Sorry, I need to vent a little this morning. I've been trying to get a new Hartke rig put together and it's just been going poorly. I have an old 1155 Hartke combo and it rocks, so I thought for my upgrade I'd get all new Hartke gear. I got 410 and 115 HyDrive cabs, but was disapointed in the tone (yes, I know... to each there own, sorry, I think they lack punch and clarity compared to non-neo cabs, but that's not the subject of my frustation). So I sent them back and ordered new 410XL and 115XL cabs. The 115XL was a special order so it was drop-shipped from Hartke(Samon). Yesterday, I get a 18"x6" box from Hartke. They shipped me a raw speaker instead a cab. The sales rep sorted it out, admitted their error and was very appolgetic and they are 2-day shipping me the correct item. I was going to put 5" drivers with caps in the cab, and ordered a pair of them from Hartke directly. I pull them out of the box yesterday and one has a bent frame and needs to be replaced. Then my 410XL shows up and I'm checking it out last night and realize one of the speakers in it is bad. It's got a rattle coming right in the center of the cone. Of course I realized this AFTER I put casters on it. I told Hartke/Samson when I was on the phone with them and they said go back to the dealer and they don't have any replacment drivers in stock anyway. I've been totally busting A$$ to get my new rig ready for shows starting this weekend and now am going to be playing them with my old gear unless somehow someone has got a driver they can send me today. ARRRGGG!!!
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Hartke... arrg
- Thread starter bemasek
- Start date
Man! Sorry to hear this bad news. Someone needed to step and get your new rig ready for you by Show time. When I bought my new Marshall VBA400, It broke down on me the first day and the Store in King, NC wouldn't do anything to help me. Not even a loaner was offered. I took it apart and found a "Bad Spot" on the board. Luckily I was able to solder it and 100% repair. In your case, Someone should have Shipped you what you needed overnight.
Bummer, usually Hartke has absolutely amazing quality control and customer support.
Not to invoke a crazy talkbass discussion about mismatching cabinets, but you would probably like the HyDrive cabinets better if you stuck to a pair of the same model (2 x 410, 2x115, etc.) so you wouldn't have phasing issues. Hartke makes such distinctive cabinets that I would think that phasing matters more as opposed to more (imo) lo-tech Peavey/Ampeg cabinets.
Not to invoke a crazy talkbass discussion about mismatching cabinets, but you would probably like the HyDrive cabinets better if you stuck to a pair of the same model (2 x 410, 2x115, etc.) so you wouldn't have phasing issues. Hartke makes such distinctive cabinets that I would think that phasing matters more as opposed to more (imo) lo-tech Peavey/Ampeg cabinets.
Well... after having two other things shipped from Hartke this week both had problems (one was wrong item and the other was damaged) it would be great if they would step up to the plate to help get me a part somehow. I'm waiting for the sales rep to call me from where I bought the 410, and he's great and I know will do all he can, but I would doubt they have a raw 10" laying around. Bummer on your deal too... but congrats to you for fixing it yourself!
Yeah... I respect there that some people think you shouldn't mix the 410 and 115 but that's the combination I need to use. Most gigs I do are small club jazz gigs, and I really like the 115 for that (with the 5" driver added). My old 1155 combo sounds killer! So I wanted to retain that sound that for those gigs, but then like the option of adding the 410 for rock shows I do with larger PA where I get low end coming back from FOH so I don't need as much from stage. I did a couple club gigs with the the 115 hydrive alone and while the low end was good I didn't dig the hi-mid freqs. But again... I respect that this is personal preference and a lot of guys love the HyDrives. I defenitely loved the look and weight of them!
I'm hoping that there is still time for Hartke to be the hero here somehow.
Still, 2 of the 1155 cabs would be a far better option than a 410 with it.
As stated, probly the reason it sounded blah was phasing issues with the 2 vastly different cabs.
I had this with a 210 & 115 cab. Individually they sounded great, together- flub. Maybe.......:sly:
As stated, probly the reason it sounded blah was phasing issues with the 2 vastly different cabs.
I had this with a 210 & 115 cab. Individually they sounded great, together- flub. Maybe.......:sly:
No, they would not be a far better option for him. He wrote that he "didn't dig the hi-mid freqs" of the 115 alone.
Then why did you ?
He is venting about the stuff he has received not working. If he wanted advice on choosing cabinets he would have asked for it.
Use what YOU want to use. You are the one buying them and you have to live with them.
I hope they come through for you. It sounds like a real drag.
If you note, the stuff he orgininally recieved did work properly. He didn't like the combination and rather than choose a combination that he would like he chose to a different equally suspect combination and that's when his troubles started.Then why did you ?
