Krank’s long-awaited line of bass amps, Dirty Valve series, finally arrives with it’s first entry, the monsterous D-800! A hybrid head featuring an all tube preamp coupled with an 800W Class D power section, the Dirty Valve D-800 takes our high gain approach in making amplifiers into the realm of bass and creates a powerful yet diverse rock bass amp. Loud and toneful, players can achieve warm clean sounds to fat, fuzzed out tones and everything in between! Features include a master volume, gain, 3-band eq, Krank’s unique “Sweep” parametric eq function to dial in frequencies, a Fat Growl that adds in a deep, wide fuzz to the tone, Girth for extra low end, a Midpunch that revoices the amp into a classic, “dirty” rock tone, and a Brite function for added upper end. Other features include fx loop, lineout with level control, tapped directly from the preamp to send out “your tone” to the front of house or recording gear, and worldwide voltage selector. The D-800 is a rock bass player’s dream being very loud and clear while having the ability to achieve many of today’s coolest rock tones in one amp!
The D-800 is a perfect match to the Basszilla cab, Krank’s first entry into that market as well. The Basszilla is an 8×10 sized cab but with a 2×12 top chamber and a 4×10 bottom chamber with each one able to be run individually, making it possible to just use one chamber or even run separate heads to each chamber! The cab is 13-ply baltic birch shell construction with a maple baffleboard, providing a thick, deep wood tone from with top end brightness. The cab is loaded with Eminence speakers and is wired at 4 ohms, and also features that patented Krank look with a removable metal grill! Very punchy and articulate, the Basszilla has a clearer response in a dense rock mix with the 2×12s providing a nice piano-like tone while the 4×10 pushes the low end. Guitar and bass frequencies clash far less while each being able to be as loud as players like to be!
The Dirty Valve D-800 debuts at the 2010 Winter NAMM Show in mid January and will hit the market sometime in February, street price only $1299! And the Basszilla cab is available now, street price $1199!
KRANK GEAR USED: Rev+, Rev Cab, Krankenstein+, Krankenstein Cab, Nineteen80, Nineteen80 Cab, Krankenstein Jr.
Baptized by the music of AC/DC, Van...
Mother Fucker!
where’s the all tube head? there’s enough hybrids in the world.
Honestly we haven’t decided yet when we’re going to fully develop the all tube version. All tube bass heads are very expensive to make which makes them even more expensive in the market. In this economy we’re just waiting to see how things will go. I can say this hybrid head is unlike any of the others on the market.
I myself am a touring pro bass player (am the touring bassist for Marty Friedman as well as my own band Razer which is starting to make national noise) and I spent a ton of hours with our chief designer helping make this head really killer with all the functionality I’ve looked for over the years. It’s very loud and clear and really exemplifies whatever bass you’re using as you can hear the bass’ tone. Every bass I’ve used thru it sounds different so the rig isn’t coloring the sound… And I can get good solid clean AND dirtier tones that sit really well in a rock mix. The way we approached it was not to try and be like every hybrid in the market but really do something Krank-like! There are a ton of companies that make great hybrid amps that produce good clean tones and seem to cater more to jazz, funk and slap styles…so we went with what we do best and made a killer rock bass rig that has enough diversity to also please a lot of those clean playing cats! I can honestly say I had played an Ampeg SVT Pro IV for YEARS before this and the Dirty Valve D-800 just smokes it all the way around. The way the eq is set up with our Krank “Sweep” function lets me get all the in between frequencies that the typical 5-way mid frequency selector can’t get, and that’s really cool and very useful! And the Midpunch on the D-800 will total revoice the amp in a really good way, with the “out” position being a great clean rock and even old school 70’s r&b tone and then in the “in” position having a really hotrodded midrange that sizzles the preamp tubes and gives it a very throaty, dirty tone that cuts thru. I’ve been able to get a TON of different tones with the various functions being used in different configurations.
Anyway if you want to check it out I just did an video for Epiphone demoing their new Thunderbird Pro V bass and used the rig in it so you can hear it in action on my artist profile here, it’s down at the bottom of the page: http://www.krankamps.com/artists/chris-catero-383
Are there any plans for a Jr version of this as well?
Yeah I’m certain there will be a Jr version sometime this year!
Are there plans for a Jr. version of this amp as well?
Yes, maybe by mid year you will see them!
