attackbass

I think the one I played back in 1999/2000 would've been a MOSFET one as it had the transient attack logo written on it. I wonder if they sound different and why the change?

What is the difference between the older transient attack models and the newer models of the HA 3500. Do they sound different, are they different or was transient attack just a bit of marketing hartke dropped?

Haha yeah... I actually got mark to base mine on yours in terms of the level of relicing! I spent hours trying to decide a colour!

Yes, it was on the spec sheet. I didn't request it so I think it's part of the relicing Mark does.

Haha! Cool. I quite like the look of the redesigned XLs but the weight of the 4x10 is probably too much and the 2x10s are still just rated at 200 watts.. you'd think they could do better than that these days, guess it's fine used with the 4x10 tho. The price of the LH is amazing. I'm not too concerned about the tone stack... I used to use the orange ad200b and I'm pretty sure the mid control didn't really alter much at all! I have a VT bass deluxe and darkglass vmt if I needed more control. I used the Hydrive 8x10 with the ad200b actually for a while European tour (same tour my head stopped working for a day). I remembering being a bit weary of it but it actually sounded good, different to my orange 8x10 - probably less deep but more punchy, with a bit more bite. There's definitely a bit of nostalgia attached to this sudden desire for hartke, I probably started playing bass at the tail of their golden era and remember the huge rigs buoy for advertising purposes (that worked! Haha). But I was surprised by how much I liked that XL cab!

Picking this up next week from Mark! Ordered it a few months back on the basis of the great reviews and to be honest completely forgot about it! I think it's based on a 65 p bass from what I remember, with lake placid blue over white. Not sure what to expect when I first get my hands on it. Hoping it will just feel like a nice, worn p bass that I can continue to add my own character to it as it will no doubt get from use. It certainly looks great! Apparently his camera has made the blue a little more vivid than it actually is. My trust worthy Fender Jazz 75RI has a neck problem so instead of replacing the neck etc I thought I would retire it (12 years of touring and playing and the frets are gone and it's done it's job!!) and get a p bass, after looking at fender US basses and playing my brother in law's 70s p bass these limelights looked perfect and incredible value in context to a US fender!

I don't know why but for some reason Hartke amps and cabs have been appealing to me recently. Most noticeable the LH amp and the 210 HD cabs. Seem loud enough and portable and would give me options for rehearsals and gig with cabs. My first serious rig as a teenager was a transporter 4x10 and a HA4000. I remember loving the kickback combos which lead me to trying out the HA transient attack 3500 which I also loved, but they were on a back order and so I settled for the HA4000 which I think was probably too advanced for me back then and always struggled with. I then moved on to ashdown to ampeg and a countless amount of other amps, and spent 5/6 years as an orange amps artist playing a huge all tube rig. I've had a few years of going through a number of excellent amps but haven't been able to settle.. apart from loving the VT bass deluxe. We had a 410XL in the rehearsal studios I ran until recently and found myself loving the tone from it, which has made my mind wander and wonder at going all hartke or perhaps hartke cabs with a GK head... A combination I hadn't heard about until searching Is anyone else still using the LH series amps, what's reliability like? Lots of old posts about but just looking for more recent info/opinions. Hartkes presence seems to have diminished it's visibility over here over recent years, it was once everywhere! Seems strange you can call Larry but have seen posts with nightmares contacting UK distribution for parts etc used one once, many years ago in Germany on tour when my orange amp wouldn't mysteriously work that night. I was surprised by the tone from the amp and the Hydrive 810. I play everything from funk, jazz to heavy/rock and hip hop.

I had the dug for a year. What I found was it sounded great for playing un-dynamic, hard hitting music where you want that grind with a big sonic low end. Unfortunately for me I couldn't get it to work for me as band I need "rock" tones for is very dynamic and when I would play softer, or thumb muted parts it sounded like the hi part of the pedal wouldn't quite engage enough and I would have this huge, sustained bass sound.... Which was actually kinda cool but you could almost see the sound guy scramble to deal with it! Ha What really did it was just wanting that slight overdrive and more unified tone rather than the clean low end and driven hi end, I just couldn't get the balance right for me. But it was awesome, and if I was rich I'd have kept it! And so I went for the VT bass deluxe! Almost tempted to get a new BDDI at some point.

i believe so... not sure how long it has been around for. the speaker sim stays active on the di regardless with the button only changing the 1/4 inch out jack to the amp.

