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Help with my Hartke LH500

STRINGSLINGER

STRINGSLINGER

Mar 13, 2012
99
0
Omaha/Blair NE
#1
I am a little lost on this one. I was in the middle of a show the other night when my volume level seemed to drop out. Though there is still output it seemed to be cut in half. I initially thought maybe I lost a speaker but that was not the case. In the past I very rarely took the amp past 3 as that was sufficient enough power. I have swept the volume control up and the volume level increases evenly to about 7 then wham-o, it seems to jump to 11. Any ideas as to what else I should be looking at? Should I change out the tube? I absolutely love this amp, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank You
 
#5
you should of course test with another tube and make sure it wasn't the bass.

It wouldn't surprise me if something broke in the amp though. I have a LH500, and though it is an amazing design, it's let down by the build-quality. Mine broke after a few months, it had something wrong with the power-amp.

It's still very much worth it to me though, as it's dirt cheap new and fixable on the warranty.
 
#8
Yep, check the tube and the fx jacks like Jimmy said. I originally never noticed the volume jump (never ran my LH1000 that hot) but it's definitely there around 6.5 or so on the volume. I have yet to run it up at that level on a gig though.
 
#11
Crystalman85 said:
Sorry to hear about your trouble. I own a hartke lh500 myself and so far I haven't experienced any problems with it what so ever. but since you guys mentioned tube troubles, I should look out for that.
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I know Larry had a run of tubes that were not great a year or two ago. Seemed like a lot of people were having to replace them. But not his fault...tube QC just ain't what it used to be.
 
#12
JimmyM - About 1 1/2 years ago, I was doing a little web searching about the LH500 prior to purchasing one, which brought me to TB via comments by Larry Hartke in lieu to the LH500 on others posts. The way he stands behind his product is what convinced me to pop on one. I hope replacing the tube will remedy the issue, but if it doesn't, I'm confident that the Talk Bass community will help guide me to a fix.
 
#13
JimmyM said:
I know Larry had a run of tubes that were not great a year or two ago. Seemed like a lot of people were having to replace them. But not his fault...tube QC just ain't what it used to be.
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I see what you mean. some tubes don't last that long. other tubes tend to break on their own. I was thinking I should have a spare tube just in case something happens to the tube on my hartke lh500.
 
#14
Crystalman85 said:
I see what you mean. some tubes don't last that long. other tubes tend to break on their own. I was thinking I should have a spare tube just in case something happens to the tube on my hartke lh500.
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Probably wouldn't hurt. Keeping a tube safely on the road is a bit of a problem, though. Keep it padded and wrapped up if you do it.

And yes, even though I endorse Ampeg, I've always been quite impressed by the way Larry stands behind his products.
 

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