Went old school last night (peavey/hartke content)

[Pow_22]

At rehearsal last night i took my usual barefaced/Orange rig and set up as usual. In the corner of the room was the rehearsal spaces house rig. I plugged in directly to see what it was like, straight in without my cali76 and SV bassrig. WOW!!!! It sounded absolutely massive. Tight, deep and that genuine kick to the chest.  Absolutely stunning! I assume most of it was the cab (a big 1x18 peavey) which would be completely out the question for me gigging but it just reminded me that with all this lightweight technology we definitely seem to have lost something.  And here it is in all jts glory…

[Lozz196]

I’m in agreement, I’ve liked all of  the lightweight setups I’ve had, all were great but whenever I’ve played through an old school rig I’ve noticed a difference, and one that I’ve preferred. 

[Beedster]

11 minutes ago, Pow_22 said:

At rehearsal last night i took my usual barefaced/Orange rig and set up as usual. In the corner of the room was the rehearsal spaces house rig. I plugged in directly to see what it was like, straight in without my cali76 and SV bassrig. WOW!!!! It sounded absolutely massive. Tight, deep and that genuine kick to the chest.  Absolutely stunning! I assume most of it was the cab (a big 1x18 peavey) which would be completely out the question for me gigging but it just reminded me that with all this lightweight technology we definitely seem to have lost something.  And here it is in all jts glory…

 

Careful, someone will be along in a minute to tell you that on the basis of the technical specifications of newer and lighter cabs you're wrong, an old 18" speaker can NEVER sound good 😃 

[lemmywinks]

Gotta give some credit to those old Hartke heads too which just consistently deliver the goods.

[Beedster]

22 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I’m in agreement, I’ve liked all of  the lightweight setups I’ve had, all were great but whenever I’ve played through an old school rig I’ve noticed a difference, and one that I’ve preferred. 

 

Always been my experience, there's nothing wrong with modern lightweight gear at all, but likewise there's nothing wrong with old heavy gear, they just have different qualities 👍

[Pow_22]

16 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

Gotta give some credit to those old Hartke heads too which just consistently deliver the goods.

I wanted to give the Hartke a go through my cab (old barefaced 1x15 compact) but alas didnt have a speakon to jack cable with me.  Maybe next time ill give it a go as i really want to see if the head was giving it the beans or the cab

[lemmywinks]

Will most likely spend my lunchtime looking for another HA3000 on eBay now FFS.

[Beedster]

7 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

Will most likely spend my lunchtime looking for another HA3000 on eBay now FFS.

 

All is as it should be 👍

[Dood]

L 

 

I still really love those old Hartke 4.5XL cabinetss. They had a very specific tonal chracter to them, which, down low wasn't even remotely FRFR, quite the opposite. Up at gig volume, the low end bloomed as the cones started moving some air and the peak in the treble region really helped the bass sound to cut through. Further more, considering the cabinets had a scoop in the mids, there was always plenty of room in the mix for guitars and keys too! 

At 45Kg each, and that my needs have changed considerably, it's unlikely I'd gig with them now, but I wouldn't mind having one in the giant studio space I don't own either.

[lemmywinks]

When it comes to Hartke stacks @Dood has been there and got the t-shirt!

[Beedster]

6 minutes ago, Dood said:

L 

 

I still really love those old Hartke 4.5XL cabinetss. They had a very specific tonal chracter to them, which, down low wasn't even remotely FRFR, quite the opposite. Up at gig volume, the low end bloomed as the cones started moving some air and the peak in the treble region really helped the bass sound to cut through. Further more, considering the cabinets had a scoop in the mids, there was always plenty of room in the mix for guitars and keys too! 

At 45Kg each, and that my needs have changed considerably, it's unlikely I'd gig with them now, but I wouldn't mind having one in the giant studio space I don't own either.

 

When I first joined BassWorld about 20 years back (way before it became Basschat), Hartke were everywhere, but they seem to have fallen by the wayside hugely, one of the few amplification brands I've never used 

[Dood]

3 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

When it comes to Hartke stacks @Dood has been there and got the t-shirt!

