Gallien-Krueger Backline 112 Combo

Mine is a 2008 model, has 2 channels one being a clean and the other an overdrive. It is a 100 watt combo with a 12 inch speaker, 3 band active EQ, contour switch to scoop out mid frequencies and boost the lows and highs, -10db pad which comes in very useful for active basses, line out at rear of the amp, headphone jack at rear of amp, speaker out again at rear of the amp.

I play Metal and Rock and I find the range of available tones from this amp more than suitable. You can get nice bright clear punch for faster thrash and technical stuff along with deeper richer low end for the more traditional rock moments. The only thing I would say is that if it had a 15 inch speaker you would get fuller sound at the low end and more clarity when playing at volume. I play a Spector Euro 5 LX which is fully active and a Spector Rox 4 Professional Series which is passive and both basses sound great through this amp. The -10db pad is a must if you are using an active bass through this combo as the increased output from the pickups does tend to push the input circuits very hard otherwise. I do find that I get distortion when playing the B string on the 5 string bass if playing hard (which I frequently do), but have found that a little fiddling around with the EQ sorts it out. I think if you spend a few minutes playing with the EQ, contour etc and read the manual which does give good tips you can and will get a huge range of sounds from this amp. I use mine both as a practice amp at home and to play gigs in small venues like pubs and find that at low volumes I get clear well balanced sound just as I do when I play the amp at full volume for a rehearsal or small gig. The overdrive channel seems to be quite unpopular with other players, but I quite like it. I dont use it very often but as I like to play solos with overdrive I find it quite a cool feature.

I've owned mine for around six months and have had no problems with it at all. I also own a GK 1001 RB head and have had that for nearly six years without any problems or breakdowns, so if that is anything to go by this little combo should be reliable enough.

Never had to contact GK so I don't know.

I've been playing bass for coming up to eleven years and have played through many heads and combos from other manufacturers like Peavey, Line6, Trace Elliot and Ampeg but GK have been my choice for the last six years since I bought my 1001 RB head and RBH cabs. I had a Line6 LD150 combo before this Backline 112 and when it decided to die on me during a gig and after it had been unreliable for the entire time that I had owned it I decided I wanted a GK combo to replace it. The GK is a 100 watt combo yet it easily out performs the Line6 on volume, clarity and tone. It is a very compact unit and at only 40LBS it is easy to move around. The only thing I think I would do to improve this little combo is give it a 15 inch speaker for better clarity at the bottom end when playing at high volumes. If someone were to steal my 112 I would hunt them down and strangle them with an old B string. If it was damaged and unable to be repaired I would go out and buy another one straight away without a second thought. At a price of around only ??180 this combo is fantastic value for money and it performs as well and probably better than some combos of twice its price.

This is a 100 watt combo amp with a 12" speaker. It has 2 channels, a normal and overdrive channel, though I never use overdrive and it doesn't sound very good. There's a -10 dB pad which is useful for active basses that could overdrive this amp easily. There's a contour switch which is based on the same circuit as used in the famous GK 800RB. After that there's the 3 band active EQ and finally a master volume control. Would prefer a semi-parametric EQ but in this price range can't ask for much. There's jacks for mix, channel footswitch, headphones, line out. Features seem typical for a combo amp in this category.

I don't know why so many people that have reviewed this amp are complaining about the normal channel being overdriven easily. If people would take a minute to *READ* the manual it says *TWICE* including in the 'Quick Start' part in case people are too much in a hurry: "Do not turn the volume control in the input section past 12 o???clock unless you want an overdrive effect". This is not the only amplifier that does this, most amplifiers work like this in a similar way. Adjust the master for the volume, the level adjusts the gain which will cause distortion if turned up too much. I usually leave the level (gain) at 11 o'clock and turn the master close to all the way up and I don't get any distortion unless I play pretty hard then the amplifier begins to clip which is normal. This is with a G&L L-2500 in active mode which is a bass with a pretty hot output.

I've had this amplifier for a little over a year now and I really like it. It sounds great, it's not too heavy (40 lbs) and I would say above average power and sound quality for an amplifier in its price category and for 100 watts. Doesn't have as much depth as say a cabinet with a 15" speaker but it sounds very nice otherwise. I have a pair of active basses and a passive fretless, they all sound great with it.

It seems to be built really well. Never had it broke. I've had it for a little over a year now. I took a look inside the chassis (I don't recommend the end user do this) and it was very clean and seemed well designed. I believe GK is one of the few amplifier makers left that produce them in the US. They used a toroidal power transformer which, while slightly more expensive, is more efficient, lighter, produces less hum, and produces a smaller magnetic field (that could affect the other components in the amplifier) than the standard E-core transformers that most other amplifiers use. To see this on a portable combo amp seems to show that GK doesn't cut corners. The capacitors in the signal chain are metallized polyester (Mylar) and have a tolerance of +/- 5% (rather than the +/- 10 or even 20% norm). There's a large heatsink on the back to cool the power transistors. The controls are rubber coated and all have steel shafts and are individually bolted to the chassis, so good luck breaking them. The amp has thermal and current overload protection that shuts it off to prevent damage, never had this happen.

Can't speak for this, never had a problem with it.

It's a great combo amp, definitely check it out when considering buying a combo amp. I would get it again if it were lost or stolen.

There's an overdrive channel that's kinda fun to mess with, although ut sounds horrible. That's about it.

BAD, BAD, BAD! If you go up past half volume, which, competing with guitar and drums, you really need to do, it sounds like overdriven mud.

I almost blew it out playing my 5th fret A note on my E string at three quarters volume. Hasn't quit all the way yet though

haven't talked to these guys yet

great for a practice amp, but save yourself money in the long run and buy an Ampeg, SWR or another nice brand.

