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Hartke 3500 Issues: Clicking sound on attack

#21
Ezmar said:
....I really can't test if the Active input helps, because I'm at college, and I'm keeping the amp at home, I just went home last weekend to unbox it and try it out. .....
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There's all kinds of good suggestions being posted here, but until you get home and actually try a couple of things, you're at a dead end for now.

BTW, were you using any pedals between the bass and amp?

It would be worthwhile to try a different instrument cable as well, and somehow try a different bass as well.
 
#22
I don't think it's the cable, although you're right, I should try a different Bass... the thing with that is, I don't know if it's a problem with how it's set up, or the string gauge and tension, or if it could be fixed with a new set of Pups. I should try, though, because if it does happen, the it's the amp's problem.

I wasn't running it through any pedals.

I'll try to do some of that when I get a chance, although I don't know when I'll have a chance. I could technically go home any weekend, because I live so close to campus, but I don't want to just take every college weekend off to run home, because that's kind of lame.

And If I'm going to be gigging with this amp, I don't want it to be doing this all the time. One reason I suspect it might be the amp itself is the fact that I bought it used, which is why I'm asking about the tube. Could a bad tube do this? It's entirely possible that the tube is suspect.
 
#23
Are you also sure it's not static electricity? One of the guitarists I played with for about 10 years had a strat that for some reason, in playing generated a static shock between his pick, the pickguard and the strings. In a live setting we noticed something was up, but one night when we were recording it became very noticeable and produced an 'electric click' sound with each 'chop'. It didn't happen with a different guitar, and once he changed out the wiring harness and pickguard, it never happened again.
 
#25
I have a older version of this amp and did have one tube go bad on me, it fuzzed out and died on a job. The SS section did not work at all either after the tube died. After replacing it with a old tube a friend had it worked but did crackle loud. I then replaced it with a good new Russian tube and it worked fine after that. So to directly answer your question, Yes a bad or poor quality tube can make a loud noise while playing due to overloading. I did not realize it was a used amp.
 
#27
Stanley Pugh said:
I have a older version of this amp and did have one tube go bad on me, it fuzzed out and died on a job. The SS section did not work at all either after the tube died. After replacing it with a old tube a friend had it worked but did crackle loud. I then replaced it with a good new Russian tube and it worked fine after that. So to directly answer your question, Yes a bad or poor quality tube can make a loud noise while playing due to overloading. I did not realize it was a used amp.
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So If I test it with other Basses, and the problem persists, then It's probably the tube, and I should replace it? If so, How would I go looking for a really good tube to put in there?
 
#28
I really dont think it's your tube. A bad tube would have problems with any note you play, not just ones on a certain string. Try using the "active" input first. If it's still doing it, try it with another bass and see what happens. If it stops, it's something with your bass.

If you're really hell bent on replacing the tube, I suggest a JJ 12ax7. They have a really well rounded tone for bass. Eurotubes.
 
#29
The advice about rolling back the high pass is good. I'm familiar with this harsh "click" you are referring to, as I own the Hartke 5500, which is virtually the same thing with more watts. I've gotten the head to do this.

This click tends to be in the 5k Hz range (if you are experiencing it as I did) and either rolling back the high pass or using the EQ to cut that frequency can generally fix it. Also, I would disable your tweeter (if you're using one) and see if that helps.

This particular Hartke head naturally generates more high frequencies than any other head I have used. I always roll back the treble on mine and slightly boost the lows to get what sounds more like a "flat, knobs at noon" tone (to my ears, at least).

If these things don't help, a slight bit of fuzz is another way to eliminate this problem. I used the particular head with an Acoustic 4x10 and the clicking was more pronounced. I hooked up an old Behringer bass fuzz pedal I had, dialed in a little drive, cut some treble and, on top of having a pretty cool tone, the clicking was eliminated.

Overall, I've found this problem to only happen with certain cabinets. I can hook the head up to my Peavey 412TVX and crank the high pass over 3 o'clock and I don't get the harsh clicking sound at all. If possible, hook your head up to another cab and see if the problem persists.
 
#30
Well, it does affect every note, but it's most apparent on the G string, because That one's easiest to play hard. It does it on any of the strings. Not that I'm really trying to make it a problem with the tube, but... That's the simplest and least expensive problem for it to be.
 
#32
So if it is a Problem with my bass, (As it could be, just checking with my practice amp in my room, It seems to be slightly making the noise, although It could just be placebo) What would be the fix there? New pickups? Adjustments? I just had it set up professionally a month or so ago, so...

