No New Owners?

streuth wrote:New owner. I just got the GM36 and foot pedal. I also own the Tubemeister 18 1x10 combo (bought 8 months ago). I got the 18 because I was going to Taiwan for 6 months and wanted something really portable to take on buses and subway. I love the 18, it has a really nice clean and a beautiful overdrive. So when I got back I bought the 36 (but keeping the 18). I've had the GM for two days and really diggin it. The one thing about the 18 is it doesn't have enough head room on the clean channel (play blues mostly) so the 36 gives me all the head I should need plus all the other amazing features.

I also have a boogie TA-30 which I also love but probably have to sell to pay for the GM (which says a lot about how the GM sounds, I've been AB'ing them, especially to compare the voxish channel on the TA-30 with the GM's clean channel).

Anyway just thought I say hi to all my fellow grandmeister and tubemesiter owners.

Cheers

Hey. Welcome aboard. I had a TA-15 for a while. As a practice amp, I loved it. With the band, I felt it didn't have enough body. The GM is pretty amazing. With the range of material we have, it's great to have everything all in one place.

For outboard gear, I have a volume/wah, a compressor, and a switch to toggle the amp's boost function. I ditched an 8 effect pedal board and channel switcher and can now get by with just the amp and foot controller if needed. Too cool.

Hi all

I have mine since this summer. I swap tubes (see others threads) and I absolutely love this amp (have a Axe FX 2 and 2 other tube amps, had previously a Diezel Einstein).
I play at rehearsal with the GM36 and my Palmer 1*12 cab open back (eminence Wizard)=> a great tone all the band love from clean to crunch to lead (a preset I made with channel 4).
Just bough my Ipad mini retina to drive the presets definition (waiting for the 30pin to lightning adaptor, to connect my line6 mobilizer device)

New user here. I bought the GM36 for about 2 months and I loved it. I changed my powerful MesaBoogie dual rectifier by GM and I am glad for the change.
My rig is:
-ESP Ltd ec401OW with DiMarzio Crunch Lab and liquefier.
-H & K GM36
-Mesa Boogie 2x12 recto celestions V30
-ernie ball cobalt 010-046

My tone is somewhat avenged sevenfold, but lack the SD invader (new album **) And maybe change the valves of preamp.

treewiz wrote:Been lurking here since the beginning of this forum and I don't see that many members. Perhaps no one really knows about this site yet or these amps aren't catching on yet. They are in stock in most places on line now so maybe the activity here will increase. I hope so I'd like to hear more input. Anyway I really am digging my Grandmeister!  

Morning!  I'm new here and just got the Grandmeister the other day.  Had a rehearsal yesterday and gave it it's first real-world run through meaning running it at volume through the 1x12.  What I found is that it completely rocked - even the guys in the band who don't know me at all were staring at it like "what the hell?" - you know, because it's so tiny and light.

I had/have to do some patch volume level matching better, but other than that was completely happy with how it sounded.  My previous amp was a Marshall JVM 210C which I really liked, but this little thing blows it out of the water tone wise.  Plus, in my rig I only use delay, wah, and phaser - so that's two pedals now that I don't have to carry around.  

So, from that one session, here's what I have for pro's and cons:

Pros
Lightweight - I walked into the session with my amp head, guitar, bag o' cables, gas station 32 oz drink in one trip, and my 1x12 in the next.  Compared to my two-handed lugging of the 80lb JVM, this is a God send!
Tone - honestly the best amp I've played through live in the past 15 years (as far as my personal preference)
Cleans - the clean on this amp is surprisingly awesome
On board FX - I like the delay and phaser better on the amp than the outboard pedals I was using
36 watts is PLENTY of power.  I think I had the amp on 3 maybe and was able to clearly hear, as was the other guys, what was coming out!
Red Box DI - this thing is flat out awesome.  The sound that is represented through the PA blows me away.

Cons
Seems a little noisy - which could have been partly from the power where we were, but I did have to engage the noise gate on more patches than I wanted to.  Which means that as far as chords ringing out, you get to a point where the gate kicks in and just shuts down the chord.  I'm still getting familiar with the functionality so maybe just some more time on my part.
Clean channel headroom - on my patches, which honestly, I set up rather quickly...my clean channel volume was maxed.  I think what I need to do is adjust the overall patch volumes so maybe my clean channel is at 50-60% and then the dirtys and leads are more appropriately matched..that will be the next thing to do.  And then use the master volume to bring everything up to listening level.