It has the ussual controls; treble, mid, bass, 15db pad, and contour switch. The contour switch is not as good as the three switches you get on an 800RB (my main amp). I play all styles of music, but I can't for the life of me figure out why you would need a "dirty" channel for bass? Even my bass pedal has fuzz tones with more depth (mostly it just makes 101 fart sounds)!

It's adequate, as long as you don't over drive the amp. I am unhappy with the preamp control, if you turn it up too much, a "buzz" develops. I don't feel it develops a full 100 watts output. The sound is that of a cheap Gallien-Kruegar clone, rather than that of a REAL Gallien-Kruegar.

It's never left me flat after 6 months of use

Haven't needed any

If I knew then what I know now, I would have spent the extra money for an MB150 series. I might buy it again if it were priced under $100.

2004 model, i use this for small gigs and line out into the house system when need be. 2 channels one distortion one clean. decent low end coverage and nice mids, wish it had low and high mid option though. 100 watts is more than enough for any gigging musician unless
you are a five or six or seven string bass player how could you need more.

im using a standard jazz 4 string via fender. my pedal board houses
an eq a volume control an envelope filter and a loop station, all in
the nu-jazz area. ground hum is minimal and the treble gets a little chirpy. its user friendly though, after 60-70% of the master is up
the amp distorts, not very good.

i've used the 210 version and the 1x15 version both stopped working on me. this one however is running fine. just treat it right.

na

Made in 2002 I believe. 100 solid state watts through a 12 inch speaker. I played rock and some metal with my first band using this amp, which I hoped would be loud enough for playing with people. It is not, it is a quiet 100 watts and it begins to fart out after half volume. It also has a distortion channel, which is not very useful, but was fun to play around with until it stopped working.

I used this amp with a Spector Performance 4, with passive EMG pickups. It sounds alright for a practice amp, through it is not near the quality of a piece of live gear. There isn't very much variety in the sound. The clean channel distorts at a moderate volume, and the distortion channel is nearly worthless.

This amp blew out after about a year of usage. I never turned it over half volume, which was about its max before it would distort, and I only used it with a 4 string passive bass. It is now always distorted, no matter what volume or setting it is on. The distortion does not work anymore either, the sound is partially distorted all the time.

I have been playing for a few years now, and this was my first amp. I now have an SWR Workingman's setup with replaced this amp. I don't even keep this amp in my possession anymore, it is almost worthless to me. I would never buy from Gallien-Krueger again. When I bought this amp it seemed like a good deal for $350 at 100 watts, but you get what you pay for. This is a cheaply made poorly performing amp.

100 Watts, 12" speaker (very compact for a 100 watt amp)
2 channels, clean and distortion
3 band eq
Enhancer switch to scoop mids
tilt back design
metal grill

Very strong sound from a small package. Sounds great!

GK amps are supposed to last forever.

A great amp for the money! Portable enough to lug around. Weighs about 40lbs

It's at least a year old, that's all I know.
I play some very different styles - jazz, chili-peppers kind of rock, psychedelic rock, metal - and the amp sounds pretty good with all of those. A little bright for metal sounds, but that's what I use the distortion channel for.
It would be cool to have a chorus built in, but it's not exactly vital to my sound, and I have plenty of pedals lying around, so it's not too important.
Active-circuit 3-band EQ was a nice touch, but it took me a while to figure out how to get a good sound with the active pickups as well - I'll explain that next.

I'm playing an Ibanez SR405 with active pickups through this. With the active circuit on top of this, I was getting some weird sounds for a while. I was trying to use the same settings as I did when I had a passive 4-string, and that didn't really work. However, while massively bored one day, I was messing around with it, and tried playing it with the EQ on the amp flat, and using the bass's controls to adjust my tone. This worked VERY well, so that's what I do now. Sometimes I bring the bass or treble on the amp up to about 3, just for an added boost.
For some styles[mostly metal] the treble is just far too bright, so I do one [or more] of 3 things: 1.turn on distortion; 2.turn down the treble; 3.don't play high notes. In other words, it's not that much of a problem.
However, when I crank this thing up, even on the clean setting, it starts to distort - mostly the first 5 frets of the low B and the first 3 or so of the E. This is the only real problem I have with this thing. I would imagine that a suppressor or compressor would help eliminate this, but I'm too lazy to go out and look for a cheap noise-suppressing pedal. Generally when I'm playing that loud, I'm playing something heavy, so it's a problem I can get away with most of the time.

I would probably use it on a small gig, if necessary. However, I usually just buy a half-stack from a music shop and return it the day after the gig if I need to get that floor-shaking sound.
Overall this thing is a tank. The only problem I've ever had was when the handle came loose one day while I was carrying it. A very quick fix - if you've got a screwdriver nearby, just tighten up the screws. if not, carry the thing in your arms[like a dead baby] instead of dragging it by the handle.

If it were stolen, I'd probably try to find and beat the shit out of the guy who stole it[probably with the amp itself], clean it up and sell it so I could get a bigger amp. If it were lost, I'd save up until I could afford another amp - probably a half-stack.
By the way, this thing doesn't really look it, but it's a bitch to carry, and has a pretty massive sound for only having a 12-inch speaker.

This is Gallien Krueger's backline 12 bass amp with kickback design. It has two channel (1 distortion and 1 clean) allthough I don't get it personally. I play it clean to give my bass punch not grit! I use this bass amp at church on Sundays for worship and that's about all it's capable of doing....I'll tell you more later!

This amp is missing something...the punch just isn't there like Gallien Krueger promised. Even when I hooked up my bass compressor, it still sounds "blah".

I just got it, so I really can't tell.

I've been playing bass and guitar for 15 years. This amp looks cool and the features are ok! But if sound is what you want, do yourself a favor and buy an Ampeg or SWR.