Hartke Kickback 12, w/ Rock Band...

[Count Bassie]

I put a Hartke neo 12 into old Hartke 12 combo when the original speaker started to go south. The tech guy at customer service said it would be fine even though it's 4 ohms and the original speaker was a 6 ohm. So it gets a little more heft from the head with the lower impedance.
I'm looking to gig with a small rock band, and all I really need is stage sound, I can run to foh via a SanSamp Bass Fly Rig.
Think this little guy is enough?

 

[5StringBlues]

Ha, the jocular amp!

 

[abarson]

Doesn't jive with the owner's manual. Can't say if it's safe for the amp. I've not heard of a 6 ohm bass speaker before either.

https://storage.googleapis.com/hartke-production/uploads/documents/Kickback_OM_5L_v1_1.pdf

 

[staccatogrowl]

As long as your band has no drums, you'll be golden with the "Ha-K-Be-1-2."

 

[Pep]

That’s not going to be enough. My newer KB15 wasn’t enough. Sold it.

 

[Gervais Cote]

With a drummer, it would be good enough for you as a monitor but not loud enough for the audience.

 

[HardNHeavy]

just that?...i dunno.....as long as you can hear it over the drummer, the PA would handle the rest.....good luck

 

[agedhorse]

That amp is rated for an 8 ohm minimum load. That doesn’t mean 4 ohms. The likely result is eventual amp failure.

Did you use a multimeter to determine that the original speaker is 6 ohms?

 

[Al Kraft]

It may cut it for you alone (maybe not the total band) as a stage monitor if FOH is handling the heavy lifting. IIRC that little rig was sold as 8 Ohm only, there was no 6 Ohm speaker...unless the tech meant measuring the 8 Ohm speaker's DC impedance which could be in the 5+ to 6+ Ohm range.

One additional general thought is that moving from an 8 Ohm to a 4 Ohm speaker won't always get you more volume (due to some additional engineering details that need to also be looked at). IME when two speakers are the same size, aspects like speaker efficiency/sensitivity, allowable excursion, frequency response curve, etc. are often more important factors than just being able to feed more Watts to something.

 

[tshapiro]

120 watts is probably a little light for a rock band. My rule of the thumb is 250 watts minimum. So, if you have a 500 watt amp that needs to have an extension speaker to get the full 500w, then that would be very minimum. But, I do prefer at least the full 500 or 800 solid state or Class D watts for a rock band setup

 

[TFunkadelic]

Dang, I had one of those way back when. Brings back memories

 

[shirojiro]

Hard to know what’s enough amp without knowing your band and especially your drummer.

But most rock drummers I know play pretty darn loud, and I usually wanted a 4x10 or 2x15 and 200 watts or so.

A GK 400RB into 2 Bag End 15s or a Hartke 4x10 always worked for me.

 

[Count Bassie]

Hard to know what’s enough amp without knowing your band and especially your drummer.

But most rock drummers I know play pretty darn loud, and I usually wanted a 4x10 or 2x15 and 200 watts or so.

A GK 400RB into 2 Bag End 15s or a Hartke 4x10 always worked for me.

Yeah, I just sometimes find you don't actually need a bazooka to open a door. But man, 2 Bag End S-15Ds and a GK400RB is the right answer.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

The tech guy at customer service said it would be fine even though it's 4 ohms and the original speaker was a 6 ohm. So it gets a little more heft from the head with the lower impedance.

The owner’s manual shows the rated max power of 120 watts is into an 8 ohm impedance and it does not show a 4 ohm impedance output value. There is no mention of anything being 6 ohm in the manual. The 4 ohm load will result in significant additional heat…and failure.

I wouldn’t even turn it on with the 4 ohm speaker in it.


Here’s a link to the manual;

https://storage.googleapis.com/hartke-production/uploads/documents/Kickback_OM_5L_v1_1.pdf

 

[Count Bassie]

The owner’s manual shows the rated max power of 120 watts is into an 8 ohm impedance and it does not show a 4 ohm impedance output value. There is no mention of anything being 6 ohm in the manual. The 4 ohm load will result in significant additional heat…and failure.

I wouldn’t even turn it on with the 4 ohm speaker in it.


Here’s a link to the manual;

https://storage.googleapis.com/hartke-production/uploads/documents/Kickback_OM_5L_v1_1.pdf

Dude told me it was a 6 ohm speaker. Who am I... Anyway it's never presented an issue, but I will look at that link, thanks.

 

[agedhorse]

Dudes often provide incorrect information.

Now you are proactively informed.

 

[Pings Bass]

Running a 4 ohm speaker with an amp rated for 8 ohm minimum is not going to end well, especially if you're pushing it hard enough to be heard in a rock band. Ask me how I know. (In my defense I didn't have the benefit of TB elders in 1984.)

If you go against the sage advice here, at least try to get us a video of the magic smoke escaping.

 

[Pep]

With a drummer, it would be good enough for you as a monitor but not loud enough for the audience.

I seriously doubt that.

When I bought the KB15 I was interested in the KB12. Played through both and the KB15 blew it away. It was still a bit thin for my band in a small weekly venue. Also both of those amps were rated at 500 watts, but the RMS was closer to 250 watts.
The KB12 the OP has says 120 watts, but it’s actually about 60 watts. That’s not going to get it done unless you’re in a light Jazz trio playing dinner music in the background.