Ampeg PF500 head vs. Hartke LH1000

Do a quick search on both of those on here and I'm sure you will get some info on the two. I did that with the LH and found a few threads on the Hartke. I went ahead and got it. Mine should be arriving today with an Ampeg 810 cab. Ill let you know what I think of it when I get it.

 

Both sound great. I played the ampeg extensively in store but the hartke slightly won out and i played it for over a year.. That being said I just made the swap to a vintage ampeg v4b lol but both seem to be very clean and at times even too much so to my taste (which is why I went tube)

 

I just bought a Hartke HA2500 head this week.

Hartke's have a very different sound than Ampeg's do. When I was trying the amps out at Guitar Center, I never even made it to the Ampeg...but I didn't need to. I'm very familiar with the Ampeg sound, and though I like it...the Hartke was "my tone" that I've been hearing in my head. Plus, you can always add a Tech 21 VT bass pedal to the Hartke to get the Ampeg tone too. As a longtime guitar player, I'd call the Ampeg more of a Marshall type tone vs the Hartke being a Fender type tone--if that makes any sense. With a Fender amp, you can add a "Marshall in a box" pedal to get that tone too, but you can't do that with a Marshall amp (there isn't a Fender in a Box).

So, I'd go with a Hartke, though both are great choices. Both companies have good customer service too.

 

Got my Hartke Lh1000 about two hours ago and I've played through it for a little while. Pretty nice sound and easy to dial in ur tone since the eq is pretty simple. @ +- 33 lbs it's no featherweight but looks presentable and built well. Playing through the Ampeg 810 is ridiculous(in both pure volume and quality sound). I'm very glad I went this route and plan on keeping this set up for a good while.