So the cons - well, they might be more user-related than amp related so I'm not worried about them at all.

Peace!

New Owner here. In fact I just registered for the Forum. Nice place you got here.

I'm actually waiting for my GM36 to show up from Sweetwater. should be here on Friday according to fedex.

I looked at this thing for about a month before I found one in town to actually play. At guitar Center of all places. They had it hooked up to a sweet little Bogner 212 and I was blown away by the tones and versatility of this amp. Came home and ordered it.

Plus, it's a hell of a lot lighter than my Egnater Vengeance or Blackstar Series 200 heads.

I like the fact that I can leave the TC G-System at home too if I like this for gigging. But I mostly got it for recording. Love the built in Red Box feature. Will be good for gigs with good FOH sound too. I can just bring this, my wah, volume and tuner pedals on a board and go. Simple.

My only concern with it was reliability as it hasn't been out that long, but my other guitar player has a switchblade that we have used for recording and he has gigged with it in the past and had no problems in several years, so I'm assuming that German Engineering comes into play on these babies.

Not sure what cab I'm gonna pair this with for gigging yet, we will see what sounds best.

Jugghaid wrote:New Owner here. In fact I just registered for the Forum.  Nice place you got here.

I'm actually waiting for my GM36 to show up from Sweetwater.  should be here on Friday according to fedex.

I looked at this thing for about a month before I found one in town to actually play. At guitar Center of all places. They had it hooked up to a sweet little Bogner 212 and I was blown away by the tones and versatility of this amp. Came home and ordered it.

Plus, it's a hell of a lot lighter than my Egnater Vengeance or Blackstar Series 200 heads.

I like the fact that I can leave the TC G-System at home too if I like this for gigging. But I mostly got it for recording. Love the built in Red Box feature. Will be good for gigs with good FOH sound too. I can just bring this, my wah, volume and tuner pedals on a board and go. Simple.

My only concern with it was reliability as it hasn't been out that long, but my other guitar player has a switchblade that we have used for recording and he has gigged with it in the past and had no problems in several years, so I'm assuming that German Engineering comes into play on these babies.

Not sure what cab I'm gonna pair this with for gigging yet, we will see what sounds best.

Welcome man - not too much traffic on this board (at least compared to some others I've been on) but some good posts to read through...I absolutely love the GM36, wait till you get it home!

Thanks man.

Just got all my presets dialed in and found that running it with my Eganter Vengeance cab with 4 Elite 75 Celestions works great. I'll try out a few other cabs as well, but this one really rips.

Welcome guys! Glad you are enjoying the GM. It's a great amp. I don't think you need to worry about it's reliability. H&K makes great stuff. I've been gigging mine for six or seven months, with a couple hours per gig and per rehearsal.

Brian, I think you are now on the right track with the cleans. Dial in a good clean, but leave some room to raise the volume. Then, you can set a volume-boosted clean patch with the volume up a bit. Then, the Master volume is really a great functioning control to manage the overall loudness.

I do think the patches come out more balanced in level if you set them up at the volume you are intending to play them. Large changes in the Master can bring out the differences in perceived levels, especially with gain added in.

With the noise issue, are you hearing it with high gain or everything? You can try tweaking the Presence and Treble to find a good tone and less gain (as either of those controls go up, so does the noise).

One thing that has been a pleasant surprise is the range of tones. I plan rock, blues, jazz, and soul. The GM covers it all so well. My biggest learning point was how sensitive the amp is to speakers and cabs. I have what I think is the perfect cab for any amp...except the H&K! I ran it through five different cabs and struggled. When I paired it with a closed back Thiele with a Vin 30, the difference was amazing.

Jugghaid wrote:Thanks man.

Just got all my presets dialed in and found that running it with my Eganter Vengeance cab with 4 Elite 75 Celestions works great.  I'll try out a few other cabs as well, but this one really rips.

BTW, we're neighbors! I live in Superior, but work in Denver.

Well after lusting after this amp since I first heard a guy playing a Tubemeister, and going to find out about those amps, then finding out that the Grandmeister was mere days away from being released.

