My new amp is well..................Very much like my old amp!
After 7 years ( Hard to belive!) I've decided to move to a new amp. It's really not much of a move however, my Gallien Krueger 1001RBII has been a great amp with plenty of headroom for anything my band does on a regular basis, in fact that's it's only real problem - it's a bit too much amp.
Our typical shows have me doing one or the other of the following:
-We have good FOH support and my rig is onstage with low volume so I can feel it - the band gets my signal in their IEMs and the PA does the work.
-We are playing a smaller place, like a bar with the band playing as loud as our drummer ( he plays at an average volume ) unmic'd, so my amp provides all the bass.
In either situation I wasn't working the amp very hard, neither the input gain or master volume were anywhere near noon so the amp wouldn't really "open up" and work hard - GK's like to be pushed a little especially on the input gain side. Also, because of it's higher wattage GK always recommended plugging the amp into a 20 amp circuit without using any extension cords - Not always easily done at some venues we've played so I had a Furman AR1215 Line Voltage Regulator riding around in the road case along with the amp ( there were quite a few times I was happy it was there too, as I'd turn it on an see the incoming voltage as low 98 volts and the GK wouldn't even turn on with so little incoming. ) which made the road case quite heavy and meant I needed a separate case for my IEM gear as well.
So my solution was to take a step down and try an amp with a bit less wattage that I could "push" a little bit, for me the choice was easy as I've used GK for more than 30years. A 700RBII was the logical choice ( 480 watts ) with the same front panel layout as my 1001, it's lighter, needs less power and I have to push it to get the volume level I had before. It also meant I could ditch the the heavy, unloved AR1215, which opened up space in the road case for my IEM gear, so the case got rebuilt slightly just those two on the front side, and a new Furman rack mount plug strip in back - I also added a switched 120volt fan on the back side for increased ventilation.
So far, I'm really enjoying working with the amp, the band is on a short three week break which has given me time to work it in and adjust some levels on my Line 6 pedal as well. I'm lovin' my GK!
Here's the old rig with the AR1215 and Mike Lull's Hiwatt DR103 sitting on top.
And the new setup with the 700RBII and my Shure IEM in the front, new plug strip and fan in the back.
