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Looking for a new head....Maybe the LH500?w


isteen
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Looking for a new bass head, around 350-500 watt and around £300 (Give or take).

I take care of the bass in a rock band, so the Hartke LH500  could be a contender - some say it sounds fat and oldschool....some say it sounds dull.

Any other suggestions around that price would be very much appreciated - what alternatives should I look at too?

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I know I'm the one selling it BUT...

Check out the spec and ratings on the Hughes & Kettner Bassbase 600 and then check out my amp in the sales section.  I seriously don't believe there is an amp of this quality for less than £500 never mind £225.  The amp retailed @ £1000+ when new and has features and quality components unsurpassed... unless you need class D weight?

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26 minutes ago, King Tut said:

Ive had two. They sound great but are pretty weighty to lug about. You wont get much dirt out of them though. I use a Veyron Tube head now. Cheap and good for rock!

Ah, tell me more about the Veyron - been looking on that.

Good sound etc?

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22 hours ago, isteen said:

Ah, tell me more about the Veyron - been looking on that.

Good sound etc?

I love it. I play in a Classic Rock Band called Stray playing on the medium size venue circuit. It's easily loud enough with power to spare. I use a pedal for overdrive, but it will overdrive. I tend to use mine just under break up. It excels at a nice warm middly sound that cuts through the mix a treat. If warm and middly isn't your bag I believe the Mosfet version gives a more modern tone.

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The LH500 is a 12AX7 based Fender tone stack (bass / treble are boost only, mids care ut only, a la, Alembic F2b, Fender Twin) coupled to a very loud SS power amp with a huge toroidal transformer. It's a non master volume design so can be a little hissy into very sensitive cabs. With 2x2x10 cab, I have never run out of either volume or headroom in a 2 guitar band and a proper rock drummer and I don't think I've ever turned it up past 11 O'Clock. Running active into input 1 does push the valve a touch and gives you a bit of extra sparkle. It's probably compressing a bit but it it doesn't audibly distort. It's cheap but you'd need to budget for a rack sleeve. It's heavy though. If I replace it, it will be with an SVT or a HiWatt, so clearly that doesn't bother me!

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On 02/07/2020 at 20:42, King Tut said:

Ive had two. They sound great but are pretty weighty to lug about. You wont get much dirt out of them though. I use a Veyron Tube head now. Cheap and good for rock!

I had an LH1000 and it is possible to overdrive the preamp valve. I used a Tesla ECC803 (I think) and coupled with a Precision running EMGs at 18v I could get the valve to overdrive quite easily - even though it isn't meant to be able to do this.

Absolutely incredible sound through Laney Nexus 4x10 & 1x15 cabs

20140705_193535_resized_3_zps63b45515.jpg

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