I was REALLY looking forward to the all tube head, seeing as there are only 3 or 4 alternatives of varying quality on the market. Now I feel kinda cheated and will probably look elsewhere. :/
Sorry you feel that way man. All tube heads are just really expensive to make with them not being a very big market in this economy right now. Look up above tho at what I had written to another similar question and at least check it out, it’s not like all the other hybrids…
Hey man, I saw your vid of you demoing the T-bird with the dirty valve rig. Sounded pretty sick! Couple questions for ya…
1) When will the dirty valve head be available? Is there a date yet (other than sometime in Feb.?)
2) What effect pedal(s) were you using in the video (especially the OD/DS around 7:30)?
Thanks so much! God bless!
Jordan
Hey Jordan glad you dug the video! The amp is most likely going to be out in mid-March after checking in with all of our parts vendors so just keep checking in with us on the site. As far as what pedals I was using I have an MXR M-80 for overdrive but what I think you’re asking about is this pedal called a Crazy Booster I was given in Japan while touring with Marty Friedman. It’s a pretty crazy over the top distortion/bass synth thing that I’ve never seen anywhere else…don’t even know how to get in touch with the guy who made it! But also in the mix of pedals I used was a Crybaby bass wah and Boss bass flanger…
The killer thing about the Dirty Valve is that it’s kind of a old school bass tone purist amp in that it’s very open sounding and every instrument and every pedal you use in conjunction will act differently which to me is a great thing…different basses producing different tones, and pedals sounding a little different with those different configurations. It also reacts very nicely with a Sonic Maximizer or compression pedals being that it is a very open sounding amp…all in all we tried to make a user-friendly amp that would fit in with what a particular bassist already likes in their setup as I know every one has their certain pedals they love so why try to put a bunch of bells and whistles that affect the tone? Keep it simple, let the player decide with their own pedals which btw they probably like better than onboard effects anyway…!
I watched the razor video here at the krank site and im diggin it! Ive since been checkin out more razor shit! Its pretty righteous! I am a bass player, and i have had a hell of a time trying to find an amp that i dont want to burn! The SVT 6PRO is the best ive found so far! (never did play an svt4 tho) I am really diggin on this new Krank bass head tho, i was just wanting a little more info on it! specs/tubes what type, how many, etc! Is there also more pics of this, rear mainly! Just curious! thanks Jason
Hey Jason cool to hear you’re diggin’ the Razer stuff! I understand the wanting to burn some amps hahaha. The SVT has been the only amp I for the most part liked up until we made this new Krank rig. To give you a little more info it uses two 12AU7 preamp tubes in the front end. When we started making this amp it was approached from a high gain perspective similar to what we do with the guitar amps which made it a very loud, hot signaled amp so we eventually decided on the lower gained 12AU7s for it which produced a nice even tone. The amp is a little more “let the horses run” in nature in that we didn’t try to overly pad it down or use too much negative feedback so it has a more muscular and distinct rock tone to it. We also decided NOT to put compression on it as a stock feature as I never really liked any of the stock compression units on amps and if I wanted something like that I always used a cool stomp box or processor. Basically it’s just a killer sounding amp where every player can individually stylize their sound with in conjunction with their own instrument’s tone and the effects they use. I really think with all the tonal options on the amp, coupled with the individual’s gear choices I stated before, just about every player would make the rig sound different which to me is a cool thing! Anyway more pics will be coming in the next couple weeks so check back!
Right on, it sound almost exactly what i have been looking for! I hate those 4:1 compressors so many manufacturers use, i play with my fingers and always have problems with them, whenever i hit the strings hard, or just pound it! In some ways i will control (partially) with my fingers, and how hard i play! Getting the sound of my actual instrument is part of what i am looking for also! Thanks for the info!
Know exactly what you’re saying, I’m a finger player as well and that amp in conjunction with the Basszilla cab really lets you be heard without having to overplay to compensate! You’ll dig it!
Hell Yeah! I actually used to think, “some one should put 2×12’s and 4×10’s in one 8×10 cab” cuz im using a 4×10 and 2×12! Then not long after Krank made one! So all around, for me, this seems like a righteous set-up! As soon as I can, i will be purchasing the Dirty Valve and Basszilla cab! Thanks for everything!
Happy to help bro!
Hell yeah! As soon as possible. i will be purchasing the Dirty Valvle and Basszilla cab! Sounds righteous!!! Also, I think a 1×12 and 2×10’s in a vertical 2×12 sized guitar cab, would be cool for a junior version! Just an opinion, something to think about! Thanks!
Already there on that thought hahaha…
Can’t wait to get my hands on the new head…I have the basszilla and it’s amazing. I got a chance to play the prototype head and it is amazing as hell to…Catero, I need to get my hands on this thing soon!
LUCKY
EOTK