He is venting about the stuff he has received not working. If he wanted advice on choosing cabinets he would have asked for it.
He states he was aware of the the discussions on the topic yet decided to ignore the advice and when that advice was shown to be correct he opted to blame the issue on the magnets and then decided to ignore the advice again. I, for one, will be very surprised if after a lot of time, money and effort by both him and Harke that he'll be happy with the second round of cabinets. Larry's gonna loose money on this one and a large part of the reason is the customer.
I feel for you.
Had the same problem just recently but with peavey.
Its absolutely fustrating to think you should be able to plug and play and instead its sit and wait.
Had the same problem just recently but with peavey.
Its absolutely fustrating to think you should be able to plug and play and instead its sit and wait.
With respect Vince, a 1x15 tied to a 4x10 will always be a weak link. The 1x15 will constantly be in danger of damage.
We should all keep quiet and let the OP wallow in his poor choices??? That would serve the OP how??? Telling him he'll have to live with a badly set up system??
As it is there is still time for the OP to correct his choices. If he doesn't like how the 1x15 sounded alone a pair would not help. If he likes how the 4x10 works then a pair will work even better.
Bottom line is that this site exists as a resource for folk to get good information. The OP is aware of the 4x10 + 1x15 debate yet chose to ignore that, twice. That in spite of his own experiences. A 1x15 will add nothing that a second 4x10 would do way better.
I feel for ya; truly. I emailed Larry once about 3 yrs ago. He responded less than an hour later. Great guy and unlike many detached owners/operators/managers/CEO's he really seems to give a #*^! about how happy you are with his products.
Yowza! Quite an interesting debate on the 410+115. Hey, I think the debate is good, although for the reasons I said I believe this combination is the best for the gigs that I use. And if I blow the 115...I've got the extra that Hartke sent me by mistake instead of the full cabinet and said just to keep. LOL... 
Update though... I bought it from Sweetwater and they are looking for a replacement speaker in their parts dept as we speak. And if they can't find one they are shipping out a full cab overnight for me to pull a speaker from. I've been really impressed with Sweetwater. And normally Hartke has been decent too, except for the lady today. And she wasn't rude, she just wasn't really doing anything to help other than telling me to go back to Sweetwater.
I think if my rig isn't together by my gig this weekend then it just truly was not meant to be!
Update though... I bought it from Sweetwater and they are looking for a replacement speaker in their parts dept as we speak. And if they can't find one they are shipping out a full cab overnight for me to pull a speaker from. I've been really impressed with Sweetwater. And normally Hartke has been decent too, except for the lady today. And she wasn't rude, she just wasn't really doing anything to help other than telling me to go back to Sweetwater.
I think if my rig isn't together by my gig this weekend then it just truly was not meant to be!
Troubles I was venting on are as follows:
1) Hartke shipped me a single raw frame speaker when they were supposed to ship me a cabinet. A problem they promptely admitted, are reshipping me a cabinet and said to keep the speaker as their appology.
2) The frame on one of the new 5" drivers was bent
3) One of the speakers in the brand new 410 cabinets rattles from the center of the cone.
This is all I was venting on. I love Hartke gear. I just didn't care for the neos. This was after gigs and then I spent over and hour comparing the neos with my XL 1115 and other bass cabs in my studio individually and combined with same bass and head starting with flat EQ. I repeated this experiment several times with the same conclusion.
"a large part of the reason is the customer" LOL
...OH... and I paid all restocking fees on the cabs a sent back. No one is certainly loosing any money except me because of my choices. And I'm OK with the fees. I live in an area of the country where this gear is not available to try out, and if I did it would be meanless unless I played it with my amp and bass and could compare it on the spot to my other cabs that I am familar with. I'm not part of the gear-of-the-month club like a lot of guys in my town. I plan to live with this rig for at least the next 10 years? Why should I settle?
You always write this and is not always true. He got Hartke's 410 and 115 XL series cabinets. Their sensitivities are nearly the same, 99 and 98, and their power handling are very close. Hartke, like most companies, designed them to work well together. In this case and given their specs, I do not think the 15 is the weakest link. They are well balanced. As for their sound, my opinion is irrelevant because he didn't ask for it. The fact is wrote that he liked how they sound so that does not need to be corrected.
He did not ask for advice so, YES, I do expect you to let him deal with his choices.
- Feb 5, 2013
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- Endorsing Artist: Used Fender Lead Sleds and Hartke cabs with bent grills
+1
Way too much common sense in one post. It won't go over well.
BTW ... what is the shop's name in King, NC that had a Marshall tube bass head in stock? I'm buying a farm in Madison, NC and will be moving this Summer, could use a good resource up that way.
