Hartke HD150 Bass Combo

The Hartke HD 25 is a phenomenal sounding practice amp for a bass player who has come out of a 35 year retirement and is playing in a small room--purely for enjoyment. My Hartke amp is surprisingly powerful considering its size and reasonable price. I am playing through this amp using a 1983 Alembic Spoiler with an original Boss Chorus pedal. The Hartke compliments the active electronics of the Alembic extremely well. Through the blender switch on the Alembic, the Hartke projects a tight high end sound (similar to the sound of Arthur Barrow and Scott Thunes of Zappa fame)--perfect for jazz and funk but it also allows for a heavy low end bass crunch (if you want to veer into The Beatles or Led Zeppelin sound.The combo Hartke is compact--looks cool--and delivers a perfect sound for a bass player who will be woodshedding it in a small room and playing only for personal fulfillment. For my my small room and Alembic Spoiler, the Hartke HD25 is a perfect fit.

I have the 50w version. Definitely loud enough for almost any setting, keeps up with a drum kit, cuts through, great control of tone. And it's not lightweight, but it is small, so very portable. I wish it had a built-in graphic eq and/or compressor, but you can't have everything, especially at this price point. The build quality maybe feels a little cheap, but I think I am just not used to the smooth tolex covering, just different from more rugged feelings amps I am used to. So far so good, I definitely recommend it.

Great little 25 watt bass amp. Flawless exterior with a nice look. Plenty loud enough for practice. The sound is very clear, and the tone controls (hand and low) are active, so you can do some serious tone shaping. Otherwise, no frills, and it doesn't need them. This has the look, feel, and performance of more expensive amps. It's quality gear, and I recommend it.

Excellent bass combo. Plenty of power, the tone is rich... really pushes some air. No funny frequencies, just excellent articulation of a bass instrument. Controls including bass, mid, treble, plus EQ spectrum controls provide excellent command. As mentioned, plenty of power for a group setting, with an array of connectivity. See the specs. A compact unit, includes casters, that won't break your back moving it about.I have used Hartke before, so I knew that I could expect great tone and power in a compact unit. Highly recommended.

Got the Hartke HD150 about 3 weeks or so, been playing around with it, and here are my thoughts. First off, a sharp looking combo. The material used to wrap it is very nice. The metal grate is sturdy, as is the overall construction. No buzzing or weird noises that I could hear. The amp packs a powerful punch on the mid and high ranges. It sounds clean and full, especially the mid range. There is no noticable distortion at higher volumes, which this thing can get quite loud. Good for small to medium sized venues. The extended EQ is really nice to fine tune your tone. I jammed along with my phone's music library through the aux jack, so there's that. The DI out is also very nice to connect to a PA system on large venues (Sound guys love these things). My only complaint is the bottom end, while powerful, does not do so well on lower ranges beyond the standard E note. Drop D or using the 5th string on a 5 stringer will noticeably sound limited, and not as full as the standard E and ranges above that. If you don't deal with those lower ranges, this amp should be fine. I've read the kickback series of combo amps from Hartke do not suffer from this limitation. I'll have to look into those.

I had been playing my U-bass through my Bose L1 and it has a great sound. I recently acquired a Goldtone Micro-Bass and I wanted a light-weight amp to go along with it because I don't like toting heavy gear around and I wanted something that wouldn't break the bank so I went with the HD25. When I unpacked it and plugged it in, the first note I played was phenomenal. Some of the other reviews I read here lauded the HD25 as a good bedroom practice amp. The HD25 will be plenty loud enough for any venue I will ever play. The tone is rich and punchy and it sounds great with my jazz bass too. I have several high-end guitar amps, a Trace Acoustic, a Fender Deluxe Reverb and my Bose L1. For the money, this amp holds its own. I couldn't be happier.

I bought the HD75 it arrived with a rattle every time I played a C or in that range. The metal housing for the Am-part of the combo was rattling. I got out my screwdriver and tried to tighten the screws most just turned and turned with and one head of the screw broke off- finally one bit into the wood and I tightened the back. That fixed it but I will replace some screws. This is not a warm Amp. I run a Hartke head through an Ampeg 2x10 so I know the sound. All in all It's a good amp for the price.