Hartke 1400 Head

I got mine in 1995. It is obviously about as simple as they come, 5 knobs and the truth. It does have an effects loop but I've never touched it.

I wanted something that would give me a modern Duck Dunn McCartney sound. I've put loads of basses through it, Jazzes, Stingrays (studio great, live, way too much treble) Precisions, Warwicks and it always has plenty of weight to the sound, with the pitch clearly defined. I settled on the EQ settings early on when I was using a 2 15 HH cab, and a Squier Jazz, and never found a reason to change them. Even the treble pot couldn't tame a Stingray. Now I use it with a 90's XL 4 10 cab from Hartke were a serious not budget company and a G+L ASAT Bass. It's a seriously good sound and I've never had to turn the volume up past 12 o clock, even with a complete psychopath for a drummer. Having said all that, I've been to some gigs with bassists using Ashdowns or Edens and my rig doesn't quite compare to that modern polish the new amps are getting. My local repair guy ran it through some sort of a meter and says it'll do at least 190 watts at 4 ohms.

The other guy who said the jacks are weak I'm afraid was right. Also, the Input jack is positioned so that it faces upwards at a kind of 45 degrees angles. When I've had to share this amp with other bands on the bill more than one of them have trodden on the lead and because of the angle it causes damage to the connection. I tuck the lead round underneath the feet to prevent this but not all bass players are capable of walking upright without dragging their knuckles. It does make a crackling noise sometimes which goes after about 10 minutes, never had it fixed as it's gone once everything is warm. I must say that mine has seen some serious grief, there is dents and scratches all over it, it's frozen many times overnight in the van, boiled many times in the van in traffic and it's never failed me apart from those jacks.

Never needed it

I never needed another amp. I don't do enough gigs or sessions to justify my Eden desires, and it would only be me who noticed the difference, let's be honest. This amp is a workhorse, I've rented it to the local studio many times to players who've got amps with all the bells and whistles and it always comes up trumps. And no other amp doubles as a cheese board so effectively.

Bought new on closeout (Sam Ash?) in 2004...actually, I bought 2 of them. One for home, one for rehearsal space. Took the bigger amps out for gigs. I was in two groups at the time, one a typical geezer garage band playing red neck saloons; the other was an "Americana" singer/song-writer acoustic/electric duo...me on bass.

As far as I could tell, it is a single channel bass amp, which is good enough. It had active and passive inputs. Adequate tone/EQ pots. Never used the effects loop. Depending on my mood and what cabinet I was using, I liked/disliked the Enhance feature...

At home I often just plugged into a Fender 112 guitar speaker cabinet at bedroom practice volume and it was GREAT! When I practiced with the full band, we had no volume problems in the small space, but I was concerned that 80 Watts at 8 Ohms would not have been adequate in a bar or other gig with the drummer and lead player.

When I used it with the Americana duo act, I would have been comfortable using my 4 Ohm 210 cabinet which would have gotten the full 140 Watts out of the Hartke.

I loaned one to a friend who used it with an 8 Ohm single 15 and played an upright bass in a bluegrass group. They did a couple of larger events and he wanted a little more on stage than just the acoustic volume of his upright. It worked just fine for his needs.

I have a GK and an SWR for bigger venues, but this Hartke is small, lightweight and very convenient for a grab and go head...but I would not want to use it in a room of 150 to keep up with a loud drummer and lead player.

The 80 Watts at 8 Ohms puts it into a practice or rehearsal amp category and that only rates an 8.

I have used the Hartke with myFender MIM P-bass with round wounds and my US Fender Highway 1 Jazz with flats. I like both sounds. But I was doing different material with each bass.

The Jazz sounded more like an upright with the flats through Hartke and either a 1-15 or 2-10. I used that with the Americana duo. Rich, warm, full bottom.

The P Bass with round wounds was my number 1 with the geezer garage band. We did more uptempo classic rock, country and even some blues. I left my 1-15 and a Hartke 1400 in our rehearsal space. I got plenty of growl and still had enough for what accents or hammers I did.

I always felt that the amp pretty versatile considering the wide range I was putting it through...but I felt that the strings and model of bass made more impact on the sound than the amp itself. Although, I know you could intentionally color your sound by use of the 4 tone/EQ and the Enhance feature if you wanted to.

There was no hum or hiss from either the bass, the amp head or the speaker. I was satisfied with the low end reproduction and the crisp mids and highs.

I never clipped or overdrove the amp...but I was cautious and would not push it to distortion. I play without pedals or other effects so I was usually running clean.

As I indicated, I bought two in 2004. They are not my primary gig amps but they have never given me any trouble. I would not want to gig with this amp unless it was a very small room or the genre was appropriate for this amount of power.

A friend recently spoke to me about a restaurant-background music gig and asked if I had a small rig I could use. The first thing I thought of was the Hartke 1400 and my 2-10 could both earn their keep...unfortunately it appears that deal fell through. (sigh)

Had that project worked out, I would not take a back up or spare amp. I would have carried a SABDDI for a crisis, but otherwise, I would trust the Hartke to carry on.

