I had one of those new in ‘84-‘85, when I was 13-14. There is a trim pot inside that you can turn up the gain to another level. I ran it through a pair of 2x12 cabs I built in my bedroom. I was the man in my neighborhood, I wouldn’t have been any cooler if I had a Marshall stack.
Just came here to comment the same thing!! If you want Iron Maiden’s Somewhere In Time tone, you have to turn up those gain trim pots quite a bit!! 🤘😎🤘
Still have my Rockman X-100 from the 80's. Never used an amp - ran it through a volume pedal into the PA. Still some of the best guitar tones I have. Tom Scholz is a genius. I bet his dog is even smarter than mine.
Hey R.J.! I still have my 250ML that I've owned since 1986. Just for FYI, these amps DID come with Pyle speakers in them, although the ones in your amp look like replacements. As long as the impedance is correct, it should be fine. A few things I've noticed about your amp: The gain button on channel A has been tweaked, no doubt in my mind. There should not be any volume drop at all, but quite the opposite. There should be a bit of a volume boost with noticeable overdrive gain to it, but not quite into distortion territory like you get with channel B. If you remove the screws on the part of the amp cover where the handle is, it will expose the circuitry, and there are a couple of trim pots on the circuit board. Guitar players were notorious for going in there and giving the trim pots a bit of a turn to get more gain. A word of caution; You can actually trim these too far and cause circuitry damage! Someone definitely tweaked the trim pot on channel A in that amp which is why your volume drops when you engage it. It should sound more like a Marshall BluesBreaker amp when set from the factory. I have used mine not only for practice, but I've played Ballroom sized venues with mine plugging it into a pair of JBL Cabaret Series 3-way PA speakers, and it sounded great. Never plug in speaker loads less than 16 Ohms! I blew mine up that way and had to send it in to GK to get it repaired. They did an excellent job with it. If you want to send yours in to get it set right, talk to Gene Lopes over there, he'll get you squared away, and he's a great guy. When mine was there getting repaired, Gene told me about a Re-Issue model of the 250ML that was going to be coming out, but I never saw anything show up on the market. Like you, I'm not too fond of the Echo in that amp but the Chorus is great. The Comp on that amp is not actually a compressor, but a compander. To me it functions like a compressor with a noticeable rise in the volume as it swells the effect in. I built a footswitch for my amp using an old Fender 2 -button switch, and just replaced the cable with a mic cable and a T/R/S plug, and that lets me switch channels and punch the effects in and out. Currently, I use my GK with a 2 X12 Cab that has vintage Altec Lansing G-17H speakers in it. These speakers are 16 Ohm each, so the speaker outs go direct to a single speaker, I leave the built in speakers on at the same time so it get more range that way. It's a cool little amp, but definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing. If there is anything else I can share with you about this amp, contact me, I'd be happy to help you out.
@@low_e_music There is one already added on mine. I bought it used, and everything that has been done to it was done before I bought it. Just remember this because it's very important; never have a speaker load below 16 Ohms. It will blow the output transformer if you do. You can plug in a 4X12 cab, but I used to plug mine into a pair of JBL Cabaret series PA cabs, they were 4-way full range cabs, and actually sounded better than a 4X12.
@@harleyhexxe9806 Thanks Harley. I got mine and I absolutely love it! I am in Iron Maiden heaven. There was a hole drilled on the top which had been covered with tape. Based on the size, location, and solder on the channel B gain switch, it was likely used for a footswitch to kick the channel B gain on / off. I put a DPST switch there and ran the positive wires for the internal speakers through it so that I have a speaker on/off switch now, works great. I only run 16 ohm speakers too, makes things easier on me, haha. I hope that they do decide to reissue these someday, with all the current retro 80s nostalgia, I bet they would sell well.
@@low_e_music It looks like you came up with a way to incorporate the switch you were looking for. Congratulations on your new amp! They are pretty cool little amps that can pack a surprising punch. I remember at one gig I played with it at the Allegheny Ballroom at the Vist hotel in PIttsburgh, someone had set a road case on my direct cable going to the mixing desk. It broke the connection and I wasn't in the mix. I cranked the volume and used my guitar volume to blend in with the band. The amp has power to spare, and sounded pretty darned good cranked like that. As for the reissue, well I suppose that depends on the marketing trends for musical instruments. If GK doesn't feel like they are going to sell enough of them to justify the expense, then they probably won't mass produce them. It would be a costly gamble to risk it.
I had one too, I echo many of your same sentiments. Got mine in 85 I think I was well on my way to buying a Mesa boogie 22 caliber. Did an A/B comparison and realized🎉 that the 22 was not the fire breathing dragon that previous Mesas tend to be. Was sold on the sound of the 250. Commenced to dragging it all over Mexico on gigs in the dust dirt and the worst of circumstances and that little metal chassis held up like a champ. Gave it is an offering to a church that I lead worship in. I wonder if it’s being used now?
My main gigging amp in the eighties, sounded tremendous through two Marshall 4x12’s. Huge wide stereo spread, and great tone. I too upped the gain by adjusting the trim pots inside. I’m surprised Gary Moore wasn’t mentioned, used them live and in the studio. Run For Cover album for a start, and check out his live footage from that era. Also so great footage from The Old Grey Whistle Test where he used it.
I once ran sound for Phil Keaggy for a couple of stops in the midwest. He was using one of those with his custom Olson acoustics. As I recall we took the direct out and mic'd the guitar. He made it sound spectacular.
Hah. The Lifeson amp 😀. AL played GK for quite a while in the 80s and early 90s. I still have my GK 2000 CPL 19“ rack preamp and use it regularly for Jazz Chorus cleans. Bulit-in compressor, stereo FX loop, 4 band EQ, what‘s not to like.
Had one of these amps in the early 90s . I gigged with it by itself but mostly used a Marshall 4x12 cab with it . It was amazing . Took into the studio once and the engineers were amazed at how good it sounded and recorded. Wished I still had it.
I stumbled on to this channel last week.. your 80s tone vids brought back instant memories. I'm 58 now and my wife is going to hate me. I'm going to the closet and dusting off the axe and buying some old new gear.. thanks for the kick in the ass to start playing again..
I still own one. If you open up the amplifier, there are trim pots that can change the tonality of the amp completely. Until I change that I had no idea how this was used for iron maiden sounds ! It will also push a speaker cabinet.
Sweet! What a fun flashback, not only hearing it but seeing those old ads again. I love all of your stuff, RJ, but the 80s theme vids always get me going ! 🥳🎸
A buddy of mine played one of these around 1990, with a half-rack SE-50 stereo effects unit. He could carry his whole setup out of the car to the venue door in one trip. People laughed at his teeny amp - til they heard him play it! Sounded awesome for that era of rock. GK should reissue these with cab Sims - I'd buy one!
I made this comment on the Rockman video!!! It’s great that you did this video! Thank you so much for these Leppard sound videos. They are my favorite band.
It was good to see your face light up when you realized the power this thing had back in the 80s. I had it for live gigs back inthe 80s - used mainly for overdrive and solos. It REALLY cuts thru the mix live. GUITAR CENTER STORY: Took my GK 250ML and Music Man strat with me into the Guitar Center store in Hollywood (back when you could walk in with equipment) looking for 4x12 cabs to see how it sounded. There were shredders EVERYWHERE! Never seen so many GIT students cutting heads in a store. Ah the late 80s. LOL! So the sales rep was cool and plugged me into a bunch of different cabs. Plugged me into a Rivera Q212 and while I was quietly playing some fast tappy crap, the Sales Rep suddenly turns the GK ALL THE WAY UP!!! SO DAMN LOUD that everyone (I mean everyone in this packed store) STOPPED playing to listen to me finish my runs. The Sales Rep was startled by the SILENCE in the store and after a few seconds of silence, looks around at everyone and says, .....(In an Anderew Dice Clay voice)"What??? We're all professionals here." Then the musical noises slowly kicked in again. We were IMPRESSED by the volume this little amp going into the right speaker cab while staying clean with no break up. Great little amp. May need to check out another one.
