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I need some help...

P

patrickenbacker

Feb 2, 2005
9
0
#1
Hey guys, I come to these forums all the time but I hardly ever post, because most of the time what I need has already been answered. :) Anyways, a few weeks ago my old swr henry the 8x8 blew up on me and is now officially dead. I need a new cabinet - soon. My band gigs frequently and my little backup just isn't cutting it. I play a mexi jazz through a gk 700rb which gets a decent tone (i get a brighter sound, I play mostly with a pick and we do a couple Tool covers) and pushes about 350 watts at 4 ohms, but my tone sometimes seems "cold"...not the bright sound that I'm looking for...that might have just just been the swr, i'm not sure. Anyways, a friend of mine won a contest and got a new hartke 410XL and 115XL, both of which he's willing to sell to me for $500, seeing as how he has no use for them. I went to his house and played through them to see if I liked the sound, and unfortunately, I didnt. However, I had dead strings on and didnt have as much time as I would have liked to mess with the eq, (he lives an hour away, and gas kills me, otherwise I would try it out more) but my first impression was not a good one tone-wise. Volume wise, it was great. The stack was very loud. It has never been gigged, used maybe twice. This seems like a great deal, but I'm not sure and I want your opinions on it. Like I said, my band gigs a lot (for being in high school anyway) and I need a cab soon. What should I do? Go for the Hartke stack for what seems like a good price, or maybe go with something different? Avatar? I'm at a loss. $600 is my absolute limit, and I would love to save up for something nicer, but I don't have the time. What do you suggest?
 
#3
If you don't like the sound it wouldn't be a bargain at any price. And based on your post you only need a new speaker cab anyway. Possibly just some replacement speakers in your cab are all you need. But stay clear of any gear you don't like the sound of just because it's bargain priced
 
#4
The tone was...dead sounding. I could have very well been the strings. It was nice in that the mids were very prevalent, and the highs were nice as well. The harmonics were incredible. The tone was lacking in the lows area, however, sounding thin and cold. Not so bad that I couldn't change it with a lot of tweaking, but maybe the first impression is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. As for replacing the speakers in my henry, I'm not sure- the electronics actually started burning and its just so old I'm really, really tempted to just let it die and try something new. I'm also curious to know what other cabs you would suggest if the hartke deal isnt the way to go, although the nice price is starting to grow on me...
 
#5
if you didn't like the bottom end, new strings will probably not change that.

still, if you could improve the sound with tweaking, i'd do that. you'll be hard pressed to match that deal, and you'll be able to get what you put into it back when you go to sell it, i would think.
 
#6
I totally agree. $500 is a killer price for the stack and I would see if a little tweaking and new strings could get you a little happier with the sound. See if you can try it out once more for an extended period of time and mess around with the EQ
 
#8
I liked the tone from the Henry ok, it did a good job, but I don't know whether replacing the speakers would be cost effective or not, taking into account I have to replace the electronics too. I'm definitely leaning toward the Hartke stack at the moment, new strings and some tweaking should do the trick I hope.
 

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