Steer clear of Hartke?

[lavmonga]

I used Hartke stuff all the time when I was younger. I couldn't afford my Mesa stuff that I own now. All I have to say is, that for the money, my Hartke stuff cranked out alot of music and sounded pretty well. They're a very affordable company and make a good product.

btw... I used a 1x15 combo (aluminum), then a 3500 amp with 4x10 cab...all Hartke. I even was using my 3500 on an Ampeg 8x10 for a little. That thing had some juice in it.

It's all a matter of personal taste.

I have owned Hartke gear.I'm not a fan.

I am a huge fan of GK heads and cabs

+1 to personal taste! Contrarily I've never been into GK amps, the cabs are pretty sweet though. You know what they say about opinions.

 

[Lync]

Why stir up so much trouble for a little combo?

37 posts over a practice amp that costs nothing. Lets save the real controvesy over real amps.

BOB

HA HA-because it is fun? It just seemed like good ol' gear banter to me.

The big rigs are all generally really good...I find it fun to find the gems that get the job done for not much cash (and still sound good). Plus, I am sick of lugging my 6x10 to gigs.

 

[blendermassacre]

I love my vx215. Sounds great. My only gripe is the way they designed it, it's impossiblr to hold onto the side handles and walk through a standard sized door. This will be fixed with casters but still. For a non neo 2x15 I think that 70 lbs is pretty light.

 

[blendermassacre]

Why stir up so much trouble for a little combo?

37 posts over a practice amp that costs nothing. Lets save the real controvesy over real amps.

BOB

Isn't this exactly the point of talk bass.

 

[bluewine]

I used Hartke stuff all the time when I was younger. I couldn't afford my Mesa stuff that I own now. All I have to say is, that for the money, my Hartke stuff cranked out alot of music and sounded pretty well. They're a very affordable company and make a good product.

btw... I used a 1x15 combo (aluminum), then a 3500 amp with 4x10 cab...all Hartke. I even was using my 3500 on an Ampeg 8x10 for a little. That thing had some juice in it.



+1 to personal taste! Contrarily I've never been into GK amps, the cabs are pretty sweet though. You know what they say about opinions.

Cool, I would go to tubes, but for me, I've been there before and at this point in my life tube amps are to expensive for me and they require more maintenance than I am willing to get into.

I play clubs and my 2 GK RBX 210 cabs with a GK MB-500 (500 watt) as my primary and GK 1001rb (700 watt) amp for back up is working pretty well for me.

 

[CityEscape]

Ok, so I was about to cut the deal, I had been emailing the guy, and we were clear that I was going to buy it from him. I emailed him suggesting a meeting place/time, and then he tells me that he sold it to some guy that payed $5 more than I was paying.

FASDGASDVSDAGASGAWEAGWE

 

[CityEscape]

Why stir up so much trouble for a little combo?

37 posts over a practice amp that costs nothing. Lets save the real controvesy over real amps.

BOB

Look, I don't have a great deal of money, I'm 15. When I'm gonna buy something that I've been scrapping money together for, (without any type of allowance), it's a big deal to me.

 

[Fraktal]

When I started playing in professional bands, around 15 years ago, I bought a 7000 head (350+350w), a 410XL and a 215. It was the hartke flagship then, they didnt have anything better than that and it was expensive as hell. Shortly after one of the 10" drivers became farty, even though they were nicely protected thanks to the built-in head crossover. Then one of the 350w poweramps began to shut down due to thermal protection. I dont need to say I got rid of it all as soon as I had a chance.

Hartke aluminium speakers look cool, shiny and all that, but their sensitivity is total crap compared to any professional loudspeaker, meaning you need at least twice the power to achieve the same volume. Their amps are made with the cheapest electronic components available, and its no surprise some of them develop problems.

All this started when Samson bought Hartke many years ago. I donno how is Samson's reputation over there in the USA, but here in Europe they are considered nastier than Behringer, go figure!

 

[lpdeluxe]

Ha. I thought nobody but me played Hartke.

My practice rig for a long time was a Music Man HD-130 head and a 410XL. No complaints, except that the reason it was not my gigging setup was that it weighed a total of 144 lb. I gigged with a 65 lb Ampeg B100R.

Eventually I decided to downsize everything, and sold the 410XL, the MM, the Ampeg (and several other heavy amps) and ended up with a Hartke HA2500 and a 115TP. That wasn't enough, so I added a l210TP. It was fine for what I did, and most gigs I could take the head and the 210 and play as loudly as necessary. I added the 115 for outdoor gigs.

Yesterday at rehearsal I played my P through a friend's Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0/210T rig, and I have to say, it has a tight bottom end that means I gotta have one! But the difference is, it costs about 3 times what I've got in the Hartke.

There's a lot of low-priced crap out there (ever tried a small Ibanez bass combo? You'd swear you were playing through a guitar amp) but Hartke has its own voice and builds good stuff.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Oh yeah: here's a pic: