Gallien-Krueger MB112-II 1x12" 200-watt Bass Combo Amp Reviews

So I've done about six gigs now with this amp. Mostly jazz quartet/quintet but also fusion gigs and big band rehearsals. I use this with fretted and fretless basses as well as my electric upright. Believe the other reviews when they tell you this thing can get LOUD. The option to buy an extension cab is no longer available to us unless you find one used, but honestly it's not needed. This thing does such a good job of filling in that low end that this thing is all you need. Great size, FANTASTIC tone, and only 30 lbs! Money well spent.

This amp is perfect for my needs. I use it for small to medium sized gigs and then tuck it back in my practice room to jam with friends. Love the direct out feature and use it all the time for live performances. Excellent tonal options for the price. Highly recommended!

I going on 10 years old using this amp and not the first problem with it in 10 years. How many amps can you say that about and I use it at least 4 times a week. Thanks Brent for turning me on to this great amp.

This is the pure tone and space-filling volume I've been chasing. It feels to be built like a tank, it should definitely survive the looming robot apocalypse. The DI sounds great running into my budget interface, with no hiss or noise from either Pre or Post EQ. The DI is unaffected when the speaker is silenced by the headphone port, so you can can record silently or play through a mixer. No cons. All pros.

Very good sound, clean and powerful. Well worth the money. We also like the fact that it is relatively light.

I play upright. bought the amp for one nighters. Then I start using it for quick rehearsals. Now it lives in my trunk. Handles the low B on my electrics beautifully. Couldn't be happier.

I just bought this amplifier and only played one gig with it but I am absolutely thrilled with it and everybody loved how my Hofner 5000/1 sounded through it. This amp has a wide range of tones you can get through it and they're all musical And just about anything you dial in sounds great. We're talking about nuance. And you have no trouble cutting through the band. I've usually found a difficult to find an amp that is complementary to a Hofner violin style bass but this one brings outa
the tone in spades. Plus it is super light! I thought I'd spread the word!

Super fun little amp with an impressive tonal variety. Works great at lower basement volumes and can overwhelm a space if you want it to.

Simple. Lightweight. Feels durable. Made in the U.S.A.

I bought the GK MB112-II to replace my Orange bass crush 50. WOW what an upgrade. The low end is definitely present, tight, punchy and delivers the thump I was looking for. I run the bass between 11 and 1. Going any higher really is just too much in my home practice space. I also like that the highs are sparkly and clean and the mids are warm. This amp is clear with plenty of headroom. The sound is not colored. With no effects my p-bass now sounds like a p-bass through this amp. It also takes pedals great. I have tested it with my darkglass microtubes x and it sounds great! Running my Strymon Mobius and Deco through the amp also works great. I can really dial in the tone I need for live performances. This was exactly what I was looking for. It's also very light at 30 pounds so should I need to take this with me when I play live it's not going to be an issue. Also, the amp is very nice looking, appears to be well built and I was also impressed with the covering. It's not tolex, it's a rough texture but seems very durable. I actually like it better than your standard tolex you find on most amps.

Purchased the Ashdown kickback, sent it back because of low-end farting, and bought the GK which sounds much better.

As a practice amp, or for use with small groups, I can't imagine a better amp. The sound is uncolored - what comes out of my bass comes out of the speaker. It has plenty of oomph to keep up with drums and horns. Spot on!

I've had this product for almost 7 years one issue has occurred the motherboard blew out I had to have repaired but it was worth every penny this is a combo that surpasses my needs

I was borrowing this amps #1 contender as 15" for a few months and never felt partial to the tone. But a shared bass amp in the local scene is how local music works.

I bought this so I could stop planning around the other musicians. The entire band agreed after just one song that this 12" amp has superior tone. Volume is plenty.

Only issue is this amp is long forward so I will need a new bass amp stand, or leave it on the ground. That is not a reason to not buy this amp, just something to keep in mind.

We play 00s alt like The Killers, and funk rock covers with lots of slap. Beautiful pairing with my Shot Scale MusicMan.

