Dood

Moderator in the house! Guys, these threads can be very informative and helpful and would really like them to stay that way. I know that it can get a bit heated, by all means exercise your collective brains to benefit but please, keep off the low-blows and inflammatory comments.

[quote name='daz' post='1323277' date='Aug 1 2011, 05:12 PM']Whats the difference between the HA and the LH series ? (i am trying to buy an HA 3500, 5000 or a LH 5000 but keep missing them)Is the[/quote] Hey Daz, there's a few clues visually between the two models! ;o) The HA heads have a graphic, variable compressor (limiter) and both tube and solid state signal paths. The Tube signal path as a 'pre curve' built in and you have the ability to mix to taste. The HA heads currently come in ~200 (2500), 300 (3500) and 500W (5500) versions. There were also some old units that featured dual power amplifiers, such as the HA5000 (2x250w) and the HA7000 (2x350W). The LH i think is a genius idea. The LH500 features a 500W power amplifier and the LH1000 features two 500W amps that can be run separately (and balanced for levels) or bridged for a stonking 1000W RMS in to 4 ohms. The preamp is all valve with a passive tone stack EQ. As has been mentioned many times on the forum, the amps are designed to stay clean and punchy all the way up the volume control. I like that alot. They don't run out of steam like many amps that I have owned!! Another great plus for these heads is that each module will run down to 2 Ohms, which I believe gives you the rather daft option of being able to run 8 x 8 Ohm cabinets off one LH1000 in parallel mode. Can't say I've tried it, not that i'd need to - my 8x10 Hartke stack with the LH1000 on top is truely a beast. Dave Ellefson, Hartke endorser is very right when he says that they are incredibly loud and powerful! Whilst I am talking about the LH heads, I'd like to bring attention to the guff being spouted about the 'lack of gain control' on these amps and how you can't control the input gain. The LH heads seem to have a real nod towards old 'non-master volume' valve heads of yesteryear. There used to be a time when amps didn't have a master volume - the preamp was wired directly to the power amplifier. You'd use the gain control to attenuate the signal going in to the amplifier. When they were designed, distorting and distortion wasn't something that the manufacturers wanted and used the single volume (gain control) on the amplifier to keep the input stages from distorting. Eventually some bright spark realised that actually the sound of valves distorting was actually quite nice for their style of music and thus started cranking these single volume control amps up really loud to get them to distort. Story short, as much as it was great to have that distorting tone, the volume was a bit too much at times and thus the 'master volume' amplifier was born. The ability to drive the preamp section in to distortion and then back the master volume control down to near bedroom levels made the sales of amplifiers rocket I am sure! Ok, so - back to the LH heads - that volume control on the front is as good as the same as the gain control on any other amplifer and it's best to imagine that the master volume, if it had one is constantly locked on 10 (or actually 11 if you know how loud these heads are!) One last little test, which I feel is a real credit to the design - if you have an amp nearby and a cab with a tweeter, turn the gain to zero and then wind the master volume all the way up (no noisegates please!!). Does it get really hissy and noisey? with the LH head's gain all the way down, I'm willing to bet that with a like for like amplifier, it's dead quiet in comparison ;o)

Great amps! Have just got back from playin another gig with my LH1000. Really powerful, I had to turn down as I was a bit loud. My volume was on 2!!!!!!

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1318429' date='Jul 27 2011, 04:54 PM']I don't think its a case of plucking that e-string as hard as possible but of plucking it as hard as you are going to when you are perfroming. If you are plucking it as hard as possible when you are playing, you will lose all the finesse in your technique.[/quote] yup, definitely this! - I play with what could be considered a light touch - even my slap technique is controlled so that I don't beat my bass in to submission. Therefore I would say that I could get away with a higher gain setting than someone who was indeed 'playing the e string as hard as possible'.

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' post='1316074' date='Jul 25 2011, 06:44 PM']I spent some time with one not long after they were released The eq is very powerful, and the gate functions beautifully, however it didn't make me say wow! No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find a sound good enough to cut through in a heavy les Paul/ Marshall mix Ymmv of course- it's worth a try after all[/quote] Yup, pretty much the same for me - IIRC it remained pretty 1 dimensional in it's character though; either more or less gain it's still had an annoying 'buzz saw' sound to the distortion that I really don't like. I lost bottom end when I kicked it in alone too. That said though, I really like MXR pedals alot and still have my M80 in the cupboard.

I like the White or the Green! That said, I kinda like the idea of a set of cabs in British Racing Green with a black grill and maybe chrome hardware. Then maybe an Aston Martin badge on the front! (Well, that or Austin Mini!!!!!!!)

[quote name='Ed_S' post='1316580' date='Jul 26 2011, 08:07 AM'].....Back to the point, however, you'd hope that with the OTB1000 being a single power stage it might have a more linear response on the master, where the bridged LH1000 has that volume 'jump' in the middle of the dial.[/quote] I think that's possibly more to do with the design of the preamp vs the power amp choice, I have to test the theory and see if the volume jump happens through the DI. To be honest, using my basses with really high output pickups, I'd be lucky to need my amp above 3! Never needed to turn my stack up any further as that was plenty! [quote name='alexclaber' post='1316797' date='Jul 26 2011, 11:18 AM']I don't think the Hartke LH and Orange Terror preamps are similar in any way - the former has a topology with tons of headroom and the latter doesn't![/quote] I haven't tried an OTB to be honest so wasn't aware that the headroom was capped, so my thoughts were that it would be the similar fender valve & passive tone stack/ alembic pre design. if it were a similar pre, then maybe (without getting too techy) say using a lower HT would allow it to compress or drive earlier, amongst other design tricks. I'd love to see a schematic out of pure interest!

