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Disappointed with Hartke

#61
If you read through the forums you will find that a rant has been posted at some point about every brand on the market..

I myself have run a Hartke rig of some sort since the 80's and have never had an issue with any of their products..in fact i have a model 3500 head that has been around the world and seen several tours of the U.S. since 1988 and it's still going strong...

HCab.jpg


don't remember what model Hartke cab this is, but it's over 20 years old and aside from the original drivers being swapped out for Legend BP102's (note the the original tweeter is still kicking) and the rat fur having seen better days, it has been passed down to a second generation (my kid) and he is still rocking it...

for my money there isn't a better brand out there for the Starving/working musician!!!
 
#62
Maybe the new stuff ain't as good as the old stuff. I have a decades old 410xl that has never let me down.

But then, I'm also careful as to what I plug into it. Hartke stuff is not meant to be pushed to the limit. You need to keep it well within operational wattages.
 
#63
Snakeman1066 said:
If you read through the forums you will find that a ran has been posted at some point about every brand on the market..

I myself have run a Hartke rig of some sort since the 80's and have never had an issue with any of their products..in fact i have a model 3500 head that has been around the world and seen several tours of the U.S. since 1988 and it's still going strong...

HCab.jpg


don't remember what model Hartke cab this is, but it's over 20 years old and aside from the original drivers being swapped out for Legend BP102's (note the the original tweeter is still kicking) and the rat fur having seen better days, it has been passed down to a second generation (my kid) and he is still rocking it...

for my money there isn't a better brand out there for the Starving/working musician!!!
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That's what I thought. Mine was aluminum cones though.
 
#65
Floyd Eye said:
Buying used cabs is always a gamble. Plenty of people are perfectly content with their Hartke gear. Have you looked on Ebay?
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Yeah, but I'm just a little concerned about it happening again. I love the sound of this thing, but I think I'm moving on. I'll replace the driver when it's in stock and just leave it at practice, no more gigging. I was surprised that the no one (that I can find) makes an aftermarket driver. At least with another brand I will be able to buy a replacement if necessary. This is a first for me, I've had dozens of cabinets over the years and really abused some of them, but never had a failure. I started playing with a Thumpinator a couple of years ago and always use and compressor. We we also have a nice PA, so this is just for stage volume. This was not being pushed. Too bad, I really liked the sound.
 
#66
Spent said:
Yeah, but I'm just a little concerned about it happening again. I love the sound of this thing, but I think I'm moving on. I'll replace the driver when it's in stock and just leave it at practice, no more gigging. I was surprised that the no one (that I can find) makes an aftermarket driver. At least with another brand I will be able to buy a replacement if necessary. This is a first for me, I've had dozens of cabinets over the years and really abused some of them, but never had a failure. I started playing with a Thumpinator a couple of years ago and always use and compressor. We we also have a nice PA, so this is just for stage volume. This was not being pushed. Too bad, I really liked the sound.
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I used to use Carvin 410s. I used the older R series and liked them for a very long time until I blew a driver. The replacement was affordable enough ( $70ish shipped if I remember right), the problem was that it blew on the very first gig. The replacement for the replacement lasted about a week before it blew too. Nothing I was doing changed. Same volume levels, same EQ settings. The only thing that changed was that Carvin is now sourcing their speakers from China.

After that I bought an Ampeg 810. No more problems.
 
#67
Hartke aluminum cones are sensitive and somewhat fragile. My transporter 1x15 blew out twice.
Harke reconed it once for me "free". (c.o.d. Shipping).
I LOVE their HA Transient attack heads.
Aluminum cones arent for everyone.
I still love the sound of a Hartke stack, but i need speakers that are more heavy duty.
Hartke has GREAT customer service!
 
#68
OP I really am sorry that you are going through a tough period in your life. That said, others also have their own ups and downs. I won't bore you with mine except to say that it's been going on for more than 25 years.

I cracked the surround on one driver in each of my Acme cabs through my own carelessness. It never even entered my head to blame Andy Lewis for the problem. Certainly not in a forum that is read around the world. In my case Andy replaced the drivers at his cost and I thank him for that.

This forum is not the place to vent. As I said it's read around the world and you are dissing a decent man by making unwarranted accusations.
 
#69
BassmanPaul said:
OP I really am sorry that you are going through a tough period in your life. That said, others also have their own ups and downs. I won't bore you with mine except to say that it's been going on for more than 25 years.

I cracked the surround on one driver in each of my Acme cabs through my own carelessness. It never even entered my head to blame Andy Lewis for the problem. Certainly not in a forum that is read around the world. In my case Andy replaced the drivers at his cost and I thank him for that.

