Awesome Amp, Great Value, & Its Easy on Your Back!

When I started shopping for a new bass amp I didn’t think I would be satisfied with a vented cabinet. Along the way I eliminated more expensive vented amps by MarkBass as too “sloppy”. Hartke amps all sounded too metallic to me. I play a Fender Mustang Bass (short scale) which really can produce a tremendous range of sounds. Since I primarily play classic rock I was looking for an amp that would have a solid bottom end that would not choke on an open E string and do justice to songs like “House of the Risin’ Sun”. At the same time I wanted to be able to also produce a more “twangy” or “punchy” sound suitable for many Beatles songs.

When I tried MB210 I was blown away! I could get that low end growl & “punchy twang” when I needed it. And when I picked the amp up I was totally surprised by its light weight. It weighed less than my 35Watt Ibanez! And when I found out it was vented cabinet I couldn’t believe it. As an avid audiophile for over 25 years I never heard a vented bass setup that I liked. Case in point my home theater set up uses a 1000 watt 18” Velodyne subwoofer that is in a sealed cabinet.

The contour switch is my favorite control. After a bit of initial tweaking on the controls I can now just quickly toggle the contour switch on or off to achieve a solid bottom end or more “punchy twang” to easily produce great sound for 95% of the songs I play.

This amp has plenty of power & headroom so I never need to use the limiter switch. My only complaint concerns the tweeter. Turning it on or off doesn’t seem to do much. So I leave it off to cut down on string squeak.

Bottom line I highly recommend this amp & thank my sales engineer Chad Byers for suggesting I try a GK.

AWESOME!

I own one of these and am currently in the market for an extension cab for it. I gig fairly regularly (3-4 gigs a month) and having something that is both very lightweight AND sounds great is really a blessing. I get compliments on my tone on a regular basis. When you first get a new one, it does sound a bit boomy but over time, believe it or not, it actually changes its tone slightly. I've had mine for about a year now and I've been in love with it pretty much ever since I got it. The love affair grows stronger with every gig

Nice Combo with lots of low end

For the money this is a great amp. I didn't give it 5 stars because the balance below the low end is so powerful (even with 2 10's) that turning up the hi and lo mids don't compensate enough for me. But make no mistake, it sounds great. I am being picky. I get the tone I like I had to back off the lows more than I wanted to. I have played with this amp practicing on my own, band practice, and at small gigs. I get nothing but compliments on how nice it sounds. Deep bassy tones without the muddy tones you sometimes get with other combos with bigger speakers.
On the few video recordings I heard from our last show, the mids did not come through as well as my EBS or Phil Jones. However, the lows were better defined, so I guess it depends on what you are looking for. I bought this amp for practice and small gigs where I didn't want to haul my more expensive gear. I am glad I made this purchase and would recommend it to anyone seeking a powerful combo that is a nice size and not too heavy to lug around.

great little amp with big power

ive owned this combo for close to a year now and its served me well when i first got the amp i have to agree with the other reveiw it seemed to not handle the volume very well but over a week of light playing the speakers got " broke in" and sounded great it can even handle the low B of my active warwick with ease now it has overall great tone and exceptional bottom end when left on the floor it loses thumb when on an ampstand. the xlr out is deffinately in backwards i have to take a car key and push in on the release on the xlr cable to get it loose after gigs but thats a small issue when considered im not luggin my 8x10 or 2 4x10's to small club gigs anymore..i consider it a winner all the way around for the money...and yes it blows the ampeg combo's out of the water..those things buzz like a bee hive from day 1 and never get any better.

GK MB210

I got sick of lugging around my old rig (nearly 200 pounds) so I bought the MB210 combo based on the good reviews. It is a decent amp, but I ended up returning it, as I was not overly satisfied with the tone.

The amp does have good features. The contour switch allows for good, slap style scooped tone when engaged. The built in limiter is useful since the combo can be connected to an extension cab (I paired my combo with a 4x10 cab for a total 6x10 setup). The lightweight of the unit is excellent for the gigging musician, it is very portable. The amount of power for the size is outstanding.

Unfortunately, it also has bad features. The 10 inch speakers in the cabinet really can't handle the power of the head. With the volume at noon, dialing in the bass EQ more than halfway causes the speakers to fart. I found the 4 band EQ to be somewhat lacking. It doesn't really change your sound as much as one would expect. Your bass always sounds kind of "flat". Also, the DI jack is installed backwards... kind of annoying.

Overall, this is not a bad amp. I would recommend it to the hobbyist or studio engineer. I would not recommend it to the gigging musician.

Sounds Great for a few months

I bought this new and was ecstatic until the speakers broke in. They sounded muddy after that. The amp worked great with my single 15 or 4x10 extension but the in box speakers just fizzled. I returned it for a refund and trade up to a separate amp to go with my other cabs. Now I am happy. This is not the standard norm for GK. In all fairness I have played some of their older stuff and after years of use it is still fantastic. Just these 10's stink.