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Giving combos another try with Hartke Kickback KB12

#21
Phlipper said:
Unfortunately, as you'll see when it arrives, due to the kickback style it won't balance on casters. I think it's probably too small of an area and would easily tip over.

The HD series combos are more square and are a cube, which would lend itself to being more stable. My wife has an HD50 and it sounds just like my KB, and is also amazingly loud while staying clear. So one of the higher wattage HD combos might work better for you?
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Actually, 1" casters fit just fine. :) It turned out great! Sadly, I have a bad back, and so I need every advantage these days. At 28lbs, it's light and with the casters it's even easier to deal with, for an old guy like myself.
 
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#22
Good to hear. :thumbsup:

I love my KB. I sometimes wish I'd bought the 15 so I could leave my big rig at home. The 12 is amazingly loud and stays clean to its' max. The 15 just seems to fill better in a bigger room.
 
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#23
OLD-PLAYER said:
I just bought one of these today, thanks in part to you! I needed a small (but punchy) presence that would be light and easy to carry (I'm 66) and that wouldn't take a lot of space on a small stage. After watching your video, I know I made a good decision! By the way, your doing a great job with your band! (I used to have a Jackson with a floyd like your guitarist. Reminds me of my club gigs back in the 90's). :)
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I still have it! I have only dragged it out in public a few times, but she's still kicking. In fact it's in my office right now. I have been meaning to take it home. I have moved the big rig once since before the pandemic. Thanks! About the band. Yeah, great group. So good to record with. Unfortunately, they moved to California recently. They keep threatening to make me move out there. Tempting.
 
#24
scottfeldstein said:
I still have it! I have only dragged it out in public a few times, but she's still kicking. In fact it's in my office right now. I have been meaning to take it home. I have moved the big rig once since before the pandemic. Thanks! About the band. Yeah, great group. So good to record with. Unfortunately, they moved to California recently. They keep threatening to make me move out there. Tempting.
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California's Great! (as long as you have LOTS of money... loll)
Right now, gas is running $6+ a gallon here :(
 
#27
FWIW, a weird quirk with the old model is, even though the amp is rated 120 watts at 8 ohms,
Samson/Hartke was putting 6 ohm drivers in these. Meaning you were probably getting more than 120 watts.
I got a hold of a Hydrive 12, 300 watts at 4 ohms, driver.
After reading some other stuff about the amp I decided to push it a little and install the Hydrive.
It's been over two years and its performed like a champ.
No distortion or any other problems.
I'll get my flame suit on now for the tech heads. :smug:
Hartke Kickback 12HD 3.jpg
 
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#28
PhatBasstard said:
FWIW, a weird quirk with the old model is, even though the amp is rated 120 watts at 8 ohms,
Samson/Hartke was putting 6 ohm drivers in these. Meaning you were probably getting more than 120 watts.
I got a hold of a Hydrive 12, 300 watts at 4 ohms, driver.
After reading some other stuff about the amp I decided to push it a little and install the Hydrive.
It's been over two years and its performed like a champ.
No distortion or any other problems.
Click to expand...

I mailed Hartke about this and the reply was...

Hey Pete,
The Kickback amplifiers are designed to work with the internal 6 ohm speaker for maximum output. The amplfier says 8ohms because we don't want people hooking them up to 4 ohm speakers. I'll check on the nomenclature in the manual etc. but no worries we make thousands of the Kickbacks and they are workhorses and extremely reliable. Enjoy!

Larry Hartke / Special Operations
Hartke Systems
Hartke's 48th Street Bass Lounge

I bought my Kb15 in 2001, the only thing I've had to replace was the input jack socket. As Larry says, they are a workhorse.
 
#29
Goingdownslow said:
I mailed Hartke about this and the reply was...

Hey Pete,
The Kickback amplifiers are designed to work with the internal 6 ohm speaker for maximum output. The amplfier says 8ohms because we don't want people hooking them up to 4 ohm speakers. I'll check on the nomenclature in the manual etc. but no worries we make thousands of the Kickbacks and they are workhorses and extremely reliable. Enjoy!

