That is pretty cool! Why didn’t they add this feature on the 800W version.
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Yes, that is kind of the point. they have another amp that has the preamp in it, also, about the same price, but this one if for clean power.
One advantage of the Darkglass is, you pay for the amp with a pedal in it, and if you get the Benton, and then get the Alpha Omega Ultra also, you are in the same price range.
But then again, you are breaking out the pieces, kind of like you now want to do with your Fender modeling amp.
If you move to another amp head, (power amp head), you keep the Dark Glass Alpha Omega Ultra, and just move to another head.
Plus, you can get unlimited amount of Pre0-amps to work with the Benton
You can get
Orange amps preamp
Gallien Krueger
Aguilar Tone Hammer
Tech 21 VT bass (SVT)
Eden
EBS
Markbass
Mesa Boogie
etc…
any preamp you want to use
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the 300W is a new design, wouldn’t surprise me if they update the 800W at some point.
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also, MANY if not MOST Combo amps, that have speaker out, always specify 8ohm min load, because doubled with the speaker(s) in the combo amp, it drops to 4ohms.
I know you don’t have a combo amp in front of the cabinet, but it just offers a little moreversatility, in case you ever are in a situation, where you need an extra speaker for a combo amp, you happen to be using for whatever reason. it might be a stretch, but who knows, st some time in the future, you may opt for another combo amp, for different scenario’s then what you are using the cabinet and head for, and want to add the cab to it for whatever reason.
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The biggest issue I see is trialing.
Benton not possible in the states unless I stumble in one used.
GK and DG should be easy enough to find, but to pair with various cabinets is another thing.
Good news is in November work takes me about 2 hours from the Sweetwater store in Indiana! Will be making a list (maybe Santa will end up checking it once or twice after I visit).
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Actually that would surprise me a lot. Most Darkglass pedals have a prominent mid scoop and bass bump when set flat.
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I don’t here it
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Ahh, cool, the B7K is flat when flat:
This might be true of their full preamps but not the smaller versions I guess - I’ve only looked in to the response of the smaller ones before.
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One last dumb question.
If I go the Harley Benton route, and use the preamp (B7K, etc) via the effects return, my whole pedal signal chain then goes in that effects return, correct?
Make it two last dumb questions…
And in that scenario, I have to always run a preamp of some kind external, or use the Benton, correct?
Again just making sure I get all this.
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Correct @John_E . It’s just a case of which preamp you want to use really. Any amp can do this as long as you have an FX loop. I just mentioned the HB because it’s cheap and decent.
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And keep in mind that very nearly any pedal qualifies as a “preamp” for that function whether it says so or not. Every pedal takes an instrument level input and will drive the effects return.
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SO I have don’t some thinking here….
Option 1 - Harley Benton 800 (solely for the power amp stag) 800W
- clean preamp - use B7K flat
- basic preamp in a pinch 1-box cause i am lazy - Just use what’s in the HB, will color tone, reviews not so good.
- other colored tones (B7K- dialed around - I own, VT Bass DI - easy to obtain), others TBD. Plug and play into effects return
Option 2 - GK 800 (800W)
-clean preamp - use B7K flat, noting that some color will come in the power amp section
- basic in a pinch - 1 box - warm tone of the GK standalone in a pinch - just use the GK preamp
- other tones - again plug and play into the return of effects as above
Option 3 Darkglass AO 500 (500W)
- clean preamp - use onboard preamp, could use B7K too as it is also flat
-backup simple setup, use above, but also gives coloration through onboard preamp and AO distortion as well in one box.
- other tones B3K7, VT Bass DI, others. (DG AO comes along floor the ride.
I am sure there are other options, but I want to focus on these now as they are the ICE amp stages and one that is not which is the GK800.
So in the above scenario, what cabs make the most sense?
Good quality, clean themselves, assuming I want tone shaped head as much as possible.
Cost doesn’t; bother me, as long as I get what suits me.
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You are massively overthinking this, into analysis paralysis. Just go try the actual amps and see if you like them 
Also - I would never, ever describe the G-K tone as something to use “in a pinch”. It’s straight up amazing.
Which G-K do you mean, though? And have you heard the Fusion line yet?
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GK 800 legacy, have not even looked at Fusion yet.
Yep, overthinking cause I want todo this once right. Hopefully
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“In a pinch’ is more like “I only want to bring this one box, and there fore i get….
- a bad Harley Benton preamp
- the legacy GK 800 sound
- The DG AO sound that I can insure is clean
Maybe should have worded it this way
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For a large number of modern amps, most of the tone is in the preamp and the power stages are relatively clean. So anything with an effects return will enable swapping out preamps with preamp pedals.
The reason I suggested looking at the G-K fusion is that is has a serious amount of tone in its preamp. It’s a tube preamp with a solid state power stage and has a killer sound. So you could have that and then when you want a different preamp you could send something through the return. but really any G-K amp is going to be great, even the MB’s.
In any case, my recommendation stands - go try a bunch of amps and see if there are any you like the organic sound of. As long as they have an effects return you’ll have a clean channel regardless of the preamp on the amp. Effects returns generally bring in the input post-preamp (unless they have a pre/post switch).
No amount of thinking about this will be a good substitute for trying amps out and just listening to them. And I say this as a very analytical person professionally.
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What’s bad about this? 
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It sounds like you have it completely sorted.
It’s harder to make a cabinet clean than it is an amp head. They are going to have a character.
The “cleanest” blank canvas strategy I’ve seen is from Bergantino. They have measured their cabinets and give you a file to load into their amp to correct them as flat as possible.
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I would seriously consider a Bergantino head + cab if money isn’t an issue.
+1 to this. I actually own GK amps and I found them a bit more exotic sounding compared to my other amps which are Aguilar and Ampeg. Aguilar is a good alternative imo.
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I was just moments ago looking at this. I love the tube sounds I get out of the Effectrode Blackbird, but the tone stack are a little goofy for bass. I could see the GK Fusion being a better solution for this.
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