Hartke 3500A Bass Amplifier Head (350 Watts)

Feature:
Love the EQ. I have a Boss EQ pedal but only use it now if I need to thicken the bottom end for a particular song.

Quality:
Top notch. My first one had problems but was replaced and I have had no problems since. See support for more details.

Value:
I.ll always have one andthey are the best in their price range.

Desirability:
When the lights are low and the EQ is on it really looks neat cause each slider on the EQ has a red LED in it. There is also a green light for the compressor.

Sound:
I think it has the best sound of any of the amps I own (Ampeg SVT 450, SWR 100 watt, Peavey Basic 112). Having the tube preamp you can get a nice wwarm sound or you can go solid state. The EQ is fantastic and there are just so many variations you can get that if you say you can't get the sound you are looking for, then that sound can't be found.

Ease of Use:
Very easy to figure out. If you can't figure it out, learn how to play the drums.

Support:
My first head kept overheating and no sound would come out of it. I took it to an authorized repair shop and they had it for six weeks and could not figure out the problem. The second time I used it after that, same problem. Hartke had me send it to them. They found a problem and fixed it. A week later, same problem. Hartke called the store I bought it from and asked if they had one in stock. They did so Harke told them to give me a new one and ship the old one back. Never a problem for the last two years and Hartke took care of me and I NEVER had to get tough with them. They were gret.

Overall:
I will always have one of these or at least it will be another Hartke. I play in the praise band at church and there are four bass players and every one uses mine. It gets used for practice and Sunday service every week and it has never let anyone down.

Feature:
For the price that I paid you wouldn't expect all that it comes with. Active/passive inputs, compression, tube/solid state preamp blend, 10-band Graphic EQ, low/high pass contour filtering, XLR out with pre/post and ground lift, and effects loop with effect blend knob. Could you ask for more?

Quality:
Very well made. Seems heavy duty. I have seen more expensive amps that don't appear to be as rugged. Everything seems to be working well and the new wooden case ads even more durability to an already solid product.

Value:
No amp gives you all of this pro-quality for the price. And the headroom is the key to all of this! You are buying pure headroom which could be the best feature overall.

Desirability:
The hybrid design of the preamp is pure genius. The Hartke faceplate looks great along with the lights on the 10-band EQ. It stands out that's for sure! Hartke has long had a great reputation for making a great amp and I owned an older HA3500 about 10 years ago - but that amp wasn't this good!

Sound:
This amp rules. I have used it for live gigging and studio work. It has performed brilliantly in both areas. If you go direct the amp itself has so much tonal control you can find a great sound just through the 10-band EQ. Then you can blend a tube and solida state preamp section to give you the type of tone that you want. Throw in a high and low pass contour filter and on the fly adjustments are just a knob twist away. I use Hartke cabs also and I find that this amp head sounds massive. It cuts through a two guitar/double bass drum metal band with ease. Talk about headroom - I barely go above one on the amp which is awesome! The amp is so clean and clear, every note I hit rings true. Everyone in my band loves it's tone and most importantly it has made our band sound better and to me is the most important feature - Pro sound! I also use a Digitech BP-8 processor through my Spector Europe Rebop 4DLX FM bass and I couldn't be happier with my tone.

Ease of Use:
The manual tells the whole story. Plug in your bass, adjust the preamp blends for the type of amp tone that you want (ie. tube or solid state), adjust the low and high pass contours to get the overall sound that appeals to you, then zero it in with the 10-band EQ. You really can't ask for more control. I found myself playing my first notes with the bass tone that I've always wanted within 5 minutes. Brilliant!

Support:
I have not ever had to deal with Hartke or Samson for product issues but I did call Larry Hartke on his cell phone to thank him for making a great amp. How many companies give out their cell phone number on their website?!?!

Overall:
I made a modification to this amp when I first got it and I think that eveyone that plays through this amp will benefit from making this simple modification: I replaced the stock 12AX7 tube with a JJ/Tesla "high gain" ECC803s tube. I purchased it for $15 @ tubedepot.com. I can;t begin to tell you the difference that this tube mod made. It takes the output and almost doubles it and gives tha amp more bite and growl as well as brighter highs. When Hartke says Transient Attack they aren't lieing!!!