I was in a band back in the '80's and our lead guitarist had this amp. It was so cool, and had "that sound" we wanted, and yes we did perform with it. Years later I found his exact amp for sale and bought it. I love this thing not only for the sound, but for the memories, too!
I do know because both guitarists said so in interviews that in the studio they used 1×12 cabinets instead of 4×12 and run the amps straight through them to get a more focused sound, and that after a while the speaker would just blow up because it was just too much load coming from the amp.
It’s crazy that the Mighty Def Leppard used these things to make one of the Greatest Albums EVER when there was so many other options available back then. BLOWS MY MIND.
I've never had an amp with high to low EQ control, and it instantly makes more sense to me. Been playing decades and never thought about it but it makes perfect sense to me.
Back in the 80-ties we used to trim the inside to get more gain and we also had Marshall 4x12 cabs to it. I still have mine when practicing old Phenomena songs!
That little amp is an absolute time machine. Those sounds brought me back to my teenage years. All you needed, R.J., was the hair extensions sprayed upwards with AquaNet and the neon pink and white spandex pants that match your guitar.
You can adjust the gain levels of both channels with the 3 little trim pots inside at front of the PCB, right at the input jack. But be sure to mark the original settings with a pen or something. There is a tutorial how to do it, its easy to find. You can get this thing to growl quite heavily...
Someone can clear it up, but I did read in a forum where Nuno used this in studio. Solid State my friends. Never underestimate it, there's so many S.S. amps used on albums over the past 5 decades... it's tone is undeniable.
+1 on the solid-state love! I own and use 3 Rath Amp amps, made in Germany, and they're absolutely brilliant - from *superclean* at all volume levels to real proper chugging hi-gain!
I used to gig with both the Rockman and the 250ML. I replaced the Rockman with the 250 because it was more reliable on stage. I ran it into a 4/12 cabinet with a ART SGX2000 in the FX loop with a Rocktron Hush noise gate. I loved it! Ran the XLR to the front of house and I was all set.
I bought mine used in 1988 and still have it. I have a 4x10 Celestion stereo cabinet and it’s a stage worthy rig. I’ve played bars, outdoor parties, and gymnasiums without any complaints. Glad to see the mighty “Lunchbox from Hell” get some RUclips love. :)
I love this nostalgia 80s gear episode! I discover that amp when i became curious to Adrian Smith tone in "Somewhere in Time" thinking he used some chorus pedal. Amazing!
I got super close to nailing the SIT tone with this amp. I think my pickups and guitar setup aren't as close to nailing it, I heard they used exterior effects too along with these amps (would assume they used the onboard ones too) . There's no way Maiden used Marshalls on SIT. Also, Mick Mars used the Krueger on Theater of Pain and hated it- Maiden used it in a good way but it definitely didn't fit Crue's sound at all. Rush, Maiden, and Floyd even sounded good with the Krueger (and did you know, Fates Warning used these on Perfect Symmetry?), but Crue always needed Marshalls or similar to sound good.
It was the "lunch box". Or should I say Gallien Krueger 250ml on that album. By SSoass it was Gallien Krueger SEL. Mind you some say they still used the 250ml in the studio for that but took the SEL out for the tour. I own a 2000cpl which is like a rack preamp version of the SEL. Hard to find gear.
@@RabidGerry On SSoaSS the 250ML was used. There are pictures from the studio. But yes, the 2100SEL or 2000CPL and a power amp was used on the seventh son tour. I also have a 2000CPL and it sounds nothing like Seventh Son, but absolutely like the Maiden England recording.
@@kili1985 well to me they sound in the same ball park, may be not exactly the same as 250ml. I'd rather have an SEL or CPL simply for the extra control and what not. But yeah I'd heard Seventh Son was also the 250hence that comment. I think the ad campaign at the time is what made people including myself think I was the SEL in the studio.
I played rhythm and synth in a band (88-89) and our lead guitarist had one of these! I was super jealous because my gear at that time was utter garbage and his tone was massive!
The amp is fascinating. Yet you did more than just show me an Amp. I'm trying to understand the MLV version. You just gave me a guitar lesson I shall never forget. You also just gave me a history lesson. I'd love to hear it through a 4x12 slant cab. I think you just nailed the Balls to the Wall sound by Accept. That's a 1972 thing in a German Coffee Shop involving a 1972 Yamaha 1604 Mixer. I have one. Big Insta like for you. Just between us, I think the Krueger amp has some connection with Freddy Krueger. I can't poove it yet I get that impression.
That was a tuff time to choose gear. Old 70s trained players were pulling out LONG hairs,"TUBES, SOLID STATE,AHHH! The thing you demonstrate the EQ actually changes the tones. I went electronic.
my roommate had one of these in the 90's, it sounded incredible! I remember it being heavy, and very solid and well made. great acoustic sound as well. he used to call it his "lunchbox" lol. It honestly felt like it was built for war.
I've had two experiences with this amp. Back in about '84 I did a tour of Chicago with the Masters Commission from Phoenix First Assembly. I rented this amp because I could take the amp and my guitar on the plane with me in the overhead. The amp and the direct out worked great for what we did. My next experience with this amp was when my 3 piece worship band opened for a Christian punk bank called the Altar Boys. We played thru their gear to save space and channels on the board. The guitar player had a double stack of Marshalls which were empty dummies with this little GK behind inside the empty Marshall head. Once again it sounded great for the 80's. I remember doing an improvised encore of I'm Going Home by Ten Years After with a few words changed for the occasion. Michael Ayers, Martin Leif and myself rocked the night away and were given great compliments by the headliners.
I bought one new in the mid 80''s ! I loved it ! It sounded great on it's own it but add a ts9 and plug it into a stereo 4/12 and it was bliss ! I also had a Hot rodded 50 Watt Marshall from the early 70's that was a little noisy.......but also great and the loudest 50 watt amp I still have ever heard ......that I used when playing out but I played my GL 250ML a lot more than the Marshall ! Damn ! I should have stayed single ! I'd still have that stuff ! The price of these will go up from this video !
It actually sounds fantastic very trebley no bass at all but cuts right through with allot of snap and definition on the clean channel ,excellent for recording . The gain channel is very tight on the bottom. It sounds like a time warp back to the 80s.
Thanks for a great video. I had a GK 250ML in the late 1980s and used it with a 2X12 Celestion Sidewinder custom made cabinet. I was regularly blown away by my band mates 100w valve Marshall head. I sold it in the end and bought a Rivera valve head amp from Chandler Guitars in Kew (UK) to use with the cab but sold it all in the end as I didn’t like the sound of the Rivera and preferred the Marshall sound. However I bought a Mesa Boogie Studio 22+ combo for its portability and sound, influenced by Steven Lukather and still have it today.
@@benjaminhaley3780 It's loud enough to not require an external cabinet, but, when push a Marshall stack (yes, 2 4X12's) it definitely comes alive for the low end. I generally use a CPL2000 and run it direct into a cabinet emulator.
I was the New England Rep for GK back in the 80's and I can tell you we sold those things like popcorn. If you plug it into 2 Marshall 4x12 cabs is sounds like god playing guitar. A most amazing little amp.
I had one when I started playing in the early 90s. It was my first amp, I had no idea how cool it was. Sadly, now I have no idea what happened to it and would love to have another one.
