I purchased a Hartke LH500 bass amp in February 2011 and am very pleased with the sound it produces coupled with my 500W Avatar B210 Neo speaker cabinet and Fender Jazz bass guitar. It has an incredibly rich tone that fills the room with great bass presence whether Im playing rock, blues, jazz, or country in an electric or acoustic environment. However, I have had functional issues with the amp that are driving me nuts.
When I turn the amp on, it powers up and the fans kick on immediately, but it does not truly kick on and produce sound until about 15 20 seconds later. I have been advised that this is normal and, although it took a bit to get used to, I have accepted that as the nature of a high-end amp.
In December 2011, I began having issues with the power cutting off unexpectedly. I replaced the AC Inlet in the rear of the amp and have had no problems with the amp powering up since. However
Over the past couple of months, the amp has begun cutting on and off intermittently, not the power, but the sound itself. The amp powers on, the fans kick on immediately, and the sound comes on about 15 20 seconds later, but the sound turns off after about 10 seconds, comes back on a couple minutes later, then turns off about 10 minutes after that. The sound continues to cycle on & off intermittently, although the power, lights, and fans remain on throughout.
I set up at a gig Saturday night and powered up the amp about an hour before the show. It was noisy in the room and I couldnt hear whether the sound was cutting off or not, but every time I checked it, it was on and sounded great.
When we took the stage, I plucked the strings while it was in the guitar stand and it was working fine. I picked up the guitar, put the strap over my head, and plucked the strings no sound. Fortunately I had brought a backup amp and had it plugged in and ready to go. I switched to my 1970 Peavey amp and it worked great. The Peavey had plenty of power, but not the rich tone and presence of the Hartke. Not to mention the frustration of having to use a 41 year old amp because I can no longer rely on my relatively new Hartke amp.
If anyone has any ideas on how to address this issue, they would be much appreciated. There are a couple of good Hartke service facilities here in the St. Louis area, but unfortunately, I am a couple months beyond the 1-year warrantee period, and they have a 2 to 3 week backlog before they can look at it. Hopefully, someone has experienced a similar issue in the past and can offer some advice.
Thanks,
Terry
When I turn the amp on, it powers up and the fans kick on immediately, but it does not truly kick on and produce sound until about 15 20 seconds later. I have been advised that this is normal and, although it took a bit to get used to, I have accepted that as the nature of a high-end amp.
In December 2011, I began having issues with the power cutting off unexpectedly. I replaced the AC Inlet in the rear of the amp and have had no problems with the amp powering up since. However
Over the past couple of months, the amp has begun cutting on and off intermittently, not the power, but the sound itself. The amp powers on, the fans kick on immediately, and the sound comes on about 15 20 seconds later, but the sound turns off after about 10 seconds, comes back on a couple minutes later, then turns off about 10 minutes after that. The sound continues to cycle on & off intermittently, although the power, lights, and fans remain on throughout.
I set up at a gig Saturday night and powered up the amp about an hour before the show. It was noisy in the room and I couldnt hear whether the sound was cutting off or not, but every time I checked it, it was on and sounded great.
When we took the stage, I plucked the strings while it was in the guitar stand and it was working fine. I picked up the guitar, put the strap over my head, and plucked the strings no sound. Fortunately I had brought a backup amp and had it plugged in and ready to go. I switched to my 1970 Peavey amp and it worked great. The Peavey had plenty of power, but not the rich tone and presence of the Hartke. Not to mention the frustration of having to use a 41 year old amp because I can no longer rely on my relatively new Hartke amp.
If anyone has any ideas on how to address this issue, they would be much appreciated. There are a couple of good Hartke service facilities here in the St. Louis area, but unfortunately, I am a couple months beyond the 1-year warrantee period, and they have a 2 to 3 week backlog before they can look at it. Hopefully, someone has experienced a similar issue in the past and can offer some advice.
Thanks,
Terry
