Problems with Hartke LH1000+HDcabs

[G43]

Hi everybody, its been years I havent post anithing here, but I come in and read from time to time. But its time to post again.

I recently purchased a Hartke LH 1000, a HD4x10cab and a HD1x15cab. I used them in bridged mode. My bass is a warwick corvette proline 6 strings. I always use the limite option in the head, I also use an EBS Compressor.

It sounded great after my laney B3, very very bright sound, not that good with the low B (I dont mean it was bad, but the Laney B3 was quite deeper). After one month it started to sound like a frying pan, when the amp was ON (even with no cable plugged in the input) it sounded like I was frying eggs in my cabs, the sound will almost go away when I turned the tweeters off. I wasnt there all the time, sometimes will just work fine, but eventually it started to "fry" again. I tried another amp, and there was no frying sound, so the problem was the LH1000 Head. Its no big deal, but its quite anoying to hear that "friying" sound between song and song, and having your band mates to make stoopid jokes about your new rig...
After two months the thing got better, and now the frecuency of the "Frying" sound dropped to a few minutes every rehearsal, but I still dont get a clean sound out of it, and forget about using the FX loop, as the signal is "dirty".

But here comes another problem, the entire thing started to sound distorted, and after a while of testing I found out that I have blowed my 1x15 HD cabinet, it sounds distorted regardless to the amplifier (ive tryed a few others). Im sending this back to the shop as is on warranty, being left with the 4x10 and the head.

Another issue about the head is that it sounds quite low till I twist the volume knob over 6, then over 7 its too loud and sounds distorted, this makes finding the right volume a hard job.
Is this normal or my LH1000 head need to be fixed.

I rehearse 3 to 4 times a week, and gig 3 times a month. I use a lot of nasty pedals (distortion, bassballs, wah´s, delay).

I´ll Apreciate any kind of help and/or advise, specially from other Hartke users.

P.D. Excuse my english, I find it difficul to express myself writting in english.

[Seidell]

I had a similar problem. Up until recently i only played ernie ball stingrays and bongos. Now if your familiar with ernie ball basses, you know that the pick ups run really hot if and Sterling Ball actually recommends never to but the main volume on the bass at 10.....well I didnt learn about that til it was to late.

I played a live show with just my LH1000 and my 410. Was running it at about 7-8 the entire night with the bass volume maxed. plus i did have some interesting effects as well.

In short brought it back to the studio and the cab was blown. Only had it for about a month. Brought it back to Sam Ash and they replaced it no problem. While i was there I bought my 1x15.

went back to the studio, hooked evertyhing up. after 30min of play the 4x10 blew again. Called up Samson, told them the problem. they told me sometimes if you blow a cab, the cab can send a signal back to the amp and blow the amp.

So per samson, Sam Ash replaced both the cab and the amp for me. I stopped maxing out my bass and I haven't had problems since.

As for the volume below 6 or 7. I have the same thing with mine. But it doesnt distort, just gets uber loud. So maybe trying adjusting the volume on your bass a bit lower?

[G43]

I seems that this Hartke Stuff is quite weak, I have an EBS compressor that forced me to lower the signal of my bass, as is active, it distorts when used with this compressor (Sounds good but EBS should really work it out better).
What I did is lower the volume of the signal in the wireless receptor,but it still distorted, anyway, I will try what you say to see if I can get a clean tone over 7 in the volume knob.
If not ill probably send it in for reparation. Sounds like Hartke´s Customer service is very good, right?

Thanks

[Seidell]

hartke CS is the best. Everytime I've called Samson they were always willing to help me any/all issues and comments I had. Hell, even had a few conversations with Larry Hartke. He is the man. He from time to time posts on these forums and you can follow him on facebook. lol Hartke CS is the best CS I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with

[BillyIVbass]

Hey,
Your "frying eggs sound" is a bad tube. It happened to me. The head takes a 12ax7. Unscrew the panel on the top and the tube should have a chrome twist-off tube cover near the front left. Mine had and Electro Harmonix tube. EH had some quality control issues.

Any local guitar shop should have a 12AX7 in stock. I bought a Groove Tubes gold-plate tube and the noise stopped instantly and the tone of the head even improved.

After replacing the tube, the screws on the top panel are a real PITA to get back on. I lost one of the screws

Since then my LH500 into HX115 rig has been flying high. I can't comment on your volume issue, cuz I've never needed to turn the Hartke up that loud, but many heads in the past get "funny" past 5 you are more or less just distorting the PRE after that.

