Gallien-Krueger Backline 600 Bass Head

I have had this head for a week now with no problems. I also have the GK 410blx2 cab and I love the sound. Note: I have this head and cab combo teamed(using an A/B/Y switch box) up with my Ampeg B100R. The 4, 10inch woofers working with 1, 15inch gives me serious top and bottom end. If you have an existing combo amp and are looking to give it some punch, I recommend this equipment for anyone on a budget.4 stars because nothing in this world is perfect...

First off, I tip my hat to GK for making a great head. With 300 watts at 4 ohms and 200 watts at 8 ohms, this thing gives you good power for your buck. Here comes the catch: you've got to know what you're doing to get full use of this head. I suggest NOT getting the Backline series of cabs to go with this. Go with cabs that are at least 400 watts @ 4 ohms and 300 watts @ 8 ohms. This head, at high volumes, will make speakers move. The 'boost' (adding a little harmonic distortion to give it the GK growl) and the 'contour' (curves your EQ like a smiley face, boosting high and low frequencies but cutting mids) are best used in moderation. The overdrive channel can be manipulated to sound good, but it's almost not worth the effort. The buttons for the mute, pad and channel select pop out easily, as with most of the GK heads. This head handles five-string basses quite well, though as I found out the hard way, the Backline cabinets don't. Overall, this head is an excellent value, and if you treat it well it will serve you whole-heartedly. All it needs is a cab or cabs with enough watt handling to give it some headroom. Also, be sure to read the manual that comes with it, as with all amps. The features GK puts on this head are awesome, but you've got to know what you're doing if you want to really give your tone justice.

I bought the GK Backline 600 a while back and I'm using it to power an SWR Workingman 8x10. It took me quite a while to find some good settings on it, but once I did.....it rocks. Makes my chest thump. One drawback is that this amp is not bi-amped. Also, the overdrive channel is pretty much a useless feature. A couple of things I do like are the "tuner out" and "mute" features as well as the standard EFX send and return. It's definitely loud and puts out some punchy tones and is better than a lot of higher end heads out there. It powers my 8x10 pretty well but it would probably sound best through a 4x10 or 1x15. I give it a four because the Gallien Krueger 700rb is superior, but it's one of the best amps for the money out there.

Well I just bought this amp head about a week ago and I'm amazed at the sound this affordable amp brings to the table. I wanted an amp with rich tone and one that was capable of gigging. It's sturdy, loud and has a good tone. I went to Guitar Center to try them out and tried a few different brands in the same price range, and it beat them out. The one thing I highly recommend is try it with different cabs. Don't buy it with the cabs designed for it the tone breaks up with high volume. Get a cab that is higher watts then the amp, so that you get better clarity at high volumes. That is one reason the amp sounds good, I found some of it depends on the cab. I recommend 4x10 cab by Hartke, Ampeg, Eden. Before buying this amp some of the other reviews said that the overdrive sound bad, and it is not a false statement. That didn't really bother because I wasn't planning on using it anyway. I really think this is one of the better deals for your money. So if you need something of good quality at a nice price buy it!I gave it 4 out of 5 just because the overdrive is odd and there is always something better.

I played this amp through a backline 4x10, and it rocks! I loved the tones I got from it, though the overdrive on it sounds a bit weak, but that could have been the unit I was playing. If you are looking for a great amp but are like me and have no money, this is the perfect amp head for you! (Notice: to maximize the tone from this, get a good cab or two)