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Hartke LH1000... Not enough Mids?!?!?

S

slapfunk987

Feb 8, 2011
213
64
#1
So I recently bought a Hartke Hydrive 410 to go with my Hartke LH1000. The thing I've noticed about this head is the weird way the tone controls are set. I've read they're based on the Fender Tone stack. Well this means the mids have to be all the way up to be flat.

This presents somewhat of a problem with my bass. My bass is passive with an active switch and once I hit that active switch, the mids become scooped and notes on the A & D string lose their definition.

Has anyone else encountered this with their Hartke LH1000 heads?
How did you fix it?
Are there other amps I can PAIR with LH1000 that gives a little more control in the mids area???
 
#6
I had a PRS bass with a 'baked in' tone curve that scooped. It didn't last in my rotation very long, and I ended up running it passive much of the time I did own it.

That said, different implementations of the FTS seem to work better/worse depending. I like it on my Kern, I hated it on my Mesa 400+.

Meet your new best friend:

Bass Mid Control｜E.W.S.
 
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#8
slapfunk987 said:
I'm using a Fender Jazz Marcus Miller. It has the Bartolini TCT preamp in it...
Click to expand...

You should be using 'deductive' EQ on the TCT, similar to what you're doing with the Hartke. Its bass and treble controls are both boost/cut and the mid control is cut only. So start with your mid control on your bass cranked all the way up, and the bass and treble controls set to the middle, then roll them back appropriately from there.
 
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#9
BurningSkies said:
You should be using 'deductive' EQ on the TCT, similar to what you're doing with the Hartke. Its bass and treble controls are both boost/cut and the mid control is cut only. So start with your mid control on your bass cranked all the way up, and the bass and treble controls set to the middle, then roll them back appropriately from there.
Click to expand...

There is no mid control on the TCT preamp. It is 2 band, so only bass & treble with boost only...
 
#10
#11
For many years I was a happy Hartke 3500 plus XL cabs user. Then GAS got me and I bought an LH1000 with Hydrive setup. I really tried to get on with the LH1000 passive tone stack but either through lack of ability or some other personal failing couldn't get the sound I wanted and could dial in easily with the old 3500. I couldn't get the lows that I was used to and I never used the 3500 graphic EQ as the bass and treble controls would do the job. I sold the LH1000 and bought a Markbass LM3 and kept my old mosfet 3500 as one of my backups.
 
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#13
I have been using a LH500, which has the same tone stack.

It will never give you the mids you need if you really need mids. It just won't deliver the honky, boxy mids you sometimes need to cut through. I suggest a mids pedal, or adding a head that has more mids options.

I love the sound of my LH500, but I take my GK when I think I may need to "cut through".
 
#14
slapfunk987 said:
So I recently bought a Hartke Hydrive 410 to go with my Hartke LH1000. The thing I've noticed about this head is the weird way the tone controls are set. I've read they're based on the Fender Tone stack. Well this means the mids have to be all the way up to be flat.

This presents somewhat of a problem with my bass. My bass is passive with an active switch and once I hit that active switch, the mids become scooped and notes on the A & D string lose their definition.

Has anyone else encountered this with their Hartke LH1000 heads?
How did you fix it?
Are there other amps I can PAIR with LH1000 that gives a little more control in the mids area???
Click to expand...

How are you setting the Bass and Treble controls?
 
#16
You have to tweak your bass and the head together. The LH series is made to be powerful and simple to dial in. the HA's have more "stuff" to dial sound. Ive seen Victor Wooten, Billy Sheehan, Nate Watts and others thumb thru the panel and get their sound fairly quickly, but you have to work on it before you stand on stage. Its about your sound not the heads.
 
#19
middy said:
Flat is possibly more like 0 10 0. Start there. Add treble until it cuts how you like it. Add bass until it's good for the room. You may not need to add any bass. Then, if necessary, you can back off mids if it's too honky and compensate with the volume knob.
Click to expand...

Middy is correct. I have had many conversations with Larry on getting the most out of my LH500. It is in fact based on a Fender tone stack. So FLAT is 1-10-2. Larry and his stuff have always been known for the mid scoop, which has always seemed to work flawlessly in a true rock club setting.

I set my amp at FLAT and use my bass or heaven forbid the Hartke XL Attack pedal to add flavor. I personally have never had to do much.

Most people forget that boosting mids usually isn't the problem, its usually too much bass and high treb.

So like Middy said, start with the amp at FLAT and play with it from there. I will also suggest that you start with your bass at 11 o'clock on the bass and 1 o'clock on the treble if its active, or with both tone and volume full if passive. For the passive bass, roll in lightly some bass for bottom. On the active bass, cut the treble for more bottom.

I'm not a mids guy, nor do I really care much about them, as unless you are Victor and a jazz guy killing it and needing beyond full tonal capacity, most people really can't hear what the heck a low or high mid is. And cutting through the mix is really just reducing bass a touch, in just about every situration. If you are too bassy, its boom, not BANG!
 
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#20
middy said:
Flat is possibly more like 0 10 0. Start there. Add treble until it cuts how you like it. Add bass until it's good for the room. You may not need to add any bass. Then, if necessary, you can back off mids if it's too honky and compensate with the volume knob.
Click to expand...
Zombie Thread I know but after last nights rehearsal, this is very accurate.
1 9 5 works pretty well for me. The Lh1000 just doesn't sound great to my ears with the Bass knob turned up very much.
 

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