After an intense research trying to find the perfect balance between portability , versatility, and power, I came to this two combos: 1) tech 21 VT 200w (4ohm), 12" speaker plus tweeter ( on/off switch), external speaker output, 17x17x14inch and 28lbs, (preamp is the same sansamp VT 21 DI). Price: 499$ made in Korea.
And a famous solid candidate
2) GK 112MB 200w of its own, (8ohm), 17x15x14,5, 30lbs. 12" speaker.. price:539$ American made.
Both combos 12", maybe better response to my 5 strings bass I think..
And medium power (200w) but portables: 28 and 30lbs.
Many different choices are in the market, for different tastes, budgets, tones... After evaluating my budget, lightness, portability, and power, I decide pulled the trigger for the GK mb 112 II combo... ( I know there are others but couldn't get them all..). Finally I have it with me, and I'm positive I made the right choice.. could not be more satisfied, and thanks to sweetwater..

I'm new to bass, mostly solo acoustic guitar gigs for the past several years. I needed something to do during quarantine, so I thought I'd learn to play bass. It's a little different purchasing equipment that you can only hear in advertisements over PC speakers. I could ask my friends, but where's the fun in that? Everyone has an opinion. I considered a couple of Hartkes (KB12, KB15, HD150), a Fender Rumble 200, and the Ampeg BA115. I wanted something that would move after I got it here, had some sound shaping options, and wasn't too awfully expensive, since I tend to give things away when I don't use them. Will Newbill suggested I consider the Gallien-Krueger, a suggestion I immediately dismissed (sorry, Will). But after a few days of back and forth, I took a look at the MB112, and it seemed like a serious possibility. Will put me at ease, patiently answering my questions. It's a very attractive, light-weight, plain black box, understated except for the large GK medallion in the front upper left corner. The owner's manual looked like my kids printed it up, except they would have changed the ink cartridge. But THE SOUND! Cremoso de chocolate con chiles. Very nice. Now I need some decent headphones.

Great sound and super light!! Set my active bass knobs on center, the amp eq at center (12 o'clock)and engaged the contour and my sound was right there. May need to tweak at gig but in my music room it is perfect for me.

This has to be the best tone and value for the money in the 1X12 Bass Amp Class. The best tone I've found.

This is my second GK 12" combo and I love em. I also have the GK matching speaker and together they are all the sound power I'll ever need. I used the combo in a venue of 500 people and had more power than I needed. If the gig gets larger it's a great monitor and the direct out to the board is handy.
Aside from that is its weight. It is only about 31 lbs. I've owned several bass amps over the years and all of them were much heavier than the GK. For the sound, weight and flexibility this is the perfect amp for me.

Suprising to get this quality of an ampligier for this type money. Awesome tone. Simple to get a great sound. And the contour button gives u a great scooped sound. And its American made. And Plenty loud.

I'd been needing a smaller combo for rehearsals and club gigs. I have rigs from 400W to over 1000W, but they are all bigger and, frankly, a pain to move around. I definitely wanted small and light, but potent. I called my sales guru Grant Embury (ext 1647) and after a brief discussion, I decided to pull the trigger on the MB112. I had considered combos from Hartke, Ampeg, Ashdown and TC Electronics, but in the end I went GK. In the end, having a US-made product definitely was a deciding factor.
The size is comically small. And I immediately had doubts as to whether or not I made a bad call on this combo. I plugged in my new Ernie Ball Stingray Special 5HH and crossed my fingers. With the EQs all set to 12 o'clock, I braced myself for disappointment. Well, they say great things come in small packages, and the MB112 is what they had in mind!
Surprising volume greeted my ears. A very natural and articulate sound, reminiscent of the bigger GK rigs, immediately filled my in-home practice space. The 12" speaker handled the low B string easily, even when boosting the bass on the EB's preamp. It was more than enough for the house, but I was unsure how it would handle a band situation.
Last night I had a jam session with two LOUD guitar players, one playing a 100W tube half stack, the other a high-powered Fender 2x12 combo. It was a small, very "live" room, and the MB112 kept up easily. I never went above halfway up on the volume, and the tone never faltered. I knew then and there that I made a great purchase, and that this little beast will serve me well.
I am already looking at getting the GK powered extension speaker for use on bigger stages.
Thanks again to Grant and the team at Sweetwater. I received the amp on the 3rd day after I ordered it (during the week of a major east coast snowstorm!), perfectly packaged with the usual swag inside. KUDOS!

Just received this amp and was very surprised as to how Great this combo amp sounds I had a TC Electronic BG250-15 which died on me after 3 years of usage,which did not sound half as good as this combo amp, this amp was suggested to me by my sales rep Joe Schafer and I must say he was correct with what he told me about this amp, I will be purchasing the MBP power cabinet in the near future.
Anyone looking for a great combo amp with lots of power small size and Great price THIS IS THE AMP FOR YOU.

