Gallien Krueger 400RB-III

in 2002 I bought this head in a combo stack unit. The head is housed in a speaker enclosure with two 10" speakers , and there is a secondary speaker cab with a 15" speaker in it. but dont' fear i'm reviewing jsut the head not the speakers.

Of all the amps i've used this one is the most versitle in tone reproduction i've worked with. even being a head ina combo it's still rack mountable if you slide it out of it's cabinet (you just won't have to external housing on it.

Pros:
good tone shaping features (contour, presence, db cutter , and a booste knob)
lot's of power for the wattage
4 knob EQ-ing (treble, High mid, low mids, bass)
Durable (i've had it for 20 years now and ti's still going).
Easy to dial a clean sound or a gritty overdriven sound , with out using tubes.
Cons:
odd labeling , there's 2 "volume" knobs but really what tha knobs are "volume" = Gain , and "Master"
= volume. Maybe it's just me but this knob labeling scheme has always bugged me with GK.

after 20 years i'm getting crackling and buzzing caused by the tuning mute button and the db cutter
button but well what can i expect after 20 years , with no service done on the amp. I should probably take it into a shop to get looked at eventually but .. you know how money is these days.

that all said there's not really much I can say bad about this amp. They don't make them any more but that's because they were replaced by other RB series amps. but if you got your eye on an RB series head, this is one way to snag one for less money than grabbing the newest at the price they cost.

The Gallien Krueger 400RB-III is one of the first bass amps I've ever owned, and it certainly stood the time of time for nearly a decade. It is a 240W solid-state amplifier that is relatively compact, but relatively powerful, and provides nice, clean, simple bass sounds. It can be rack-mounted or simply rested on top of a speaker cabinet, the amp comes with the included hardware to make the changes, including taking the handle on the side on and off. Speaking of handle, this amp can be easily carried with one hand, which makes it very portable, but certainly not underpowered. My buddy now uses this amp with a full 8x10 cabinet, and it powers that speaker just fine.

UTILIZATION

Even beyond bass amplification, this head can be used for many applications, including a PA or keyboard amplifier. It provides basic EQ functionality, and it can produce great sounds at very clean levels. If you want some grit, you can add it as well, with three separate gains/volumes available on the unit, you can adjust them as you please.


SOUNDS

Gallien Kruger is one of the more famous non-tube bass amplifier company, and the quality of the sound definitely shows that. Because it is very clean and transparent, the character of your bass guitar and your playing style shine through. There is a basic EQ section, along with a presence knob for controlling ultra highs, and a contour knob to quickly scoop the mids if desires. There is even a voicing switch for 5-string bass guitars, which presumably adds more definition for ultra-low end.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, the 400RB-III by Gallien Krueger is one of the best investments I ever made in a piece of musical equipment, It lasted me forever, and it still sounds great, up until the day I sold it off to a friend. If you can find one, be sure to check it out!

I bought this amp head at Guitar Center in San Diego for $419. I needed more power seeing as though I only had an amp/speaker combo putting out about 100 watts rms.

Power ratting is unbelievable, I've played two relatively large roomed shows and never had to turn in past a quarter of the volume (powering one 15" speaker). Many equalization options!

Price maybe... but never found good quality cheap.

Quality and construction is excellent.

Well known brand that's been around for a while with a product that that won't let you down... buy it!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Zzounds, paid $449.00

Most versatile amp I've ever used. I play a different variety of music,(rock, funk, soul,blues and country) and this amp handles it all. I run it through a Peavey 4x10 and Peavey 2x10 and it was growly when I needed it for the rock and blues, clean for the country and slap easy for the funk and pop. I coulndt ask for more out of an amp. The power was awsome and I didnt have to push it too hard to get the sound I wanted. More head room and volume than other higher rated amps I've tried.

nothing

Very light weight and easy to set up. All adjustments are easy to use.

Great amp for the money. Handle any type of music. Couldnt ask for a better amp. Im a GK fan for life.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com