Hartke Bass Attack vs BOSS GEB-7

[jwilson67]

The major dealbreaker about Hartke is that EQ is always on, even when bypassed. And that is something that is not clearly stated about the pedal and people often overlook it.
As far as how it sounds, I haven't tried it but I get this negative impression based on the sound clips from YT that no matter what settings you dial in, you are just adding presence, those really high highs. It thins out the sound instead of making it beefier, which is what I would prefer.
Overdrive is too fizzy for my taste too, reminds me a lot of ODB-3 and is nowhere near the Sansamp's character, to which it's often compared.
If one of you guys has it and has some clips that prove my last two sentences false, I would really love to hear it.

On the other hand, I have GEB-7. It does what it's supposed to do and it does it well. If EQ is what you need, you can't really go wrong with it.

I know this is resurrecting an old thread but you really have to hear the Hartke VXL in person rather than making a judgement based on a YouTube clip. The VXL is an awesome pedal. You WANT that EQ on all the time as it is fantastic. I always have that big, so-thick-you-can-eat-it tone now. Also, video clips don't do the distortion justice on it. I plugged it into an old Peavey TKO amp at a rehearsal and it made it sound like it cost around $400 more.

 

[lifer_]

I know this is resurrecting an old thread but you really have to hear the Hartke VXL in person rather than making a judgement based on a YouTube clip. The VXL is an awesome pedal. You WANT that EQ on all the time as it is fantastic. I always have that big, so-thick-you-can-eat-it tone now. Also, video clips don't do the distortion justice on it. I plugged it into an old Peavey TKO amp at a rehearsal and it made it sound like it cost around $400 more.

+1 to that. I still don't believe how lucky I am to play my VXL more than 6 years already.

IMO, Hartke is a real deal for the price. For me it's "my sound" from years. I own ver.1 (there is a newer ver.2 but the differences are less than minor). First of all I find it has it's thing and could not be for everyone. On the other hand it's really versatile. For me it's always on pedal, both shape and on/off switch. Actually the second one refers to the EQ (bass, treble, bright), the harmonics and level knob. They are controllable in another way, too. You have Mix, sort of blend between Dry and affected by the the EQ signal. If you don't want dirt just put less harmonics or mix.

The major dealbreaker about Hartke is that EQ is always on, even when bypassed. And that is something that is not clearly stated about the pedal and people often overlook it.

I'm not sure about that, when the pedal is off it is off, that mean no EQ.

The shape knob is a mid frequencies controller and again IMO it's very important to be used.
Using both switches on at a time gives you a unique sounding preamp!

Don't think you can compare it with GEB-7 - they are different. I haven't played with BOSS, but I have a MXR 10 band in front the VXL, which I use it to reshape the sound from an always on B3K. If I have the right to take just one pedal on a gig or in the studio, it'll be the Hartke. I even plan to buy another one just in case.

Just to clear the situation at it's best, my chain is B3K, MXR 10 band, LS-2( Swollen Pickle in loop A), Hartke VXL, Boss BF-2, Boss CEB-3, Dunlop Volume pedal. I don't use the DI of the Hartke because I use the amp's one.
And at last, you know what, I even struggling a bit from loosing my natural tone adding the B3K. That is why I use the MXR, to try bringing it back after the dirt. Funny how a very pricey stomp box could ruin my "cheep" perfect sound from twice inexpensive one. But these are the rules of the game I suppose.

Cheers!

P.S. And yes, the knobs of the Hartke are real pain in the a$$.

 

[jwilson67]

+1 to that. I still don't believe how lucky I am to play my VXL more than 6 years already.

IMO, Hartke is a real deal for the price. For me it's "my sound" from years. I own ver.1 (there is a newer ver.2 but the differences are less than minor). First of all I find it has it's thing and could not be for everyone. On the other hand it's really versatile. For me it's always on pedal, both shape and on/off switch. Actually the second one refers to the EQ (bass, treble, bright), the harmonics and level knob. They are controllable in another way, too. You have Mix, sort of blend between Dry and affected by the the EQ signal. If you don't want dirt just put less harmonics or mix.


I'm not sure about that, when the pedal is off it is off, that mean no EQ.

The shape knob is a mid frequencies controller and again IMO it's very important to be used.
Using both switches on at a time gives you a unique sounding preamp!

Don't think you can compare it with GEB-7 - they are different. I haven't played with BOSS, but I have a MXR 10 band in front the VXL, which I use it to reshape the sound from an always on B3K. If I have the right to take just one pedal on a gig or in the studio, it'll be the Hartke. I even plan to buy another one just in case.

Just to clear the situation at it's best, my chain is B3K, MXR 10 band, LS-2( Swollen Pickle in loop A), Hartke VXL, Boss BF-2, Boss CEB-3, Dunlop Volume pedal. I don't use the DI of the Hartke because I use the amp's one.
And at last, you know what, I even struggling a bit from loosing my natural tone adding the B3K. That is why I use the MXR, to try bringing it back after the dirt. Funny how a very pricey stomp box could ruin my "cheep" perfect sound from twice inexpensive one. But these are the rules of the game I suppose.

Cheers!

P.S. And yes, the knobs of the Hartke are real pain in the a$$.

Actually - the EQ is an "always on" thing but for me that's a good thing as I'd never turn it off anyway because the tone it delivers is so good. I literally jump out of the mix in a very musical way now. My chain is a Boss ME-20B, EHX Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi, and the Hartke - all into an Ashdown ABM 500 (non-EVO) and Ashdown 410 cab. Tone heaven. Also - I don't need any additional EQ as I've already got plenty going on.

 

[lifer_]

O, sorry for this, now I remember it was just the bright and harmonics that are switched together, my bad. But like I said I use it in the same way as you do. Perfect mix with the rest of the band!!! You can always tell when I'm on the stage