I had bought this little combo to put in my studio for recording and the occasional jam session. My reason for buying is that I liked the idea of buying extra powered speaker cabinets and being able to control them with the same set of controls. I figured if I ever went back to playing bass that I could add another cabinet and that would fill the bill.
Well turns out that a couple of weeks ago I got the call to sit in with my brother's band. They needed a bassist so I said, " sure why not." Well, that gig was tonight so I took my little GK MB 112-11 bass amp and my bass. I ran it through the PA post eq and set the volume at 5 and all the tone controls
Pretty much flat. I also used a BBE sonic Stomp in the front of the amp just to round out the tone. I was not prepared for how loud the band was! I fought two guitarists and a keyboardist using powered pa speakers for his piano and three guitar amps for a little over three hours. My little gk was at half of full volume and it stayed with all that sound being generated from the band! I was very surprised in a good way! Nice full rich tone, deep but articulate. Plenty of bottom with the right amount of slap pop to go around. I can only imagine the sound when adding an additional 200 watt 12 inch speaker cabinet! This amp rocks! If you are looking for a small combo, light weight but plenty of power to rock an outside gig (with the help of a PA.) and all at about 30 lbs! This is the best bass amp I've got and I've got a fender bassman 250 with a 2x10 cabinet with a ,horn in it! I'll take this amp every time. I'm thinking about getting rid of my other bass rig and buying the extra cabinet to go with this little amp. Try this amp folks! You can't go wrong with this one!

I have had this amp as well as the 1-12" powered cabinet for 2 1/2 years and am still loving it. They are very lightweight units and very loud. My setup is setting each of them on a milk crate to get them up off the floor, on either side of the stage next to the PA speakers. That way you get maximum coverage without having to turn up full blast to be heard. The only effect I use is a Tech 21 VT bass pedal and it becomes an Ampeg SVT stack. Great amp that has help up well so far.

Amazing sound, REALLY loud (enough to easily play a small bar with full band) and you can literally pick it up with one finger! My days of carrying my 80lb 1990's Hartke cabinet are over! Sweetwater always gives you great service too!

I was looking for a small lightweight bass amp that would cover small to medium sized rooms. My salesman Bob Furlong had mentioned this amp and I am so glad that he did! I played my first gig with it and Wow! It has a great tone for bass and it has no problem staying up with a full band all by itself. If you find yourself needing more headroom, Gallien Krueger has self powered cabs you can add to give you what you will need. What an amazing concept!

I'm been playing keyboards and left hand key bass for more than forty-eight years. For the last eleven years I've used the Yamaha S90ES Synthesizer playing right hand piano, electric piano, brass and organ sounds into the PA while using my left hand to play a finger style bass patch through an assignable dedicated output routed into a Polytone Mini Brute III 15" 140 watt combo amp. I thought that I had a pretty good sound overall.

Last Saturday night I got to debut my new Gallien-Krueger MB112-II on a house gig which my trio has played for over eight years. The crowd there loves us and is very familiar with our sound. I expected this GK to be an upgrade to my sound but I didn't realize that it would be such a dramatic improvement. My drummer and guitar player were suitably impressed but our fans and regular customers all noticed the difference too.

I've got a real bass sound now with Depth, Punch and Girth. When I hit the keys harder, my bass tone responds with more bite like never before. The crowd danced more than ever. I even had two girls in their twenties ask if they could come on stage and dance behind me while I played my keyboard rig. I'm sixty-six by the way so, I said yes but please be careful.

I never realized what I was missing. Yes, I was playing the right notes and emulating the feel of a bass player pretty well but, I've never had this much fun doing it and I've never felt the fundamentals and foundation coming out of my amp which the rest of the band's sound is built on.

It doesn't make any sense that such a big sound can be coming out of such a small and light package. There is definitely some magic fairy dust going on in the EQ and Porting on this cabinet. I was sure that I would try out the MB112-II, be very pleased but then arrange to return it and swap it out for the MB115-II. I'd read in various bass player forums that the MB112-II is really loud. I didn't believe them but, they were right. It is really loud but, in all of the good ways and none of the bad.

Here are the settings that I was really happy with throughout the whole gig:

-10dB Pad On - Contour On - Gain 12:30 Treble 1:00 Hi-Mid 1:00 Low-Mid 11:00 Bass 11:00

Special Thanks goes out to my Sales Engineer Ed Nystrom - You were right yet again!!!

