Has anybody used one of these?
I’ve come across a Genz-Benz GBE 250C 1x15 Combo for $250. It has a tube preamp with some interesting looking knobs for how it controls how the tube effects the sound.
It’s a private seller and I haven’t gone to see it yet. I’ve never used one and was hoping someone here might have some experience they could share.
From what I hear Genzler has a good reputation and their Magellan series is top of the line. I am not familiar with this particular model, but if you have a chance to listen to it and if it fits what you are looking for in terms of size and power, then it is probably a good deal.
It’s funny with amps: I was very interested in an Eich amp for a while, but when I heard it, I wasn’t so convinced anymore. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a high quality amp, but the guy at the store said it’s better for players who dig in (and slap a lot).
So, I think it’s high quality, but you need to hear it and see whether you like it. (Problem is you’d really want to hear it in comparison to some other amps…)
Genz-Benz is great equipment, sounds fantastic, very flexible and built to be serviceable (not disposable). Definitely worth a trip to test out. The engineer who designed them still provides service for them (even though the company no longer exists) for exceedingly reasonable rates. He’s online as “AgedHorse” on Talkbass. I actually bought my current amp (also a Genz-Benz with the tube pre) directly from him years after they had stopped selling them.
@eric.kiser Check with ‘Agedhorse’ at talkbass.com. He’s an engineer/designer for Genz benz. Sorry if I crossed some kind of web site taboo.
It’s the one she got at home, hence the hand drawn Thomann sign 
Thanks everybody.
What did you get?
Thanks for the recommendations about Agedhorse. He and Genzler both post on talkbass.com. What a really interesting couple of guys.
Okay this is interesting. Agedhorse went from Genz Benz to work for Mesa Boogie. I used to read stuff he was posting about his work with ICE Power Class D amplifiers at Mesa which turned out to be for the Subway TT-800.
Which gets even more interesting since the design of TT-800 seems to be heavily inspired by the Genz Benz amplifiers. Although the TT-800 doesn’t let you blend the tube and solid state preamps together which, for me, is the coolest part of the Genz Benz amps.
@joergkutter Your right about Genzler being highly respected. With how harsh talkbass can be, both of these guys get huge respect from the community. In reading about Genzler’s Magellan this sounds like the kind of super clean amp you’re looking for. Have you considered getting one?
It would be pretty cool to sit down with these guys and talk to them about why they made the various technical decision they did.
Ha, it seems I really haven’t done my homework at all 
Somehow I always thought Genz Benz was a whimsically named series of amps under the Genzler brand, but apparently not… 
It is indeed mentioned often in discussions of very clean (expensive) amps, but after having heard the Bergantino B-Amp, I was kinda sold on that one… I had actually ordered one in late January from the UK (they had a bit of a special, and I thought I could make “good use” of the new Britain/EU VAT rules etc), but, alas, the amp has since vanished in a post-Brexit/customs black hole, where no one knows exactly where it is (it might be on the way back to the seller… or not…) because I apparently haven’t taken the phone when the carrier tried to contact me about customs fees… aargh, sometimes I am too “smart” for my own good 
Also, on account of supply chain bottlenecks caused by Covid, apparently B-Amps are nowhere to be got at the moment (as Bergantino is not producing any), at least not over here… And, they show up very rarely in classifieds - it seems people who own them are very happy with them.
Aw man, that sucks.
I didn’t realize you had ordered one. Begantino gets pretty massive respect also. How long have you been waiting?
Yeah, I finally came to the conclusion that this is the way I wanted to develop my equipment (and also since @DaveT had given the amp a thumbs up (or two)).
I have been waiting for a little over two months now - frustrating, especially since no-one knows where it actually is 
In hindsight, I should have cancelled a while ago, but I always opted for waiting just one more week…
Holy crap. The carrier initiated the return? Have you been refunded?
Yeah, it’s a complete snafu what with Brexit and the new “rules” (VAT taken off in UK, VAT of target country supposed to go on, customs on top (or not?); “fantasy” amounts on the invoices, …) - nobody knows who is taking care of what; tons of paperwork for the seller, loads of parcels stuck in warehouses on either side of the Channel, …
The seller assured me that I can get refunded (and he is reputable), but was confident the situation would clear up as the humongous backlog in customs warehouses etc is being processed. Alas, I am beginning to no longer share that confidence…
In essence, I took a gamble: the base price was better in the UK, the currency exchange rate was in my favor, and with Brexit just having been instated, lots of parcels still got through “undetected” while UK VAT had already been taken off… haha, that all backfired, it would seem 
Ugh, sorry man
Buying stuff from UK > EU is terrible, I ended up paying 21 euros extra on a “administration” fee for two mugs that I ordered from the Wallace & Gromit shop. If it was under 22 euros it would have been fine. If I made two separate orders then I wouldn’t have to pay the fee and I wouldn’t have to pick it up from a special location either. So this pretty much stops me from ordering anything over 22 euros in the UK ever again…
All thumbs no ears mind you. But I can’t imagine they have any sound issues.
I actually got mine directly from Andy. I’d been thinking about looking for a used Streamliner 600 but couldn’t find one to test out in person. I wrote and told him what I was looking for and asked for advice. Turns out he only lives about 40 minutes away from me. He had me out, and sold me one that he had on hand for a very nice price and threw in an ‘as new’ warranty. Spent an our or so chatting with him in his home workshop. Incredibly nice guy. BTW, all of the GB’s I’ve tried have great sounding DIs. Another plus.
@tonym1 That’s cool story to have for your amp. 
I went ahead and finally created a talkbass account and posted this over there also.
I got responses from a couple of people in addition to both Jeff Genzler and Andy Field!
General consensus, because of its condition, was to let this one go. So, that’s what I’m going to do. Oh well, maybe one in better condition will pop up.
