Glockenklang Soul Bass Head

The Soul head controls are relatively spartan when compared to some other amps these days but everything I need to dial in my perfect tone is there. This amp has my kind of layout: uncluttered and functional. In addition to the frequency shaping controls, Glock adds a gain knob that can crank out somewhat of a Jack Bruce like growl. Love that tune mute button stuck right on the front, unlike some amps that jamb the front panel with so much crap that they end up hiding the mute control on the rear, what the heck is that all about?

I've played a lot of high dollar amps that sound great until I get on stage and suddenly my perfect tone is so muddy I can hardly tell the pitch of the notes. I don't know how the Glock guys do it but the Soul always cuts through stage mix without being too loud or too harsh and has enough headroom to keep up with the heaviest of tree-trunk wielding drummers.

In the studio, the Soul is an engineers' dream; It's probably the quietest bass amp on the market.

Built like a tank. Gigged with the Soul for 3 years and it plays just like the day I bought it.

Never had to call the company and I can't speak German anyway.

I've played bass for over 25 years and gone through a lot of amps before finding this jewel. The quality justifies the high price; I've never heard anything better and don't expect I ever will. If my house ever catches on fire, this will be the first thing I try to rescue.

I own this amp for 2 years, playing Blues, Funk & Soul. Just one channel, but a very musical sounding 5-band-eq, but still very easy to use. Possibility to use a second bass and adjust the volume independantly. Mute knob for tuning and stand by. Effect send and return for parallel plus seriell use. Fantastic sounding DI-out pre or post eq. 2 Speakon connectors for cabinetts, delivers 440 watts into 4 Ohm. There are other amps on the market sounding louder at this rating, because there is no limiter and sound gets distorted when overdriven. Solid state, but sounding warmer and more naturell than most tube amps. Missing: Headphone jack.

I play 5-string-basses: Jazz bass (KSD 605), a self-build one with an esh-body, Yamaha maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, 2 MM-style PUs (Seymore Duncan) and Bartolini tone circuitry and a j-type fretless.
Very nice naturel, detailed and musical sounding amp with very effectiv and useful tone controls. No noise except the nearly quiet fan going on louder only wheen you won't her it.. Distortion is unwanted and the amp sounds terrible to me when overdriven.

Without any doubt a very professionell product, build like a tank. I always use it without backup.

Glockenklang is the kind of company you really would like to see more often in the music business: friendly and fast answer to all questions and really trying to satisfy their users. I could tell You stories You wouldn't believe... using their equipment for 18 years now. If possible, I would give them 20 ...

I'm playing bass for more than 30 years as a semi-pro. I use an Alembic preamp for warm tube sounds and a QSC 1602 if I really need power. I would replace it if lost or switch over to the new heartcore-top because of its power. I love its naturell sound, the easy handling and the reliability. The main thing: I like the fact that it does not color the sound of my instruments and puts out a fine detailed sound. I wish it had a good limiter because distortion sounds shitty when driven over the limit. Ahh, a headphone jack would be nice, too.

update to previous review

I'm totaly amazed by the quality of customer service of Glockenklang.
Since I'm near blind, I had a little problem when equing my amp or making my sound set up with my Soul head. Indeed, the knobs of Glock heads have no tactil mark or clic or stop for midle position so I always had to ask someone to set my eq flat before I could begin to work it alone.
On the other side, the knob at the back of Glock cabs has a little arrow that I can feel.
So I just e-mailed Udo from Glock to tell him about my problem (just for him to change things in the futur if he cares). He mailed me back in the day and proposed me to send me some new knobs, the same as on the cabs, with the arrow) so that I could remove the original ones.
A week later, I received my knobs totaly free from any charge, even transport was free for me.
I'm now a happy, very happy customer.

Double thumb up for Glockenklang !!!

Somebody else described the features very well before.
The second Input is a great thing if you have two basses.
Good for all styles except for hardrock and heavy metal.
It could have more power (see reliability)

This Amp sounds wonderful. The sound is very warm and natural. It has a very natural high end, much nicer than other amps. Some people say that glockenklang sounds too much "high end", but if you listen to SWR for example, glockenklang just sounds nice and appropriate. This amp reproduces the sound of the bass and nothing else. If you're looking for an amp that adds crunch and dirt you should get something else. I use with a Fender '74 Jazz Bass, an old german Upright and an F Bass Alain caron fretless. They sound amazing, mostly without any EQ. If you like your bass, you will like this amp. It's very calm, not noisy at all. You can even use it line out in the studio and it'll blow away some other high end preamps.

There is one thing: It has only 280 Watts 8 Ohms and I had problems when I was playing very loud. If you play in a very loud band, The Power amp switches off when played too loud.Of course the overload LED will blink some time before. I heard other bassplayers had that same problem. Even with two speakers, the same problem occurs. Apart from that this is a high quality amp.

I've been playing it for over 2 years and I very much enjoy playing it. It fits in all my bands and sounds just warm and fine. I'd probably get the new version (I think 700 Watts) but I heard it doesn't sound that great. With the glockenklang 15" & Horn it is a perfect rig. I played SWR before and this one really sounds much better. Playing my upright with the SWR was terrible.
Another EQ Section for the second Input would be awesome,

Bought new in October 2003. Hand made in Germany.
440 w in 4ohms, 250 w in 8 ohms. Passive and active imput, 5 rotari knob for bass, low, mid, high and treb. Paralel fx loop with switch and level, sery fx loop and insert. 2 spak on connectors. DI xlr with level, pre/post switch and groud lift switch.
Compact 2U design, 11KG. 2 cooling fans, very solid construction.
Other features, see on Glock site.
Wish it has an headphone out and a compressor or limiter integrated.
www.glockenklang.com

Absolutly gorgeous sound ! This amp is reputed for his absolute clarity and transparency and it deserves his reputation. I use a Warwick Streamer Jassman 5, a Carvin B4 and an Ibanez ATK 305 and I can tell exactly the differences between those 3 bass. My favorit is the Warwick which sound very warm in fingerstyle and barking when slapping and poping. Despite it is a all solid state amp, the sound is incredibly warm but always clean and pure even at high volume. Play it through a Glockenklang Quatro cab 4x10 with twitter.
Ultimate bass tone !

Only have it for 1 month so cannot tell but everything seems very reliable. This head is hand made in by small company so service is great. Udo makes and repares his amp himself.

5 years warranty. Always prompt answers to e-mail, not very expressive but quick !
Edwin which is the beneluxe distributor was great to deal with, very kind and informative. I ordered the amp by mail, pay by bank vir and it has been send at home direct from the factory in two days only !

My only complain is that this fantastic amp was not distributed in France so I had to buy it on the web without trying it. I based my choice on the reputation of Glockenklang and I'm not disapointed at all. This head is incredibly quiet, powerfull, compact and sounds like the bass heaven.
I play for 12 years and I think I found the amp of my life.