[JimmyM]

ya, you can't go by volume knob settings, plus a lot of people think that if an amp goes up to 10 that every single bit of that should be usable. but amps don't work like that. past what they'll do before distortion kicks in, you have what's called peak power, which is usually twice the rms wattage. all amps have it and there's nothing you can do about it.

change the tube first, then if that doesn't help, call larry and i'm sure he'll hook you up.

[BillyIVbass]

Also, I'm concerned about what effects you use? You mention the amp is "weak" but I'm wondering if you aren't sending way too much signal into the amp?

Try plugging your bass straight into the amp and then add effects one by one. Effects pedals are known to suck your tone as well as mixed with an active bass can send more signal into the amp that what the amp was designed for.

[logicman69]

Originally Posted by BillyIVbass

Hey,
Your "frying eggs sound" is a bad tube. It happened to me. The head takes a 12ax7. Unscrew the panel on the top and the tube should have a chrome twist-off tube cover near the front left. Mine had and Electro Harmonix tube. EH had some quality control issues.

Any local guitar shop should have a 12AX7 in stock. I bought a Groove Tubes gold-plate tube and the noise stopped instantly and the tone of the head even improved.

After replacing the tube, the screws on the top panel are a real PITA to get back on. I lost one of the screws

Since then my LH500 into HX115 rig has been flying high. I can't comment on your volume issue, cuz I've never needed to turn the Hartke up that loud, but many heads in the past get "funny" past 5 you are more or less just distorting the PRE after that.

I agree, it sounds partly like a bad tube, but the other thing that conserns me is the lack of volume. This head sould be LOUD @ 4, and you shouldn't need to tun it up past 6 (especially running in bridge mode). I would definatly have a tech look at it.

Hartke always had great customer and dealer support. Don't be afraid to give them an ring.

[G43]

Thanks for all the comments, first thing Im doing is changing the tube right away.
I didnt really had volume issues, the problem is that the real punchy power doesnt kick in till i twist the knob over 6, and over 7 is just too LOUD and a bit distorted. So i have to adjust volumes between 6 and 7, is not a big drama but it could be easier.
And all test I made with my bass and amp where with out the effects.
I use a lot of effects, like distortion, fuzz, wah´s, envelope filters, delay and chorus. I also use an EBS compressor. My 1x15 blew up, but my 4x10 seems to be OK.
Now im sending in the 1x15 for warranty service, happy to hear about the good feedback about hartke. Looking forward to see how good is it in my country, Spain is like the third world for musicians.
Thanks again for all the comments.

[Larry Hartke]

Hey G43,

I'm sorry to hear that you are having a problem with your Hartke rig. By all means change your tube, that should solve your frying problem. Tubes being what they are it's good to keep a spare on hand. You can contact my distributor in Spain and they will get you up and running. Just tell them I sent you. If you need further help you can contact me on e-mail lahartke@comcast.net or call me on my cell 201-680-8153
Let's see if we can make southern Spain a better place for bass players. Here's my distributors contact information.

ADAGIO, S.A.
Poligono Industrial La Ferreria, Avda. La Ferreria, 3 y 5
08110 MONTCADA i REIXAC (BARCELONA) Spain
tel: 34-93.564.59.22
fax: 34-93.564.60.12
email: partigues@adagio.es
website: http://www.adagio.es/

[genstormbringer]

Larry,

Hartke is a gr8 product and I would purchase other Hartke products in a second. It seems you have time for "the little guys" as well as the Victor Wootens of the world. Thanks again for standing by your product. Larry it gives people confidence that if they have a problem you and your customer service will do everything to protect your investment and stand by your product.

Lanis

[genstormbringer]

Larry,

If you could find it in your heart to build a 210 Hydrive cab it would be greatly appreciated. Here is what I did :

[clubdude]

Originally Posted by Larry Hartke

Hey G43,

I'm sorry to hear that you are having a problem with your Hartke rig. By all means change your tube, that should solve your frying problem. Tubes being what they are it's good to keep a spare on hand. You can contact my distributor in Spain and they will get you up and running. Just tell them I sent you. If you need further help you can contact me on e-mail lahartke@comcast.net or call me on my cell 201-680-8153
Let's see if we can make southern Spain a better place for bass players. Here's my distributors contact information.

ADAGIO, S.A.
Poligono Industrial La Ferreria, Avda. La Ferreria, 3 y 5
08110 MONTCADA i REIXAC (BARCELONA) Spain
tel: 34-93.564.59.22
fax: 34-93.564.60.12
email: partigues@adagio.es
website: http://www.adagio.es/

Larry, This is Barry from North Carolina (owns a Stu Hamm). We spoke on the phone twice in the past week, and by email (as well as many times in the past). My LH1000 should be in New York tomorrow. I've talked to Joe A., and he is expecting it.

