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Your thoughts on newer Hartke gear

Q

queevil

Aug 6, 2009
410
19
Waco,TX
#1
Hi everyone.

Years ago I had a couple of Hartke speaker cabs. A 1x15 and a 4x10 cab. You know the ones with the aluminum speakers. I hated them but I got both cabs for $250 and I needed something to gig with. However, I was using a GK 400rb head so maybe the combo of head and speakers was simply mismatched. Bottom line, I just couldn't seem to get a usable sound out of them and then the 1x15 just kinda crapped out.

Well, a few weeks back I played a J bass(much like my own) the the newer Hartke head and the 1x10 Hydrive cab and I really liked it. I liked the simplicity of the head. However, I wasn't able to play it at a very high volume so I have no idea what it would sound like if it were cranked.

I've recently kinda just walked into some opportunities to start gigging again so I need something with decent volume but for not a lot of cash.

So, for those of you who have some real world experience outside of a music store with the newer Hartke gear can you chime in with your thoughts with respect to tone, volume, durability and dependability? Could you also tell me what basses you play through it.

Thanks in advance for your replies.
 
#6
I have two Hartke heads, a HA4000 and HA5000 (neither of which are "newer"), and a 4.5XL, the one with the aluminum cones AND 4" driver (also aluminum). I loved those things. The cab is mighty heavy but I think they're a great middle of the road company. A lot of people poo poo them but in my experience they've been able to do everything I've asked of them easily.
 
#8
let me be more specific lol...... the pregain is basically controlled by a pair of knobs.. i run them both at 9'oclock... so basically 3.5. my master is at about a 2.5
this head is LOUD and sounds rather good.
Is it as good as my Eden? Nope.
But its worth about double what I paid for it.
 
#9
I used the LH1000 and two of the Hydrive cabs for about a year, and I couldn't be more pleased with them. The whole rig was simple. powerful, road-worthy, and exactly what I wanted tone-wise... I am selling it all though, because I'm not playing the big shows anymore, and 1000 watts just doesn't make sense at a jazz gig in a winery... :crying:
 
#10
LaklandBass said:
let me be more specific lol...... the pregain is basically controlled by a pair of knobs.. i run them both at 9'oclock... so basically 3.5. my master is at about a 2.5
this head is LOUD and sounds rather good.
Is it as good as my Eden? Nope.
But its worth about double what I paid for it.
Click to expand...

I run the left input about noon, the right at about 7 or 8 o'clock. Compression at noon.
I push a Hartke 2.5XL with this and it is more than enough for two guitarists and drums. Sometimes I will use it with a Hartke 210XL, sometime I use the 210XL and the 2.5XL.
I like the clean signal I get out of it.
I wish I had another 2500. I would run both, one for each 2x10 cab. I would bridge them and EQ each for the different cabs they are going into. 360 Watts altogether.
 
#11
I gigged an LH500 with an SWR Goliath Jr. III (2x10) for the last year and it's just a great head--regardless of price. I preferred it to my Euphonic Audio original iAmp and my Little Mark II. Tons of power, and a surprisingly wide range of sounds available for having just three eq knobs (I don't use the bright button).

I recently tried out one of the Hartke Hydrive 12 cabs at Sam Ash with an LH500 head, and it sounded fantastic--a really surprising low frequency output for a 12". I own it now, and will probably sell my SWR and get a second one.
 
#12
I think the electronics are okay for what they cost - although they aren't a state-of-the-art contender.
However, those aluminum coned speakers are not good at all. Aluminum is simply the wrong material to use - it's light and strong, but it softens every time it moves (that is simply physics).
I've owned a couple of Hartke rigs and was never happy because of the speakers
 
#13
Love the new Hartke gear! I liked the older stuff as well. I use a 5210C combo + a HyDrive 115 cab for gigs. Lightweight, easy and fast to set up. Sounds great.

I have an older HA3500 + Hartke 210 and 115 for rehearsals. And a Kickback 120 for small gigs and low-volume jams.

My main bass is a Huckster Custom ('54 P-bass model with a Seymour Duncan QP pickup). I use a '77 Mustang as backup.
 
#14
I guess my experience is exactly opposite Gizmot's:

I have gigged an XL410 cabinet since buying it used in 1994. It is still my cab today and it has never given me a speck of trouble and still has its original aluminum drivers. And that includes many road miles in Northern U.S. winters with the brutal cold conditions that supposedly cause those aluminum drivers so much trouble. It is a godawful heavy cabinet but the sound more than makes up for it.

Maybe I've been blessed with an extraordinarily durable Hartke cab but I love mine, depend on it utterly and will never willingly part with it.

Their electronics, OTOH...
 
#15
I gig with the Hartke LH500 and a Eden 410XLT. I love the LH500 paired with this cab. I use either a Fender Jazz or Warwick Rockbass Corvette Active. I did have the LH500 paired with the Hydrive 410 for about 2 gigs. It is a good cab for slap tones, etc.. but for me it was lacking low end. Again, the LH series amps are fantastic but I found it paired better with my Eden cab..
 
#17
Love it. Have had ampeg, aguilar, & trace elliot. Sold all that stuff and am a thrilled with the new Hartke stuff. Had my LH1000 all over the country and it's never let me down on a gig. Sounds great and I'm always getting compliments on the tone. My new HX410 just came in today, can't wait to unwrap it and get it on the road.
 
#18
Gizmot said:
However, those aluminum coned speakers are not good at all. Aluminum is simply the wrong material to use - it's light and strong, but it softens every time it moves (that is simply physics).
Click to expand...

So paper cones do what? Neither are going to exactly exhibit stress hardening here. Hartke made a lot of aluminum cone speaker cabinets. They lower end ones were what you'd expect, lower end. They sounded like it and the cost like it. The higher end models won't compete with Berg/Epifani/EA/etc, but they more than compete with other cabs in the same price range. The 4200 and the 4.5XL cabs either are or were (4200 is discontinued I think) great cabs.

Haven't touched the hydrive stuff yet.
 

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