PSA: New Harley Benton GPA-100

bloodandtears

i imagine they'll be back eventually

John_A

bloodandtears said:

i imagine they'll be back eventually

Probably for 50% more

Beexter

John_A said:

Discontinued!  Pah!

When I checked the other day, it was ranked #1 best seller in power amps so I'd be interested as to why it's not available- could they have just sold out?

guitargeek62

Only shown as sold out on the HB site rather than discontinued, let’s hope they’ll be back.

https://harleybenton.com/product/gpa-100/

Lodious

They do a stereo version in rack format (GPA-400) which is less than the £135 limit too. 

Bidley

Looks like these will be back in stock in 4/5 weeks according to Thomann. I'm eyeing one up.

WiresDreamDisasters

So I bought one of these off @digitalscream ;

IMHO - total garbage. I traded it in at Guitar Guitar, taking a huge loss on it, just to be rid. Not a patch on the Seymour Duncan in any shape or form in my opinion.

I seriously would encourage anyone thinking about getting it to reconsider.

The build quality seemed fine. It just sounded shit.

Bidley

@WiresDreamDisasters can you expand a bit? I just want something to see if the power amp/cab approach is more to my liking than FRFR - not that I'm not getting on with FRFR, just the GPA-100 is so cheap it's worth giving a go.

John_A

GPA-100 seems to be discontinued. There’s a magnum 44 in the classifieds for £35 which is a bargain 

WiresDreamDisasters

Bidley said:

@WiresDreamDisasters can you expand a bit? I just want something to see if the power amp/cab approach is more to my liking than FRFR - not that I'm not getting on with FRFR, just the GPA-100 is so cheap it's worth giving a go.

It did not sound clean or transparent to me. It sounded muffled and pushed. The EQ sounded harsh and abrasive when boosting the treble. It wasn't very loud, but sounded saturated and borderline clipping plugged into my cab. I couldn't get a good sound out of it. One of the more disappointing acquisitions in recent times for me.

Bidley

Shame! It's a wonder there's so much variance with something just designed to make whatever signal you put in louder.

WiresDreamDisasters

Bidley said:

Shame! It's a wonder there's so much variance with something just designed to make whatever signal you put in louder.

Maybe try one dude. You might like it. But I was turned off immensely. I already told Lee that too lol.

Bidley

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Bidley said:

Shame! It's a wonder there's so much variance with something just designed to make whatever signal you put in louder.

Maybe try one dude. You might like it. But I was turned off immensely. I already told Lee that too lol.

I think I will - the Powerstage's price is a bit prohibitive to just give it a go, and the HB is well cheap. Appreciate the input though.

Beexter

It's worth pointing out that the Harley Benton requires a line level input whereas the Seymour Duncan can also take instrument level.
When I first got the HB, I couldn't work out why it was noticeably quieter than the SD, until I realised the above. 

Bidley

Mine arrived last week, finally got a chance to try it and.... I'm having the exact same experience as @WiresDreamDisasters. It sounds muffled and strained, not very loud at all (not sure it's loud enough to gig with over a drummer). Bit of a let down really,

digitalscream

Bidley said:

Mine arrived last week, finally got a chance to try it and.... I'm having the exact same experience as @WiresDreamDisasters. It sounds muffled and strained, not very loud at all (not sure it's loud enough to gig with over a drummer). Bit of a let down really,

Are you giving it a line-level signal? If anything, it was too bright for me.

Definitely loud as hell, though. Probably not as much so as a PS170, but still louder than a drummer if it needed to be.

WiresDreamDisasters

It wasn't just volume that was the issue. It sounded bad. I got rid of mine at the closest shop that would take trade ins!

Bidley

digitalscream said:

Bidley said:

Mine arrived last week, finally got a chance to try it and.... I'm having the exact same experience as @WiresDreamDisasters. It sounds muffled and strained, not very loud at all (not sure it's loud enough to gig with over a drummer). Bit of a let down really,

Are you giving it a line-level signal? If anything, it was too bright for me.

Definitely loud as hell, though. Probably not as much so as a PS170, but still louder than a drummer if it needed to be.

Yep, Helix outs are set to line-level. I could get the volume knob on the HB maxed out in the house before it got near antisocial. And it still sounded dull and muffled.

digitalscream

Bidley said:

digitalscream said:

Bidley said:

Mine arrived last week, finally got a chance to try it and.... I'm having the exact same experience as @WiresDreamDisasters. It sounds muffled and strained, not very loud at all (not sure it's loud enough to gig with over a drummer). Bit of a let down really,

Are you giving it a line-level signal? If anything, it was too bright for me.

Definitely loud as hell, though. Probably not as much so as a PS170, but still louder than a drummer if it needed to be.

Yep, Helix outs are set to line-level. I could get the volume knob on the HB maxed out in the house before it got near antisocial. And it still sounded dull and muffled.

OK, that's weird. I used mine with an ADA MP-2, and it was easily loud enough to compete with a drummer at barely half way, with no discernible clipping.

I know you're using the line outs, but...apologies if I'm stating the obvious here, are you actually sending a loud signal from the Helix?

Bidley

digitalscream said:

Bidley said:

digitalscream said:

Bidley said:

Mine arrived last week, finally got a chance to try it and.... I'm having the exact same experience as @WiresDreamDisasters. It sounds muffled and strained, not very loud at all (not sure it's loud enough to gig with over a drummer). Bit of a let down really,

Are you giving it a line-level signal? If anything, it was too bright for me.

Definitely loud as hell, though. Probably not as much so as a PS170, but still louder than a drummer if it needed to be.

Yep, Helix outs are set to line-level. I could get the volume knob on the HB maxed out in the house before it got near antisocial. And it still sounded dull and muffled.

OK, that's weird. I used mine with an ADA MP-2, and it was easily loud enough to compete with a drummer at barely half way, with no discernible clipping.

I know you're using the line outs, but...apologies if I'm stating the obvious here, are you actually sending a loud signal from the Helix?

That's a good point actually - I can't remember how I set the volume on the Helix. I'll try maxing that and see where that gets me.