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Hartke Hydrive 5210c Problem

BernardBass

BernardBass

Oct 26, 2013
184
214
Dublin, Ireland
#1
Howdy folks,

Bought a Hartke Hydrive 5210c...and I've had it repaired twice already...

Issue is every time I put the amp volume up to 7 or above (only ever brought it up to about 8.5) and play for about 15/20 minutes the amp cuts completely...as in, no volume.

I leave it for about 30 minutes and I get volume again... once I got past 7.. it dies again.

The unit stays powered but I get complete loss of volume. I have tried several basses, active/passive, active/passive. Repair guy thinks im overdriving it...

My settings.

Bass:
All mid, full volume

Amp:
Bass 4
Middle 5
Treble 4
vol 7/8

so I cant see how im overdriving it? Repair guy has it in the shop again but I have a feeling its going to come back in a similar state.

Anyone any ideas!??
 
#2
As in 7 or 8 on a knob labeled 1-10? Or 7/8ths of the way up?

Most likely are overdriving it. Position on a volume knob doesn't mean much. 1/2 way up does not mean 1/2 power, etc. Plenty of amps have the majority of their useable power/volume in the first half of the dial. After that it's just clipping, distortion, fizz, damage, etc.

It depends on the strength of the input signal (your pickups and/or pedal settings, etc.) that determines how much is too much, not the numbers on the knob.

.
 
#5
Jaco who? said:
I was going to suggest an additional cab so you don't have to crank it up so far, but Hartke only offers a Hydrive 2x10 in the combo, not a separate cab. Very strange.
Click to expand...

Sorry I dropped off the planet altogether folks...

I got a hartke 115XL Bass Cab (200watts) for 100 euro and it has done the job brilliantly :)

Played a few gigs since then and amp has subsequently stopped crapping out so I obviously was over-driving the poopie out of it. Got the Sound Engineers to rig me up with the DI, mic for the 2X10 and a mic for the 1X15...sounded class live!

Thanks to all I really do appreciate it!!
 
#6
One thing to remember is the flat EQ setting on those amps is somewhere around 3-10-0. You will notice a nice increase in volume if you bump the mid knob. I've done the 5-5-5 on my LH1000 for fun and I'd really having to be pushing the amp hard to play it that way live. Just some food for thought. But if you like your tone, rock on and glad to hear you may have found a solution.
 

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