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Are all Hartke HA3500's junk?

#44
The OP has stated he used his same speaker with his friend's head. So, if that was the only variable, a bad cord is likely not the problem.

I have a 20 year old 3500 that has had minimal dependability issues. I have zero experience with the HA's.

I'm very interested in hearing the outcome of this story.
 
#46
I have run into the Hartke 3500 a couple of times and can imagine there is some kind of gain structure issue in this case.

On a side note: Perhaps OP really was pushing the old Hartke into distortion without really noticing? Some (unregulated) Mos Fet amplifiers can be pushed into distortion without sounding all bad, unlike you normally see in an SS amp. This due to the different distortion charateristics och the semiconductors themselves, generating a more tube like and "fat" distortion.

A few years ago I ran 4 Studiomaster MosFet 1000 amps for a PA rig and they behaved just like that - they never really "clipped" like most PA amps do. As a consequence, these amps seemed much gutsier than they were.

Edit:
I am very impressed by Larry Hartke himself responding! That kind of support makes a lot of difference to me as a buyer, just like how Customer support at Ampeg is a very strong reason for me to buy equipment from Ampeg.
 
#47
AlexanderB said:
I am very impressed by Larry Hartke himself responding! That kind of support makes a lot of difference to me as a buyer, just like how Customer support at Ampeg is a very strong reason for me to buy equipment from Ampeg.
Click to expand...

After a day or so of phone tag, Larry caught up with me today and we talked for a bit. My next rig will definitely be Hartke. He was able to suggest an entire setup based off what I have now and what I'd like different about it. Looks like I'm in the market for an L1000 and an AK115 once I complete my move in May, then another AK115 once I feel I can buy it without causing marital issues.

I feel a lot better about buying from a company where the owner responds with a phone call faster than most customer service guys respond with an email.
 
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#48
Patrick the red said:
I have a monster cable, could that be defective? I'm going to call Mr. Hartke in the morning and see what he can tell me, I'll post my results. I'm very impressed that he found my post and is willing to help even after I've been ripping on this amp some.
Click to expand...

Strange thing! I've recently been playing in two different rehearsal rooms. HA3500 with Hartke's 4x10 cab seems to be a very popular choice here. So, I've played through two such rigs in two different places. And now, why it was strange:

In the room #1, I tried using a brand new Monster Cable and had no loudness, exactly as the OP! So I changed the bass cable to another make and was very, very satisfied with that Hartke rig. So I attributed the problem to faulty cable.

Then, we moved to room #2 and I was allowed to play on a 3500 with -- again -- 4 x 10 Hartke cab, until I would get a shipment of my own gear. No problems at all. And then I changed to the Monster Cable and... no problem! So I cannot understand why the very same cable was creating problems with one 3500, and no problem with another 3500... Is it possible that the input jack sockets could be inconsistent?

Overall, we are a guitar band with very loud drummer and single electric guitar. If I had not already ordered my own amp rig of another make, I would be very happy with the HA3500/Hartke 4x10. The Hartke rig gives me wonderful solid rocking tone, cutting easily, and I was often told by the drummer to reduce the volume. I was playing with Master at 5-6. I was very happy with the rig response to power-chords; HA3500 was giving me very pleasing growl. Since I could not manipulate the preamp section (none of those amps was mine), I only had to adjust the mids on my bass slightly (to override the EQ settings of the owners) to cut through the energetic double-kick.

I think that the cable could be the problem. I had exactly the same problem with amp #1!
 
#54
FWIW, I've owned a 3500 amp (thorugh a VX410 cab) and IMO it suffered from chronical lack of volume too. The tone / voice / whatever you like to call it was ok - modern, crisp...although a bit too sterile to my taste - but the volume....such a dissapointment. The guitard was keeping the volume of his Marshall stack at 2 or 3, while mine was almost at full volume and gasping like an old man running the marathon. After that I've bought a Peavey Tour 450 and that thing was mad loud - with the volume rarely going past 5, it was almost twice louder than the Hartke. On the very same VX410 cab! After I sold the Peavey, my GK700RB-II arrived, and what do you know, same thing: lots of power, on the same cab. So yeah, im my experience that Hartke amp had some serious volume issues.
 
#55
^Going through lots of posts, I think the volume problem has to be specific to the unit. I had the exact opposite experience as the post above. My ten year old HA 3500 absolutely destroyed the Peavey Tour 700 in volume, tone and anything else imaginable. Seems there has to be something wrong with both the OP's unit and the Peavey I had. All I know is, I should probably know a lot more about the inner workings of amps than I do.
 
#56
monkeyking said:
^Going through lots of posts, I think the volume problem has to be specific to the unit.
Click to expand...

Could be. Thing is the whole experience with that unit made me turn from a supporter of the brand (I was forced to wait more than 4 months for that amp to arrive because at the time there was no official Hartke dealer for my country and had to order from US - I was dead set on getting a 3500) to someone who will never buy another Hartke product. I can see why some people like the Hartke stuff so much, I admit I like the overall look & specs of the LH amps, but I was so dissapointed by that 3500 that I can't see myself getting another of their amps. But of course, that's just me.
 
#57
Well it took some time to reply to my post and this is what I know so far. I sent the amp to Hartke and it took about two weeks for them to get to it.
The first phone call a service tech told me that they couldn't find anything wrong with it, It was working like it should. But they were still looking at it.
The second phone call was to the service manager. He said they found nothing wrong with it. I told him again in detail why I thought it wasn't working right, and what type of gear I had, active bass and 2x10 cab. He said they would try it out again.
I got a call today and this is what they said. The service tech was playing through it and "noticed" what I was saying about it having no power. And that the mid-years of the 3500 were designed that way. He said when they were made many people were using 18v pre-amps and were complaining about the onboard pre's being too hot, so they were "turned down". In the newer 3500's this has been changed. He said they are looking into ways to "fix" the issue on my amp.
So, to answer my own question.
The old 3500's were good, the new 3500's are good, but some of them in the middle were designed to be week in the pre's.
I'll post again when I know more.

and, AH-HA I knew I wasn't nuts.
 
#58
I use a Hartke HA5500 and it is the "loudest" 500 watt SS head I have ever used.

I love the tone. I exclusively use the tube preamp (maxed) and cut out the SS section. I don't engage the EQ, keep the Low Pass at noon, and boost the high pass. I use a Schecter bass and play alternative rock. The sound is perfect for what I do, and the head has never once failed me.
 
#59
I ran an old mosfet 3500 through most of the 90s into two XL cabs, a 4x10 and 1x15 - and it was plenty loud up against a 5150 stack and giant drum kit. Ran the tube and solid state pre knobs at noon as someone mentioned above. For sure the cab side of things is an issue if the amp is healthy.
 

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