hartke static

billystagger · #1 09-09-2010, 08:36 PM

i just bought a hartke LH500 used and it has a little static coming from it. The noise is NOT my bass or cabinet im 100% sure. Turing all the knobs off on my amp does nothing. it happens both when a bass is plugged in and isnt plugged in. the only thing that makes it stop is turning it off. Its not a tweeter hiss sound but close kinda sounds like am radio. it goes a way and comes back randomly. Any ideas? The head sounds Great otherwise got it paired with a GK neo410. crystal clear tone.

JimmyM · #2 09-09-2010, 11:25 PM

sounds like a bad tube maybe.

billystagger · #3 09-10-2010, 07:15 AM

well im pretty sure theres just one pre amp tube. is that an easy diy project or do pre amp tubes also need to be biased and all that?

JimmyM · #4 09-10-2010, 08:57 AM

easy diy project, no biasing needed. pop old tube out, pop new one in. however, bear in mind that i said "maybe." it often works, but not always, so if it's under warranty, i'd take it back to the store and see what they say about it. i don't think the warranty covers the tube but they might cover it if it's been a short time.

billystagger · #5 09-10-2010, 03:42 PM

ill give that a shot, hope this works. has anyone else had this problem?????

Stanley Pugh · #6 09-10-2010, 05:58 PM

Yes with my Hartke 3500, Like Jimmy said it was the tube.
A friend had some old stock 12ax7 tubes from televisions and it made the problem worse, the change told me that the tube was the likely problem.
I then bought a new tube, problem solved.

billystagger · #7 09-10-2010, 11:41 PM

yup works fine now it was the tube