I’m glad you got one, people don’t realize how good some of these are. I have the last guitar amp they made from around 94/95 called the Backline 100. The Backline 150 was the head version. They are great too, look them up! I loved Motörhead’s tone from 94 to 99 & found out these were used then. I met their guitarist Phil Campbell once & asked him about them. He said “I have 12 of them, just gave one to Adam from Tool recently. Good sound if dialed in right”
I still have my gk250ml from the early ‘80’s. Used to run it thru my Sunn 412LH with a Sunn 610 cab on top like a T. They wailed live. And the control you have with the factory pedal between A channel and B channel was seamless. Infinite tonal options, especially with 412 & 610 cabs. When I record at home I can stuff it in a closet with a mic, cover with a blanket and get killer recorded sound from the built in speakers. In studio I will record 1 track with the Sunn cabs and 1 track xlr direct output to the board, then mix down to a single channel. Page 2 of the manual only without using a stereo cord, instead going to cabs, mic’d. All these years later, it still kills it. Definite heirloom piece for my sons to fight over! 😎
I played one years ago. An old friend had one and when I saw the speaker out I told him I could make a home made talk box using the external speaker out. He was doubtful and an hour after a trip to Radio Shack I took a midrange tweeter put it in a 2 liter plastic bottle with a piece of garden hose taped to the spout. We ended up wrapping it in beach towels and stuffing it inside a Styrofoam cooler with the hose sticking out of a hole in the lid. Fired it up and Said "Hello Todd" through the talkbox .....his jaw dropped. He lived in an apartment and those amps do sound great at low volume.
I just broke my GK out after my VT22 Amp bit the dust . Paired it with the 2-12 Altecs from the Ampeg cabinet.. this is a great review as I didnt know alot about the amp.. bought it on a whim and used it sparingly in my music room. Thx for the post as your just what I needed to understand everything about this amp and what it can do .. Stay well !!
Another one of those classic amps I let get away! Didn't know what I had at the time. In the early/mid 90s I went from this GK to an old Marshall Plexi! Unfortunately, the Plexi was just so friggin loud that I couldn't use it at half the venues I played!! LOL - Very cool video that brought back some great memories ! Thanks!
The Lunchbox! A friend of mine had one, and I recorded with it A LOT back then. Asskicker, straight up. My friend was a bassist and he ran the treble pickup of his Rickenbacker bass through it, using a regular bass amp for his neck pickup.
I started my guitar playing fun on a GK amp 200 watt thru a 2x12 cab and was blown away by the immense power that GK's offer. Great video, thanks for sharing
I remember those. A metalhead friend of mine had one. Another thing it can do is super clean, solid state territory there, and can get pretty good Andy Summers tones as well, who use to go through a Roland Jazz Chorus at times...I think he mixed it up a bit and used a Superlead as well, but just never broken up or saturated. So if one is doing a Police cover band material thing, it's not a bad option and easily portable.
I started playing guitar in the mid Eighties and I remember seeing ads for these in _Guitar For The Practicing Musician,_ or whatever other magazines I was reading. I recall they were kind of spendy. I also recall that the first time I ever saw or heard of them was while watching a Foreigner concert on TV. Mick Jones had one (or maybe more) on a thing like a PA or Hi-Fi stereo speaker stand, playing _Dirty White Boy, Jukebox Hero, Cold As Ice, Feels Like The First Time_ and all those songs through it.
Had a series 1 back in 89-92. Used only as a practice amp but it was a really cool and high quality amp at the time. Way more gain than I use now but if I found a clean one I might be tempted. I enjoyed the throwback gear vid. Great playing by the way and another fun video. Thanks for doing these.
I knew a number of jazz and prog players who loved GKs in the 80s. I thought of them as good practice amps, but not much more than that. Always preferred tube. As for solid state amps the Randall RG 75 combo with the Celestion is the best I've ever played to this day. If Randall brought it back, an exact replica, I would get one right away.
yes! i have one these things! a great amp. you can take the top off and there is a pot right behind the "gain" button that you can turn to the right and get a little more fuzz out of it.
Such a fun little amp! Still have mine from back in the day. The original speakers weren't bad for a practice amp (sadly those Pyles are garbage). Often the foam surrounds dry rot, which is what happened to mine, so I re-foamed them with 8' foam edge repair kits from Speaker City. It's a time-consuming repair but not impossible if you have the time for it. Requires almost a complete disassemble and a patient, steady hand with stinky, runny solvent glue. But it worked like a charm and it sounds as good as new. Like other commenters, I once futzed with the trim pots inside, but be warned: small adjustments are better than big ones. It's easy to get it sounding REALLY BAD. So I recommend sticking with factory settings. The maintenance manual is available online in various places. The distortion is warm for solid state. Pretty close to a Rockman. If you remove the top panel to mess with the pots, be sure to have thermal heatsink grease handy. The top panel is part of the amp's heatsink, and if you don't re-grease it before you put the panel back on, the amp can overheat if you drive it too hard and will shut itself down to prevent damage. I learned this the hard way....in the middle of a gig! Fortunately the venue had a box fan handy that they let me borrow... The XLR out in the back is LINE LEVEL. DO NOT connect to a mic pre! Any basic 2-button TRS latching footswitch will work, but I think the GK version has 2 LEDs. One button switched A/B channels, and the other toggled the effects on/off, but only whichever one(s) were activated by the the front panel pushbuttons. You used to be able to get a stand for it; that's what those two knobs on the side are for. It is definitely a noisy amp, especially with the effects on. The first version of this amp didn't have the bump-out for the speakers below the control panel. The control panel was flush with the speaker grille and the knobs stuck out. I think they redesigned it because too many of them got bumped and bent, and the extra volume inside supposedly added a little more bottom end in combo mode. It's debatable if Lifeson used this exact amp on Power Windows. Pretty sure he used GK 2100SEL heads (which have similar EQ, 10K, 5K, 500, 80) through closed-back 2x12s in his studio secret sauce mix with the venerable Marshall 4140 combos and Dean Markley Signature 60. But they definitely used a 250ML on tour, not on the backline but as a monitor: running a split from Lifeson's main rig to a lunchbox (running dry) on a stand to the side for Ged near his keyboards (in the days before IEMs). Betcha he had one backstage and in his hotel room though. On the very first Lollapalooza tour in '91, NIN used one live through two 4x12 cabs. That cute little lunchbox looked funny sitting up there but lemme tell ya, they ran a loud AF backline and "Head Like A Hole" melted faces in the first few rows.
I just bought one used, after painting the chassis it looks almost brand new ! I also had to refoam the speaker edges, a common issue they all have as they literally disintegrate overtime. I will also change the power supply electrolytic caps, as this must be a 35+ year old amp.........besides this, it really does the 80's thing. it really needs a noise gate, yes...and with a tube screamer-type OD hitting the preamp, it sounds really sweet !
I had one back in the day. That I am watching videos about it tells that I miss the thing. Actually the original speakers sounded quite decent, you could run gigs with them. Most of the time I used it with two 1x12" Marshall cabs. I used to have a boss EQ in the fx loop to kick it for lead sounds. It was pure awesomeness and I would prefer it over any modeler amp any time.
Here's another great small amp from the 80's; the Fender "Champ 12". It's a "class A" amp with 1 6L6 tube, clean & dirt channels, reverb & 12" speaker. The dirt channel is crap, reverb not much better, but the clean channel is AMAZING. I had Jeff Bober (Budda Amps) mod the tone stack for the clean channel & I put a Celestion G12H30 in it. The result was MIND BLOWING. Sounds like a Fender Deluxe / Twin Reverb hybrid. Beautiful, lush multidimensional tones.
thru the inbuilt speakers it sounds like listening to the kid next door in his garage - then you realise RJ is playing - & hey they kid next door is GOOD!
I could have bought one of these back in the day. kick myself for not. However, I do still have that Rockman. Great to stumble on this post...brings back memories.