 

I was an endorsing artist for many years (long before Victor Wootten, Billy Sheehan, Frank Bello et al jumped from Ampeg and the like - I jest of course, I'm a nobody versus those legends!)

[Dood]

3 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

When I first joined BassWorld about 20 years back (way before it became Basschat), Hartke were everywhere, but they seem to have fallen by the wayside hugely, one of the few amplification brands I've never used 

 

I certainly remember watching Hartke's rise from the early Bass Player Magazine adverts to, as you say, around that time when the planets aligned; a certain other brand had huge QC issues that agitated at least one endorsing top-tier bassist, Hartke's worldwide distribution meant they had kit in all corners of the globe and a big advertising campaign where Larry Hartke put his personal 'phone number on adverts certainly helped. Not to mention, of course the first aluminium coned Hartke cabinet was made for none other than Jaco "only needed four" Pastorious. I'm yet to try the new HD and HL cabinets, I need to get those in for review I guess, but I loved the XL's and the HX(?) Hydrive cabinets. 

[Beedster]

Just now, Dood said:

I need to get those in for review I guess

Do it @Dood, there's something I always liked Larry Hartke's approach to business, despite the fact I never played any of his gear 

[Japhet]

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

 

Careful, someone will be along in a minute to tell you that on the basis of the technical specifications of newer and lighter cabs you're wrong, an old 18" speaker can NEVER sound good 😃 

 

Sits back and reaches for popcorn.

[lemmywinks]

Hartke never really managed to get the lightweight head thing right, certainly not in time for a big shift in the market where manufacturers needed one in their product line to compete. By the time they managed to get the TX600 out it quickly garnered a reputation for being surprisingly gutless for its power rating despite being bigger than other micro heads, no idea what they're like now but assume that's sorted.

 

Shame really as I loved my old Hartke stack and only sold it because of the weight and the need to downsize our van. Having to cart a HA5500 and a ful XL stack across a muddy farmer's field at stupid o'clock in the morning was the turning point!

[Dood]

1 minute ago, lemmywinks said:

Hartke never really managed to get the lightweight head thing right, certainly not in time for a big shift in the market where manufacturers needed one in their product line to compete. By the time they managed to get the TX600 out it quickly garnered a reputation for being surprisingly gutless for its power rating despite being bigger than other micro heads, no idea what they're like now but assume that's sorted.

 

Shame really as I loved my old Hartke stack and only sold it because of the weight and the need to downsize our van. Having to cart a HA5500 and a ful XL stack across a muddy farmer's field at stupid o'clock in the morning was the turning point!

 

I actually really liked that Larry almost decided to go the other way with the LH heads. The LH1000 is just a fantastic "lead sled" head, unapologetically weighty with an 'old school' valve preamp in to dual (bridgeable) power amplifers. Great, now I need one of those in my life again too ha ha... 

 

I bolted 4" rubber wheels to the bottom of my cabinets and then stacked them on their sides so that the ports would run up the entire right hand edge vertically, not unlike the Barefaced Big Twin 3 and similar cabinets.

[Lozz196]

I had a Harke HA4000 head with 210 & 115 XL cabs, was a truly awesome sounding set-up, but as the amp was flight-cased (with rack tuner & wireless kit) it was all a bit too much for me so moved it on. The HA4000 was amazing, had parametric mids so could really shape the sound nicely.

[lemmywinks]

18 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I had a Harke HA4000 head with 210 & 115 XL cabs, was a truly awesome sounding set-up, but as the amp was flight-cased (with rack tuner & wireless kit) it was all a bit too much for me so moved it on. The HA4000 was amazing, had parametric mids so could really shape the sound nicely.

 

I had the HA3000 before getting the HA5500, preferred the 3000 really as it was so easy to dial mids in with the two knobs.

[Beedster]

....and while we're at it, given the thread title, it took me quite a long time to find a cab that sounded as good to my ear as my 1990's Peavey 15  

[Beedster]

3 minutes ago, Beedster said:

....and while we're at it, given the thread title, it took me quite a long time to find a cab that sounded as good to my ear as my 1990's Peavey 15  

 

...which I think I sold because someone on Basschat told me it wasn't a very good cab 🤣