Pocketgk App Reviews

It's simple and worked perfectly until the new operating system.

It works! Great sound!

The ability to play along with songs from your iTunes library and the slow-downer feature are worth the price alone. I've been practicing some Stevie Wonder tunes lately and there's no way I could have learned Nate Watts nuances without these features. Wish there were more options on the tones available but these ones suffice.

I use this app on my iPad, along with an Alesis I/O Dock, and two Mackie Thump 15's to play live, awesome sound! Also great for practice and learning new songs. Would like to be able to use the two cabs together, otherwise fantastic model of the GK amp sound.

New version for ios11. Works and sounds great as before minus some of the previous bugs. Love this app! Note though that irig or irig hd do not work on an iPhone X with this or any other app. Not a fault of this publisher.

I am using the JAM interface from Apogee and I had a little trouble getting it to connect to this app. It worked fine with other apps like AmpKit or iStroboSoft tuner. It wouldn't connect at all. Then all of a sudden, after switching back and forth between apps, it started working. It does what it says. Couldn't hear much difference in the cabs. I also would love to be able to use my bluetooth headset for audio out. It sure would cut down on the wires going everywhere.

To all those who want, use and love this this app as I do, I just want to say yes, it's amazing. I did hesitate to upgrade to a new iPhone thinking it wouldn't work anymore. I did it anyway and guess what, the app works perfectly. I took a chance on it because well, I can't say much about recent support from pocketlabworks as the last message I ever received back was in 2013. I sent several emails about my concern with other iOS versions. No responses. Don't care. I'm not a support freak. I try things and figure it out. It works. No bugs. Maybe somewhere in the middle of the iPhone 4,5 iOS changes there were problems but I never switched until now. I have the new iPhone 6s on iOS 9.3.1. It works better on this new iPhone than it did on my old one. If anyone has been wanting to make this move, I have taken care of the guess work for you and this company too, apparently. Use it with confidence. Cheers!

Decent sounding with an Apogee Jam interface. Some slight latency but not hindering overall. Some awkward coordination with loading tracks. I prefer using the Amazing Slowdowner app for tracks due to more options like pitch control and saving partial loops. Have to be careful using ear buds with mic because it overrides and goes to mic instead of interface hardware. Still getting used to the app but enjoying it so far.

I'm using iOS 9 and not getting any audio from the app. Doesn't seem to be responding at all. Also tried multiple audio interfaces and still doesn't work.

Loved using this app but since updating my phone the app doesn't open anymore. Please fix.

•Won't play songs when headphones are plugged in or connected to a dock. •Can't actually select a playlist from the "playlist" tab and the only way to get back to app is to do a force quit. •Feedback control dialog box appears even after you click "don't show this message" (minor issue, I know, but it's still annoying).

Updated November 2017: Four years later and PocketGK is still my preferred virtual amp. I use it with both the same iRiffPort as before, but also with an Apogee Jam. The iRiffPort remains my preferred interface, PocketGK is well integrated with this hardware. I was very happy to see the app was updated to iOS 11. I have both newer iPhone and iPad as before, and I was limited to running PocketGK on my old iPad with an out of date iOS. The updated app works great under iOS 11! Thanks for continuing to support your product. Original 2013 review: I'm a bass player that's come fairly late to the whole iOS thing but have now enthusiastically jumped into the world of virtual amps. I've tried several of the apps that are out there but have developed a heavy preference for PocketGK. PocketGK is very well thought out for the average bassist - I'd say it provides about 90% of my dream list for an app. Tone is great, the play along and looper features are useful practice tools and the built-in tuner works well. The only things on my wishlist for PocketGK are a few of the typical effects bassists tend to use - a compressor, fuzz, distortion and possibly chorus would be great to have as in-app purchases. Also, iRiffPort is the way to go for an interface - I tried a few of the audio jack interfaces and was very disappointed on poorly they worked for bass. iRiffPort gives me a great low noise way of accessing PocketGK on my iPhone and iPad. iRiffPort also works well with the new Lightning to 30 pin adapter (my iPad is Lightning equipped.) Hopefully we'll see more interface products from Pocketlabworks - a stompbox interface to give an easy, durable way of jacking PocketGK into a pedaltrain would be great for live performance. Pocketlabworks has a winner here!

I installed this on my iPad and I couldn’t get it to work. The developer was responsive to my issues, despite an initial automated email saying they were unavailable. According to the developer, Apogee Jam ONLY works with headphones, and not the Apple headphones - they have a mic. Only headphones without a mic. And both the Jam and the headphones must be plugged in before you launch the app. After plugging in appropriate headphones and killing the app, then relaunching, at first I could only get it to work if I ran GarageBand or AmpliTube first. After a reboot it seems I can launch PocketGK first and have success. I haven’t tried all of the features yet, but so far I’m not impressed with the sound. I wish I had spent the money on amp models for AmpliTube instead of this app.

