Help on Upgrading

[jwitzend]

Hi. I am looking to upgrade from my Kustom combo to a head for gigging. I primarily play Rock, Metal, and Punk. The problem I have is there are not many stores here to try things out first hand. So i am going primarily off of youtube reviews. I will most likely have to order online. I have an older Eden 4X10 cabinet 540w@8ohms (D410T). For the price I was considering the Hartke LH1000. Any help or input would be greatly appreciated. Also, any recommendations on online companies: Sweetwater, musicians friend, Guitar Center, ZZ sounds? Thanks.

 

[AntzPnz]

I had a KBA 100 combo which was awesome and went for a Ampeg pf 500 and a fender bxr 410 bin . Wicked tone and sound very pleased with my upgrade

 

[superfly8564]

do you have to get new? that's a pretty nice cab you got there. You could look at a used Markbass LMII or for your style, how 'bout a GK 700RB? I always found Hartke to be a little thin sounding. Just my opinion.

 

[nogoodwithnames]

The lh1000 is a fine head. great sound, but limited as far as range of tones. If you're a knob twittler you may wanna look elsewhere. And, unless you plan to run two 4 ohm loads or bridge it for the full 1000 watts@ 4ohms then you may as well get an lh500, it's the same thing, the 1000 just has 2 500 watt power sections.

You could get a million suggestions on what amp to try, best bet is to buy used, so when you decide you wanna try something else it doesn't hurt so bad.

I myself have am currently using an ampeg pf800, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone.

 

[JimmyM]

PF800 does rock for sure. Hartke stuff is cool, but the Fender tone stack that the LH1000 has is an acquired taste because it won't let you boost mids when needed.

 

[Chris 'Wighat' Jordan]

do you have to get new? that's a pretty nice cab you got there. I always found Hartke to be a little thin sounding.

Ditto.

 

[jwitzend]

I've heard there were reliability issues with the Ampeg PF's. Did they resolve them?

 

[JimmyM]

Although any amps can break, there have been no reliability problems with the PF800 that I've seen, and there have been a few revisions to the PF500 that have made it quite reliable.

 

[Snakeman1066]

Been playing Hartke Heads since the late 80's....I have had almost no issues with them at all.....in fact i still have a head i bought new back then, and aside from a solder joint and a few fuses, it has rocked a lot of stages..

The LH500 is a good choice....Great bang for the buck...but as others have said it's a bit Mid scooped so adding an EQ or a good rack mount is a way to deal with that.

Older Hartke Models like the HA750, HA500 or HA350 have eq's built in and are fairly cheap on the used market.

GK is a good choice for your genre of music, but you won't be able to touch one for the price of the Hartke

shopping used is probably your best bet...

 

[jwitzend]

Thanks everyone for all the great Info. Real glad I posted this. One more question.... I understand that GK and Ampeg are two different animals. Had a chance to play a Rb400 and sounded pretty good. Sure the 700 and 1001 sound similar just more power. Always hear so many good things about SVT Pros but not none around to try. Anyone have good luck or problems with either?