

this amp is amazing. the built in preamp gives you awesome control. i have 2 ampeg 1540 cabs (4x10" and 1x15" in each) and run biamped. all lows go to the 15's and higs to the 10's. it has 2 500 watt power amps inside to individually run each channel, and the active crossover helps determine where the signal is seperated. if you use effects, it's great because you can just put effects on one of the power amps if so desired. no more bottomless distortion!!! the only drag is there is a bit of "hiss" when the presence knob is past the 12:00 position, but if you run compression AFTER the preamp, it's easy to get rid of.

i play a musicman stingray through this thing, and i use a pick. this amp KILLS any SVT head, unless you're into the warm tube sound, which is never as nice when using solid state. the 2000rb is capable of a warmer tone, but i personally go for a big bottom, high pick sound. the boost functions definatley drives the signal to get that low growl remnicent of the SWR heads.

i've NEVER had a problem OR a backup. if one of the amps go down, it's easy to reconfigure on stage and get through a gig, if you ever have a problem.

1 year warranty. GK has GREAT customer service. i origionally bought a floor model (big mistake) that took a shit 2 days after buying it. guitar center sucks, so i called GK, and got a NEW, in the box apm shipped to me via guitar center within a week!

in 12 years of bass, never have i played an amp so versatile or powerful. if you get this amp, intonate your bass. you WILL hear every imperfection in your playing and tuning with this much power.

I have a 1999 2000rb and use it personally and rent it to 2 sound companies on occasion. I've always enjoyed tube tone but guys, this 2000 is orgasmic in context. I've heard ALOT of mixed opinions of this amp and it reminds me of the old JCM comparisons back in 88. You either get lucky or you don't. If you don't call GK, 90% of the time a rep will take you under his/her wing and bend for ya. I know. I mainly use this amp in 500-1000 capacity venues in my classic/contemporary rock group and I have to admit, after I tried it for 6 mo's, I sold my SVT Pro. This GK has too much juice even for the venues I play in using GK cabs(a 15 and 4x10).

I use two basses - A Martin Sigma deepbody active acoustic and an Olembic 5. it is true that this head is neutral, don't feed it crap if you want joy. This head wants input and it will do the rest. sound companies in my area call me regularily to rent out my stack for bands in a level 3 tour schedule. They request it. It's in the riders. and when it's done, the users wipe it down, thank me and the sound personnel, and give it a sweet, gentle kiss on it's grill plate.

yeah, i've had it shut down into protect like 3-4 times in its career and I do know of the cooling upgrade. (a GK lady is setting me up as we speak) oh...and my warranty just expired - she told me anything to keep it going is of most importance to GK. MOST IMPORTANCE!!! for free. FOR FREE!!!

All I can say, sarcasm aside is that the 2000rb is a massive low end machine with the silkiest presense. I will however experiment with a sonic unit to broaden the scope a bit. Perhaps a bbe. I use a Behringer ultrafex pro through the loop and it is quite amazing for my acoustic. very live and spatial if need be. I do not use the bass processor on the ultrafex - it breaks things. If i lost my 2000rb... I would buy 2. I've tried and used all the hughes and swr's and ampegs and traces and fender pro kk's and the sonik t models and honestly without a bragging tone, this GK head tops, TOPS them all if not by features, by tone.

I'm not sure when this amp was built; most likely late 90's. A very versatile amp, capable of many great tones. All solid state construction,tons of features(best effects loop I've seen, although I don't usually run effects live). I'm currently playing classic rock & soul music.

I mainly use Ernie Ball Music Man Sterling basses, but I have many other basses in my arsenal to choose from. Each bass retains it's character. This amp is the warmest sounding solid state amp I've heard. Tons of headroom, 1000 watts at 4 ohms. I've never had to turn up past 4 on my master volume.Very quiet. Can handle anything you throw at it.

Super reliable. It's never let me down. This amp has made my Ampeg SVTll-Pro all-tube head sit in the basement.

G-K is the best amp company I've dealt with. I called asking why the model had been discontinued, I was told about the new 2001RB and a cooling upgrade for the 2000RB. G-K told me if the problem were to ever arise they'd upgrade the amp regardless if my 2 year warranty had elapsed. I sent the amp in for the upgrade,just to be safe. They had the amp back to me in 10 days. Best in the business!