My head has done all of the things others have mentioned below. Loss of volume, frying sound, etc. It is not the cabs, as I have tried it with three different cabs with same result. At first I thought it was just my practice 210XL, but it's not. That's why I told you to not send the replacement speakers.

It is not the tube either, as I have replaced the tube with a JJ balanced triode, and then back to the original with same results.

It is also intermittent. You never know when it's going to happen, and then it will go back to being very loud and clean.
I'm not a tech, but it almost sounds like a cold solder joint. I hope you can use my head when it arrives tomorrow as a guinea pig for others that are having the same problems with their LH1000. At this point, it is no more potent than my old H3500 Mosfet. Seriously. I can do without it for another week, as I cancelled gigs to get this fixed.

As always, I'm loyal to Hartke, and you have absolutely the best customer service anywhere.

Thanks for being there for us.

[TRichardsbass]

I'll triple that emotion, frying sound is the tube in the pre-amp. Happens. Tubes are sometimes delicate creatures.

As for the volume, on the LH series you do get a very large boost once you hit the 5-6 range. Partly the overall design, and partly the fact you have a good tube pre-amp. Most designs have a sweet spot at certain power levels, so once you hit that level you will get a jump.

On my LH500 I find I have a pretty big jump at 5.5 on the dial, and then the volume rises some after that but peaks at about 9. Of course firing the eq's to 10 also gives me a large boost in volume.

I play my LH500 with HD4X10 at 7 mostly, get all the power I need and cut through just about any band mess.

Runs sweet. Playing it lower then 5 makes no sense.

[G43]

Thanks Larry for replying my post, with such a CS I cant really complain, I will call them today and get my 1x15" send for service.
I had rehearse yesterday with my LH1000 and the 4x10" cab and I had no trouble, no more distortion, no more "frying" sound, and beatifull tone even without new strings, Its kind of weird, because it sounded better with the 4x10" alone, less volume but better quality, I didnt change the tube yet, but it seems that I dont need to do so anymore now the amp works perfect. Since I took the 1x15" away the thing sounds amazing. I wonder if it was blown from the begining and that was the entire problem.
Thanks for all the comments, and thanks again to Larry, it really feels good to have the head of the company to worry about the little customer problems. It really makes it worth to buy your gear.

[christw]

Try getting another 410 I you want punchy tone. You'll move more air and wont have to worry about blowing up a lower rated cab. I understand if it's too late to do that, but its worth a shot

[G43]

Thats exactly what I was thinking about, I though that the 4x10+15 was a sort of good combination, but I seem to like more the tone on the 4x10, it sounds just like I want punchy and clear. Im probably selling the 15" cab when repaired and buying another HX 4x10 right away.
Thanks for the advice.

[clubdude]

Originally Posted by G43

Thats exactly what I was thinking about, I though that the 4x10+15 was a sort of good combination, but I seem to like more the tone on the 4x10, it sounds just like I want punchy and clear. Im probably selling the 15" cab when repaired and buying another HX 4x10 right away.
Thanks for the advice.

I started out many moons ago with 15's, then went to 18's (folded horns/projection horns, etc), then 10's. Now, I can't stand solitary large speakers for bass. Give me two 4x10's or even 2x10's, any day. To my ear, you lose nothing, and gain a lot. My rig throbs with bottom end, and I have nothing larger than a 10" speaker. And it does the mids and treble better, too. I'm not a big fan of tweeters, because I think the multiple 10's give you the full range. Just my opinion, but it's based on more experience that I like to admit.

I don't even like to put much of my bass through our 18" PA bass bins. Just enough to balance the sound in the room. I would prefer it if we got rid of those 18's, too, and went with no larger than 15's on the PA. Need more of them (than 18's), but the recovery time on larger speakers is so much slower.

I'm ready to get rid of my XL's and get some HyDrive's. When I do, it will only be the 4x10's. Good luck. CD

[G43]

I agree, 10" speakers are the way.
Im about to order the tube, in my amp specs it says that is a 12AX7 Class A tube, but there are a lot of versions of this tube, I dont know much about this myself, and I dont want to buy the wrong tube. Which brand do you guys recomend?

[clubdude]

I get my tubes from Bob at Eurotubes. Bob is great at answering questions, also.
The 12AX7 cross references with an ECC83S in other countries.

I use JJ ECC83S "matched triode" tubes in my preamp.

Link right to it. It's the third one down.
https://ssl.eurotubes.com/cart/index...category_id=12