Hartke LH500 500 Watt Bass Head Reviews

4.2/5.0 based on 5 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

Drew Haydn
from North West Indiana United States
December 30, 2012Music Background:
Teacher, semi-pro

Great Amp

I love the sound of the amp and the power it has. I've never had to turn it up all of the way. The EQ is super simple and idiot proof which I love.

David S
from Bloomfield, NJ
June 6, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician, Luthier, Recording Engineer

Great sounding, power head

I have to agree with others that this thing sounds great right out of the box. But it does sound different from the old Trace Elliot head I was using. I understand how the vintage style passive tone stack works (same as my Blue Tube pedal or what you find on an Alembic preamp), so with that in mind I set all the controls at about 6 to start with. From there I was able to tweak the mids and highs to get just about any tone I wanted.

it's a very clear sounding amp, and took me a little bit to get used to, but I'm really enjoying it now. And it's loud. It doesn't song like the solid state Hartkes, but it does have a great warm tone, while being clear as a bell.

Brian Wright
from Newport News, VA
April 19, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

I'm Lovin It!

I love this amp! It's well made, sounds great, and doesn't have a ton of knobs and buttons to make things confusing. I just set the bass, mid, and treble to the neutral position and then dial up my tone on the guitar with active EQ. It's so simple it's stupid. Thank you Hartke for giving us a great sounding amp at an affordable price! It's warm and punchy and has all the power I need. If you are planning on playing a big hall then I would suggest the LH1000. But for a 2-300 person venue with a decent P.A. system the 500 is more than enough for on stage presence. HARTKE ROCKS!

Mike
from Missouri
May 3, 2011Music Background:
Church praise band, home recording, neighborhood jams.

Fantastic amp

This head sounds great right out of the box. This is plenty powerful, and the tones are pure musical sweetness. It definitely is a no nonsense amp with minimal tweaking capabilities but that's what I love the most about it. I don't have to spend weeks and weeks messing with a hundred knobs and switches to find a great sound. It has everything you NEED and nothing you don't. If constant tweaking and tinkering is your thing then get something else, but if you want to set up, plug in, and play get this amp.

Dan
from New Orleans, LA
April 5, 2011Music Background:
Pro Bassist

don't waste your money

You just can't get a good sound with this head. I have owned a Hartke 5500 and thought I would try this because it supposedly pairs nicely with the Hydrive speakers. The speakers are great and I would recommend them, but the head is just awful. It is noisy at high levels. There is no way you could record with it. Move along and get a 5500 if you like Hartke stuff.