I had a hartke Lh500 and xl410 when I played bass in my last band. I am mostly a guitar player so I sold all of it when I quit the band. A few years later and I'm playing bass in a Doom band so I had to buy a new rig. I shopped around thinking of trying something new but ended up grabbing another LH500 and a xl410.

I'm a huge fan of old thrash tones like ellefson and this does it quite easily. I'm a complete noob when it comes to bass gear though so take my comments with a grain of salt but I really dig it. Side note I was using an old peavey 410 and a centurion head or something along those lines and was really surprised at how good it sounded as well. Had it had about 200 more watts I would have likely have just found one of those.

I was really digging the Ampeg pf amo that I tried which I think was a 350 or 500 and was surprised that it needed to be turned up 70% to feel loud enough to play with a band.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikewalker
I like running my 2 Hartke XL210 cabs vertically. Is it possible to remove the logos (which are sideways) and put them back on (right side up) View attachment 4973935 without destroying them?
I plan to do that with my 210-XL as well. I'm pretty sure it's doable but the whole screen has to come off first. I would put the big logo exactly between the two drivers. Incidentally I have a Carvin BX (combo version) perched atop my 210XL :)

basslab_nbd-1-jpg.4743976
 
Last edited:
I've been looking for a 2100 Pro for YEARS. Due to hearing issues, the 'tilt up' feature is a game changer for me.
There’s one for sale on Facebook market but it’s in the New York City area
I tried to pay for the shipping but he does not want to ship. Check it out , May be you can persuade him! If I see another one I will let you know
Lalo García
 
  • Like
Reactions: MMMiguelito
Hartke is mass produced equipment that's reasonably priced, and produces good tone. It's not boutique, it's not fancy. It's a meat and potatoes brand. I've considered some of their equipment at times in the past, but I will say that when I see a newer Hartke rig as a backline amp, I have full confidence I'll be able to get a solid tone.

It'll never be a brand I get overly excited about, but I have nothing bad to say about them either.
 
It’s totally true , but some of their models are just outstanding ; read the review of the 4200 bass cabinet in bass player magazine (May be 20 years ago); it came out rated as one of the best 4x10 cabinets they magazine had ever heard. it’s a hard to find model but it really is an amazing Cab.

Hartke is mass produced equipment that's reasonably priced, and produces good tone. It's not boutique, it's not fancy. It's a meat and potatoes brand. I've considered some of their equipment at times in the past, but I will say that when I see a newer Hartke rig as a backline amp, I have full confidence I'll be able to get a solid tone.

It'll never be a brand I get overly excited about, but I have nothing bad to say about them either.
 
There’s one for sale on Facebook market but it’s in the New York City area
I tried to pay for the shipping but he does not want to ship. Check it out , May be you can persuade him! If I see another one I will let you know
Lalo García

Thanks for this... I saw that on FB as well. Maybe the fates are telling me something.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJ Bebop
IMG_5103.jpeg IMG_5104.jpeg I recently upgraded my two Hartke 2.5 xl cabinets with a real tweeter instead of the usual 5 inch aluminum driver . I also installed a high quality crossover inside the cabinet and a high attenuator knob outside on the side of the cabinet. The modification was identical for both cabinets . I also added neutrik input in case I have a cable and in case I want to daisy chain the cabinets . It was around $300 in parts , but they sound great now !
I am happy with the results .
Enjoy
IMG_5102.jpeg
 
That combination was EVERYWHERE for a while. I had that same rig, too. Initially I got an 800rb into one Hartke 4x10. But I fairly quickly got a second cab. But I was definitely not fighting against the stream when I had that set up. That was a really common rig at the time.

This ad campaign was the actual source of my main bass for several years. The first one of it that I saw, as a matter of fact, had several rigs set up with a bass leaning on each and the name of the player next to them.

One of them was an all black (ALL black: black finish, black hardware, ebony fretboard...the works) Schecter Jazz copy, based on the one played by Garry Tallent of the E Street Band. It was not Garry's actual bass. It was just a visually identical one for the ad. And it showed up at a guitar store in Fort Worth. I don't know when they used the Longhorn bass in the ad campaign, too. I just remember the store being kind of smug that the bass I was buying was effectively a celebrity for having been in an ad. Fortunately, they didn't try to charge extra for that.

The reason this amuses me in this thread, is that it was my main bass when I had the GK/Hartke rig that I mentioned in my previous post.
 
Last edited:
This ad campaign was the actual source of my main bass for several years. The first one of it that I saw, as a matter of fact, had several rigs set up with a bass leaning on each and the name of the player next to them.

One of them was an all black (ALL black: black finish, black hardware, ebony fretboard...the works) Schecter Jazz copy, based on the one played by Garry Tallent of the E Street Band. It was not Garry's actual bass. It was just a visually identical one for the ad. And it showed up at a guitar store in Fort Worth. I don't know when they used the Longhorn bass in the ad campaign, too. I just remember the store being kind of smug that the bass I was buying was effectively a celebrity for having been in an ad. Fortunately, they didn't try to charge extra for that.

The reason this amuses me in this thread, is that it was my main bass when I had the GK/Hartke rig that I mentioned in my previous post.

Actually, I remembered the wrong artist playing the bass they copied. Darryl Jones alleged bass, in this pic on the right, is the actual bass I was referring to. I was sure it was Garry Tallent's bass. So much so that I didn't really actually look at the picture here. But skimming back through this thread today, I saw the pic from when it was posted, not from my quote of it. That's my bass, right there on the right. That's the one I was talking about.
 
Three years and 16 pages later...

Funny how times change. When Hartke arrived on the scene in the 1980s distributed by Guild and endorsed by Jaco, all they made was cabs and at the time I recall only 410 and 210 cabs.

Jaco_and_Guild.jpeg




For most of the 80s and 90s they were commonly seen on big stages, usually with a GK 800RB head on top. GK wasn’t making cabs back then and Hartke wasn’t making amps. In fact Hartke used to recommend the A.M.P. heads for use with their cabs (a BH420 is seen in the Guild ad), but A.M.P. went under around 1990.

I played GK/Hartke rigs as provided backline at multiple festivals over the years and they always delivered. I guess like most brands, once they started building everything in the Far East, their rep as serious pro gear started to fade.
 
Three years and 16 pages later...

Funny how times change. When Hartke arrived on the scene in the 1980s distributed by Guild and endorsed by Jaco, all they made was cabs and at the time I recall only 410 and 210 cabs.

View attachment 7069384



For most of the 80s and 90s they were commonly seen on big stages, usually with a GK 800RB head on top. GK wasn’t making cabs back then and Hartke wasn’t making amps. In fact Hartke used to recommend the A.M.P. heads for use with their cabs (a BH420 is seen in the Guild ad), but A.M.P. went under around 1990.

I played GK/Hartke rigs as provided backline at multiple festivals over the years and they always delivered. I guess like most brands, once they started building everything in the Far East, their rep as serious pro gear started to fade.
1730758634382.png