I got my Hartke Bass Attack preamp/DI yesterday. It seems like a pretty sweet pedal. I hooked up to it and played with it a bit and it seemed like it bypassed my signal completely. I ran my bass to the instrument input, and ran out from the parallel output (to the amp) that's on the same side as the instrument input. I tried to set it up like it showed in some of the diagrams in the manual, and nothing. The LEDs light up when I press the switches. What might I be doing wrong? You out there Larry? Will I only hear the difference at the board from the output on the opposite side of the pedal?
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Hartke Bass Attack
- Thread starter royjulius
- Start date
I believe that output is a straight in, straight out...you have to move the output plug to the other side to hear any difference...
It's a great pedal. The suggested settings in the manual will give you a good idea of just what it can do. Mine is always on, less of a stompbox and more of a tone setter for me.
Everything straight up with harmonics cranked gives a great distortion effect.
Everything straight up with harmonics cranked gives a great distortion effect.
In all fairness, the manual's not all that useful. There's a diagram in the Spanish section that shows the parallel out being used as an effects loop
It doesn't specify, but I'm pretty sure the line out is in fact at line level, not instrument, so be careful overdriving an instrument level input on your amp. Turn the pedal's volume way down if you need to.
All that said, I love mine. There are some great sounds to be had in there, and the DI is pretty good.
Wow, this pedal is amazing!!! The back of the manual has some suggestions for settings. One is called "Tom Sawyer". Gee, I wonder who that is supposed to sound like? Anyway, I used that configuration to get started and all I can say is WOW!!! I can't believe I played for 30 years without a tone shaping device like this one. Looks like I'm in for another 30! Thanks for all your help guys.
I use one of these most of the time.
The not so obvious things to remember is whether or not the push button switches on the left side are up or down as these effect phantom power and whether the signal coming from the unit is "wet" or "dry". The other thing to note is that the Treble, Bass and level controls are always active, the Harmonics, Mix & Brite only work when the "On" footswitch is pressed and the "Shape" when the shape button is pressed. Also you can power it from a Boss TU-2 which is helpful!
Took me ages to get the hang of this pedal but now I use it all the time.
The not so obvious things to remember is whether or not the push button switches on the left side are up or down as these effect phantom power and whether the signal coming from the unit is "wet" or "dry". The other thing to note is that the Treble, Bass and level controls are always active, the Harmonics, Mix & Brite only work when the "On" footswitch is pressed and the "Shape" when the shape button is pressed. Also you can power it from a Boss TU-2 which is helpful!
Took me ages to get the hang of this pedal but now I use it all the time.
Good point. Makes it hard to know hard much gain you're getting through the thing. This explains why I was never able to get a good sound with other pedals after it. I finally figured out that I had to bypass it > check volume ... plug it in > check volume again, then adjust level as needed. Using it as the last pedal in my chain, then into the head, unity for me is about 9:00.
I just started running my Pigtronix Class A Boost in front of it...Sweet mother of tone!!!
The DI is great. Try the active and passive inputs on your amp and use whichever sounds best.
The DI is great. Try the active and passive inputs on your amp and use whichever sounds best.
This is my favorite "sans amp type" pedal so far. A little goes along way though. If you run post-DI be aware that what sounds great with your amp may be a bit muddy in FOH. When I first got it...I got "You're killin' me with low mids man" from the sound guy. That was all operator (me) error.
Great sounding pedal!
Great sounding pedal!
I've been using it direct into the PA with it sounding great for the last few years. Last night, just to see what would happen and somewhat motivated by this thread, I ran it into my ancient Trace head and it sounded horrible (or at least much worse than the guitar straight into the head). Maybe I didn't have enough time to mess with the dials, however it confirms my normal choice to use it as a "DI with oomph" rather than an effects pedal.
How about using this pedal as a preamp with a power amp as a bass rig? Seems like it would be a good fit. Anyone use it that way?
I recently got one of these and have been thrilled with the tone so far. It seems a lot of posters here don't like this pedal.
Maybe I have really bad ears because I think it sounds quite good.
Maybe I have really bad ears because I think it sounds quite good.
According to the manual it has a line out, which is the kind of signal you want to drive a power amp. There are a couple of different specs for "line" level, one for consumer electronics and another for pro audio gear. Ideally it would be 1.4V, unbalanced line level for a pro power amp.
You could call Larry and ask him. He seems happy to take calls and his number is freely available if you look him up on TB.
just picked up the Hartke Bass Attack today and WOW!!!! has the sounds I have been searching for. dialed it in for a low dark punch and crispy mid highs....the sounds i have been searching for all this time.... amazing!!! might have to put my microtubes B7k analog bass pedal away for a while. love the microtubes grit but I can almost get the same yet better bass sounds that a bass should sound like out of the Hartke Bass Attack..... bravo on this product !!!! I use an ampeg bass amp and a USA Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass my new Hartke Bass Attack and a MXR stereo chorus......really nice combination!!!