[quote name='RichF' post='1316454' date='Jul 25 2011, 11:03 PM']I like your style my friend. Many of the reasons so far given not to buy - wake the dead, blow out doors - seem like great reasons to me.[/quote] Why thank you sir! Same here! [quote name='Ed_S' post='1316458' date='Jul 25 2011, 11:15 PM']Plus, packing 1000W in the back end, there's a chance you'll be able to get closer to the kind of volume the 500 produces running flat out, but with the preamp still set to clean-ish, thereby making it a bit more versatile.[/quote] Yep, I'm running a Hartke LH1000 which is just a stonkingly powerful and very clean head. I'm willing to put a few pennies on there being similarities in the OTB and LH preamps too.. tonestack Eq per chance? Interestingly, it's actually an amp design I'd been looking for and way back when actually contacted Trace Elliot to ask why they hadn't paired their fantastic V-Type preamp with a 1000W D/H class power section. Iirc the reply was that it probably wouldn't sell. Seems they missed a trick. Both the LH and OTB are very popular (even tho the LH is a standard AB MOSFET) So mr amp manufacturers, I like to lay down the gauntlet.. Let's cram all that in a 1u case please! (ok, so Hevos have already, and MarkBass managed 500w in the F1/F500).

I set my strap sat down, so that when I stand up, the Bass stays in exactly the same position. If I practice something that requires a bit of extra effort or dexterity whilst I am sat at home, i want to minimise any changes that i make to finger positions or posture when I'm on stage. If the Bass hasn't moved position then, even if it's purely psychosomatic, I'm more likely to nail the passage live! Besides, I can't play tech metal with the Bass below my nether regions anyway!!

1000W in 5Kg for less than 600 notes? Now that kinda spec is Dood territory!

Good idea, I'm @DoodOnBass. My other networks are in my sig.

[quote name='kingforaday' post='1313568' date='Jul 23 2011, 09:41 AM']not actually sure about how to work out the 'pro' series serial number but they're definitly a post gibson takeover line of basses. they're fairly recent, early to mid 2000's (i think i bought mine in 2003?), made in korea to the gibson/tobias design, sold through a company called musicyo for a few years then they disapeared! i've owned a couple, still own one that i really like.[/quote] Beat me to it, yep agree with this one. I had a red MusicYo Toby 6er and a Natural 6er that came from The Bass Centre. Cracking basses!

I once received a bass wrapped in one sheet of bubble wrap and a bin bag, no case!!! On another occasion I received a bass cabinet squeezed in to a single skin cardboard box. Both were delivered by courier. I am truly amazed that they arrived in one piece as these are truly two examples on how not to send items in the post! A good guide for how much packaging you actually need, is to take in to consideration the amount of packaging and support you might get in the box of say a microwave oven, laptop or for bigger items, TV.

Just bought a snare drum stand from Nick. Fast comms and great to deal with!

A semi tonal discrepancy.. I like this! Wait for the chorus. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UWtcSvtiQw&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UWtcSvtiQw...be_gdata_player[/url] Interestingly, some people I've played this to, just didn't 'get' it.

[quote name='KevB' post='1310129' date='Jul 20 2011, 11:29 AM']Sorry if this has come up before. Anyone played along to this? Does it sound out of tune to you? It's in a set of stuff I'm doing for a new project. I thought my bass was out of tune but checked and it was fine. Had one of those 'Jumpin Jack Flash' moments when you play along with the original and it doesn't seem to be quite in proper key but not an entire semitone out either. Maybe they were still messing about with tape speeds even in the 80's....[/quote] Away yes, I remember! The joys of learning songs from cassette tape - which made songs appear out of tune if the player was a bit fast or slow! Infact, there's a substantial amount of material originally mastered from tape to CD that is off pitch. I'll have to listen to it again, but I'm pretty sure the original recording of Another Ones Bites The Dust by Queen is sharp towards F.

I too have ran an MB F1 and RH450 in the same rig together. At the time I was using sealed cabs and found that the RH didnt work well wit those cabs. I'd liked to have tried the RH and definitely the Staccato now I'm back using big fat stinking ported cabs again to see if that would have been a better configuration. I sold the RH and still have my F1 as a back up/ practice amp. To my ears, I preferred the F1 as I found that i couldn't do what I wanted with the Eq. The bass centre frequency was just to high and I found the top end roll off on the RH to be annoying too. In the mix is wasn't really a problem, but you know when something bugs you, you just can't seem to shake it? Again, I would have liked to have given the Staccato a whirl at the time, but when it comes to great tone and brute force to be reckoned with, my Hartke LH is a beast. As for trying to get the two to sound the same, well yeah I had to Eq them both to flat and tweak to get in a similar ball park, but the differences in Eq config (built in curve on the RH) made it difficult to get them exactly the same. I agree that the RH has a darker less pristine tone and really like the F1's Eq centres, 40hz for bottom and 10khz for tops.