Bump...:
That sucks. Funny because I always heard that Hartke stuff was the equivalent of Huffy bicycles. Their old ad campaigns were a huge turn off to me with Larry Hartke's feathered, mullety, butt-rock hair stytle & the sunglasses. I went from SWR to Eden and never had a problem with any of those heads. And I used to run two Eden's at the same time. Maybe look at another brand? I'd have no confidence in Hartke even if you get your amp to work (or a new one). If two of them have been broke right out of the box, what's gonna happen to them when you've got a year under your belt playing through them?
Also, I don't believe the heads that Dave Ellefson and Frank Bello get are right out of the box.
Just my 2 cents... I just got my 2nd LH500. I was scrolling through the listings on eBay, and found one, new in the unopened box that was NOS for $275. I was on it like white on rice, needing it like another hole in the head, lol. Reason I buped this thread is because I've had ZERO issue with the first one I bought. From out of the box, into the rack with my other components, hooked everything up correctly. Nadda. I'm fairly tech savy, and my cousin 10 minutes down the road has a degree/career in electronics engineering, so to the phone I went. Time he got here, I had all the tools, testing equipment, etc., laid out ready to go. Took it apart, 30 minutes later, found and fixed the problem. SOME people dog on Larry's gear due to this or that or this other thing, but IMHE, it's a craps shoot 1: anytime you buy anything that was built by humans...we've been known to have off days; 2: anytime you order something through the mail, no matter the cost of the gear. I went and spent $1700 on an SWR head in my "GAS"/"It costs this much more so it must be that much better!", phase. Every show, last set, you could set your watch to when it would start cutting out. Sometimes for a couple notes then kick back on, sometimes wouldn't come back on for a cpl songs & I'd have to kick the bypass and let FOH take over. So I got an all SS to serve as backup in case it happened again. Messa somethin or other, don't remember, didn't last long. Sounded awful in comparison, and wouldn't ya know, after a few smaller gigs, it started to fart out on me from time to time. Granted, my rack resembles a mini robot reject from Short Circuit (Furman power strip, Korg tuner, BBE MaxCom [channel 1 in effects loop is compressor, channel 2 I keep flat and just run the sonic max], SWR head, Hartke LH500 head as backup, a sliding tray with my pedals on it, and a drawer with extra cables/batteries/tubes/etc. If it wasn't on wheels that I can push up into my SUV, it'd be A LOT smaller, lol. HOWEVER, I never have issue 1, and honestly I should just remove the SWR I paid $1700 for that cuts out, and run the Hartke's that I paid $359 and $275!
What was wrong with the one I just picked up? 1: The tube had gone microphonic or just janked out; 2: A couple places the solder had cracked/flaked off/deteriorated/etc, not making good connection. Stuck a Groove Tubes I had sitting in the drawer of my rig (for emergency backup), BAMM! Sound wasn't what I wanted (wasn't on the first one I bought either), so I put in & tried a couple AX7's, AT7's, & AY7. Found the AT7 best suited to my taste. Know what I've never had problems with? My '70's "nip tuck" Kustom head and matching cab...just sayin.