What a Steal!!!!! This amp is just top notch! Lately I have been into only purchasing my music stuff from the USA only! I was supprised to see that GK was American Made and just the best quality for the buck! GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GK!

I must admit to having been ignorant of Gallien-Krueger bass amps until recently. My Sweetwater sales rep Dave Snow steered me into this MB112 when I was looking to replace a much loved Ampeg I had to sell. I'm not going to play any stadiums anytime soon, but gigs turn up at the most unexpected times in the most unpredictable of places. My main focus was portability, both in weight and size, without sacrificing the punch and tone that any good bass amp must deliver. There is no longer a need for a bass player to carry 100+ pounds to a gig. I learned that with my last Ampeg. But this MB112 bettered my Ampeg by at least 30 pounds without losing a thing in punch and tone. I double-take every time I play it to wonder how such a small package can do such a great job as a bass amp. I'm still working with the tone shape, but in the short amount of time I've had this amp, I've yet to find it lacking what I want from it. I play a passive pickup bass, and for me, the amp is everything. I can line out, XLR out, or mic a decent bass amp, and so the amp itself has to be the best I can get. I'm grateful to Sweetwater and Dave Snow for the advice as he paid close attention to my requirements and experience and the amp he suggested has more than fulfilled my needs. Hats off to Gallien-Krueger for a job well done.

AMAZING!!!! Who would have ever thought this very light weight amp had so much power.

This is great. light weight. can daisy chain cabs for more power. works great as a guitar amp too if you need something for maybe an audition. I really like this amp for the price n size it's quite loud

Also you should give Jay Frederick a call at 800.222.4700 ext 1288. He's a really nice guy and I've been getting all of my equipment from him for a while. He's got a lot of experience with pro audio/video and always gives me some great advice.

I originally purchased this combo to use for practice and maybe very small coffee house type gigs. But I was in a pinch and had to use it at a medium sized outdoor job. It handled it beautifully, wow. I can only imagine how this sounds with the ext cab.

Awesome Amp... GREAT sound produced with my Ibanez AGB200 Bass; super lightweight; portable with great balance carrying; CD and Headphone connections are very nice; equalizer. Friends and family have complemented the look and sound! Sweetwater pricing, sales and tech support is the best I've found locally or on the Web.

Call Brent up an told him i wanted a bass amp under 400.00 an this is the one he pick. He did not do me wrong on it ,love it. I had already decided to get this one cause i have a 500watt 4-10 GK that he helped me pick out i knew these were great bass amps.This amp only 28lbs to like 62lbs on the other. Love the sound an easy to carry. Thanks Brent an Sweetwater for the fine job that you do.

I've owned bass amps that were larger, more expensive and more popular brands, BUT NOTHING can compare with this amp. The sound, quality of the product and every thing about this amp is far ahead of any other. I am 110% pleased with The Gallien-Krueger MB112-II and Sweetwater is the way to go.

after 45 yrs playing bass I am having to go smaller in amps. bought this amp after hearing one in a swamp pop band. I haven't had a sound like this since using a 150 lb setup

I don't normally write reviews but I felt I had to on this one. Geoff Allen,
my sales guy, really recommended this amp so I took a gamble on it. To be honest, I'm really more of a guitarist who plays bass for needy gigging musicians. Also, one very important point, I've owned 19 basses and have never actually owned a BASS amp...mainly because most of my bands already had an amp for me and on some, I ran directly into the PA.
When the box arrived, I was thinking-"man this might be heavy," but after carrying it to the bedroom, I felt different. It's light and LOUD. Very LOUD and the EQ system is just wonderful with many options of
tone. Especially if you own a bass that doesn't have much tone. I have a Geoff Gould Modulus in surf green(EMGX Pickup). It has a lot punch. The thing I noticed the most is when you turn up the volume, it doesn't distort or loose tone. Having the controls in the back of the amp is a nice feature especially with headphones. BUY IT...You'll thank me later!

I sold my enormously heavy Trace Elliot tube/solid state hybrid head and two heavy 1x15 speakers because I stopped playing outdoor festivals. I have a Fender Bassman 60 wedge, but even that is heavy. I needed something light and loud.

After auditioning several amps I settled on this GK 112. II. It's fairly light and has plenty of bottom end for upright and electric bass. I have 5 & 6 string basses, but all tuned with low E, not B. This amp is fine for inside gigs with any size band, including the 20 piece college jazz band. Getting it onto a stand really helps the projection. It's got more punch than my 15" cabs.

