Hartke 7000... owners opinions?

The 7000 is my main amp and I use it for every gig. It's VERY powerful, forking out 350 a side biampable. YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT THAT BECAUSE IT CAN FRY A SPEAKER WITH A QUICKNESS.

Downside to the amp is that you can neither bridge it or slave it- but you shouldn't NEED to do either, anyway.

Best advice:

If you have a good bass, turn the EQ on the amp OFF. I believe the only reason for this amp to even have an EQ is in case someone plugs a cheap or sorry-sounding bass into it.

Anything else you wanna know, let me know...

 

probably the best bang for the buck as bass heads go...

 

I have one for a backup.....nice amp! Like mentioned before, it's a drag you can't bridge it.

 

I am currently using a Hartke 7000 with 3 - 4.5XLs (has 4-10" + 5" tweeter each) and 1 - 215B (has 2 - 15" speakers). The preamps are both set at 3 and I rarely have to go past 3 on the master volume. I can't believe anyone would need to bridge this setup for more power. I like the two EQs; gives you a lot of flexibility but I prefer to set it for clarity and adjust for specific styles at my guitar's preamp. First thing I did with the graphic was plunge the top frequency down to remove the proverbial hissing sound.

I am so pleased with the 7000 amp, I'm getting a 3500 amp and 410 to use in the youth service at our church as a stage monitor.

The Hartke amps are definately a great value. The compressor isn't very affective but I prefer to use my fingers to adjust the sound. I'd be interested in hearing what others say about compressors and affectiveness in live music.

 

had one a while ago. Good amp but i dug the ampeg tone alot more. the only drawback to this amp is tone (which is totally opinion) and the bridge factor. I didnt think it was loud enough so i got an ampeg b4r, cuz i looooove ampegs and the more power. i dropped mine more times than i can count(in a rack case) and i never did anything but work really really well night after night.

 

oh my god churchbass-do you have a picture of that rig??

I had a hartke 4x10, i loved it.

 

Hey Churchbassist - that must be one very large church! Either that or you folks have confused joyful with big ! or maybe you and your mates are on a missionary to the 'hard of hearing' ?

If I lived in your area I think I know which church I'd be attending. I might also be bringing ear protection though ...

Only kidding of course, but I saw Stu Hamm using a pretty similar rig with Satch at the Orpheum in Boston a couple of years back. That combo isn't shy when it comes to stage volume ...

Seriously - In response to the original question. I'm impressed with a Hartke 3500 that I acquired recently. It seems to be nicely put together. It features pretty much the same pre-amp as the 7000, but 350 watts rather than 700. The Direct Out is clean and quiet, the EQ section is useful and the compressor is a one knob compressor ... I like the 4 knobs on my existing compressor so the one on the Hartke stays off.

By observation, the EQ doesn't add much coloration but like all Graphic EQ's, if you get overly fussy with it, you can really screw up the original tone of your nice sounding bass. IMO - a graphic EQ is a useful tool, best when applied sparingly! I'd prefer a decent parametric onboard but then I have one, along with the compressor and a DigiTech Legend racked up in the effects loop on the Harktke

 

I have a hartke 5000, same as 7000 but 250+250. I bi-amp mine into an intersting ampeg cab, the Wooten/Baily inspired PR1528he--a deep cab w/ a 45 degree angled 15" and 2x8" w/ horn in a kind of a scooped back enclosure.

I don't gig so I can't comment on the volume issue. I like the tonal flexibility this set up gives. tube or SS preamp section that you can blend, compression (which i don't use and don't think much of) graphic eq (seldom use) bass and trble contour, adjustable crossover freq. and sweepable output between hi and lo.
The sweepable hi/lo output is handy when trying dial your tone back in when using effects (e.g. bassballs)

I can get a lot of tonal variation w/ this rig . I play a 74 p bass, 4 and 5 string rumblefish, and a dean edge 4 improv. I usually run into a yamaha ne-1 parametric. then into the hartke, no graphic eq

I got it mostly to utilize the biamp capabilities of my cab, and for tonal flexibility

 

I've used my 7000 for about 18 months. It's now a backup only and I don't use it anymore. When I did use it as a primary amp it served me very well. It's got tons of volume/headroom and if you use two 4 Ohm cab's it will shake the foundation.

I started using an Ampeg rack setup so it just sits...