GK Backline 110 Bass Amplifier – Review.

Proof that a great bass sound need not be expensive, or come in a package that requires four roadies to lift; the GK Backline 110 gives us a great sounding combo with a small footprint and still leaves us with a pocketful of change when compared to other amplifiers of similar wattage.

The 110 sports a single 10” speaker and weighs in at a mere 13.6 Kilos and at 40cm high and 32cm deep and wide it will easily fit into the boot of even the smallest car.

Moving on to other features beside the ¼” inch input jack we have a 10db pad which allows for connection of active/passive basses. The amplifier gives us two separate channels with the first one allowing for an overdrive effect and the second the main clean channel with EQ and contour. Also provided is the A/B jack for channel switching, a useful lineout to hook up to your PA system, plus a headphone jack for silent practice.

On to the sounds first of all we tried the amplifier with two Jazz basses. One active fretted with round wounds and a fretless passive with flat wounds. We also tried a passive five string Roscoe Beck bass.

All three instruments sounded fine through the 110, with a well defined and rounded sound even with the low B on the five string. The 10” speaker seems to push a fair bit or air and is very efficient; at half volume the amp was already too loud for our practice room. I can imagine that with 70 watts there will not be a huge amount of headroom but then again at this price the 110 is certainly useful for practice and smaller gigs which gear-review would recommend this for.

By Ernest H Slade