Today, I pulled the trigger. Great deal on ebay, (hard to believe that for a change, as I'm about to buy the thing I want, a deal pops up), should be here in a week.

Replacing a THD Univalve with this beast. Will be pumping with throught a Line6 closed back 2x12, that has just recently had the Line 6 speakers changed for a couple of vintage Celestion Greenbacks, (confirmed 1972 vintage)

I'm super happy. Had test driven the GM and loved it. The smart rotary controls are the *the* thing that made me want this amp.

Cannot wait to play with it. I've been looking for something that is versatile, without resorting to digital modelers. This little package of goodness ticks so many boxes for what I want in an amp.

TnT wrote:Well after lusting after this amp since I first heard a guy playing a Tubemeister, and going to find out about those amps, then finding out that the Grandmeister was mere days away from being released.

Today, I pulled the trigger. Great deal on ebay, (hard to believe that for a change, as I'm about to buy the thing I want, a deal pops up), should be here in a week.

Replacing a THD Univalve with this beast. Will be pumping with throught a Line6 closed back 2x12, that has just recently had the Line 6 speakers changed for a couple of vintage Celestion Greenbacks, (confirmed 1972 vintage)

I'm super happy. Had test driven the GM and loved it. The smart rotary controls are the *the* thing that made me want this amp.

Cannot wait to play with it. I've been looking for something that is versatile, without resorting to digital modelers. This little package of goodness ticks so many boxes for what I want in an amp.

Welcome and congrats! I've got a THD BiValve that I love, as well. I haven't spent any time with a Univalve, but I have run my BiValve with only one power tube (and tried it with a 6v6, 6L6, EL34, KT66, and 5881). I found that the BiValve sounds better with two power tubes. There's just more sparkle.

Have you bought the foot controller, and do you have a tablet to interface with the GM? They aren't necessary, but you get so much more out the amp with them.

New owner of the GM36.  I bought a used TM36 from GC, did a gig with it - and I, the band, and the sound guy liked it so much I decided to get the gm36.  I play in Allman Brothers tribute band http://mybluesky.co/, and will be gigging a lot starting the end of Feb - I'll be the guy with the SG and home-made strat.   I'm okay with comments/suggestions on my tones.  Life is a learning experience...
I love this amp because I can get Duane, Dickey, and Warren tones in one box.  And it is touch sensitive.  And MIDI control!  Actually MIDI control is why I first looked at it...
I own the Line6 HD500X - with my previous amp I used the 4 cable method, but since the gm36 has all the effects I need, I'll be using the HD for front end effects (wah, volume, compressors, distortion, EQ) going to the guitar input on the GM, and using the HD to control the GM via midi.  I send the GM to an active power soak because it is too loud.  
I updated the tube swap thread with my current tubes of choice.
I'm a little concerned on the heat - my day gig is electronics (data storage), and I KNOW heat is the enemy of (solid state) electronics.  Has anyone made any effort to cool the GM?   My gig rig cab has vents located just under where the GM sits, so I'm going to mount some 50mm USB fans blowing up into the GM.  At home, I'll probably try to rig up a pc fan with magnets to exhaust heat...
Later,
-BobK

Egads wrote:Welcome and congrats! I've got a THD BiValve that I love, as well. I haven't spent any time with a Univalve, but I have run my BiValve with only one power tube (and tried it with a 6v6, 6L6, EL34, KT66, and 5881). I found that the BiValve sounds better with two power tubes. There's just more sparkle.

Have you bought the foot controller, and do you have a tablet to interface with the GM? They aren't necessary, but you get so much more out the amp with them.

Thanks. Yeah I certainly did get the foot controller, and I've had the GM App on my iPad for the last year. The programability of the amp is it's draw card for me, I feel like between that and the 4 channels the tonal variety is almost limitless. Throw in the onboard effects, ability to switch power output and H&K have hit a home run as far as I'm concerned.

I really do like the Univalve but find it's a one trick pony. To get clean, it's just not loud enough in a band situation. I'm probably going to regret getting rid of it, because it's one trick? Is really damn good, but for me it only really comes to life at full volume, and as I said, not enough clean headroom for me. I'm also picking once I get my hands on the GM? It'll just collect dust, and it deserves better than that

Well it arrived. And I plugged it in. And I turned it on. And I love it.