At $99 new...and now 2 years late, and I own two...I would not try to repair it unless it was something simple like a broken AC jack or perhaps the plastic 1/4 input that was mentioned before. If it was the PC or output transformer...I would just keep it for spare parts for the remaining unit.

I played from 1964 to 1972, lots of stories that don't belong here...took a break for a career and family...did not even touch a guitar...and started back around 1998. I finally got back into a band in the summer of 2000. Retired from work in 2001 and keep busy playing in various projects and bands since.

If it were lost, I would be mad at myself (or whoever caused it to be lost). If it were stolen...well, on general principal, I would hunt the dirty so and so down and pull his finger nails out with pliers. But since I already have a second Hartke 1400 I would not buy another.

I really like the simplicity and size. It has pretty decent sound quality as well. I wish it had more power.

I did not buy it in person, I ordered it online. I read enough reviews to know what I was getting. I bought it because I wanted a home practice amp and the price for the Hartke 1400 was a bargain.

My overall rating is based on size, simplicity, weight, price, sound quality...if it had 20% more power, I would be giving it a 10.

Mine is a 2004 head. It has active and passive inputs, which is OK. It has 4 EQ bands, which is really *all* that anyone ever needs, as well as effects send & return. The "Enhance" switch gives it a warmer sound, more like a tube head - which is the goal, according to the owner's manual.

This amp is light and easy to transport - and the power is just right for small venues, especially with a single 12" or 15" speaker. I use it with a single Avatar 12" cab (8-ohm Eminence speaker) and it works well. The cab can take a lot more power then the Hartke can provide, but that's OK.

I've occasionally caught the speaker making a "farting" sound, and I think that on those occasions, I've found that raising the volume slightly and playing with a lighter touch works well.

I play classic style rock and surf, and it's a good match for that style. This amp isn't meant for metal or anything where you're trying to make your audience's ears bleed. Use it to generate moderate volumes in small to medium rooms and you'll be just fine.

The amp sounds very clean - no hum or hiss. Haven't ever made it distort, but that's not my bass sound. I can use pedals if I ever want to get creative.

Not a whole lot of variety here - just clean sound, with the EQ available and the Enhance switch in or out. But instead of obsessing about wanking with EQ controls, I just set them and play. More people should do the same. I'll give it 7 because it's can't produce 30 sounds, but it's not designed to.

It's a good, solid unit. I read the review in which another user complained about the plastic jacks, but I don't recall that he had any problem with them. I've never had any malfunction or problem - and no loose or broken jacks.

If you're morally offended by plastic jacks, by all means, go out and buy some and install them. I find these to be very serviceable. Don't mistreat your equipment and you should be OK.

I've had no reason to contact Hartke for service, as this head has never missed a beat.

No experience - no problems.

I bought this on a close-out special from Musicians' Friend. I believe this head is only available in a combo amp now, and I wouldn't mid having this in a combo with a single 15. That would be a nice, portable unit.

I really like the portability of this unit - put it in one hand, the 12" Avatar cab in the other, and I can carry it anywhere I want to without feeling like a packhorse. If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably get another amp like this one (maybe upgrade to a bit more wattage), as it's in a sweet spot for power and portability.

I bought this because it was a nice light amp that came with free strings and tuner (good tuner!), but it turned out to be a real keeper. I'll be holding on to this amp.

Bought new in 2004. Basic controls , volume, 4 band eq, compression switch, contour switch,effects loops and headphone jack.

I run a G&L Tribute 200 through a Hartke Attack pedal into this head. For cabinets there is a Fender BXR15 and a HArtke 210TP. I get a very tight and thumping sound from this rig, I played an outdoor gig this weekend , about 100 people, not exactly woodstock, but it handled teh situation well. I di into the mains and ran the stage volume from the amp. I have a loud drummer , two guitars and a heavey classic rock style.Without the Attack Pedal the sound is not as great, still a good bass sound but the effect makes a big differencec.

First one I got had a buzzinf souind, only had this one a few weeeks so we will see

Never called tme

A great head for teh money,

This Head is as simple as they come. All solid state. I bought this amp new for $599 Canadian. It's very small and light, and slimlined.
The amp has a 4 band EQ, Low LowMid Mid and High. It has a preset contour button, and a preset compressor built in.

It has a headphone jack, and a effects loop. The head was rated for 140watts at 8 ohms. It does not like a 4ohm cab, get's quite hot, and has only ever shut down on me once.

I use stock bass pickups from yamaha, and it's direct in... the Cab that I have plugged in handles my low B string nicely, but lacks the ability to crank out that porn style high end twang.

This amp to what I can see only has on major flaw. in that, the effects loop and the input ans speaker out jacks are made entirely of plastic. I have recently changed all ming to a more rugged style jacks throughout the entire amp.

Never had to get ahold of hartke..

I have owend this amp for about 3 years and it has done me well.. but it is a bottom of the line harke head.. that packs a basic pro sound to it,, with lots of bottom end in the EQ