I actually have 2. The earlier flat front(which is currently not working) and one like this. I’ve loved these since I started playing in 1986. I’d love to see GK make guitar amps again. Thanks for doing this RJ! There hasn’t been a really good video on a 250ML.
bought one in '84 as saw it in local music store and couldn't believe how cool the sounds were. Only used in my living room and after having a family decided to sell it sometime in the late early 2000's. Met the guy outside a Guitar Center and an employee saw us with it and said "hey, come on inside and let's test it out". he then proceeded to get a guitar , plug in and out came the best sounding Alex Lifeson riffs ever! I had no clue that the 250ML was used on RUSH records. Wish I still had it.
I had one of those two. It got stolen during a robbery along with a Mexican Strat and a Washburn Steve Stevens. I had a GK 2x12 Celestian cab. What an awsome rig!
Though the era is still not all that highly regarded by the Rush 'purists', there are some very, very cool guitar tones, and parts for that matter on the Power Windows album!!-
R.J., thanks 4 bringing back some of my past, man I almost bought a much higher priced GK in the 80's but I did buy a Rockman! The head phones were not much but had some Koss HP were Great and that little Amp kicked it, I still have it somewhere, but I latter bought anew Roland Jazz Corus 77 with 2 20" made in Japan and I still use it as my main Amp,if U find 1 or maybe U have tried one they're Awesome 4 me, Enjoyed seeing on Ben's stream but didn't see much but went to CK yours and I now will also follow U, I so far enjoy what I've seen, U R 1 L of a Music Man,God Bless U,,,
I just had my Randall NB King 100 serviced at Uncle Albert's in Indianapolis and he has one in his shop. He has met Nuno and he told me that is what nuno uses and showed me the exact amp on one of his shelves in his shop that you're using in this video.
I used to gig with two of them, placed in front of me. I would place one on each side of my monitor. It was a great solution to volume issues with club managers! They could get pretty loud without breaking up. Great amps! Wish I still had them.
We sold those at Drumville Guitar land back then they did come with Pyle speakers i used a gk 400wat stero amp on my rig back then to simulate stereo effects. All that access to gear what a wonderful time to be alive playing guitar❤🎸
along with the Roland Guitar Synth they used, it just gave this futuristic, almost spacey vibe. Little did i know til about a year ago that David Gilmour also used one on Momentary Lapse of Reason. The airy, spacey vibe the Krueger gets, especially on Somewhere in Time, is what lead me to buy one. I'd suffice to say I'd sell my 4 other amps before the Krueger.
I had one, as well as the Rockman, and always noticed the obvious similarities in their approach to tone. They also made a carpet covered 2x12 cab in stereo, that my friend's dog urinated on...necessitating removal of the carpet, but irrespective of that it performed quite well in a live setting, even when it was up against three horns!
There are internal trim pots for the gain/ comp etc. Worth messing around with. It would solve the volume drop issue with the gain on channel one. This amp sounds amazing through two 4x12's as the chorus is true stereo..
I had an original Rockman, like one of the 1st sold out here in BC and bought it from L&M music. It was before they came out with the powered option that snapped into the battery compartment so I had to use AAs (which it ate like peanuts) until I had a buddy make me a PSU for it. It was so a head of its time and the first "amp" with a stereo IN so you could jam along to your fave stuff you were wood shedding. I also used it a lot for recording but man, it was SO noisy - especially clean I , II. The rack-mount models they came up with later sounded the same but got rid of most of the noise.
I used to own Gallien Krueger 250ml guitar head amp and paired it with A Peavey 4*12 cabinet!!!!!😀 It was my first professional type rig and I had a Boss BF2 flanger and an Ibanez TS-10 tube screamer!!!! And my guitars were a Kramer focus-6000 and a "Fake" Charvel super strat!!!! This was 1992. I thought it was soooo cool!!!! That Gallien Krueger amp kicked some butt!!!! I know it was solid state but I liked the clean tones!!!!😃😀😃😀
I used this in college. It was a pretty fun sound, but it got hot and started to buzz. So we drilled a couple holes in the top to help it vent, and that helped...
It's an AMAZING amp. Needs reconsideration. I've used it on a few songs so far but live in an apartment now so I'm having to go direct with preamps. Rush, Maiden, Pink Floyd, Fates Warning. Like some of my fave bands used it, so yeah, I was happy to buy one 2 1/2 years ago
My guitarist bought it back in '88, and I managed to fry it within fifteen minutes of use while he was playing it. Since it wasn't loud enough, I decided to plug the amp into the PA speaker. But then I got really crafty and decided to mic it up. So I mic'd it up. The amp and the PA were plugged into the same cabinet. Within seconds smoke came out of the amp. I killed it. But the PA was fine. He brought it back to the music store (he didn't tell them what I just confessed here), and got his money back. I also remember reading that John Entwistle used that amp for his bass rig for a season. That is why I encouraged my guitarist to get it. I wanted to noodle around with it. I ended up with the GK400RB.
I have the head version, the 250RL. It’s a nice amp, I think the noise could be cleaned up with some new caps as I’m sure they’ve degraded over the decades. There’s a video on here if you search for mods that improves the med/high gain channel even more. If I can find another one I’ll be doing that for sure!
I owned one back in the 80s. If you take the top plate off there are trim pots to make adjustments to, if I can recall, the gain and echo, and pssibly the chorus rate. It was a fun amp. I probably played the B channel with full gain almost exclusively. I beleive Ted Nugent used one on Little Miss Dangerous and you can certainly hear that tone.
Careful with connecting cabinets. I bought one back in the day ( yes almost 40 years ago..) and I blew it up the first rehearsal. I learned the Ohm matching lesson ... got it fixed and it worked great. I gave to a friend - he still has it and it works... it actually can really cut through a live band....
I recorded with one when I was in high school in the early ‘90s. It belonged to the guy who recorded us…he had it set up with a 212 GK cabinet in a separate room. As a 17 year old I though it sounded great! …not sure what I would think of it now. Lol
I had one of those new in ‘84-‘85, when I was 13-14. There is a trim pot inside that you can turn up the gain to another level. I ran it through a pair of 2x12 cabs I built in my bedroom. I was the man in my neighborhood, I wouldn’t have been any cooler if I had a Marshall stack.
Me 2😆😆😆🤘💪🎸
🤣🤣
Those were good times. I played a gig thru a transister radio I put a guitar jack on. Mic it up sounded monster nasty.
Just came here to comment the same thing!! If you want Iron Maiden’s Somewhere In Time tone, you have to turn up those gain trim pots quite a bit!! 🤘😎🤘
I had 2 4x12 Mesa cabs....sorry I was cooler.
Still have my Rockman X-100 from the 80's. Never used an amp - ran it through a volume pedal into the PA. Still some of the best guitar tones I have. Tom Scholz is a genius. I bet his dog is even smarter than mine.
It's pretty amazing that they had something approximating decent cab IRs back in the 80's!
I had one of those in College! GREAT amp!
...Huh, didn't think to see you here Glenn! :D
Hey R.J.!
I still have my 250ML that I've owned since 1986.
Just for FYI, these amps DID come with Pyle speakers in them, although the ones in your amp look like replacements. As long as the impedance is correct, it should be fine.
A few things I've noticed about your amp:
The gain button on channel A has been tweaked, no doubt in my mind. There should not be any volume drop at all, but quite the opposite. There should be a bit of a volume boost with noticeable overdrive gain to it, but not quite into distortion territory like you get with channel B.
If you remove the screws on the part of the amp cover where the handle is, it will expose the circuitry, and there are a couple of trim pots on the circuit board. Guitar players were notorious for going in there and giving the trim pots a bit of a turn to get more gain. A word of caution; You can actually trim these too far and cause circuitry damage! Someone definitely tweaked the trim pot on channel A in that amp which is why your volume drops when you engage it. It should sound more like a Marshall BluesBreaker amp when set from the factory.
