Warwick ProFet vs Hartke HA 5500 vs Marshall MB4210

[renascence]

Hi guys, has anyone had any experience with the reliability of these amps. Warwick Pro Fet 3.3, Hartke HA5500 and Marshall MB4210. These are available in my local music store and as I live in rural Australia, I don't have a huge range of options to choose from. This is my first real bass rig and I want to buy right . I'm interested an amp that is solid and reliable. I'd appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

Thanks for your time.

PS. I'm going to be using this amp for an acoustic funk/ pop trio, Blues and some modern worship type music. Venue size will range from coffee shops to 600 seater churches. The bigger venues all have sound reinforcement. I'm also playing an Ibanez ATK 4 string and a Fender jazz through it.

[GRAHAM SG1]

I had a Marshall MB4210 for a short while, I liked the tone but had a problem with the lack of output for my band which is a 4piece rock/blues/punk covers outfit, I had everything flat out and it was not powerful enough, I sent it back thinking maybe there was a fault and its new replacement was no better, so I got a refund and bought a GK MB210 which was much better but more costly, Marshall`s advertising would have you believe this amp has `chest thudding power` but dont believe it, on its own as a 210 300 Watt amp it just did not have enough beans for my band, it may be good for quieter bands !
I have also read quite a few complaints about reliability issues with this amp but I guess that applies to other amps too .

[greencow]

An owner of the Marshall. I'd say it goes quite loud and has served me well in live situations and in band rehersals. However it is not reliable enough, atleast for me. I have a job, go to school and I can't spend my time wondering if my amp will work for that gig on friday or not. Also it is heavy and the handles are a bit low so if you carry it with 2 people you need a third hand to keep it from tilting over.

The compressor sucks and the DI is not good enough.

I'd say that it is excelent value for money. However I purchased mine right after they came to maret. it seems that the ones produced now are of lesser build uality and fail more, atleast that is my understanding from all the internet reviews.

Also. it is vital to tilt back the amp or raise it to head level. If it sits on the ground you can't hear a thing, the people standing infront of the stage however will run away.

[Rune Bivrin]

I have a ProFet 3.2. Never an issue in 3 years. I have opened the case, and it is seriously over-dimensioned for the power it's rated at. Works well as a guitar amp as well.

It's quite heavy for a solid state amp, and putting the power switch on the rear is seriously silly.

[Stephanheimer]

I've had a Hartke 3500 (350w at 4ohms) and never run into a situation where it didn't have enough power. Good range of tones and never had a single problem with it.

I've heard good things about Warwick Amps but never had a chance to try one out.

[tom once dead]

I used to own the Marshall MB head and 410 cab. It was incredibly loud, especially compared to my Ampeg SVT 3 Pro that I'm using now. I have heard of a couple of other people having troubles with the MB4210 though. I did have a little trouble with my Marshall head as well, when I first brought it home probably the second time I turned it on the tube channel stopped working. I took it back to the store and they fixed it and it worked fine from then on.

You can never go wrong with Hartke gear though, they sound pretty good and the customer service is incredible.

[genericusername]

I own a profet 3.2, and it is a really solid amp, and has a very transparent tone. It is heavy though (not to an extreme). Also, I have been playing through a guitar 4x12 for a while, and while it sounds good, I don't turn it up too much so I don't hurt the speakers by making them fart out. Sure is loud though. (Example: I'm indoors, at home, gain at 12 o'clock and master dimed (active bass), and you could hear it all the way down the street.)

[ric3xrt]

Had a Marshall MB4210, good sound but had small issues with it. I have a warwick profet 4 this poor head has been droped, kicked , seriously it fell off the back of my friends truck( it was in a rack case) its got some broken sliders, bent input shaft , spekon socket over heated (only issue)....but it still works well, and its DAMM A$$ loud with a SWR 2x15, and WOW the sound when played through an GK uber 810. that being said I love my Hartke stuff, I have a HA5500 , but it stays at the house most of the time, the one band I play in that I'm not bi-amping, I run a Ha3500 and its more then enough to keep up with 2 Guitar players with full Marshall stacks. The hartke stuff will take a beaten , but I have to say over the years I've had less issues with the warwick.
FWIW I'd chose between the Warwick and the Hartke, I'd take the Hartke.