I've been playing for 24 years. If it were stolen, I'd look for a used 2000RB. I'd also buy a bloodhound, track the thief(s) down, and joyfully beat him(her) into submission. I own a G-K400RBlll for smaller gigs, It's also bullet-proof and sounds fantastic. I own an Ampeg SVT stack, I'm debating selling it- the 2000RB is that good. I use a SWR Goliath SR 6-10 cabinet with the 2000RB, they sound incredible together. Super punchy!

1998 Model. I picked this amp up used for cheap. At the time it seemed way better than my Yorkville 400B head. Its 2x500watts, 1000w bridged, and biampable, effects loops, tuner out, blananced xlr out. I use this amp all the time, from band practice in the basement to gigs. I only have one 4x10" cabinet in use with this thing, and for my 4x10", it does't perform the same as my Yorkville once did. It sounds better, but not near the same volume level capabilities as the Yorkville, so i was quite disapointed with that. But, the more cabinets you hook up to it, the louder it gets, and the better it sounds. This head is all solid state, no tubes.

I primarily use a Jay Turser Music Man 4 string, its passive. I love a bass sound thats deep and solid at the bottom, but it has to cut through the mix well. The 2000RB i find is finicky, i can't always get a good sound from it. But for those who like dirty sounding bass, there is an intial boost channel, then a footswitchable one to really make it grind.

I'm uneasy about this amp. I've played alot of shows with it, always sounds good through the house system, but it just doesn't keep up with just a marshall JCM900 half stack with just one 4x10 cab. The amp clips out at the power amp stage before it reaches a desireable volume. It has clipped out and gone into protect mode 3 times for me, and that sucks because your screwed until you reset the unit, and even when you do that, it doesn't always reset. ITs not reliable that way at all.

I've sent emails and called GK numerous times to see if there may be something wrong with the amp for it to clip out so quickly. I only had one response and that was all. They were no help.

I've been playing bass for 8 years now, for the last 3 i've taken it quite seriously. I've had gear from small combos to stacks. My old yorkville 2x10 combo, and even the 400B head was more reliable and sounded decent, even when you cranked the crap out of it. It always worked, never died on me (especially not in the middle of a set). I enjoy the sound, and the flexability, but the reliability and finickyness is just not pleasing. I think i'll just get an ampeg.

Just wanted to add a major correction to previous review of this amp. The 2000RB is *NOT* a tube amp!!! It's 100% solid-state. There are ZERO tubes either in the preamp or power amp section. But don't let this keep you from trying out this awesome bass head. As the previous reviewer stated, it sounds fantastic. (I'm a diehard Ampeg SVT user myself, but the 2000RB sounds superb.)

1999 Model Bass Amp Head - 1000 watt head. Tube based. Capable of playing in stereo, biamp, or bridge modes. Rack mountable. Not too heavy. Has boost and tone controls (EQ). Easy to use. I liked the factory settings too. Has effects loops.

Sounds great at low or high volumes. Super quiet with no fan noise at all. Super headroom. Great for all types of music. Played with several types of Basses and all sound great: P bass, Jazz, Washburn Bantam, Bob Mick, and Musicman (all stock). I use 2 David Eden 410XLT cabinets (8 700 watt speakers of 10"). Since I play blues and funk, you can adjust the tone to fit your need. I especially like its ability to give a clean, piano bass sound. Plus it can be very loud for outdoors playing without being distorted.

NOT GREAT. Since its new and has tubes, you must always have a backup amp. I use an old Hartke 5000 (very noisy fan tho). I've gone through 3 GK 2000RBs since they had circuit and shortage problems. Had to send them to GK to fix. The folks there are nice BUT having a channel go out or your beautiful 1000 watt sound drop to 1 watt during play is NOT good. But when it plays, its great! But keep a backup amp close.

Outstanding folks at GK. They'll do their best to help. But these high wattage bass amps can be pesky.

Been playing over 20+ years professionally. Have many other amps: Fender, Marshall, Sun and Ampeg. The GK has the tone but will make you mad when it short circuits or whatever electrical problem it decides to demo. If stolen I'd buy another or get an Ampeg SVT IV or comparable. Love the tone, hate the electronics.