Gallien-Krueger MB200 - 200W Ultra Light Bass Amplifier

I've been an electric and upright bass player for over 15 years, and have been gigging regularly for the past 10 or so.I hate hauling heavy gear.I absolutely hate it. I build my own cabinets so I can shave pounds off of my load-in. I run with the smallest possible rig that I can get away with for any given show.Because of that I've been watching the ultra-light part of the amp market for quite awhile now, waiting for good Class-D amps to make their way into the live audio segment at reasonable prices.My last lightweight amp was a Crate Powerblock, 150w @4ohms and at least 4 times the weight of this one. Only problem with it is that it's a guitar amp, so it goes into overdrive when you turn the gain up past about 12 o'clock. It served my needs for gigs where I had a good PA and just needed my amp for on-stage monitoring, but I still had to haul a big (50lb) old school 350w head for most gigs without a PA.I tried a Bose Packlite A1 power amp, but it didn't have the oomph despite allegedly being rated at 250w.I call BS on those specs, the Crate was louder at it's 150w.This MB200 though is freaking awesome.Designed for bass, 200W of CLEAN power in a tiny package, and it doesn't cost a fortune like the EA mini or micro series, Walter Woods stuff, or Genz Benz shuttles. I generally run it off my Fishman platinum pre-amp just so I have tonal control easily at hand, but I'm starting to consider leaving that at home as well. The EQ on the MB200 is very solid, it's got an XLR output with switchable pre/post output, and Speakon or quarter inch power outputs.It fits in the pouch of my upright bass bag and can serve as my primary amp for any gig I play that doesn't have PA support, and doesn't break the bank at just over a buck a watt.What's not to love?Get one now.

Like everyone else I hate hauling heavy gear and over the past 33 years I've had my share.I've been looking for a micro amp to give my Acoustic Image Clarus 1 a break. It's been the only I amp I've used for 13 years. Great amp but I can't afford a break-down and I needed a change.The AI Clarus is small but this is half the size & weight. I'm not an amp snob but I know what good tone is. I can't say more than what has already been said but for someone like me who takes more time than he needs to research an item before I buy it, this amp has exceeded my expectations.I needed an amp that was small, light and powerful (even with the gain @ 2 it's screams). After dialing in my preamp and compression pedals this amp is perfect all flat. I had my Clarus 1 flat also so I didn't have to venture far. The contour switch is the only tweek I need to alter the tone.PROS: USA designed and made. Fit & finish is perfect. All the positive reviews are 100% spot on. This is great "set it and forget" amp. You can't beat the size and price. THIS IS NOT A PRACTICE ONLY AMP !CONS: None so far. Still too early to say but by reading older reviews this will not be a concern.

This amp is amazing. I currently have an Ampeg SVT Pro 7, and I was looking for a backup that could easily be lugged around and sounded good. Although my Ampeg has been flawless, I would hate to have any issue when I'm on-stage.This MB200 sounded ideal, very small, light-weight, and great overall tone. However I was very worried about the overall volume considering I play with 2 guitar players, and an acoustic drum set, and they play pretty loud. The Pro 7 has no issues, but it's also 1000 watts. With this thing at 200 watts, I was concerned I wouldn't have the volume considering I only practice through 1-8 ohm cabinet (MarkBass 151P). I think the effective wattage with the MB200 and 1- 151P is only about 120-130 watts. Well, I had no issues at all as this amp really screams. I turned it to about 12:00, and put a little extra on the bass/treble, and the guitar players were askingme to turn it down a little. I am really impressed. I'd buy this thing 100 times again.

A lot of reviews here say the same thing: this is surprisingly good. I own several of the other current D-class amps, and this little guy holds its own.Something I haven't noticed in the other reviews: a mention of the natural overdrive tone.This little amp, in spite of obviously being entirely solid state, has a musically useful tone when pushed into its own overdrive.For a while, my gigging micro-rig was this amp with the little Ampeg 2x10 sealed cab. I would run it with my P-bass with flatwounds straight into this little amp dimed.You won't hurt the Ampeg cab (which is rated at only 200W, the head is putting out 130W at 8 ohms) but you get a remarkably usable shoegaze drive. After many hours of gigs and rehearsals, both the head and cab seem to be no worse for wear from this technique.By itself, this rig configuration is not going to fill a very big room, so I would pack along a Shure Beta 52A, and make the house sound guy mix in with the kick drum in the mains.It totally worked, and I could walk in and out of the gig in one easy trip.

Just got my MB200...hooked it to a bose sub that came with my personal PA, it has 2 6" speakers...this thing sounds great and shakes the floor...I have ordered a 4ohm, 2x15 cab to go with it but have not yet received it, I can only imagine how good it will sound. Planning on using this with my band and have no doubt it will compliment drummer well. We do small to medium sized gigs and occasional outdoor stuff with supplemental subs. Hoping the direct out will give us plenty of front of house bass. This thing weighs nothing, appears well made with nice rubber feet to keep it grounded. I haven't gotten the gain past 9 o'clock yet and am already impressed. Will update once I hook it to the 2x15. A word of advice, if you buy one of these to use with band, definitely get a cab wired at 4 ohm so you can get the full benefit of the 200 watts of power but for practice it will not matter what you hook it to.