I have used mine not only for practice, but I've played Ballroom sized venues with mine plugging it into a pair of JBL Cabaret Series 3-way PA speakers, and it sounded great. Never plug in speaker loads less than 16 Ohms! I blew mine up that way and had to send it in to GK to get it repaired. They did an excellent job with it. If you want to send yours in to get it set right, talk to Gene Lopes over there, he'll get you squared away, and he's a great guy.
When mine was there getting repaired, Gene told me about a Re-Issue model of the 250ML that was going to be coming out, but I never saw anything show up on the market.
Like you, I'm not too fond of the Echo in that amp but the Chorus is great. The Comp on that amp is not actually a compressor, but a compander. To me it functions like a compressor with a noticeable rise in the volume as it swells the effect in.
I built a footswitch for my amp using an old Fender 2 -button switch, and just replaced the cable with a mic cable and a T/R/S plug, and that lets me switch channels and punch the effects in and out.
Currently, I use my GK with a 2 X12 Cab that has vintage Altec Lansing G-17H speakers in it. These speakers are 16 Ohm each, so the speaker outs go direct to a single speaker, I leave the built in speakers on at the same time so it get more range that way. It's a cool little amp, but definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing.
If there is anything else I can share with you about this amp, contact me, I'd be happy to help you out.
I have one of these on the way, can't wait to mess with it. Is it possible to add a speaker switch to the mk1 model?
@@low_e_music There is one already added on mine. I bought it used, and everything that has been done to it was done before I bought it. Just remember this because it's very important; never have a speaker load below 16 Ohms. It will blow the output transformer if you do.
You can plug in a 4X12 cab, but I used to plug mine into a pair of JBL Cabaret series PA cabs, they were 4-way full range cabs, and actually sounded better than a 4X12.
@@harleyhexxe9806 Thanks Harley. I got mine and I absolutely love it! I am in Iron Maiden heaven. There was a hole drilled on the top which had been covered with tape. Based on the size, location, and solder on the channel B gain switch, it was likely used for a footswitch to kick the channel B gain on / off. I put a DPST switch there and ran the positive wires for the internal speakers through it so that I have a speaker on/off switch now, works great. I only run 16 ohm speakers too, makes things easier on me, haha.
I hope that they do decide to reissue these someday, with all the current retro 80s nostalgia, I bet they would sell well.
@@low_e_music It looks like you came up with a way to incorporate the switch you were looking for. Congratulations on your new amp! They are pretty cool little amps that can pack a surprising punch.
I remember at one gig I played with it at the Allegheny Ballroom at the Vist hotel in PIttsburgh, someone had set a road case on my direct cable going to the mixing desk. It broke the connection and I wasn't in the mix. I cranked the volume and used my guitar volume to blend in with the band. The amp has power to spare, and sounded pretty darned good cranked like that.
As for the reissue, well I suppose that depends on the marketing trends for musical instruments. If GK doesn't feel like they are going to sell enough of them to justify the expense, then they probably won't mass produce them. It would be a costly gamble to risk it.
I had one too, I echo many of your same sentiments. Got mine in 85 I think I was well on my way to buying a Mesa boogie 22 caliber. Did an A/B comparison and realized🎉 that the 22 was not the fire breathing dragon that previous Mesas tend to be. Was sold on the sound of the 250. Commenced to dragging it all over Mexico on gigs in the dust dirt and the worst of circumstances and that little metal chassis held up like a champ. Gave it is an offering to a church that I lead worship in. I wonder if it’s being used now?
My main gigging amp in the eighties, sounded tremendous through two Marshall 4x12’s.
Huge wide stereo spread, and great tone.
I too upped the gain by adjusting the trim pots inside.
I’m surprised Gary Moore wasn’t mentioned, used them live and in the studio. Run For Cover album for a start, and check out his live footage from that era. Also so great footage from The Old Grey Whistle Test where he used it.
and wild frontier tour
I once ran sound for Phil Keaggy for a couple of stops in the midwest. He was using one of those with his custom Olson acoustics. As I recall we took the direct out and mic'd the guitar. He made it sound spectacular.
Hah. The Lifeson amp 😀. AL played GK for quite a while in the 80s and early 90s. I still have my GK 2000 CPL 19“ rack preamp and use it regularly for Jazz Chorus cleans. Bulit-in compressor, stereo FX loop, 4 band EQ, what‘s not to like.
Had one of these amps in the early 90s . I gigged with it by itself but mostly used a Marshall 4x12 cab with it . It was amazing . Took into the studio once and the engineers were amazed at how good it sounded and recorded. Wished I still had it.
I stumbled on to this channel last week.. your 80s tone vids brought back instant memories. I'm 58 now and my wife is going to hate me. I'm going to the closet and dusting off the axe and buying some old new gear.. thanks for the kick in the ass to start playing again..
I still own one. If you open up the amplifier, there are trim pots that can change the tonality of the amp completely. Until I change that I had no idea how this was used for iron maiden sounds !
It will also push a speaker cabinet.
Grew up in the 80s. I’ma drummer but so many of my friends had these amps. They were the “cool kids” amps back then. Great channel Ron. Addicted.
Sweet! What a fun flashback, not only hearing it but seeing those old ads again. I love all of your stuff, RJ, but the 80s theme vids always get me going ! 🥳🎸
Digging mine out of the closet now! I powered a 4x12 cab for years w/ mine. Thanks for another great video!
A buddy of mine played one of these around 1990, with a half-rack SE-50 stereo effects unit. He could carry his whole setup out of the car to the venue door in one trip. People laughed at his teeny amp - til they heard him play it! Sounded awesome for that era of rock. GK should reissue these with cab Sims - I'd buy one!
I made this comment on the Rockman video!!! It’s great that you did this video! Thank you so much for these Leppard sound videos. They are my favorite band.
It was good to see your face light up when you realized the power this thing had back in the 80s. I had it for live gigs back inthe 80s - used mainly for overdrive and solos. It REALLY cuts thru the mix live. GUITAR CENTER STORY: Took my GK 250ML and Music Man strat with me into the Guitar Center store in Hollywood (back when you could walk in with equipment) looking for 4x12 cabs to see how it sounded. There were shredders EVERYWHERE! Never seen so many GIT students cutting heads in a store. Ah the late 80s. LOL! So the sales rep was cool and plugged me into a bunch of different cabs. Plugged me into a Rivera Q212 and while I was quietly playing some fast tappy crap, the Sales Rep suddenly turns the GK ALL THE WAY UP!!! SO DAMN LOUD that everyone (I mean everyone in this packed store) STOPPED playing to listen to me finish my runs. The Sales Rep was startled by the SILENCE in the store and after a few seconds of silence, looks around at everyone and says, .....(In an Anderew Dice Clay voice)"What??? We're all professionals here." Then the musical noises slowly kicked in again. We were IMPRESSED by the volume this little amp going into the right speaker cab while staying clean with no break up. Great little amp. May need to check out another one.
I was in a band back in the '80's and our lead guitarist had this amp. It was so cool, and had "that sound" we wanted, and yes we did perform with it. Years later I found his exact amp for sale and bought it. I love this thing not only for the sound, but for the memories, too!
I remember reading somewhere, a long time ago, that Queensryche also used the GK on the Empire record. Those things were wicked.
I do know because both guitarists said so in interviews that in the studio they used 1×12 cabinets instead of 4×12 and run the amps straight through them to get a more focused sound, and that after a while the speaker would just blow up because it was just too much load coming from the amp.
QR was the first thing that came to mind hearing the first clean tone RJ gets here - sounds a ton like Suite Sister Mary or Waiting for 22.
It’s crazy that the Mighty Def Leppard used these things to make one of the Greatest Albums EVER when there was so many other options available back then. BLOWS MY MIND.
That compressor sounds more aggressive than the Rockman. I like it.
