For Larry Hartke (if he visits here)

[Zombie1965]

Dear Mr Hartke,

Words can't begin to express the sympathy we feel on the untimely demise of your company. Hartke products will be missed by everyone that used them and loved them deeply.

I hope the expressions of sympathy that you must be receiving from everyone In the UK and most of Europe provide some consolation to you. Hopefully, knowing how much lots of us loved our Hartke's will give you a measure of comfort. Hartke bass amps were always popular with the dudes at band practice, on the gig and many men often spoke of its awesome tone and wonderful presence and power. They never had such a workhorse of an amp that inspired them the way the Hartke did; to go out night after night and entertain the masses....

Seriously though... What the hell has happened to Hartke's UK distribution?
Hartke equipment used to be plentiful in many music shops across the UK, now its nowhere to be found. The products may as well not exist to us any more. WHY?

I needed a new driver for my XL cab... Nowhere can get one at any reasonable time frame. in the end, I was forced to buy a different make and moved to an ampeg cab. Im not happy with it, I dont like it.

My HA3500 could use a service, its working but somethings not quite right.....

I desperately want a new HA3500 head to replace my ageing one... I may as well dream on. I will probably have to buy something else very soon.

I've wanted to check out the TX series for at least 12 months but cant find one to try out anywhere.

Id like to check out the new LX Series Heads.... I'm not holding my breath for one either.

It looks like music stores across the UK, Europe and online in general isn't any longer stocking Hartke.

ITS A DAMN SHAME!

Edited January 26, 2020 by Zombie1965

[Cuzzie]

I like a hartke too

That is a shame

i hear he used to at least be on TB - have you posted there?

[Merton]

I think it’s just a European distribution issue as opposed to complete demise of the company?

[Zombie1965]

1 hour ago, Merton said:

I think it’s just a European distribution issue as opposed to complete demise of the company?

You are probably right Merton, but surely Its a huge loss to the company to loose distribution to an entire continent?  Its a massive shame to us Hartke users/customers who have previously had no issues buying gear now being cut off. To us in the uk Hartke may as well be a dead company. 

This morning BAX music were showing a HA3500 in stock. I poped it in my basked, rushed through the checkout only to be met with this...

 

I bet, from recent previous experience,  If i continue... During those 8 days mentioned in orange above, i will receive an email that cancels the order due to a stocking issue .

I literally believe there are none... and none coming. 

 

[Zombie1965]

3 hours ago, Cuzzie said:

I like a hartke too

That is a shame

i hear he used to at least be on TB - have you posted there?

I have. I really hope he sees it and realises he has major problems with distribution outside of the USA

[BassBod]

He is on FB, but would probably delete any negative vibes 😳.

Not sure he has much to do with running the company, but it’s a shame to see a once respected brand, with some high profile endorsers, perform so badly.  Hope this situation improves, but Hartke is off my list for now 😳

[jimmy23cricket]

I was in contact with them on Instagram while they were posting about NAMM. Someone mentioned that they had an issue and Hartke responded to contact Hal Leonard. I messaged to inform them about how Hal Leonard were awful and they got back to me asking for details. I pointed them in the direction of some posts on Basschat. Hopefully they had a look, who knows!

 

[Wolverinebass]

Hartke went crap about 2007. After sitting with the thoroughly excellent HA series for probably a touch too long they then shot themselves repeatedly in the head. 

The LH series regardless how powerful they were they had a woeful eq. Plus, they were heavy at a time where companies were starting to go light as a matter of course. The Kilo was delayed for 3 years after being announced and has been plagued with reliability issues.

Finally, with the lightweight amp head market fully standard, they put out the woefully underpowered TX series. A friend had one and I literally laughed at how pitiful it was. Then it came out that they'd juiced the power ratings as a few people on talkbass had taken photos of the guts and showed the power module wasn't quite what it claimed to be.

They can pay Victor Wooten all the money in the world, but their current products are crap. Wooten will always sound good as he's a very talented player. He just uses Harkte to pay the bills. Fair play.

Hartke haven't done anything better than the HA5500 and that amp is 20 years old.

They're a dead company walking.

[Zombie1965]

Update. Finally have My hew Hartke head in its way. Should be with me today. This has been far more work that it should be to get 1 piece of equipment.

[Mudpup]

4 minutes ago, Zombie1965 said:

Update. Finally have My hew Hartke head in its way. Should be with me today. This has been far more work that it should be to get 1 piece of equipment.

Hopefully it wont go pop on you... I'm surprised you still wanted one after seeing what the UK distributor was like.

[mrtcat]

Hartke should be banned from trading in the UK. Their contempt for uk customers is shameful and the whole "Kilo" issue was borderline criminal. Disgrace of a company that I would love to see go under.

[Mudpup]

25 minutes ago, mrtcat said:

Hartke should be banned from trading in the UK. Their contempt for uk customers is shameful and the whole "Kilo" issue was borderline criminal. Disgrace of a company that I would love to see go under.

Not a fan then......😂😂😂

[Zombie1965]

17 hours ago, Mudpup said:

Hopefully it wont go pop on you... I'm surprised you still wanted one after seeing what the UK distributor was like.

In honest I have loved my original HA3500.  I have abused the hell out of it weekend after weekend for 15+ years. Its been frozen to death In the van in minus 18 conditions, Its swam in more than 1 pint of intoxicating beverage, Its banged up and only recently shown any issues that started with the compressor giving up and the power switch being on - on rather than on - off. Ive been through 2 tubes since the original but the last few gigs its been giving pops farts and something is definitely up with it. 

I have gotten so familiar with it that set up is a breeze and I know by the size and shape room, and what voices sound like in said room, what i'm going to have to do to dial in my sound. Its all just so quick and easy.

