Gallien-Krueger 400RB IV Head

Year: 2007
Styles: Rock, Hard Rock, Punk, Grunge, Blues and some Funk

Versatile, within reason. there is a great range across the amp, the 4 band eq gives real differentiation from just slight tweaking which is fantastic but if you want to get away from the GK sound, buy a different amp!
Direct out, effects loop, blah blah lots slammed into this relatively small amp at a small price. in terms of features it has everything you could want, bi-amp is available on the 700-rb so cant complain about that especially at the price.

For mid sized and small gigs this is a great amp, powerful and versatile with alot of power and punch.

I generally use two basses through this amp, most notably; Gibson Thunderbird for hard rock and the likes and then for more bluesy sound I use a Fender Jazz bass. Pickups in the jazz are hot sets (bit heavier on attack) as I like the punch, standard (as you cant change em) in the Thunderbird.

The style of the GK sound is awesome, high's and mids are really well defined and there is alot of bottom in the amp, really hits hard. The boost feature on the amp allows you to add the GK sound as they state on their website, which is nice! generally I like to play with alot of boost on as it adds the growl thats often talked about.
You can get really good funk tones with alot of shape and presence in it but then you can whack up the bottom end and growl and have a really punchy sopund perfect for all styles of rock. Endorcements from the likes of Flea and Duff mcKagen should give you an idea of sound.
Suits me perfectly and I love it!

not had it too long so shouldn't really comment

I emailed them a few months ago to ask about set up, I had a reply within an hour by email and a very useful one at that. Must say I was impressed as I was not a customer.

Been playing for 8 years and have played a number of amps from likes of Laney, Ampeg, Marshall. I also use a Electro-Harmonix Black finger compression box (which if you dont have one get one, they are brilliant!) and a David Hall Amps Valve Tone Distortion which is also pretty good!
I really like this amp, love it in fact, it sounds great and I would have to replace it if something happened to it. The sound is fantastic, great versatility and its so easy to use. The only thing that would make me get rid or not give this full marks is that you can always buy a model up from this GK-700RB!

just beacuse the GK 400 RBIV is the same as the RBIII am giving the same review i made in the GK 400 RBIII in this web.GK 400 RbIII. bought it in 2001. every body knows it. their features are good. espec/ the mute button and the loop jacks. also its self circuitry protection.

here is where everything turns form light to dark. at first i was using with it my peavey fury and ampeg svt 410 HE cab. i found it to sound good. actually pretty da** good. but then i upgraded to a musicman stingray and everything turned in darkness. at first i tought it could be the ray (i was sad as hell)cause it sounded so bright doen't matter the way i twick the da** amp. then a friend of mine borrowed an all fender tube amp. OH MY GOD WHAT A IMPROVEMENT. i just coulnd't believe about the sound. was awesome. so i knew was the GK head. honestly too way bright AN THE LACK OF WARM IS NOTICEABLE. I am giving a five cause later on i found that my peavey (tought sounded good) didn't sounded that good trought the GK head. sounded too bright anyway.

a workhouse got to say

never dealt with them

bottom line. i've heard lots of complimment about this head i can't believe is the same i had. as far inhmo i think this head is so over appreciated. lack of warm in tons as tons of brights as well. anyway i sold it and bought myself a 2 hand/ all tube fender head. THE BEST INVEST I HAVE DONE. after i heard the fender all tube head the GK turned unusable to me. i know fender is tube and GK is transistor driven. but what the heck this is my experince. after seeking in the web and forums gotta conclude that GK are rellay good to passive basees or to double basses (maybe thats why you see lot of double-bassits using them) but STAY AWAY IF YOU ARE USIN ACTIVE BASSES.

Versatility is one thing that this head has in spades. Once you read up on the controls and play around with it, there's not a sound out there that you cannot match from classic rock, jazz, funk, hard rock, and heavy metal. The amount of power leaves a little to be desired, however to be fair I'm running it at 180W through a single 8Ohm cab. I imagine this will change when I add another 8Ohm cab in parallel to get the full 280W per the owners manual.

I'm currently running this head with a Hartke VX410 speaker cab and my Spector NS20005 5-string bass. My only beef with the sound is the preamp. On other amplifiers, I can turn the active electronics and the gain all the way up. With the specific preamp this amplifier uses if I turn the gain above the "12 o'clock" position it overdrives rather than giving me more headroom.

This makes no sense per the documentation for the head straight from Gallien-Krueger. Their documentation recommends cranking the gain to about the "3 o'clock" position and states the "Boost" control adds the growl. Yet, from my experience, the loudest actually clean sounds are obtained by cranking the "boost" all the way up (which rather than growl seems to add an almost active electronics sound) and leaving gain at 12 o'clock to avoid overdriving the preamp. This is happening independently of whether I'm running my active 5-string Spector or my passive Yamaha RBX350 4-string bass, and the "-14db pad" seems to do little to correct the issue.

That all said, it's still possible to find my sound (see versatility explanation) and when dialed in properly the sound is gorgeous. In fact, the only reason I'm rating this 7 instead of 9 is that the documentation doesn't match the reality of the beast.

