We bass players bear a "punishment" in the necessary use of stage amplifiers to make our instruments sound their best: generally, the sheer bulk and weight of the gear we have to handle in order to hear ourselves the way we like are rather inconvenient, if we don't want to depend so much on a sound we no longer control, which the front-of-house engineers will later send out to the audience watching us, leaving us unaware of the results in real time.
If we don't feel comfortable on stage, our performance won't be as satisfying, and in the end it will show; we will notice it ourselves and ultimately feel somewhat frustrated. Obviously, we can't depend on the monitors that "the roadies of the day..." improvise at our feet, and pardon me for describing "that honorable, indispensable trade..." that way.
Our "snail shell" companion can't be just anything
Of course, I am referring to that "necessary" companion that, along with our bass, must go up on stage with us, as I have just explained: the primary amplifier for our bass, the one we will hear better "than the rest of the listeners in the room." We should feel comfortable not only when using it and its sound delivery, but also with the hardship of "hauling it" from one place to another, because we won't always be able to count on someone to help us with that task.
Gallien-Krueger
The company has several models to meet this need of ours, which, on the other hand, will also serve us well, and not just a little, for practicing at home and even for leaving set up in the recording studio.
Among its combos, I would say that right now this 700RB/115 is the "most superb" and most recommendable in the range, since it houses the speaker and the amplifier + preamp all in a single one-box cabinet, while achieving a sober-looking finish in the matte black typical of this brand, where the screen printing and various controls with many practical options stand out, letting us hear through it the sound we like best, capable of bringing out what we long to hear from our bass and better accentuating our playing.
The 700RB COMBO series
On the front of this 115 model you can see an impressive 15" speaker, as well as "a horn" to reinforce the highs, both connected at 8 ohms. There is another COMBO model (the 700RB/112) which, instead of the 15", has a 12" speaker, making the cabinet lighter to carry, but obviously "with a little less weight" in the resulting sound too. They have also designed the 700RB/210 model, which replaces the 15" with two 10" speakers at 16 ohms connected in parallel (so that together they end up at the 8 ohms mentioned above), each of them, in their respective cases, with their corresponding added high-frequency horns.
As for the electronics, all three models are similar, offering up to 350 watts of amplification for the woofer and some 50 watts for the tweeter, which is more than we could need short of ending up as deaf as a post...; of course, since the sound comes out at our feet and not at ear level, we are somewhat more protected from so much potential volume. But it is wise to take precautions with the high power this unit can deliver, not only because of the impact of the volume but because of the intensity of different frequencies we might boost at any moment, damaging our hearing. It is one thing for others to hear you, and quite another for you to "stop being able to hear..." They say that "virtue lies in the middle," and this amp certainly "has mids to spare..."
700RB/112
For me, it is the most suitable of this series (or the most practical of them). It has plenty of self-contained controls for choosing the most varied features. For example, something not common on competing preamps is that this one has a built-in balanced (XLR-type) signal output to send the signal to a front-of-house or recording console (in this case, some people prefer to capture the sound by placing a mic in front of the speakers). We can send the signal "pre or post" the internal EQ we have dialed in on this preamp; to do so, there are switches on the front panel that make these choices possible, in an accessible, convenient way that can be done instantly. Likewise, a dedicated knob sets the amount of signal we want to send from this "direct output."
When you plug the unit into the mains, a red light comes on, without the typical "pop" that most amplifiers of this type produce. At that point the "internal circuits warm up" until, a few seconds later, the same LED changes from red to green, telling us everything is OK and ready; from then on, sure enough, it sounds normally. This is quite useful, for example, when we walk out on stage in front of a large audience, without the embarrassment of those little electrical noises that make many people nervous.
The input for the bass is the standard one for a ¼" jack, and unplugging it mutes the amplifier, likewise avoiding unwanted noise. However, next to it there is also a switch to mute our instrument's signal if necessary (which happens fairly often...).
Of course, in addition to the volume controls (two combined), which are completely effective, the EQ controls allow great control of frequencies in the highs, mids and lows, along with other "presence" and "boost" knobs that we can adjust for each occasion and to our taste.
We can also use other knobs to change at will "the color" provided by the tweeter, both in the volume it delivers and in the frequencies it emphasizes more or less, setting "its crossover" to our taste. We can also balance its result through the effect we control on the woofer (and all this independently of the controls mentioned above for the "overall EQ").
And in case all of the above didn't seem like enough... well, there's more... we can send our signal to other sound processors "on a round trip" and then bring it back into our preamp duly "colored" in an even more personalized way, even adjusting the intensity of that effect on our overall sound that will ultimately be heard through the speakers or sent to the console line.
On the back, it offers the possibility of sending the amplified signal to other external speakers, besides those already connected in this combo, as well as outputs to other preamps to increase its final amplification capacity, although in this case certain precautions must naturally be taken, since the power of this unit is enormous, more than its size suggests, and its force could damage the rest of the connected system.
As a whole
A deeply sober and elegant appearance, with many abundant practical details. For example, starting with transport: it comes with a telescopic handle and wheels like large travel suitcases, but also side handles to make it less of a chore for two people. Despite everything being so compact, with its 15" speaker and powerful internal amplifier, it would be hard to "shed" any more weight. But it also has a preamp with numerous efficient, easy-to-use, versatile controls for getting a multitude of combinations, achieving varied and very different types of sounds from our bass according to the different moments and circumstances we choose.
There are bigger ones, sure, but are they as practical...? On a stage, in any case, we will need something more than just sending our signal through the main mixing console, even if to "achieve it" we used bigger speakers next to us. Therefore, I conclude that this combo would be more than enough for us and even much more effective than similar ones from other brands.
Conclusions
After all, there are few professional bass players who don't know GALLIEN-KRUEGER, because for a long time they have been making this type of machine and others of great reliability, recognized by most, that deliver the pure, round sound with real "punch" that many of us bass players almost always require. In my tests I never heard the slightest distortion. I would definitely recommend it.