I've owned and used over the years a lot of bass amps and preamps... Hartke, Ampeg, Ashdown, Orange, EBS, Eden, Warwick, Trickfish, Aguilar, Euphonic Audio, Tech 21, Darkglass, Fender,Trace Elliot etc... I currently own a Trickfish rig and own a complete Warwick Hellborg rig which when it was released was probably the most unattainable rig ever and mainly thanks to Thomann, I somehow now own it. All these amps sounded great, all had their own tone and this post is more about what I have surprisingly found as a great tone that I just really love and enhances my enjoyment playing live, and that is... The Tech 21 VT Bass deluxe! I bought it on a bit of a whim as a birthday present to myself as it's always intrigued me. Last two gigs I had been running it Infront of the Hellborg and it sounded great and didn't have the scooped sound of the old BDDI, so last night I just thought "I'll run it straight into the Hellborg power amp" and it sounded even better, the drive was clearer somehow and more audibly responsive to my playing. I then pushed in the speaker sim button and it sounded better again, tightening up the sound and adding a little more presence! It's the fullest, fattest sound I have ever had from a set up (apart from a raging SVT VR rig I had on a tour in Australia once). It was a driven tone and as it was a wedding gig I checked with our soundguy/guitarist if I was over doing it and the response from him and the brass section was that it sounded great and really helped to fill out the sound. Just a very satisfying tone and dynamic to my playing and it would clear up when I went to a slap passage or higher register part. Of course the Hellborg power amp and club cab is probably helping too but I think it's probably the solution of having my tone/sound on stage being represented through the PA. I'm not sure why it sounded better not going through the Hellborg pre, I think the Hellborg has its own little bit of compression going on which is why people compare it to using a tube pre and maybe it's just too much with Hellborg and VT together. I'm sure it's in part, a case of being conditioned to unknowingly loving the Ampeg sound and when I think back, even though I've gone for solid state amps over recent years I always have a tendency to try and add some sort of slight overdrive to them. I'm sure against an actual SVT that I would choose the SVT, but I have lifted or should I say tried to lift those and they are ridiculous!! Question is do I hang on to the Hellborg pre for when I need a clean tone or for studio use... The DI hasincredible high fidelity! It's been a funny year, I've discovered using flats on modern basses really works for me and that more vintage 'driven' tones really help fit in the mix for more music than just rock etc. I have to hand it to Tech 21, I love the VT Deluxe. Anyone else ever gone through this?

Yeah, I would definitely need to wait until that stock has been sold. I think the preamps are gone and maybe some of the poweramps, some seemingly have had dodgy ones that they returned. I still see people trying to sell the stuff for £2000 upwards tho including GAK. I could imagine UAD or Brainworks modelling the Hellborg pre/power amp at some point, I'm sure it'll be a modern classic!

Haha thanks! Yeah I'm not desperate for the money and I'd prob be losing money if I did sell either now. Then again as a full time musician it's nice to have as much money in the bank as possible! Haha I might gig the Trickfish for a bit and see how that goes and mix it up a bit and see what really works best!

Anyone ever had a similar problem?! After unsuccessfully trying to sell my Trickfish rig I decided to plug in yesterday and remembered how great it sounded. Very warm, deep and tight and worked really well with the darkglass vintage ultra. This was followed by plugging in my Hellborg rig, switching between Hellborg and Trickfish cabs and i eventually came to the conclusion I love both. I love the warmth and punch of the Trickfish but love the clarity and slight compression of the Hellborg. I love the differences between the 2x10 Trickfish and 1x15 Hellborg CC and LC cabs. They both equally look cool. I think what I really love about the Hellborg is the Poweramp and the cabs, the preamp is very nice but maybe too clear and precise for comfort. Which makes me think maybe sell the Hellborg pre and a cab and keep the power amp and one cab for a cool practice rig and keep the trickfish for lugging about rehearsals and gigs. I would say usually this a nice problem to have but the space it's all taking up in my room is insane and the daily anxiety of selling one of them and then later regretting it, especially in the case of the Hellborg as it's no longer in production. I miss the days where I had an ampeg and that was fine. Haha.

Played that twice years ago now, when it was called wasted once at Blackpool winter gardens and a second time at Morecambe.. My overall memory of it was seeing oi punks littering the streets passed out, standing behind ex footballer Stuart Pearce as he entered the venue and then playing a set where we had quite a lot of cans thrown at us.... We were a punk/hardcore/funk band and by that stage had all started to wear all white on stage. Was a fun gig, you should have a great time!

I do a lot of fucntion gigs and I have gone down this road of buying pedals to recreate sounds, help fill out the sound when a client doesn't book a full lineup. I eventually played one gig with no effects, just a tuner. Did not miss the effects at all, in fact it was much more fun solely concentrating on playing bass and enhancing the songs musicially. Haven't looked back since doing it. For me , effects are more usefull in a creative situation where I am writing/performing original material... or if you REALLY need to have that sound. Also, I found the temptation to go full on Tim Lefebvre in Uptown Funk or great... and rightly got some looks! haha