I just want to try and make the right decision, and I'm hoping I don't have to buy a new bass, because I don't have that kind of money at all. I'm really confused as to why it's just doing this recently. I played a concert less than a month ago, and there were no problems there... And nothing has changed in my set up other than getting that new amp... I don't think I want to cut the highs, because I like the highs in there for my tone. I'm kind of lost. Should I take it in to a professional, over the next break or something? There's a repair tech that all the local musicians swear by, so I could take it to him.

So right now, I'm looking at New Pickups, a new Tube, or... Something else... I don't even know. I was so excited for my new amp, and now this. :(
 
#33
Make sure you eliminate all the simple stuff first- try another cable from your bass to the amp. Take any pedals you may have out of the chain, just go straight to the head.

You said it's only making the noise when the tube preamp is turned up, right? Might be a dirty pot or dirty tube socket.

if it's making that noise through another amp, then it's your bass. Do you have active electronics? maybe the battery is going. If you don't have active electronics, then get your bass checked out. It might need to be professionally set up.
 
#34
Dustin Teel said:
The advice about rolling back the high pass is good. I'm familiar with this harsh "click" you are referring to, as I own the Hartke 5500, which is virtually the same thing with more watts. I've gotten the head to do this.

This click tends to be in the 5k Hz range (if you are experiencing it as I did) and either rolling back the high pass or using the EQ to cut that frequency can generally fix it. Also, I would disable your tweeter (if you're using one) and see if that helps.

This particular Hartke head naturally generates more high frequencies than any other head I have used. I always roll back the treble on mine and slightly boost the lows to get what sounds more like a "flat, knobs at noon" tone (to my ears, at least).
Good advice here. I used to own a 3500 and found myself doing more or less the same thing. It's quite a hi-fi sounding head with a lot of 'zing', especially through a 4x10 with a tweeter. I found myself rolling off a lot of top end to even out the tone.

Great head though, especially for the price.
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#36
BassmanAd said:
Wow, I totally screwed that quote up. Sorry.
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That's OK... we know what you meant. The bulk of the time that I used my 3500 (about 10 years of solid stage time), I ran my low and high pass filters pointed at each other. That means, the low pass was turned up to about 3 o'clock, the high pass was rolled back to 9 o'clock.
 
#37
Ezmar said:
So if it is a Problem with my bass, (As it could be, just checking with my practice amp in my room, It seems to be slightly making the noise, although It could just be placebo) What would be the fix there? New pickups? Adjustments? I just had it set up professionally a month or so ago, so...

I just want to try and make the right decision, and I'm hoping I don't have to buy a new bass, because I don't have that kind of money at all. I'm really confused as to why it's just doing this recently. I played a concert less than a month ago, and there were no problems there... And nothing has changed in my set up other than getting that new amp... I don't think I want to cut the highs, because I like the highs in there for my tone. I'm kind of lost. Should I take it in to a professional, over the next break or something? There's a repair tech that all the local musicians swear by, so I could take it to him.

So right now, I'm looking at New Pickups, a new Tube, or... Something else... I don't even know. I was so excited for my new amp, and now this. :(
Click to expand...

Start by not buying anything. The first step in any troubleshooting is to have the amp in the same room with you. Then go through the variations. If you're sure its not your cab (aka, you've used a different head with it and it was fine), next I'd try by checking with different instrument cables and speaker cables. I would do all this with the EQ turned off, compressor off, the preamp levels fairly low (maybe 1/3rd up) and not blastingly loud on the master.

Next I'd borrow a bass from a friend. Don't have one? Go to the local guitar-mart, bring your head and tell them you're trying out basses and want to use your own head to see what they sound like through it.

Don't obsess over it... if you're not in the same room with the amp. It does no good to second guess from a distance. If you find you're overloading from the pickups, the first thing to do is lower them. Also check out what I said about static or grounding issues from the bass...sometimes you don't notice those until you've got new amp with better high end response.
 
#38
Okay, So I just had Jazz band, and the amp had a preamp clipping light, and it did the same thing there, with a less noticeable sound. So My guess is that My bass has always done this, and the new amp is bringing out that sound to the forefront. I don't think I'm going to EQ it out, because I really like that Zingy high end clarity; that's why I got a 4x10 with a Tweeter.

So It's probably a problem with the bass, so I should try all the solutions like Lowering the pickups and seeing if It's too much of a sacrifice in terms of tone, trying the active pickup, basically seeing if cutting out that preamp clipping is leaving me with a tone I don't like, or whatever. And then If I decide for some reason that the tradeoff isn't worth it, then I start looking at new pickups? Does that sound like a plan?
 

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