NAD : Hartke LH 500

[pbassnut]

The LH500 does indeed have a Fender tonestack. More precisely, the preamp is essentially the Alembic tube preamp, itself a copy of a Fender preamp (I think the Dual Showman? Or one half of it?). It has been modified to be a bit more useful for bass, according to Hartke. Anyway, controls at 5 will produce a mid scoop somewhere (with the trough being somewhere between 500 and 800Hz, usually). Probably the mid scoop is not as prominent as on the original circuit since bass really doesn't lend itself to strong mid cuts usually. (A Twin Reverb with controls at noon will have like a -12dB mid cut).

I have owned both Alembic F-1X and Trace Elliot V-Type preamps and like the preamp section on the LH500 better because it has more midrange punch in the tone stack. I'm very happy with my LH500 (especially for the $225 price tag for a demo model with a 90 day warranty I got it from Sam Ash for) and think it's a real sleeper of an amp.

 

[Boneless]

I have owned both Alembic F-1X and Trace Elliot V-Type preamps and like the preamp section on the LH500 better because it has more midrange punch in the tone stack. I'm very happy with my LH500 (especially for the $225 price tag for a demo model with a 90 day warranty I got it from Sam Ash for) and think it's a real sleeper of an amp.

It takes just a few component changes to make the tonestack more useful for bass. For example:

Yet Another Tonestack Calculator

Guitar amp and pedal tonestack (tone stack) calculator web app. Tweak controls and component values and compare frequency responses in real time. Inspired by TSC in the web and Duncan Amps TSC.

tonestack.yuriturov.com

(Modified tone stack: red curve). The midrange cut is limited to 6dB when pots are at noon. To me it still is a large cut, but one that doesn't feel as "empty" as the blue curve.

 

[Joebone]

Enjoy that LH500! I'm not a fan of the 30-lb. carry, and sometimes wish for more EQ flexibility, but I've been using an LH1000 for gigs over the last year and it is an absolute beast! Fat and fast...and interesting to learn that it flows from the Alembic preamp circuit. 2/10/2 on the dial is indeed the "flat" position. I'd never liked the sound of Hartke cabs, but first played through the LH1000 in a backline over an Ampeg 8x10, and was blown away. Now using it with an inefficient fearless F115 cabinet that profits from 750 watts RMS at 8 ohms bridged. Not a great solution for urban warriors, but living in a small city/rural scene, and only gigging 1-3x a month, the lift is tolerable. The early reliability of the LH1000 was questionable, but no issues so far, and I keep a Class D spare nearby.

 

[Gervais Cote]

I remember when these amps and their HyDrive cabinets first came out. The artist I was playing for also had just help launch a couple new music stores in the area. I got to demo the full lineup when they came into the store. I really liked the LH amps. Really nice hybrid of clean tube-like tone and solid state punch. I loved the simplicity of the layout. At the time, I was going for a lighter and smaller setup but definitely would have considered these. Playing in front of their 8x10 cabinet using the LH1000 was glorious. Congrats on the new amp. I bet it sounds great through those GK cabinets.

Sounds great indeed, bass notes go very low effortlessly and punch in the chest of low and low mids happens even at low volume, probably due to a huge dynamic of full transient of note at its very first sound.

 

[dbase]

Hi bass freaks,

Just got this monster yesterday and thought I should share my opinions.

I already own two bass amp heads to feed my two GK Neo IV 112 but was looking for a louder one for bigger gigs. My primary amp was a Mesa Subway D350 and my backup is a small Traynor SB 200H.

Quite satisfied from both but they are class D so a bit generic sounding to me and I also wanted some headroom for larger shows as well as a more visceral tone and more burping on low notes.

First thing I did when I got my new amp was to open it for inspection. I found out it is a 2014 with very little use as everything is extremely clean and without any trace of overheating or abuse. The seller told me it’s been used occasionally in his room and in studio and never used it for gigs so it seems to be true.

My first impression when I started it was a rather dry sound with a midrange a bit forward with all controls at 12 o'clock. I dialed the mids down to 10 o’clock and got a better frequency response. I realized though that this amp is a class A preamp and a class A/B amp so it takes a few songs to warm up and that exactly what happened after 10 minutes.

One of the things that amazed me is the fact the fans very silent allowing me to use that amp as a practice equipment without any problem. In fact, I have to put my head close to it to hear the fans running. There is no hum at all and just a little mix of hiss and pink noise when I put my ear against the speaker but don’t hear it at all 2 feet away. Quite amazing to me for such a monster.

Sound wise, I would say it’s very transparent cause you hear very big sound differences when switching from one bass to another. It’s also very punchy and seems to be voiced to cut like a knife with a loud band and that’s what I was looking for. It’s really not boomy and doesn’t really bring a specific voicing letting the sound of your instrument take place. I also have the headroom I was looking for and can feel the punch in my chest even at low volume.

