HA3500 and VX210 & VX115 Rig
I love the smell of a new rig – it’s like a new car– fresh, unspoilt and ready for action! This rig looks great and although I miss the look of the aluminium cones I’ll reserve judgement – as long as Hartke haven’t cut corners, the price tag makes this rig very attractive….
The HA3500
Build Quality:
I pulled the HA 3500 out of it’s case and was surprised to find the head comes pre-packed in a protective flight case. It was pretty heavy – heavier than I had expected, and upon inspection the flight case seems to be too large for the amp – it has a good two inches of clearance above. I’m a fan of practicality and it seems like a bit of extra weight has been added on and some space wasted just so the audience can see the Hartke Logo emblazoned in big letters on the front. Not off to a good start.
I’ve seen other amps that come in a casing, but they’re snugly pre-fitted and in some, the casing cannot be removed. The HA3500 can be removed with a screwdriver and a bit of elbow grease, still leaving you with an extremely robust amp.
Removing it was a bit of a pain, as the screws are in the bottom and if you turn it upside down to remove it, the amp will fall into the oversized casing. (Hint – put the case up on it’s side!) Again, I believe this puts the player in a more awkward situation so Hartke can get their name up there. I’d prefer to keep the amp as a (slightly lighter) standalone unit or mount it in a flight case with a wireless transmitter, tuner or external effects unit.
Size and weight issues aside, this head is a fairly standard Hartke affair – black and silver, cleanly and clearly laid out, with the controls well labelled and easily accessible. All protruding parts stood up to a good tugging, feeling securely fastened and reassuring that it would take a fair whack to remove one of the knobs or sliders.
For added protection, the amp sits recessed in the flight case, so you can set the casing on it’s front without risk. (Helpful when careless band members/roadies are loading the van!)
In use, this amp continues the Hartke tradition of build quality, simplicity and brute strength. Unfortunately, they’ve also continued the tradition of fitting seriously noisy fans. It won’t bother you on loud gigs, but for quiet practice at home or close micing in the studio it’s just annoying. I’m sure something simple could be done to alleviate this problem, as I’ve never come across any other amp with a fan that was quite this loud.
There are inputs available for active and passive basses, and the pre-amp has both tube and solid-state stages. Each has it’s own sound – the tube being warmer and more rounded, the solid state a little harsher, but punchy with it. I found the ability to mix the two yielded my favourite results – the best of both worlds. It’s worth exploring the mixing of preamps with each bass you try, as some basses will sound and feel better in certain mixes.
Next we go to the Hartke compression stage. As you turn this knob, it adjusts both the threshold (your maximum volume before compression begins) and the ratio (how much it ‘squashes’ the sound.) Although it would be nice to adjust each parameter independently, the 3500’s compression is functional and easily controlled and if used sparingly can help add punch to your sound.
The compressor also helps protect your speakers from dangerous spikes in your level that could damage the cones – a player-friendly consideration that should save you money on repairs or re-coning speakers. An LED is fitted above the compression knob to let you see how the effect is working. When lit green, no compression is being applied. When the LED is unlit, a moderate amount of compression is being applied (this can help add punch to the sound and keep it even.) If flashing red, the compression is approaching infinity (a serious squashing of your sound) and if it stays red, limiting is being applied. (Any dynamic range in your playing almost disappears.) Steer clear of the red – too much compression can sound very unnatural and you may end up playing far too hard with no extra volume.
Next up we have the Graphic Equaliser and after it, the Contour control. Visually in the signal chain, this is a little strange for me, as you are meant to set the contour first then tweak the EQ, but the EQ does provide visually pleasing separation in the midst of all the knobs.
The contour provides a boost or cut of 18db at 100Hz (Low pass) and 10 KHz. (High pass) Roughly speaking, this means you can add a hefty thump in the low-end or a bright, cutting sound up top. If you prefer, you could remove most of the deepest low-end frequencies, or take that top end away for a more old-school sound.
The contour controls offer broad tonal sculpting, hardly a precision tool, but they hit the frequencies where most basses need help. Once a pleasing balance is set, you can use the EQ to cut or boost by 15db across 10 different frequency bands and really start fine-tuning the sound. The entire EQ can be turned on or off with one button and each slider has a red LED, so you can see the shape of your EQ curve on a darkened stage. This is both helpful and visually quite cool.
As we head around the back, the amp has an effects loop, where you can blend the send/receive signals to decide the wet/dry mix of bass sound and effects. This is a nice touch and works particularly well with distortion and synth sounds, keeping the strength of your pure bass signal intact while you add varying amounts of craziness.
The DI out is standard fare, with a nice pre/post Eq switch and a ground lift switch included. I found the signal from the DI was very weak, from both of my Sei’s and my Marcus Fender. When I plugged into the passive input, the problem was solved instantly– a serious fat signal that sounded absolutely fantastic.
