My Hartke Bass Attack is being an idiot.

JeffBTZ · #1 08-14-2011, 10:21 AM

Last Wednesday I received my Hartke bass attack in the mail from Sweetwater and plugged it in and started playing. It sounded great. No complains, everything worked, although I hadn't tried out the DI feature yet.

I played with it a few times, although I had been pretty busy, so I didn't get more than an hour with it. On saturday, I put some flats on my Schecter and had it all set up, and when I got home, I plugged into my Hartke Bass attack and flipped it on. Then I noticed some serious issues.

For starters, there is an insane amount of signal loss. The volume is nearly cut in half (not measured, but it's considerably quieter) when I toggle the on/off switch. I have all knobs set to flat, except for the "mix" knob which is set to 100% effective. It gets louder when i push the mix nob back to "dry"

Secondly, the "brite" knob makes no difference to my tone no matter where I have it set. It should add in a lot of treble, as seen in the demo, but it doesn't.

Third, and this is the most annoying part for me, the "harmonics" knob, which adds in a tube sounding overdrive, doesn't do a single thing. It sounds the same whether it's set to 0 as when it's on 10. After reading the manual and making sure everything is hooked up right, I simply cannot figure out what's going on.

My gut is telling me that the circuit went bad, because the manual says that the Brite and Harmonics function are controlled by the same toggle switch. The EQ function and shape functions work just fine, but I'm not sure what is going on with the rest of it.

Do any of you guys have this pedal and have experienced the issue? Maybe I don't have something hooked up right, although I kind of doubt it. Does it make much sense that the pedal would work one day, then the next it doesn't do a single thing?

I suppose if I can't get this figured out, I'll have to call sweetwater and ask for a replacement. I'm just curious as to whether or not any of you guys have any ideas as to what may be going on here along with any ways to troubleshoot.

chessrocks · #2 08-14-2011, 11:41 AM

Aren't these things made in China?

Just sayin.'

I think the Hartke bass attack is a fine pedal, and I really like how the drive and the EQ play together.

But that said, it's not unlike buying Behringer gear in terms of quality control. My advice would be to send it back, but pay a little extra in an exchange for either a Sansamp or an Aguilar Tone Hammer, as either one of these are probably going to be much more reliable for you over the long haul.

JeffBTZ · #3 08-14-2011, 12:09 PM

Yea, the pedal is made in china. I wouldn't mind having the Sansamp, but I'm not sure my wallet can take it at the moment. I've got quite a few expenses coming my way.

However, Sweetwater had an old (now discontinued) Tech 21 VT Bass that they forgot to pull. The guy said that there's a possibility that they'll be selling it, and maybe I'll try to grab it.

If I can't do that, would it be possible to get the sansamp used for 100 dollars? I'm really not keen on spending more money than I need to.

chessrocks · #4 08-14-2011, 12:20 PM

Yea, I don't think that VT bass is discontinued, but if you can get it cheap, then grab that thing up.

You might be able to get a bass driver or para driver for around 100-ish from Craigslist or fleabay. But if expenses are really that tight, you might just exchange for a new bass attack and hope you get better luck.

Generally speaking, I think $200 is about the bare minimum if you want something reliable that will last you 20 years. In the end, the cheaper units are more expensive; Buy cheap, buy twice.

JeffBTZ · #5 08-14-2011, 12:29 PM

It was the old model, the non-deluxe version. The guy may have meant that sweetwater won't be carrying it any more.

I'll probably end up sticking with my bass attack. I'm a bit apprehensive seeing as the first one didn't seem to be very good quality, but hopefully it's just a fluke...

It would be nice to be able to grab that VT bass though. I don't really need the EQ feature because I've got a GEB-7 for my EQ purposes. I mostly wanted the overdrive out of it (although the DI capability isn't too shabby either...)

Anyone have any other suggestions as to what a good subtle SVT tube type overdrive would be around this price range?

Lowbrow · #6 08-14-2011, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffBTZ

It was the old model, the non-deluxe version. The guy may have meant that sweetwater won't be carrying it any more.

I'll probably end up sticking with my bass attack. I'm a bit apprehensive seeing as the first one didn't seem to be very good quality, but hopefully it's just a fluke...

It would be nice to be able to grab that VT bass though. I don't really need the EQ feature because I've got a GEB-7 for my EQ purposes. I mostly wanted the overdrive out of it (although the DI capability isn't too shabby either...)

Anyone have any other suggestions as to what a good subtle SVT tube type overdrive would be around this price range?

The VT really is the way to go for SVT tube-type anything, short of an actual SVT.