There is no App that compares to this ! I have a G.K. 1001RB II, MB800, Neo 410, 212, and 115. I thought my cabinets were light - never thought I could get the G.K. sound in something as light as an ipad. I use it everyday and when gigging, I use it to learn last minute requests during a break. Amazing ! Support for this App is great as well. I recently contacted them and the response and fix to my issue was completed in no time at all. I'm at the point where I really don't think my musical journey would be the same without this App. Funny, but it has actually made me more money because aside from keeping you sharp with it's practice tools, it has allowed me to become a more focused and prepared bass player which keeps my phone ringing !

Be sure to use a quality interface! I tried iRig and it was not fun. Now I use Jam by Apogee and love. Silent practice and learning songs is easy!

Its a great app,but needs update ASAP...I can't use it with others apps(dropbox,youtube,spotify,etc)as I used to.

They don't make it known that the app is useless without buying an extra cable. Don't know why it can't just output to an amp to play along. Don't bother with this app.

Downloaded the new update, now the app crashes immediately after opening it......please fix

Since I upgraded to the 5s, this don't even work even with the 30 pin adaptor cord!!!

Used to be the best app. Hasn't been an update since iOS 6. Sliders don't work now. Great while it lasted. Sent email about app not working and received a,"yeah, it hasn't worked since iOS 8 upgrade." That was about 6 months ago. So it doesn't sound like they are going to work on a fix.

Great bass app. I don't own the iRiffport, I have the iRig, which uses the headphone jack. I have no doubt the sound quality and usability would be improved with the iRiffport and a better set of headphones, but it is quite functional using the iRig and the Apple ear buds. A great way to get my practice in without irritating my wife or waking the baby. A few suggestions...the Trainer is good, letting you create loops, speed up, slow down and vary pitch. I do, however, wish the pitch varying function was both broader in steps and had more steps within the range to choose from. Would be nice to put the songs in whatever key you feel like playing in. Also, DRM does affect use of the Trainer function on some selections. On such songs, you cannot speed up, slow down, loop, vary pitch, which is an annoyance, especially if the recording not in the key you want. The third wish pertains to its access of your music...would be improved if it remembered what playlist you were playing from. It will advance on its own to the next song in the list when the current selection is finished, or you can pick the previous or next on the list with a touch of the screen. However, if you desire to pick another song from the same playlist, you have to go to Music, then choose the source (playlist, artist, song title, etc.)...basically start over in your music selection. All in all, big thumbs up for this app. I play in a band and it allows me to practice by myself, quietly on new songs, brush up on older stuff, and keep me sharp for my band's scheduled practices and shows. It is inexpensive and has some great useful features. Think I will purchase the iRiffport in the near future. It seems a little steep pricewise, but expect it to improve sound quality and let you take advantage of the GK EQ and tone controls. If they were to address some of the suggestions I listed above, I would definitely change my four stars to five.

Super sound. I have an '02 J bass, and the tone is excellent. Best part of this app is the song trainer and great support. Anything you need can be accomplished with this thing.

Bass sounds great. Really like the ability to play along with my iTunes songs. Wish we had a tuner. Overall I am very pleased with this app and highly recommend it.

Nowhere near as good as amplitube. I thought I'd give it a try because of some of the reviews. Biggest let down is the music feature...there's no volume adjustment so you cannot turn up the music. LAME!

Love this bass amp. However, the song trainer looping mechanism is a bit funky (not in a good way). The looper can be better. Please, please, please add a metronome! I have not found any bass amp apps with a metronome.

Still not working with new iOS

I have been using the Pocket GK app for a few years now. I find the app to accurately reproduce the song, regardless of speed played back. I had to learn about 60 songs to play in a country/pop band, and another 40 for a jazz/funk band in the last two years. Since I don't read music (and have been playing bass about 4 years now) this tool is my GO TO when I have to transcribe a new bass line. I basically learn the gist of the chords in real time, and then I can slow the song WAY down if necessary to learn the intricate (or even softer) parts. It's also a great app when our band plays a song in a different key. I can change pitch up or down two semitones and it accurately reproduces the song in that key. What's nice when practicing is I go for muscle memory on songs. By practicing in the key my band plays the song in, I have fewer mistakes when playing live. I like the fact this app interfaces directly with my ITunes library. AND the developer is approachable. I had a problem with functionality deprecation in iOS 8, but when iOS 9 was released Apple fixed their issue and the app works like it did from day 1! Finally, I play live with an epifani head and cab, and have played with a Gk head before. I feel the tones from the app reproduce the Gk tones quite well! If you are considering this vs another - get this app. You won't be disappointed. (But be sure upgrade to iOS 9!). And, for the record - I don't know the developer nor do I have a vested interest in his nor in GK's success. This is probably my favorite app on my entire iPad.