Everything I hoped for and more. Just going through the factory presets was fun. The good lady wife even said 'It sounds amazing...'

What a great little amp !!.
Bought it last week and done 2 full gigs with it,
I was a bit worried before the first one In case I didn't have enough headroom,totally no need !
.
one question, DO I need to have the foot controller  hooked up if I want to use the ipad app?
Many thanks and Hi
Keith:D

You don't need the foot controller to use the ipad (at least you don't to use the pc/mac version that Fredo wrote)

Hi. I am not a new owner of the GM yet, but will receive it coming Wednesday. I am excited about it.
I registered yesterday and I have learned already some good information.
Can somebody recomment a good speaker?
I am just practicing at home with 1 watt,because I live in an apartment

I'm running a Line6 Closed back 2 x 12 cab loaded with a couple of vintage Celestion Greenbacks

Loving this amp through the Greenbacks.

Another greenback lover here. My H&K CC212 cab has two Celestion G12M spkrs and it rocks! I've read reviews stating that the Vintage 30's are a bit bright for the Grandmeister/Tubemeister amps, but I'll bet a lot of that is just personal preference. I actually prefer a somewhat bright tone and I'm happy with the greenbacks.

I'm got the TM 112, seems decent, although I wish I had tried other things first. Seems a bit bright too me, although since I've retubed that is better. Has a lot of low end thump is you like that.

I just recently acquired a Grandmeister and use it with a couple of mesa 1x12 cabs, loaded with evm12l speakers. I have played it at home and on rehearsal. Already got some great results. I find the eq on the grandmeister very flexible and easy to dial in/out a lot of the different frequencies. The poweramp eq (presence and resonance) makes a lot of difference in the way the evm speakers react to tweaks in the channel eq's.

Totally loving this amp.  I am using a small Carvin V-212 with it, which is a slanted 2x12.  I have it loaded with 2 Celestion Century Vintage (Neo magnet) speakers.  The head and the speaker cabinet combined probably weigh 30 lbs LOL.

My bandmate likes to joke that I now have a 1/4 stack, which I guess, in reality I do.  He uses a 3/4 size guitar so when he plays it through it he says his guitar is perfectly matched LOL.

I have used it for 2 shows now, and my only real complaint is that it just doesn't have a big bottom end.  But at the end of the day since I'm using the redbox to go through the PA system the audience gets to hear it with plenty of low end  I am going to try some old USA tubes to see if they make any difference.

I have built my own amps and own a bunch, but this one is the only one that isn't basically a one-trick poly.  Here are my other amps currently:

1:  Fender Twin Reverb, 1970-ish (non-master volume)
2:  B-52 AT100 - my main gigging amp for many years, amazing thunderous low end (I only used the clean channel with pedalboard)
3:  Mesa Boogie DC-2 head - nice 2xEL-84 amp with a similar purpose as the GM, has a headphone output which I kinda wish the GM36 had...
4:  Homebuilt Fender Deluxe 5E3 - I built a high-power version that can take EL34s and 6L6s
5:  Fender Champ conversion to 2x6V6 Deluxe Reverb(ish) circuit (single channel without reverb)


Kurt

Welcome Kurt! I have yet to gig with mine, but that'll change Friday night. I will attempt to have the house sound guy use the red box out... He's old school, so we'll see...
Please update the tube swap thread with your findings...
I use my GM with a 1x12 cab with a Tonkerlite, which uses a neo magnet. I have an 18 lb head with a 30 lb cab, life is good. I can get all the tones all the Allman Brothers guitarists got.

Well took the GM for its first public outing. Scheduled bands, with a jam afterwards. Got up and played a few tunes, had a number of people come up to me afterwards and say how damn good they thought my new amp sounded.

Super happy. Musos that I respect were giving the amp praise. Went from playing some nice bluesy stuff, (cranked Red House out), through to some dirty bluesy rock (ZZ Top). Everything cut through, tone was on point.

I could not be happier. Let a few mates get up and jam through it so I could stand out front and listen. Couldn't wipe the smile off my face. One confirmed Hughes & Kettner fan right here.

Uh, how do I register my amp for warranty in North America, specifically in the USA?