[GRAHAM SG1]

I used to own the Marshall MB head and 410 cab

From what I remember, the MB4210 was 300 Watts @ 4 ohms on its own and 450 Watts @ 2 ohms with an extension or 410 cab, I did try raising the amp onto a chair and it was still not loud enough, my GKMB210 had far more output for roughly the same Watts .

However it is not reliable enough

I'd say that it is excelent value for money.

Not sure about that

[flexo]

Originally Posted by renascence

Hi guys, has anyone had any experience with the reliability of these amps. Warwick Pro Fet 3.3, Hartke HA5500 and Marshall MB4210. These are available in my local music store and as I live in rural Australia, I don't have a huge range of options to choose from. This is my first real bass rig and I want to buy right . I'm interested an amp that is solid and reliable. I'd appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

Thanks for your time.

PS. I'm going to be using this amp for an acoustic funk/ pop trio, Blues and some modern worship type music. Venue size will range from coffee shops to 600 seater churches. The bigger venues all have sound reinforcement. I'm also playing an Ibanez ATK 4 string and a Fender jazz through it.

What's your budget? There's some really good bass shops in Oz now that will ship anywhere fairly cheaply. They would have a much better range so you may open up a few more options.

[renascence]

I'm trying to keep things under a grand, I have too much money tied up in PA equipment and my guitar rig. Believe it or not, but playing bass is my stress relief from teaching guitar to 60 or so students every week.

To give you an idea price wise what I'm looking at, the Warwick 4 x 10 Cab is $556, the Hartke HA 5500 is $350, The Warwick Pro Fet with cab is $1006 and the Marshall is $769. These prices are all in AU and are discounted from the retails. For those of you in the US, the cost of gear doesn't just translate to the exchange rate. Before the stores even get their margin, you have to figure in freight to Oz, the import duties, extra 5% customs because it is guitar/ bass related (thank you Maton for making thongs that bit dearer) and then the Distribution companies profit margin, which is generally pretty steep, at least for the Major ones. The music store owner really doesn't earn a whole heap from it. The joys of living in the lucky country

I've had some other options present themselves via ebay, so trying them is impossible. Eden ENX 260, Eden WTX500 or a Little Mark bass head. The thought was to combine this with say a 2 x 12 or 2 x 10 cab eg TC Electronics 2 x10 cab. I played a church gig this morning using my Pod X3 plugged into a Mackie SR450, and whilst the tone wasn't the best, there was enough volume. That coupled with the fact that most of my bass playing is with an Acoustic Trio playing Coffee shop style gigs, I thought that I may be able to get away with a micro head and a smaller cab.

Anyone have any thoughts on these in regards to volume and reliabilty, in particular the TC Electronics cabs ?

Thanks again

[Makatak]

Originally Posted by ric3xrt

Had a Marshall MB4210, good sound but had small issues with it. I have a warwick profet 4 this poor head has been droped, kicked , seriously it fell off the back of my friends truck( it was in a rack case) its got some broken sliders, bent input shaft , spekon socket over heated (only issue)....but it still works well, and its DAMM A$$ loud with a SWR 2x15, and WOW the sound when played through an GK uber 810. that being said I love my Hartke stuff, I have a HA5500 , but it stays at the house most of the time, the one band I play in that I'm not bi-amping, I run a Ha3500 and its more then enough to keep up with 2 Guitar players with full Marshall stacks. The hartke stuff will take a beaten , but I have to say over the years I've had less issues with the warwick.
FWIW I'd chose between the Warwick and the Hartke, I'd take the Hartke.

Ive got 2 Pro Fet IV`s , German made , Killer tone , top notch build quality and you can pick them up secondhand for nuts if youre lucky ... weigh a ton tho but that funnily enough gives me more confidence than a light as Class D Microamp .
Go for the 5.3 if you can , they are still cheap as , and sound great with variable compressor etc . Warwick have some new amps coming out w300 and w500 so theProfet`s may be going for some runout prices . I know a couple of guys that have bought the Hartke`s second hand and have had bad runs with them.... luck of the draw I guess

[adi77]

i have a profet 5.2 with a tc electronic 210 cab.
its quite versatile and reliably powerful. had a hartke a100 and cant really compare the two (a100 is beginner's type) i have played the hartke 550 with a 610 cab..monstrous.