Im hoping that Enough people will kick up a fuss about the UK supply issue and Hartke flip Hal Leonard off for someone better.  

This though..... Its the last chance. 

[Defo]

I used a HA3500 for about 4 years when in my most successful band. It was awesome and never once let me down, I mean a perfect record.

Was great when driving a 15" cab which some heads fall down on. 

[Russ]

I like the 'concept' of Hartke better than the execution. 

I had a 2x10" Hartke combo years ago, and I went through 3 speakers in less than a year. It sounded great but just couldn't cope if the amp was turned up above 12 o'clock - the speakers were super-fragile. 

Larry's a nice enough guy (met him several times at Sam Ash on 34th St in NYC, where he runs the bass department) and his ideas are good, but his execution is flawed and I'm not sure he has particularly good business sense, the current Hal Leonard debacle being the latest example. 

[jimmy23cricket]

I have 4 of the 112 Hydrive cabs. Seem pretty robust to me, use them with some powerful heads at high volumes with pretty low tunings. They work well, I have never had issues (and, hope I don’t soon considering the current issues!)
 

The switchable resistance is a cool feature. 

[MacDaddy]

Wasn't Larry's number given out in an ad a while back?

IIRC there was a thread on here and a Basschatter had a natter with him.

[Wolverinebass]

2 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

Wasn't Larry's number given out in an ad a while back?

That was about 10 years ago Si.

Frankly, I think the company is doomed. Larry can post as many photos on Facebook of "Look over here! It's Jaco's aluminium coned 8x10!" or "Here's Jack Bruce's Warwick Thumb!" but it doesn't disguise the fact that both of those thoroughly excellent bass player's are dead and if you exclude Victor Wooten as an endorser they don't have any high profile ones. I'm sure if he were offered a skip of cash he'd play anything. Probably why Stu Hamm left to go to Markbass. They haven't had a well known modern age bass player on their books of endorsements for a very, very long time. I think that in itself speaks volumes about the company's standing.

I'm bummed though. The HA5500 is just brilliant, but by modern standards it's just too heavy.

Most of the stuff I use are companies that don't pay you to use their stuff so if I ever was better known for anything other than sideburns, claws and sarcasm it would all be for nothing.

[2elliot]

1 hour ago, Wolverinebass said:

That was about 10 years ago Si.

Frankly, I think the company is doomed. Larry can post as many photos on Facebook of "Look over here! It's Jaco's aluminium coned 8x10!" or "Here's Jack Bruce's Warwick Thumb!" but it doesn't disguise the fact that both of those thoroughly excellent bass player's are dead and if you exclude Victor Wooten as an endorser they don't have any high profile ones. I'm sure if he were offered a skip of cash he'd play anything. Probably why Stu Hamm left to go to Markbass. They haven't had a well known modern age bass player on their books of endorsements for a very, very long time. I think that in itself speaks volumes about the company's standing.

I'm bummed though. The HA5500 is just brilliant, but by modern standards it's just too heavy.

Most of the stuff I use are companies that don't pay you to use their stuff so if I ever was better known for anything other than sideburns, claws and sarcasm it would all be for nothing.

I thought Billy Sheehan uses the LH1000 and HA5500.

[Wolverinebass]

19 minutes ago, 2elliot said:

I thought Billy Sheehan uses the LH1000 and HA5500.

He hasn't used the HA5500 for years and I'm pretty sure he went Helix a few years ago as well so he might not even use the LH series anymore either. Or maybe just as a power amp.

[2elliot]

2 hours ago, Wolverinebass said:

He hasn't used the HA5500 for years and I'm pretty sure he went Helix a few years ago as well so he might not even use the LH series anymore either. Or maybe just as a power amp.

Looks like he's still using a gang of LH heads and cabs with a Helix.  Aug19...

 

[jimmy23cricket]

Dave Ellefsen  and Frank Bello also still users/endorsees? I know not considered behemoths of the bass world by the cognocenti....but two pretty sound guys if you’re into metal. 
 

seriously though, this is a daft line of argument. Pros will use anything if paid enough and make it work for them. Ultimately, there is clearly a service issue that seems is not going to be sorted soon.
 

 

[Wolverinebass]

14 hours ago, jimmy23cricket said:

Dave Ellefsen  and Frank Bello also still users/endorsees? I know not considered behemoths of the bass world by the cognocenti....but two pretty sound guys if you’re into metal. 
 

seriously though, this is a daft line of argument. Pros will use anything if paid enough and make it work for them. Ultimately, there is clearly a service issue that seems is not going to be sorted soon.
 

 

Fair play. I forgot those 2. My point is speaking towards the companys ambition. Think about it. Darkglass have went out and got virtually every major player in the metal/djent field. Ashdown still have some very high profile people as well. Tech 21 went and got Steve Harris, Dug and Geddy and a whole slew of others.

Hartke have been overtaken and are still sitting about doing not very much either interesting or more importantly, good. Which is a shame. That's why their distributor network is crap.

[jimmy23cricket]

I completely agree with you on that one. They do feel like a brand in decline..in the UK at least.

[Wolverinebass]

Just to add to this total debacle. I had a look at Hartke's website today. In an unrelated note, the drummer from one of my bands his studio bass amp (some kickback combo) had died and asked my advice.

I went to look for the model and noticed some rather unamusing stuff. The Kilo isn't made any more. Flagship amp binned. HA5500 is also discontinued. The best thing they've ever done is binned too. That's madness, but it's heavy. Unlike Ashdown who remain immune to lightweight amp trends, Hartke don't have the profile to carry this off.

That is in itself why nobody should buy Hartke. The pooch has well and truly been screwed.