Love this app BUT it doesn't seem to want to work with IOS7!! Glad I kept it on my old iPod, an older version but the old version on the iPod still works great. Any updates coming to fix this serious problem?!?!?!?

Being a big fan of GK gear I had to check out this app. Glad I did! Simple to use and sounds good. Controls are simple and the tone is good. You can pull songs up in your iTunes library and jam along with them, which makes it great for learning new songs. Also great for practicing without disturbing others. The negative reviews regarding the purchase of an expensive cable are not accurate! Yes you do need an interface cable of some kind. However, there are several fairly inexpensive ones that work including the iRig. I bought a used iRig for $13 and it works just fine with this app!

Sounds great with my MTD, and my Apogee Jam!! This app is awesome! I love it

Good sound, easy connections - the only thing they need to do now is make it easier to import songs and switch between tunes. Kind of clunky process right now.

I have this app on an iPhone 4S w OS 6.0.1 using the apogee jam and its awesome. The controls are easy to use, the sound is great (using headphones). I like how I can add music from iTunes library on the phone to play along with. It makes practicing easy since you don't have to drag out all the equipment and worry about neighbors complaining. If you're a bass player, you should definitely check out this app!

This app is old and it's starting to show its age. But in terms of sound quality it still soundly beats amplitude and jamup pro. The app is simple and doesn't have a lot of features but it just nailed the sound. Plug bass in and listen with headphones and it's even better than the real gk rb400 I used to have.

Really impressed with the tonal quality of this amp model. It has a great round wound sound. I've been trying to get this out of other apps with only some success. It has great fullness and presence. Sound really cuts through. Money very well spent. Using it with Apogee Jam without any issue.

Good quality bass sim, but still no Audiobus support. Would be great for the input slot.

A terrific little bass amp, with smooth and detailed sound, and is superior to my other device that I use with my Warwick bass to practice. The unit is a bargain, with superior performance. The iRiffport interface works better than any other interface I have used, and I have tried them all. Support is fast and informative. Can't go wrong with this setup.

Love this simple app. Using it with an iRig and an Alesis dock. Plug in, choose the set list, play. I've recently started playing bass with a singer songwriter (Wes Speight), and while he is open to interpretation getting the basics down is a heck of a lot easier with my bass mixed right in. I love the loop option as well as the speed option to pick apart those hard to hear parts. I couldn't think of a thing to do to make it better. Once you get past the slight learning curve you'll be playing in your car while someone else is driving. Works great on both my iPad and iPhone. Thanks guys

Very good app, works very good

Haven't played it through the house yet but in home practice it sounds good. Better than hauling around an amp to practice w/

This is a Great App. It's inspired me to play more. Also you MUST get the Iriff Port & the Neo Ear Buds, they make a great Combo. The Neo Ear Buds sound Great with enough Bass Response. Pocket Lab Works is # 1 in the Musical Gadget Department.

The functionality of this app is incredible. This app is truly amazing!

Was a great app, but doesn't work with ios7. Too bad!

Man, what a great app. Totally blew away all my expectations. Love the ability to slow down tunes to learn them while still keeping the proper pitch. The little virtual amp sounds pretty amazing. The iRiffPort is a little pricy but you forget what you paid for it pretty fast once you start using it. You could actually use your device as a preamp for a gig with the line out on the iRiffPort and it would sound really good. Better probably than what your using unless maybe you have a GK set up already. The gate valve effect is excellent.

The app is working but as soon as I put in my iRiff port and plug it into my bass, the app doesn't work.

For someone like me, who wants just to play along on bass with my iTunes music, this is the best app around so far. But it is buggy and the features are not well implemented. For example, it will crash when it hits a song that it doesn't like. This corrupts the database and the program will never run again. You have to delete it entirely and re-install. To access a song you want to play along with, you have to scroll through your entire playlist. No shortcuts. There is no shuffle mode,and often it will skip to another song randomly. It looks like this app hasn't been updated in awhile. Too bad. If the bugs were fixed it would worth five stars.

This App is amazing! Love the sound! Pretty much practice made easy for beginners and Pros!

Es muy útil estoy contentó con esta aplicación

Pretty cool app, very light and easy to use, thanx guys and more power...

Works perfect and I can jam along with any tune. Works with A-Jam just fine. Wish the app had effects like chorus, flanger, reverb and echo. For $5 I can't really complain. Other than that, great for practice, clean and d**** recording.