I've never had an amp with high to low EQ control, and it instantly makes more sense to me. Been playing decades and never thought about it but it makes perfect sense to me.
Back in the 80-ties we used to trim the inside to get more gain and we also had Marshall 4x12 cabs to it. I still have mine when practicing old Phenomena songs!
That little amp is an absolute time machine. Those sounds brought me back to my teenage years. All you needed, R.J., was the hair extensions sprayed upwards with AquaNet and the neon pink and white spandex pants that match your guitar.
You can adjust the gain levels of both channels with the 3 little trim pots inside at front of the PCB, right at the input jack. But be sure to mark the original settings with a pen or something.
There is a tutorial how to do it, its easy to find. You can get this thing to growl quite heavily...
ive heard rumors Chuck Schuldiner used one early on with Death
@@themadmattster9647 Yes, me too. I think he used the 250ML on the Human album
When you first started playing through the amp I thought you were about to kick into “Fire Woman” lol
Try using a RAT as a clean boost. Also if you dime the EQ section there's more gain to be had.
You absolutely nailed it! I hear the "Hysteria" bleeding out of that girl.
Someone can clear it up, but I did read in a forum where Nuno used this in studio. Solid State my friends. Never underestimate it, there's so many S.S. amps used on albums over the past 5 decades... it's tone is undeniable.
+1 on the solid-state love!
I own and use 3 Rath Amp amps, made in Germany, and they're absolutely brilliant - from *superclean* at all volume levels to real proper chugging hi-gain!
@@claudevieaul1465 Sounds great, I just watched this:
ruclips.net/video/fyX-OmHN79s/видео.html
wasn't on pornograffiti that was recorded with Michael Wagener's ADA MP1 preamp and Macintosh poweramps
I used to gig with both the Rockman and the 250ML. I replaced the Rockman with the 250 because it was more reliable on stage. I ran it into a 4/12 cabinet with a ART SGX2000 in the FX loop with a Rocktron Hush noise gate. I loved it! Ran the XLR to the front of house and I was all set.
Love your "time machine" videos ✌
I bought mine used in 1988 and still have it. I have a 4x10 Celestion stereo cabinet and it’s a stage worthy rig. I’ve played bars, outdoor parties, and gymnasiums without any complaints. Glad to see the mighty “Lunchbox from Hell” get some RUclips love. :)
Had one. Was super cool. 100% would buy again.
I love this nostalgia 80s gear episode! I discover that amp when i became curious to Adrian Smith tone in "Somewhere in Time" thinking he used some chorus pedal. Amazing!
It was confusing to me because any SIT discussion spoke of Marshalls. So I thought you needed huge Marshall speakers.
I got super close to nailing the SIT tone with this amp. I think my pickups and guitar setup aren't as close to nailing it, I heard they used exterior effects too along with these amps (would assume they used the onboard ones too) . There's no way Maiden used Marshalls on SIT. Also, Mick Mars used the Krueger on Theater of Pain and hated it- Maiden used it in a good way but it definitely didn't fit Crue's sound at all. Rush, Maiden, and Floyd even sounded good with the Krueger (and did you know, Fates Warning used these on Perfect Symmetry?), but Crue always needed Marshalls or similar to sound good.
It was the "lunch box". Or should I say Gallien Krueger 250ml on that album. By SSoass it was Gallien Krueger SEL. Mind you some say they still used the 250ml in the studio for that but took the SEL out for the tour. I own a 2000cpl which is like a rack preamp version of the SEL. Hard to find gear.
@@RabidGerry On SSoaSS the 250ML was used. There are pictures from the studio. But yes, the 2100SEL or 2000CPL and a power amp was used on the seventh son tour. I also have a 2000CPL and it sounds nothing like Seventh Son, but absolutely like the Maiden England recording.
@@kili1985 well to me they sound in the same ball park, may be not exactly the same as 250ml. I'd rather have an SEL or CPL simply for the extra control and what not. But yeah I'd heard Seventh Son was also the 250hence that comment. I think the ad campaign at the time is what made people including myself think I was the SEL in the studio.
I played rhythm and synth in a band (88-89) and our lead guitarist had one of these! I was super jealous because my gear at that time was utter garbage and his tone was massive!
You took me back 40 years back man, I remember those amps but I only saw them in Guitaplayer mag, thanks for sharing this, you rock 🤘🤘
The amp is fascinating. Yet you did more than just show me an Amp. I'm trying to understand the MLV version.
You just gave me a guitar lesson I shall never forget. You also just gave me a history lesson. I'd love to hear it through a 4x12 slant cab.
I think you just nailed the Balls to the Wall sound by Accept. That's a 1972 thing in a German Coffee Shop involving a 1972 Yamaha 1604 Mixer. I have one.
Big Insta like for you. Just between us, I think the Krueger amp has some connection with Freddy Krueger. I can't poove it yet I get that impression.
That was a tuff time to choose gear. Old 70s trained players were pulling out LONG hairs,"TUBES, SOLID STATE,AHHH! The thing you demonstrate the EQ actually changes the tones. I went electronic.
my roommate had one of these in the 90's, it sounded incredible! I remember it being heavy, and very solid and well made. great acoustic sound as well. he used to call it his "lunchbox" lol. It honestly felt like it was built for war.
I've had two experiences with this amp. Back in about '84 I did a tour of Chicago with the Masters Commission from Phoenix First Assembly. I rented this amp because I could take the amp and my guitar on the plane with me in the overhead. The amp and the direct out worked great for what we did.
My next experience with this amp was when my 3 piece worship band opened for a Christian punk bank called the Altar Boys. We played thru their gear to save space and channels on the board. The guitar player had a double stack of Marshalls which were empty dummies with this little GK behind inside the empty Marshall head. Once again it sounded great for the 80's. I remember doing an improvised encore of I'm Going Home by Ten Years After with a few words changed for the occasion. Michael Ayers, Martin Leif and myself rocked the night away and were given great compliments by the headliners.
I bought one new in the mid 80''s ! I loved it ! It sounded great on it's own it but add a ts9 and plug it into a stereo 4/12 and it was bliss ! I also had a Hot rodded 50 Watt Marshall from the early 70's that was a little noisy.......but also great and the loudest 50 watt amp I still have ever heard ......that I used when playing out but I played my GL 250ML a lot more than the Marshall ! Damn ! I should have stayed single ! I'd still have that stuff ! The price of these will go up from this video !
It actually sounds fantastic very trebley no bass at all but cuts right through with allot of snap and definition on the clean channel ,excellent for recording . The gain channel is very tight on the bottom. It sounds like a time warp back to the 80s.
Thanks for a great video. I had a GK 250ML in the late 1980s and used it with a 2X12 Celestion Sidewinder custom made cabinet. I was regularly blown away by my band mates 100w valve Marshall head. I sold it in the end and bought a Rivera valve head amp from Chandler Guitars in Kew (UK) to use with the cab but sold it all in the end as I didn’t like the sound of the Rivera and preferred the Marshall sound. However I bought a Mesa Boogie Studio 22+ combo for its portability and sound, influenced by Steven Lukather and still have it today.
I have the 250ML and a matching 2X12 cabinet, plus the 2000CPL stereo preamp. Great sounding equipment that is sadly not made anymore.
How loud is it without the cab? Like just the combo by itself?
@@benjaminhaley3780
It's loud enough to not require an external cabinet, but, when push a Marshall stack (yes, 2 4X12's) it definitely comes alive for the low end. I generally use a CPL2000 and run it direct into a cabinet emulator.
I was the New England Rep for GK back in the 80's and I can tell you we sold those things like popcorn. If you plug it into 2 Marshall 4x12 cabs is sounds like god playing guitar. A most amazing little amp.
I had one when I started playing in the early 90s. It was my first amp, I had no idea how cool it was. Sadly, now I have no idea what happened to it and would love to have another one.
