My younger brother bought himself a Gallien-Krueger Backline 600 top.

[Blazer]

As I stated elsewhere on this forum, my band Slavantas is currently in the studio recording our debut and our bassplayer Peter, who's also my younger brother was pushed with his nose on the fact that he needed to get himself a proper amplifier. So with that we went to a shop I've been a customer of for years to see what's out there.

He ended up buying one of THESE.


So does any of you have experience with these amps, is there anything he should know about them? The only thing I could tell him about Gallien-Krueger amps was that Flea and Duff McKagan are using them. He went "If it's good enough for them..."

[ramone57]

the Backline series is GK's entry level gear made in China.  it has the same preamp controls as the 2001RB but I don't know if it's truely identical.  let us know how he likes it.  what cabinet is he going to use?

[rahock]

Best bang for the buck out there. I picked one up a year or so ago that was like new for $100. GC sells them new for about $300.
It's not my main amp but I really like it. 300 watts at 4 0hm , 180 watts at 8 ohm. Most of the time I run it through an 8 ohm single 15 and it does the job as well as my very pricey Seymour Duncan head. Great sound ,when you tweak in the master volume and the boost in gets a nice pushy tube sound. I also use it when I play my electric ABG through a 4 ohm cabinet with 2 12' and a tweeter. It is a tad underpowered for that 500 watt cabinet but the head has a -10db switch on it for use with an instument with a preamp an it really makes a difference with a preamped ABG. It smoothes the tone and reduces feedback tremendously. Again, it sounds great. Playing through the 2 12 cabinet with my P basses I prefer my  pricey Seymour Duncan head which has 400 watts as opposed to the GKs  300 watts. The Gk sounds pretty good though, just not as strong.
I like my little GK a whole lot more than I thought I would   Excellent bang for buck
Rick

[TBird1958]

I've played thru GK for 30 years mostly with a 400RB (your amp's U.S. precursor) and a 1001RBII,
they've been excellent under all conditions I think very highly of their products.

[OldManC]

I've played thru GK for 30 years mostly with a 400RB (your amp's U.S. precursor) and a 1001RBII,
they've been excellent under all conditions I think very highly of their products.

I bought my first GK in 1983. I only replaced it because Chris Holmes blew it up some time in the mid 90's. I have no experience with anything newer, but my 800RB has served me well.

[rahock]

I've come across a lot of people who claim they just can't get the sound or just can't get the power out of GK equipment. Try as I may, I just don't get it  . I like everything I've seen from GK and I always get compliments on my sound from other musicians and particularly other bass players.  The Backline stuff is great and if I were in the market for some heavy artillery I would definately be looking at the big GK stuff .

I've got a buddy who is a die hard SVT guy, who plays an active PU custom built hot rod bass and he loves playing through my Backline 600 and single 15 Emenence cab at jam sessions. He had trouble believing that the head retails for only $299.
Rick

[luve2fli]

I did a festival up in Quebec a couple of years back and the backline was typical - Ampeg SVT through a matching 8x10. Once I plugged in, I realized the head was having issues and the stage manager yanked the whole rig, replacing it with a GK 800RB through a GK 1x15 and 4x10. The tone was bloody fantastic - the absolute closest I've heard a solid state amp come to juicy tube goodness ...... it was exactly what I wanted. I've been a huge fan ever since but admittedly, I don't own any GK gear.