I can practice in stifling hot practice rooms in the middle of the summer and the amp doesn't overheat. Seems to be built like a tank. However, I've only had it a month or two. I did pick it up used. So it survived whatever someone else did before me and has lasted through to me. However, I'm going to give this "no opinion."

I have not had to contact Gallien-Krueger support. Any problems I've had (see sound explanation) have been minor enough to not bug people over.

I've been playing for 15 years now. I've used equipment from many different brands. For the money, this was a wiser purchase than the Hartke 2500 as it had far superior tone and will make an excellent small gig to medium gig amplifier. For anything bigger, I'd probably want something else - most likely this amp's "bigger brothers" the 700RB, 1001RB, or 2001RB.

bought in 2005. versatile isn't even the word for this baby! 400 rb iv is for anyone with 4 strings. I play blues, blues/rock, and some cliche rock as well. as far as rock goes i dont beleive it can be beat, when is come to the blues end, roll off the tone pot and ease back on finger tension and it'll make you sound good no matter how bad you are. i find the loop a little noisy at times, depending on where i am, so i think the grounding is to blame. i wish it had footswitch for the mute, as well as contour(just off - wherever your knob is set). power is great, more on that topic later. 180 @ 8 or 280 @ 4ohms, big enough, the cab choice is more the question. as afr as solid state goes, GK is the King. I have the 210 combo.

I use a 72 P and a 2001 peavey J style with Fender pu's. all passive(for now). i love the fact that it produce a thump sinilar to a bomb going off on stage when you rip one off on that E. while at the same time soar smoothly through any tune you attemp. very growly if you want as well. i run the high at about 2 oclock, hi mid at 4, low mid at 9 and bottom at 3-4 oclock, contour full, presence at 12-1 and boost OFF, master 12-9(room pending), as well i also have the 5 string setting activated, tho i use 4 string basses. i never use a horn, tho i may soon, and have tested it with horns, on a GK cab its perfect, on an eden it was horrid!!!!!. choose of tone and color is never ending, though watch the presence if your bass buzzes at all! When i first go tthe amp, it was crap, distorted to hell at vcery low volumes. I am in Canada, so it went to Yorkville to be repaired. when i got it back it was a GK again, for 20 mins. at jam volume! Back to Yorkville, all new parts came back in the same chassis, very pleased now. GK were slow to return emails, and were very vague on details with me, i wouldnt say easy to get along with.

I will not depend it yet, if the sound stays the way it is now for another few months, i will bring only it to play, but until then, backed up for sure.
Absolutely rediculous break downs for a NEW amp. i was and kinda still am very dissapointed with GK in general.

Repair was almost impossible, my retailer special ordered it for me, so it wasnt like they could just replace in a day or two. my retailer payed shipping for me(im sure GK will reimburse them), work done by Yorkville, NOT GK, that aggravates me a lot. York do not build them, york shouldnt repair em. GK reps that i talked to were as useful as tits on a bull. I will say anything good about them because they got onmy bad side. however, many ppl say they are great, possibly didnt care about the guy in Canada, or maybe i just got an idiot on the day(days).

i have benn playing for about 15 years, semi pro, 3-4 night a week. i have used uncountable rigs, my father was a pro bassist for 25 years, i have many hand me downs. I would never buy the 400 again, but i would get the 700 or 1001. I will buy one more to let GK redeem themselves. i love the fact that it have very clean powerfull pounch that will cut through anything, i mean anything. it is light and powerful, the fan is continously variable, and has only cut in a few times, i never stress the amp, thats what house pa's are for. I hate that i had such trouble from such a respectable company. it blows everything out of the water for tight punchy power, but could use a footswitch. i DO suggest this amp, without question, the best made gear in the world do get made on fridays, and sometoimes you do get lemons. do not be affraid of a company who gets a bad review or two, i bet most of you own fenders....i have two that came wired like a moron playing a prank got into the fender factory. to instruments, bought several years apart, BRAND NEW!! mistakes happen, humans are humans. no one will say they dont sound amazing, unless they are ego stricken owners of other rigs!

Latest model, for specs see other reviews. I play mostly metal at small-to-medium sized venues, so power is definately a must. I've not had to really crank it yet, which should give an indication of how far it satisfies my needs. The features are enough for me.

Excellent sound. I play an Ibanez soundgear bass and an Ashdown ABM 2x10 cab. The cab and head really complement each other, and the tight, clean, but slightly edgy sound cuts through the mix very well, important for metal. Noise isn't much of an issue, not from the amp anyhow as my bass has a noisy preamp that needs changing. The amp is quite versatile, able to go from a harsh, grindy and edgy sound to a smooth, clean and powerful tone. However, if you're looking for tube-amp warmth, you're definately barking up the wrong tree. This is a solid state amp, and proud of it. None of that 'tube emulation' buisiness. Freed of the constraints of trying to sound like something else, this amp is designed to maximise the inherint strengths of the solid state design. And does so very well.

I've owned it for about a year now, no problems at all.

Havn't needed it yet. Nice website, though.

