Hartke LH500 Noise

basssoundbass · #1 03-25-2010, 06:20 PM

I have been really delighted with my LH500 Bass Head, it is so simple to use and produces an excellent tone.

The only downside is that it produces a whooshing noise through the speaker. I have eliminated all other equipment so the sound is being made by the head.

It doesnt bother me in gig situations as I can get by without noticing it, but I can hear it when I am practicing on my own.

Has anyone else experienced this, and what could be causing this to happen.

Thanks

koobie · #2 03-25-2010, 08:17 PM

I mostly use passive basses and my LH500 seemed to suffer from a substandard signal to noise ratio too. I don't think people with active basses would have this issue. I found I could run a preamp upstream and feed the LH500 a much hotter signal and all was good. It didn't overload the input, there was no downside to using a pre. Some might not want to go this route, but I thought the s/n ratio greatly benefited and having the extra eq section was really handy too.

liam_g · #3 03-25-2010, 08:20 PM

Interesting. Mine is dead quiet and works great with my passive P basses, no extra preamp. Not sure what's different about mine?

Not in any way disputing anything! It just works fine for me as is.

Cheers,
Liam

I<34080 · #4 03-25-2010, 08:30 PM

Mine blows fuses as soon as I turn it on, and I'm too lazy to take it to get repaired, so it just sits there.

MIJ-VI · #5 03-25-2010, 09:56 PM

A whooshing sound? A bad pre-amp tube perhaps?

liam_g · #6 03-26-2010, 10:37 AM

I think there's a description of something similar being related to a bad or not properly seated preamp tube in the main LH500 thread. Not completely sure, but it sounds familiar.

Good luck,
Liam

basssoundbass · #7 03-26-2010, 12:04 PM

That's brilliant thanks for the help so far. It so happens that the noise isn't present today, it tends to do this then come back. Thanks again.

Larry Hartke · #8 03-27-2010, 08:07 AM

Hey Basssoundbass,

Sounds like a tube to me, they can do that. Check to see if your tube is seated correctly and if it is then replace it with a new 12AX7. Tubes can be noisy, now as to what brand of tube to get, well there seems to be a lot of different opinions about that out there depending on what you like but any working tube should solve your noise problem.

Hey I<34080,

Don't be lazy, let's make this easy for you just give me a call and I will help you. 201-680-8153

liam_g · #9 03-27-2010, 08:45 AM

Great to see you on here Larry! And thanks for my LH500!!!

Cheers,
Liam

basssoundbass · #10 03-27-2010, 06:59 PM

That's great Larry,

Great to hear from you, I will get the tube checked.

By the way, I have been so pleased with this amp. I have used it almost every day since I have had it. I use it for practice, band rehersals, gigs etc. I just find it so easy to get whatever sound I want, it's just so easy to work with I can just concentrate on my playing and know that the amp is taking care of the sound.

Thanks again for your help and support.

basssoundbass · #11 04-07-2010, 04:46 PM

To update my situation with my slight noise problem.

I have replaced the pre amp tube with a new one and I am delighted to find that the slight noise issue has cleared, superb.

I think this is really good amp and paired with my 1x15in Barefaced Compact Cab delivers a great bass tone.

Thanks again for your replies.