This forum is not the place to vent. As I said it's read around the world and you are dissing a decent man by making unwarranted accusations.
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I agree for the most part. If you read my original post it states that I am disappointed because I love this cabinet. My point is that when all is said and done, six weeks will have passed from the time the failure happened until I am able to order another driver. For me, that is unacceptable, and I've chosen to go another route. With another cabinet I will have aftermarket options, even if just temporarily. In my opinion, if you produce a cabinet that uses a specific driver, not available anywhere else, you run the risk of losing customers if you do not stock them. Some may agree and some may not. Either way if your opinion differs, state it respectfully, as you have done. I do disagree that this is not a place to vent; many have done that, I have read them. I doubt my opinion will sway anyone one way or another if they are considering a Harke cabinet. If there was some guarantee that replacement drivers would be available in a reasonable amount of time, I would happily stay with it. I was not upset it failed, stuff happens, I was dissappointed that I have to six weeks without it.
 
#70
in 2005 i did a mini tour of mexico and on my rider i asked for mesa boogie, instead i got ampeg and two of them failed on me, one of them in the opening number of the final gig. as you can imagine i was well miffed about ampeg but after returning to spain and cooling off a bit i got it that it was just bad luck and that many here have never had a problem with this mark.dont give up on the gear but be aware that things happen in threes. good luck.
 
#71
grey area said:
in 2005 i did a mini tour of mexico and on my rider i asked for mesa boogie, instead i got ampeg and two of them failed on me, one of them in the opening number of the final gig. as you can imagine i was well miffed about ampeg but after returning to spain and cooling off a bit i got it that it was just bad luck and that many here have never had a problem with this mark.dont give up on the gear but be aware that things happen in threes. good luck.
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Thanks, I can imagine your frustration. I have a back up cabinet and will eventually get the Hartke fixed. I'm afraid to rely on it now, so it won't be going to gigs. At this point it will stay in our practice studio and I'll gig with my other one.
 
#74
In my opinion occasionally having to wait long periods to get something repaired also lands in the "stuff happens" column. Shortages happen in every business and company. What qualifies as an acceptable amount of time is subjective and varies from person to person.

In my original response, I mentioned when Mackie (in the late 90's) had a repair backlog of six months. They suggested we refer Mackie owners to a certified repair shop for quicker turnaround. I know Hartke has certified repair shops to do work for them as well.

You did buy the cab used, and have no idea how the previous owner(s) treated it. Because of that, I feel your assessment of the time to failure to be inaccurate since you aren't considering the total hours logged and prior use and abuse.

All of this has been suggested to you many times by several people, and you choose to ignore it. Best of luck with your new cab. I hope you're more understanding if/when something goes wrong and their time estimate is "unreasonable" to you.
 
#76
Totally aggree with ProRocker -- I have to laugh when the OP calls the cab "used but mint". Something is either used or not. In this case it certainly WAS used and apparently hard; the previous owner(s) may have thrashed it with overwattage and you exacerbated a tear somehow. You can't be dissappointed in the manufacturer for buying used, exhausted drivers.
Time to buy four new matching drivers ... then you'll know it's "MINT"! IMHO.
 
#79
MontanaBassDude said:
Totally aggree with ProRocker -- I have to laugh when the OP calls the cab "used but mint". Something is either used or not. In this case it certainly WAS used and apparently hard; the previous owner(s) may have thrashed it with overwattage and you exacerbated a tear somehow. You can't be dissappointed in the manufacturer for buying used, exhausted drivers.
Time to buy four new matching drivers ... then you'll know it's "MINT"! IMHO.
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I mostly agree and generally do buy new. What you may have missed was that this was purchased from a neighbor who bought it as a back up/home practice cab less than two years ago. He sold it because it wasn't being used. He's a jazz bassist and takes good care of his stuff. He uses a 200 watt Hartke head which is well below the output of this cab. So IMHO the cab was in mint condition. The disappointment wasn't from the failure, nothing is flawless, it’s because I'll have to wait six weeks to get a cabinet, that I love the sound of, in working order again. I believe that transporting the cab may have been the biggest factor. We gig every week and practice weekly, so it gets moved a lot.
 
#80
What if you had an issue with your bass that needed a week or 2 in the the shop, what would you do in that case?
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Probably blame Spector....

I can only add my own positive experiences with Hartke. I owned a Hartke 2200 Pro for about 8 years before I had any issue with it at all. In that time it fell out of a moving pickup truck, got sand in it from beach gigs, and easily played over 200 shows without a hiccup. When my old 800RB encountered a problem, it caused a failure in both Aluminum 12's. After speaking with the owner of the company directly, he told me to call his guy at Samson who sent me brand new replacements for a song along with a Xover. Nothing but Kudos to Hartke.
 

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