I’m glad you got one, people don’t realize how good some of these are. I have the last guitar amp they made from around 94/95 called the Backline 100. The Backline 150 was the head version. They are great too, look them up!
I loved Motörhead’s tone from 94 to 99 & found out these were used then. I met their guitarist Phil Campbell once & asked him about them. He said “I have 12 of them, just gave one to Adam from Tool recently. Good sound if dialed in right”
I still have my gk250ml from the early ‘80’s. Used to run it thru my Sunn 412LH with a Sunn 610 cab on top like a T. They wailed live. And the control you have with the factory pedal between A channel and B channel was seamless. Infinite tonal options, especially with 412 & 610 cabs. When I record at home I can stuff it in a closet with a mic, cover with a blanket and get killer recorded sound from the built in speakers. In studio I will record 1 track with the Sunn cabs and 1 track xlr direct output to the board, then mix down to a single channel. Page 2 of the manual only without using a stereo cord, instead going to cabs, mic’d. All these years later, it still kills it. Definite heirloom piece for my sons to fight over! 😎
I actually purchased one of these in the late '90s and ran it into an P.A.18 inch speaker cabinet. The tone was HUGE!!!!
Had one. That little thing will push a 4x12 cab and surprise you how good it sounds. Give it a shot. Cool amps. Analog solid state.
I played one years ago. An old friend had one and when I saw the speaker out I told him I could make a home made talk box using the external speaker out. He was doubtful and an hour after a trip to Radio Shack I took a midrange tweeter put it in a 2 liter plastic bottle with a piece of garden hose taped to the spout. We ended up wrapping it in beach towels and stuffing it inside a Styrofoam cooler with the hose sticking out of a hole in the lid. Fired it up and Said "Hello Todd" through the talkbox .....his jaw dropped. He lived in an apartment and those amps do sound great at low volume.
I just broke my GK out after my VT22 Amp bit the dust . Paired it with the 2-12 Altecs from the Ampeg cabinet.. this is a great review as I didnt know alot about the amp.. bought it on a whim and used it sparingly in my music room. Thx for the post as your just what I needed to understand everything about this amp and what it can do .. Stay well !!
Another one of those classic amps I let get away! Didn't know what I had at the time. In the early/mid 90s I went from this GK to an old Marshall Plexi! Unfortunately, the Plexi was just so friggin loud that I couldn't use it at half the venues I played!! LOL - Very cool video that brought back some great memories ! Thanks!
Sounds exactly like Phil Collen in the Hysteria era. I loved it.
The Lunchbox! A friend of mine had one, and I recorded with it A LOT back then. Asskicker, straight up. My friend was a bassist and he ran the treble pickup of his Rickenbacker bass through it, using a regular bass amp for his neck pickup.
I started my guitar playing fun on a GK amp 200 watt thru a 2x12 cab and was blown away by the immense power that GK's offer. Great video, thanks for sharing
I remember those. A metalhead friend of mine had one. Another thing it can do is super clean, solid state territory there, and can get pretty good Andy Summers tones as well, who use to go through a Roland Jazz Chorus at times...I think he mixed it up a bit and used a Superlead as well, but just never broken up or saturated. So if one is doing a Police cover band material thing, it's not a bad option and easily portable.
I started playing guitar in the mid Eighties and I remember seeing ads for these in _Guitar For The Practicing Musician,_ or whatever other magazines I was reading. I recall they were kind of spendy. I also recall that the first time I ever saw or heard of them was while watching a Foreigner concert on TV. Mick Jones had one (or maybe more) on a thing like a PA or Hi-Fi stereo speaker stand, playing _Dirty White Boy, Jukebox Hero, Cold As Ice, Feels Like The First Time_ and all those songs through it.
Had a series 1 back in 89-92. Used only as a practice amp but it was a really cool and high quality amp at the time. Way more gain than I use now but if I found a clean one I might be tempted. I enjoyed the throwback gear vid.
Great playing by the way and another fun video. Thanks for doing these.
I knew a number of jazz and prog players who loved GKs in the 80s. I thought of them as good practice amps, but not much more than that. Always preferred tube. As for solid state amps the Randall RG 75 combo with the Celestion is the best I've ever played to this day. If Randall brought it back, an exact replica, I would get one right away.
yes! i have one these things! a great amp. you can take the top off and there is a pot right behind the "gain" button that you can turn to the right and get a little more fuzz out of it.
Had one of these in the late 80's and used it for a class demo with a bass. Solid little monster!
Such a fun little amp! Still have mine from back in the day. The original speakers weren't bad for a practice amp (sadly those Pyles are garbage). Often the foam surrounds dry rot, which is what happened to mine, so I re-foamed them with 8' foam edge repair kits from Speaker City. It's a time-consuming repair but not impossible if you have the time for it. Requires almost a complete disassemble and a patient, steady hand with stinky, runny solvent glue. But it worked like a charm and it sounds as good as new.
Like other commenters, I once futzed with the trim pots inside, but be warned: small adjustments are better than big ones. It's easy to get it sounding REALLY BAD. So I recommend sticking with factory settings. The maintenance manual is available online in various places.
The distortion is warm for solid state. Pretty close to a Rockman.
If you remove the top panel to mess with the pots, be sure to have thermal heatsink grease handy. The top panel is part of the amp's heatsink, and if you don't re-grease it before you put the panel back on, the amp can overheat if you drive it too hard and will shut itself down to prevent damage. I learned this the hard way....in the middle of a gig! Fortunately the venue had a box fan handy that they let me borrow...
The XLR out in the back is LINE LEVEL. DO NOT connect to a mic pre!
Any basic 2-button TRS latching footswitch will work, but I think the GK version has 2 LEDs. One button switched A/B channels, and the other toggled the effects on/off, but only whichever one(s) were activated by the the front panel pushbuttons.
You used to be able to get a stand for it; that's what those two knobs on the side are for.
It is definitely a noisy amp, especially with the effects on.
The first version of this amp didn't have the bump-out for the speakers below the control panel. The control panel was flush with the speaker grille and the knobs stuck out. I think they redesigned it because too many of them got bumped and bent, and the extra volume inside supposedly added a little more bottom end in combo mode.
It's debatable if Lifeson used this exact amp on Power Windows. Pretty sure he used GK 2100SEL heads (which have similar EQ, 10K, 5K, 500, 80) through closed-back 2x12s in his studio secret sauce mix with the venerable Marshall 4140 combos and Dean Markley Signature 60. But they definitely used a 250ML on tour, not on the backline but as a monitor: running a split from Lifeson's main rig to a lunchbox (running dry) on a stand to the side for Ged near his keyboards (in the days before IEMs). Betcha he had one backstage and in his hotel room though.
On the very first Lollapalooza tour in '91, NIN used one live through two 4x12 cabs. That cute little lunchbox looked funny sitting up there but lemme tell ya, they ran a loud AF backline and "Head Like A Hole" melted faces in the first few rows.
I just bought one used, after painting the chassis it looks almost brand new ! I also had to refoam the speaker edges, a common issue they all have as they literally disintegrate overtime. I will also change the power supply electrolytic caps, as this must be a 35+ year old amp.........besides this, it really does the 80's thing. it really needs a noise gate, yes...and with a tube screamer-type OD hitting the preamp, it sounds really sweet !
The low end tightness comes from it being transistor. I have a Randall RG80 transistor 1-12 combo and I love the tight low end.
I had one back in the day. That I am watching videos about it tells that I miss the thing. Actually the original speakers sounded quite decent, you could run gigs with them. Most of the time I used it with two 1x12" Marshall cabs. I used to have a boss EQ in the fx loop to kick it for lead sounds. It was pure awesomeness and I would prefer it over any modeler amp any time.
