Bass Gear Review: Gallien-Krueger 1001 RB-II

I have to start out this review with a little side story about my experiences buying this amp. I ordered my first 1001 from Musician's Friend the beginning of August and had the head within a week or so. The amp worked perfectly for a total of 12 hours before it emitted a nice little cloud of smoke. The amp continued to work but had a terrible burnt smell. I was in denial for maybe a hour blaming everything from the Mylar crossover in my cab to a bug flying into the amp. I couldn't imagine a new GK amp breaking so quick or any solid state head continuing to work after what seemed to be a major malfunction. My friend Steve offered a solution to my problem chiming in, "maybe it's some sweet hidden smoke effect feature!" Thanks guy. To keep it short, I returned the amp to Musician's Friend which got all messed up and took way too long. So in the end I bought a second amp from Guitar Center and that is the one I am currently playing at 40+ hours now.

The GK 1001 RB-II is a 700w solid state amp. It weighs in at 22 lbs. and takes up two rack spaces. I will link to the GK site at the end to save you from the endless list of features. Instead I will comment on some of the features that really factor into my opinion of the amp. This amp has a separate tweeter amp that can put out an additional 50w to the tweeter directly. Unfortunately you will need to use a GK cab that is designed to use this feature. I can understand why this is necessary but it seems almost pointless with such a limited range of use. The amp does put out plenty of watts though and is incredibly quite while doing so. My old Ampeg head was real noisy and had a super loud fan. The GK's fan is super quite and before it went in my rack case I loved watching it rev up and down as I started to really push the head. The head as all of the inputs and the direct out on the front. This will certainly make the sound guy happy at shows but I would have liked to see the option for the effects and tuner jacks on the back as well.

While the design has a few faults the tone and power of this amp is where it really shines. GK is known to be a more sterile sounding amp. While most Ampegs sound like Ampegs the GK really lets the sound of the player and bass come through. One of my bass instructors once told me that the majority of your tone is in your fingers and that the gear is just there to help it out. With the 1001 RB this is exactly what happens. The amp has a four band graphic equalizer and this is almost set entirely flat. I cut the bass a little, this also helps take some of the work load off the power amp, and have a slight mid boost. The amp boasts a 4/5 String, Contour, and Presence filter. The 4/5 String filter is a simple on off switch. I am still playing with these filters a lot. On 5 string the amp seems to give more growl on the lower notes. On 4 string the amp is more balanced in tone and sounds much clearer on my 5 string tenor's high C. This switch may very well turn into a mood switch for me. 4 string for those mellow days with lots of chord work and 5 string for the days when the boss pissed me off and I just want to rock. The Contour filter is basically a mid range scoop based on the same circuitry in the famous 800RB. The Presence filter adds extra sparkle to the high-end, again to help with chord work and high end clarity. I am using these two set at about 12 O'clock on both. I find myself playing with these three controls more than anything else. They are true filters and don't over power the tone you have already dialed in. I can use just these three controls to shape my tone to taste on a session to session basis without messing up my EQ settings. All this clean focused tone pumping through the 700w power amp leads to one hell of a great bass sound. I am very please with this amp despite it's flaws in layout. The Gallien-Krueger 1001 RB-II is a great sounding head with tons of power for the casual to semi-pro player. And at $750 it is a great deal as well. I would buy this amp a third time if need be and GK may have made a lifer out of me.

Gallien-Krueger