Very satisfied so far and this will probably become my main bass amp with my Mesa D350 or my Traynor SB 200 H as a backup now.


View attachment 7319830

 

[Gervais Cote]

Nice. The LH500 is my main gigging amp in my rock cover band. I pair it up with HD112s or HD210/HD115 cabs depending on the size of the show.

It's been a rock solid workhorse. I always have a backup class D head in my bag but I haven't had to use it.

Yes, it's heavy but I'll worry about that when I get old and weak. I'd rather have something simple, loud, and reliable for now.

Rock solid workhorse is part of what I was looking for so thanks for the comment. I was also in search of more headroom than my class D amps and I’m not disappointed.

My cabs are 25 pounds each so an amp of 23 pounds like this Hartke is still manageable for me………….so far ! I will probably add four rubber feet on one side and a handle on the other side to make it easier to carry.

 

[Gervais Cote]

View attachment 7321204

Oh, that 4 piece kit must burb and roar like hell !

 

[Gervais Cote]

So far, bass at 7, mids at 3 and treble at 7 seems to be the proper setting for my upcoming rehearsal and shows.

In my basement though, I had to put the bass at 6, mids at 3 and treble at 6 as my room is rather small for all that power and my ears couldn’t stand the overemphasize bass.

I use a p bass that is really not bass shy though so it might be different with another bass.

 

[TonH]

This is the tone stack of the LH500:

And here some settings (tone stack calculator):

all noon

Flat

Flat but louder

Scooped

 

[wagdog]

The LH500 is one of my all time favorite amps. Clean and clear with tons of heft and punch. I’d like to point out that the Fender tone stack controls are interactive and not discrete like most other amps. Fiddle with one control and you are affecting the others as well. A modeler like @TonH shows above is really needed if you are going for a specific eq curve. For fun try turning all the tone controls all the way down. Voila, no volume!

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Couldn't you dial bass and treble down and bump up the master volume to effectively boost mids?

If the Mids are cut-only (what the graphic above seems to suggest), there's no way to "add" Mids by means of the amp. Now you could cut Bass and Treble, then boost volume to give the perception of a Mid boost, but it won't be adding anything more in the amp's EQ section. Think of it like using a flashlight in a lit room versus a dark room. The flashlight is still the same brightness, but it could seem like its brighter due to the dark surroundings.

Now if you have an EQ pedal, a preamp of some kind before the Hartke, and onboard preamp with mid control, or a pedal that does a Mid boost (some ODs do) you'd be truly adding Mids. With the Hartke Mids dimed, it will just be passing through whatever it receives. As always, the best tool to use for things like this is your ears. If it sounds good, it IS good!

 

[jjk2007]

If the Mids are cut-only (what the graphic above seems to suggest), there's no way to "add" Mids by means of the amp. Now you could cut Bass and Treble, then boost volume to give the perception of a Mid boost, but it won't be adding anything more in the amp's EQ section. Think of it like using a flashlight in a lit room versus a dark room. The flashlight is still the same brightness, but it could seem like its brighter due to the dark surroundings.

Now if you have an EQ pedal, a preamp of some kind before the Hartke, and onboard preamp with mid control, or a pedal that does a Mid boost (some ODs do) you'd be truly adding Mids. With the Hartke Mids dimed, it will just be passing through whatever it receives. As always, the best tool to use for things like this is your ears. If it sounds good, it IS good!

The majority of the time the 2-10-2 setting is what I used and it worked great. If there were times I felt like I needed more mids I did that through the active EQ on the bass. My LH1000/HyDrive 4X10 rig sounded great and could get plenty loud. I had the amp in a rack with some other gear and I got tired of the haul so I moved on to the light weight side and have never looked back.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Rock solid workhorse is part of what I was looking for so thanks for the comment. I was also in search of more headroom than my class D amps and I’m not disappointed.

My cabs are 25 pounds each so an amp of 23 pounds like this Hartke is still manageable for me………….so far ! I will probably add four rubber feet on one side and a handle on the other side to make it easier to carry.

Okay now, 4 hard rubber feet and heavy duty side handle installed :

 

[dbase]

Rock solid workhorse is part of what I was looking for so thanks for the comment. I was also in search of more headroom than my class D amps and I’m not disappointed.

My cabs are 25 pounds each so an amp of 23 pounds like this Hartke is still manageable for me………….so far ! I will probably add four rubber feet on one side and a handle on the other side to make it easier to carry.

I am now old and weak.. the amp was heavy but I could manage each 12" bass cab. They were light but bulky. Never understood why only one handle.. hmmm