Larry Hartke / Special Operations
Hartke Systems
Hartke's 48th Street Bass Lounge

I bought my Kb15 in 2001, the only thing I've had to replace was the input jack socket. As Larry says, they are a workhorse.
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WOW! The MAN himself responded to you personally. That's pretty cool! :)
 
#30
The manual for the '500 watt' KBs says they're now 4 ohms.

I once plugged my KB head into my 8 ohm Hartke HD115 and had to turn the volume to noon to hear it. At noon thru the combo's speaker I wouldn't have been able to stay in the room. So much for all the guys who say switching to a lower ohm cab doesn't add much volume.:laugh:
 
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#32
PhatBasstard said:
FWIW, a weird quirk with the old model is, even though the amp is rated 120 watts at 8 ohms,
Samson/Hartke was putting 6 ohm drivers in these. Meaning you were probably getting more than 120 watts.
I got a hold of a Hydrive 12, 300 watts at 4 ohms, driver.
After reading some other stuff about the amp I decided to push it a little and install the Hydrive.
It's been over two years and its performed like a champ.
No distortion or any other problems.
I'll get my flame suit on now for the tech heads. :smug:
View attachment 4692141
Click to expand...
Someone asked how many watts I'm getting now.
With the weirdness of all this (8 ohm amp, 6 ohm driver, 4 ohm driver not blowing up...),
I'm not really sure at this point.
It definitely sounds louder than anything else in the 120 watt range I've ever used.
160-180 maybe?
 
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#34
PhatBasstard said:
Someone asked how many watts I'm getting now.
With the weirdness of all this (8 ohm amp, 6 ohm driver, 4 ohm driver not blowing up...),
I'm not really sure at this point.
It definitely sounds louder than anything else in the 120 watt range I've ever used.
160-180 maybe?
Click to expand...

I've been gigging since 1978 or so on lead guitar and now bass. And I've been on musician forums for 20+ years. If I had a dollar for everytime someone told me something I was doing was "wrong" I could take a nice vacation.

Bottom line ... if it works ... it's good. If it sounds good it IS good. Sometimes real world gigs in dive bars don't follow the rules of physics. :laugh:
 
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#35
And on that note ...I ran a five string thru my KB12 against two half stacks for a metal audition and it was adequate. It worked. A KB15 would have filled better. But it got the job done. Some will tell you that's not possible. But that's just preconceived ideas.

Some people can't see past the 'rules' they read about here. They just don't have the real world experience.
 
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#36
Phlipper said:
I've been gigging since 1978 or so on lead guitar and now bass. And I've been on musician forums for 20+ years. If I had a dollar for everytime someone told me something I was doing was "wrong" I could take a nice vacation.

Bottom line ... if it works ... it's good. If it sounds good it IS good. Sometimes real world gigs in dive bars don't follow the rules of physics. :laugh:
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True.
But, in general, a 8 ohm amp running a 4 ohm load should be farting and or distorting all over the place. This isn't the first time I've done this...on purpose or by...ahem..."accident".
But it's been two years and it's been perfect. Very surprised.
I only have a $100 in the amp and scored the Hydrive driver off eBay for only $25,
so I figured if it frys, no big loss.
 
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#37
It's kinda like the old tube or SMPS watts vs Class D watts thingee.

For years and years we gigged (or were backed up by bassists) using less than 200 watt tube or SS bass heads and it worked but we didn't know it shouldn't have worked. But it did.

Now you gotta have 800 watts min to make it work. I understand the math. But it just doesn't seem to correlate to the real world. Unless it's Mesa or Genzler. :laugh:
 
#40
scottfeldstein said:
Wait, you guys. I have the KB112 that says 500w "peak" and 250w "RMS." And it advises that if you substitute an external speaker for the internal one it should be a 4 ohm cab.

So I'm getting a realistic 250 @ 4 Ohms into a 12" speaker. Right? And if I subbed in an 8 ohm cab I'd be getting more like 100w?
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The same as my new one! I dunno', to me today's "250 RMS" seems about the same as what I remember the 100 Watt tube bass amps of the 70s-80s-90s used to put out. But (reality check) the 1x12" neo in my Kickback is never going to sound like a professionally ported 18" with a horn, no matter what amount of juice I pumped through it!
 
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