Great amp. Small, compact, light, powerful. I'm a semi-pro music student and this amp sees a lot of work. I've been gigging regularly for about 5 years now.
I don't think I'd buy the same amp if something happened to it, I'd opt for the 700 or 1001 model. I love the sound of it, and its small size. The volume was also a plus. Also, it was excellent value for money. I compared this amp to an Ashdown MAG 300, and a Peavey 350 head. The Ashdown was good, but since I already own an Ashdown combo, I knocked that off my list. The Peavey was nice, but just a bit bland sounding to my ears. The Gallien-Krueger however made the bass really come to life. It would be nice if there was a footswitchable mute, but whatever no big deal.

All in all, great amp.

2004 model. Solid state, 180W at 8 ohms, 280W at 4 ohms. Pretty basic amp. Power is OK for small indoor gigs, not much more. I'll give it a 5 since it's useful, but not outstanding.

Here's the problem. The preamp is garbage, in my opinion. The EQ center points were badly selected by GK. Excessively noisy, as well. I play a '59 Pbass, and had it mated to an Aguilar GS112 cab (great cab, by the way). Thought it might be the old bass causing the noise, but that wasn't the case. Bypassing the pre and going direct to the power amp improved the situation, but I think their claim of a 90dB signal to noise ratio is pure fantasy. I've played through SWR rigs with 70dB S/N ratios that were vastly better. I've come to suspect that the problems are due to faulty grounding and/or inadequate RF shielding. Used to own a 1990 RB400 that was silent as the grave, and actually seemed to produce more power, though it was rated at only 120W at 8 ohms. Go figure. What I can't understand is how every PA amp manufacturer can build units that spec >100dB S/N ratios with low THD figures, but musical instrument amp manufacturers can't seem to get it together (this applies to ALL of them -- GK, Ampeg, SWR, etc., etc.)

I bought an Aguilar DB924 pre (another great Aguilar product) and now run direct through the PA. No noise, just fat, solid, fabulous sound. This just verified my suspicions about the amp.

The only thing I could depend on with this amp was noise, night after night. Never pushed the amp at all, and in the year I had it, it got progressively worse.

Didn't own it long enough to deal with customer support. Probably a waste of time anyway, based on some of the horror stories I've heard.

Been playing 30 years, through all kinds of rigs. I'm not big on collecting mountains of gear. I like to keep it light and simple. Very disappointed in this amp, especially in light of the fact that I used to own an older version that was much better. I expected more from GK. They should spend more time and money on R&D, and less on marketing hype. I'll never buy another GK product.

Very compact and lightweight solid state amp. 275 watts, but feels much more powerful. Headroom is no issue for me with this baby. The active eq can take some getting used to, but once you play with it a bit, it's easy to dail in a good sound.

It can be hard to dail in a "warm" sound in some venues, but it can be done. But no matter what, this amp always cuts thru the mix, and sounds good doing it. Guys that like tube amps only may not like the GK sound, but i think it's great myself, and this amp really lets the sound of the bass shine thru. It is a bit noisy with my G&L L-2500, but not a huge deal,and once the band is going it's not noticable. The amp has alot of power considering the wattage, so i don't ever push it real hard.

I haven't had it too long, but have had zero problems, and frankly i don't expect any for a long time to come. I don't like how the rack ears are shaped out, i had a hard time getting them to fit in my rack, had to bend them in a bit to do it.

Haven't had to deal with them yet for any sort of equipment failure, but when i first got the amp, i had some questions about eq setting for it, and Daniel Elliot of GK was very nice and took the time to try and answer my questions on the Talk Bass site. Really nice to have someone "live" like that you can bounce questions off, and know you're dealing with an expert.

This is a really great head for the price, and really powerful for the wattage. The only difference between this and other GK heads is the wattage, and this amp has no bi-amp capabilities. I'd say as long as you're not playing death metal at ear bleeding levels with no pa support this amp could serve about anyones needs well. To my mind it's really good for small to pretty big gigs. It's more than done the job for me so far, and i play some big venues. I'd recommend this amp to anyone without hesitation.

More power than the old model(280watt). Great toneshaping options. I play many styles(Jazz, dance-music and old-time rock). Small to medium gigs. I use it with Ampeg Portabass cabinet. So I can have it all with me in the bus. The amp is a little bigger than the Portabass-head, but better sounding, almost same weight and much cheaper. The mute buttom is a hit. And the 5 sekunds upstart before the speaker is on is a good thing. It solves the pop-problem earlier-models suffered from.


It would have been nice with a footswitch for the boost, but it is really a smalle thing.

I use Music Man Sterling, Pedulla fretted and fretless and a fretless custum built jazzbass-copy, modyfied by Celinder. I play with fingers and pick(no slapping). The amp is very quiet. It has a fan, but it doesn't run at low tempetarures,

Built like a tank. I have played the small MB-150 on the road for 10 years without problems, and I have similar exspectations to the amp.
I have only played it for three months but I am very happy

I considered Eden WT330 and Ampeg PB-250, but both amps where more expensive and with lesser features. And the sound wanm't better in my opinion.