This seems unusual to me, and could be problematic if you’re using the DI out live – going into the passive input with an active bass can be a bit much for the preamp. Most big gigs will supply you a DI box anyway, and for the studio it records beautifully, but be warned – it could cause you some problems.
I recorded a couple of different tracks of bass on the same tune and the Pre Eq setting sounded great – rich, full and responsive with a particularly nice hi-tech top end. The post Eq setting allowed me to sculpt some different sounds when layering basses, saving time later in the mix session.
(To hear how an mp3 featuring the HA3500 in action, check out www.davemarks.com)
The VX 210 & VX 115 cabs
In stark contrast to the head, both speakers were pleasingly light and with recessed handles on each side, were an absolute breeze to carry around. As technology is advancing, there really is no reason for any company to make backbreaking fridges any more, and it’s great to see Hartke embracing this attitude.
In use, these two speakers worked extremely well with the HA 3500. The combination of a 2×10 and a 1×15 gives you a great range, from a gut rumbling low end to precise and well-defined highs. Both speakers have a 1 inch high frequency titanium compression driver and are tuned ported, allowing for a focused and clear sound covering the entire frequency range.
It looks strange to me, as I grew up with the enduring image of Hartke aluminium cones to see these paper cones, but they look cool in their own way. They don’t sound quite as hi-tech in the treble frequencies as the aluminium coned speakers, but still deliver strong response throughout.
With both speakers on a large stage, the 1×15 really showed it’s quality, keeping the bass feeling large from a fair distance, and it pushed out notes on the low B string with ease, shifting some serious air without sounding woolly or overwhelming. Having the 2×10 up near ear level kept things clear and provided enough zing in the top end to really hear the articulation in pick or slap playing.
I took the 2×10 out alone to a small gig and it performed well, even with my 6 string Sei bass, giving a clear and full tone and having volume to spare. My only complaint was a lack of warmth in the high mids – something that became especially apparent if I played chords or soloed in the higher register, and it generally made my fretless Sei sound a little harsh.
The 1×15 sounded much fuller when I used it alone – it can push out a more substantial bottom end sound, and the compression driver gets some top end sparkle happening too. I had to boost some of the mids to get the punch and definition that I like, particularly for funk playing, but it did a fairly convincing job.
Very few companies can challenge what Hartke delivers – for brute strength and power, they sound huge in the bottom and have a high end that cuts straight through a hard rocking band like a knife through butter. (I found they sounded particularly great with a Stringray, or a Fender Jazz with a pick.)
For jazz, folk, more delicate funk or mellow pop they can sometimes sound a little harsh to me. Tonally, there is enough control and adaptability in the EQ to get working tones together for almost anything, but I feel that for a studio sessioneer or serious jazzer there may be other rigs out there that deliver a mellow tone more naturally.
That said, if you’re a serious pop, rock or metal player on the prowl for a killer live rig that costs less than £1000, looks good, delivers serious power and won’t give you a hernia moving around, look no further.
Specs:
HA 3500
Price: £449
Made in: China
Power output: 350 Watts @ 4 ohms / 240 Watts @ 8 ohms
Preamp type: Tube and Solid state
Output stage: Solid state
Controls: Tube & solid-state preamp volume, Compression, 10-band EQ, Low & high pass contour, Master Volume
VX210
Price: £229
Made in: China
Speaker config: 2 x 10” Special design 8 Ohm, 150 watt speakers, 1” throat compression driver
VX115
Price: £229
Made in: China
Speaker config: 1x 15” Special design 8 Ohm, 150 watt speakers, 1” throat compression driver
Ratings
Build Quality: 19
This rig was made to be punished. It looks and feels so strong I want to try and smash it! – Just to see if I’m man enough to make a dent.
Features: 17
Blendable preamps, onboard compression, ten channels of EQ (with lights!) a nice DI and an effects loop. Nothing in the amp feels unnecessary or cosmetic. (Oversized casing though!!) Pity that the DI was a little weak from the passive input.
The lightweight construction, horns, recessed handles and easy stacking corners on the speakers reinforce practicality over flash and I love them for it.
Sound: 18
Not a rig for every occasion, but for certain gigs, I can’t recall a better one I’ve used or heard. Anyone in any doubt needs to hear this rig handle a low B riff or some serious picked eighth notes – brutal.
Value: 19
This entire rig comes in around the £900 mark, which surprised me. I definitely thought it would have cost more and it’s to Hartke’s credit that they have produced such a good system for such a competitive price
Wow factor: 17
The aluminium cones in the original Hartke speakers were definitely attention grabbing, and while these are a little more plain, the whole rig still looks extremely serious. The LED’s on the EQ look cool on a dark stage too…
Total: 90
A monster of a rig – solid as a rock, well priced and with a range of great sounds and useful features.