I don't recommend this for hard rockers. But GK has a series of powered extension speakers that would be a good option for loud gigs. I recommend this amp.

HAS A GREAT SOUND FOR SO SMALL A UNIT, IT IS VERY LIGHT AND IT WILL GET LOUD,

I was looking for a replacement for my 10 yr old GK Backline 110. Been playing GKs since the mid-1980s. Love their tonal expressions. The MB112 doesn't disappoint. I play a lot of low volume gigs (church, small jazz combos) and also need some serious punch working with a big band. This amp provides serious low end at low volume and more than holds it's own when there are drums and10 horns blowing. 4 band eq and contour control really allow a myriad if tones (which I am still experimenting with). One of the biggest pluses I was looking for was light weight - at less than 30lbs this really fills the bill. Great sound, great price! And as an added bonus - my Taylor acoustic sounds great thru it too.
Sweetwater can get a cover for it too.

Basically it should get a 5 star rating but I'm deducting 1/2 a star for lack of an effects loop. To be honest you won't miss it. It is surprisingly loud and clean. Handles a 5 string better than any other 1x12 combo I've played through, some costing much more. It's light! For small and medium sized club gigs for any style except hard rock and metal it has you covered. I have had it about a month and gigged it 6 times with stellar results. The EQ and contour both work very well and the overall voicing of the cabinet is musical and efficient.

If you are looking at this amp it's likely you just turned 40(ish) and decided to save yourself a little pain, downsize your rig to fit in a car(not an SUV), save setup time by ditching all those pedals, and enjoy your gigs a great deal more as a result. This will get you there. Even if you aren't 40(ish) it's a great gigging amp and it fits in the back seat of your car.

Really great bass amp. Great sound great tone it's the best for it's price
I love it

Great little amp use this recording consistently delivers wide range of voices to whatever we're playing or I'm recording.
Have used this amp with various basses from Squires, to Ken Smith, Fender AM Deluxe, Pedulla, Stingrays, Bongo, Ibanez, and Sadowsky.
This amp handles them all and lets the instruments character evolve.

I play 2-4 times a month in a number of different places/ generes. I need a simple/ portable bass amp with a great sound. I tried many with the graph EQ, compressors, 12AX7 front ends, etc. For the weight: nothing beats the sound and ease of use. Truly easy to carry: case with 2 basses in one hand and the amp in the other. No need for wheels or dolly (and I am no strong man!)

I was getting some smaller room gigs and wanted a small combo to lug around instead of my GK100RBII head and cab. Thinking I'd just use the MB112II for those small gigs, I was blown away when I first tried it in a rehearsal setting. By itself, it cut through 2 electric guitars and drums and had volume to spare. Of course, volume is nothing if it doesn't sound good. This thing shines in terms of quality tone. The EQ is much different than my 1001RBii and small tweaks can make a big difference in the tone. Set flat, it's super punchy with a good amount of bottom end. I have yet to find a "honky" setting like some other small combos. Very warm sounding. Overall, there aren't many things to fiddle with on this amp. No compressor, no effects, no fx loop and no gain/master controls like the RB series. The volume and gain are the same on this amp and the louder to go, the more 'growl' you get from it (as obvious as that sounds).
My one gripe about the amp is the line-out. GK rotated the plug from the previous version so you can actually get your xlr cable out, but the signal is noisy (or at least mine is). It's so noisy that I can't use it to record or DI to a PA. This isn't a deal breaker, but I was excited to try it out since I was getting such a sweet sound from the amp. Seeing as how the RB1001's line-out has been reliable for years, I'm not sure why GK would have skimped on this.
This little amp is so close to being perfect, but the crumby line-out is a big knock since this amp will mostly find itself in a studio or small gig setting with perhaps PA support.

Love this amp and so does my back. It’s works for me in many applications and four stars only because of its limitations which I knew before I bought it. This is my second one. I also have the Aguilar neo 12 and Tone Hammer 350 but I personally prefer the sound of the GK.

Very good tone for such a snall, lightweight amp.

Nice and compact, light for 200W. I was looking a straightforward practice amp with a DI and this does the job perfectly. 4 band EQ, easy tone-shaping and the -10db pad is handy too. I also picked up the 112MB powered cab for a great little 400w setup. Great bang for the buck!