Here's another great small amp from the 80's; the Fender "Champ 12". It's a "class A" amp with 1 6L6 tube, clean & dirt channels, reverb & 12" speaker. The dirt channel is crap, reverb not much better, but the clean channel is AMAZING. I had Jeff Bober (Budda Amps) mod the tone stack for the clean channel & I put a Celestion G12H30 in it. The result was MIND BLOWING. Sounds like a Fender Deluxe / Twin Reverb hybrid. Beautiful, lush multidimensional tones.
thru the inbuilt speakers it sounds like listening to the kid next door in his garage - then you realise RJ is playing - & hey they kid next door is GOOD!
I could have bought one of these back in the day. kick myself for not. However, I do still have that Rockman. Great to stumble on this post...brings back memories.
Good work RJ, you really do justice to that era of music!
I actually have 2. The earlier flat front(which is currently not working) and one like this. I’ve loved these since I started playing in 1986. I’d love to see GK make guitar amps again. Thanks for doing this RJ! There hasn’t been a really good video on a 250ML.
bought one in '84 as saw it in local music store and couldn't believe how cool the sounds were. Only used in my living room and after having a family decided to sell it sometime in the late early 2000's. Met the guy outside a Guitar Center and an employee saw us with it and said "hey, come on inside and let's test it out". he then proceeded to get a guitar , plug in and out came the best sounding Alex Lifeson riffs ever! I had no clue that the 250ML was used on RUSH records. Wish I still had it.
I had one of those two. It got stolen during a robbery along with a Mexican Strat and a Washburn Steve Stevens. I had a GK 2x12 Celestian cab. What an awsome rig!
had one growing up. got a used one for $80 a few years ago. love this amp still.
Though the era is still not all that highly regarded by the Rush 'purists', there are some very, very cool guitar tones, and parts for that matter on the Power Windows album!!-
Plug it into a 4x12 cab. I played one that way in 89 and it blew me away. Couldn’t afford one back then but I keep hoping to find one in my range.
R.J., thanks 4 bringing back some of my past, man I almost bought a much higher priced GK in the 80's but I did buy a Rockman! The head phones were not much but had some Koss HP were Great and that little Amp kicked it, I still have it somewhere, but I latter bought anew Roland Jazz Corus 77 with 2 20" made in Japan and I still use it as my main Amp,if U find 1 or maybe U have tried one they're Awesome 4 me, Enjoyed seeing on Ben's stream but didn't see much but went to CK yours and I now will also follow U, I so far enjoy what I've seen, U R 1 L of a Music Man,God Bless U,,,
R.J. you just went up 1000X my cool scale for the Annihhilator shirt! Cheers from Canada!
I just had my Randall NB King 100 serviced at Uncle Albert's in Indianapolis and he has one in his shop. He has met Nuno and he told me that is what nuno uses and showed me the exact amp on one of his shelves in his shop that you're using in this video.
I used to gig with two of them, placed in front of me. I would place one on each side of my monitor. It was a great solution to volume issues with club managers! They could get pretty loud without breaking up. Great amps! Wish I still had them.
Oh yeah dude! Those little things are really cool....still have mine.....stadium rock all the way!
We sold those at Drumville Guitar land back then they did come with Pyle speakers i used a gk 400wat stero amp on my rig back then to simulate stereo effects. All that access to gear what a wonderful time to be alive playing guitar❤🎸
Iron Maidens somewhere in time is their best album imo those Rockman/GK tones are my bread and butter! Also the album that introduced me to maiden!
along with the Roland Guitar Synth they used, it just gave this futuristic, almost spacey vibe. Little did i know til about a year ago that David Gilmour also used one on Momentary Lapse of Reason. The airy, spacey vibe the Krueger gets, especially on Somewhere in Time, is what lead me to buy one. I'd suffice to say I'd sell my 4 other amps before the Krueger.
A friend of mine had one of those in '86. Loud little amp!
I had one, as well as the Rockman, and always noticed the obvious similarities in their approach to tone. They also made a carpet covered 2x12 cab in stereo, that my friend's dog urinated on...necessitating removal of the carpet, but irrespective of that it performed quite well in a live setting, even when it was up against three horns!
Nobody's fault but mine thrown in there haha! Such a cool feature packed amp
There are internal trim pots for the gain/ comp etc. Worth messing around with. It would solve the volume drop issue with the gain on channel one. This amp sounds amazing through two 4x12's as the chorus is true stereo..
I had an original Rockman, like one of the 1st sold out here in BC and bought it from L&M music. It was before they came out with the powered option that snapped into the battery compartment so I had to use AAs (which it ate like peanuts) until I had a buddy make me a PSU for it. It was so a head of its time and the first "amp" with a stereo IN so
you could jam along to your fave stuff you were wood shedding. I also used it a lot for recording but man, it was SO noisy - especially clean I , II. The rack-mount models they came up with later sounded the same but got rid of most of the noise.
I used to own Gallien Krueger 250ml guitar head amp and paired it with A Peavey 4*12 cabinet!!!!!😀 It was my first professional type rig and I had a Boss BF2 flanger and an Ibanez TS-10 tube screamer!!!! And my guitars were a Kramer focus-6000 and a "Fake" Charvel super strat!!!! This was 1992. I thought it was soooo cool!!!! That Gallien Krueger amp kicked some butt!!!! I know it was solid state but I liked the clean tones!!!!😃😀😃😀
I used this in college. It was a pretty fun sound, but it got hot and started to buzz. So we drilled a couple holes in the top to help it vent, and that helped...
It's an AMAZING amp. Needs reconsideration. I've used it on a few songs so far but live in an apartment now so I'm having to go direct with preamps. Rush, Maiden, Pink Floyd, Fates Warning. Like some of my fave bands used it, so yeah, I was happy to buy one 2 1/2 years ago
8:17 Whoa. I totally hear OU812-era EVH. No wonder he practiced with one! That tone sounds exactly like “Finish What Ya Started”.
My guitarist bought it back in '88, and I managed to fry it within fifteen minutes of use while he was playing it. Since it wasn't loud enough, I decided to plug the amp into the PA speaker. But then I got really crafty and decided to mic it up. So I mic'd it up. The amp and the PA were plugged into the same cabinet. Within seconds smoke came out of the amp. I killed it. But the PA was fine. He brought it back to the music store (he didn't tell them what I just confessed here), and got his money back.
I also remember reading that John Entwistle used that amp for his bass rig for a season. That is why I encouraged my guitarist to get it. I wanted to noodle around with it. I ended up with the GK400RB.
I have the head version, the 250RL. It’s a nice amp, I think the noise could be cleaned up with some new caps as I’m sure they’ve degraded over the decades. There’s a video on here if you search for mods that improves the med/high gain channel even more. If I can find another one I’ll be doing that for sure!
More 80’s gear demos !
🙏🏼
Love these amps I ran mine through an extension cab 2x12 ans it takes pedals very well
I owned one back in the 80s. If you take the top plate off there are trim pots to make adjustments to, if I can recall, the gain and echo, and pssibly the chorus rate. It was a fun amp. I probably played the B channel with full gain almost exclusively. I beleive Ted Nugent used one on Little Miss Dangerous and you can certainly hear that tone.
Careful with connecting cabinets. I bought one back in the day ( yes almost 40 years ago..) and I blew it up the first rehearsal. I learned the Ohm matching lesson ... got it fixed and it worked great. I gave to a friend - he still has it and it works... it actually can really cut through a live band....
Solid state amps automatically match impedance.
@@vorpalblades not this one. It is very specific. I will find the specs and post.
I recorded with one when I was in high school in the early ‘90s. It belonged to the guy who recorded us…he had it set up with a 212 GK cabinet in a separate room. As a 17 year old I though it sounded great! …not sure what I would think of it now. Lol
When you went up top for a lead after bumping the gain it made me think “treble booster”.
Dude. I wish you were in Nashville and gave lessons. Love your playing style