Hartke LH-500

I use this amp for extreme metal - black metal, thrash, and doom. I've used this for a few months now, playing a lot of gigs, and have lent the amp out to quite a few friends. It has taken all these tasks on and performed admirably.

The build quality of the amp is great. It's a nice solid body, all the input jacks are nice solid metal, and the switches don't rattle around or get loose. One minor complaint is that the knobs don't feel massively solid, but keeping the amp in a flight case negates this problem. I've never actually used the handles (due to the aforementioned flightcase), but they are solid enough that I would completely trust them.

The sound of the amp is great. There isn't a separate gain control, so the sound is very clean, but I happen to like this. It takes pedals with ease as well, so distortion isn't a problem if needed. The outputs are really easy to use, the manual explains everything one needs to know clearly and simply. Running at 8 ohms through a 4x10, the amp sounds great. Running the full 500 watts through a 4 ohm Ampeg 8x10 is amazing.

The amp is plenty loud enough for just about any situation. Despite being 500 watts and solid state, I've found that it is loud enough to match, and even overpower full band setups - certainly, in my power trios, I am constantly having to turn it down - I've never taken it beyond 7 at a gig. In full bands that I've lent the amp to, it's perfectly capable of matching two 100 watt tube guitar heads.

Overall, this amp is an absolute steal for the money. If mine gets broken or stolen, I would not hesitate to get another one straight away.

Great amp. I upgraded from an old harley benton amp to this one along with a Hartke VX410 and a Hartke 115 B XL. Okay the two amps are obviously uncomparable. So about the Hartke:
Great and versatile sound with simple equilizer controls. You can adjust your sound to any kind of taste and music easily and fast. It is actually really hard to not like the sound this amp makes. One downside is that it is kinda heavy and transportation would be a problem. Other than that the quality looks great and the price is affordable. All in all the Hartke LH-500 is a great semi-proffesional amp and i would recommend it to every kind of bass player.

I recently joined a death metal band, and i needed something that would deliver a really big and heavy bass sound, and also a really loud amp since the boys in the band tend to get really loud. So i looked around for quite a while, i looked at combos, i looked at different types of stacks, i really searched high and low.

Eventually i settled on this amp and it really suits me perfectly, it is a workhorse of an amp, the build quality is really top notch, and the sound of this amp is fantastic! you can get a really wide variety of sounds with this amp, and you can play pretty much any genre with it. The interface is very straight forward and easy to use. All in all it is a fantastic amplifier.

Would absolutely recommend it for anyone looking for a real workhorse gigging amp!

This is a no frills, straight to the point, plug and play, built like a brick bass heads.

I bought this as I couldn't afford an ampeg but wanted something that delivered the same classic rock tone. I play this head through a 4x10 ashdown cab using a Fender Jazz bass.

I was really impressed with the tone and compared to an ampeg I think its close but not quite there. The bottom end is great (huge even), theres no signs of it struggling however where this head falls short in comparison is in the higher frequencies. Not that it struggles it just doesn't quite give you that 'jingle jangle' high end pop punk sound I was after. However team it with a Sansamp and this thing comes alive!

If your looking for a blues/pop super smooth sound this head can deliver everyday, but if your looking for something with a bit of edge and twang make sure you have a sanamp (or similar) at the ready.

I was looking for a cheapish backup amp, with enough power to do larger venues without PA support, and the LH500 more than fits the bill.
Simple EQ (bass/mid/treble) gets a pleasing tone very quickly.
This amp is clean - you won't get any valve "grind" from it - but if you're looking for a lovely clean, warm, fat sound then the 12AX7 tube preamp certainly delivers. Matched with a 500W output stage, this is one very loud beast.
This isn't a lightweight, but the build quality seems very good. Given it's price, this must be one of the best bass head bargains out there at the moment.

I have had this for about six years now, so it has been well tested.

I am still using this amp head, but just after the warranty ran out I had major problems with it. The sound started to cut out and come on again randomly, once at a gig which had me running around trying to get an amp off another bass player. Not good.

After investigating it I discovered it was the thermal overheat protection which was faulty, so I bypassed it with an extra switch and it has worked ever since only of course under a watchful eye [and nose].

It is also much noisier than when I bought it. I did find an post online by someone who said parts of the circuit were wired wrongly and I believe him. He said he contacted hartke but they didn't seem to care enough to do anything about it.

My advice is DON'T BUY it's a waste of money

Très bon son, rien à redire en général, sauf quand il y a des soucis technique. J'ai du le renvoyer 2 fois d'affilée sur le même mois pour ravoir une tête d'ampli qui fonctionnait correctement.

La première fois, le SAV était nickel, en 1 semaine c'était renvoyé et reçu, avec détail de ce qu'ils avaient fait.

2eme fois, SAV qui promet un entretient avec un technicien pour décider ce qu'on allait faire concernant cet ampli, j'attends toujours l'entretient. Ils m'ont renvoyé l'ampli et maintenant il fonctionne, mais aucune idée de ce qu'ils ont fait dessus.

Sinon, en dehors de ça, très bonne tête, pour répète ou concert, sans problème, même pour les grandes salles de concerts