Hartke HD150 Bass Combo

I can’t say enough good things about this bass amp. I wish I could give it six stars.Unless you plan on playing arenas and other large open, dead or empty spaces, the Hartke HD25 might be your first and last bass amp purchase.The HD25 excels at delivering high-quality, crystal-clear, undistorted tone, but what I did not expect is the beauty and warmth of the sound. I usually play my baritone guitar through my Fender Mustang GTX50 modeling amp (which has bass options) for a mix, but for solo melodic instrumentation and practice I think the HD25 outperforms any simulated amp or cab in the Mustang. No amount of compression, reverb or overdrive can beat that pure sonic excellence. It even sounds good with a regular electric guitar.No video included, because you can’t hear THAT through a smartphone’s tiny speaker or earbuds.This amp delivers beautifully even at bedroom volume, so it would serve well as an open-air practice amp for people in apartments or who have housemates who work from home. But if you’re thinking low watts means no clout, you’re wrong! The HD25 gets favorable reviews with its 25 watts even compared to the Fender Rumble 40 watt amp.I am a solid Fender/Squier guy when it comes to guitars, so this was a big break from my usual preferences, but I’m glad I did my research. Until this one breaks, I will never need to buy another bass amp in my life.

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 used the amp during a church band practice where everyone else was plugged into the PA system through the board and i was not. With all the other instruments and vocals filling the soundscape at a decent volume, the worship leader/lead singer asked me to turn it down a bit and he was twenty feet away. That is the best thing I can say about this amp. In addition to that, i play a 5 string and i expected i would loose clarity as i tried to compete with the vocals and other instruments while playing the B string. Surprisingly, even at higher volumes it maintained punch and clarity. I know i was pushing it's capabilities and i would not have been able to go much higher, but i am impressed that it did as well as it did. And it's weight i thought was not too heavy for what it is and does. Very good practice amp at an excellent price.

This small combo sounds great for what it is. If it were a 2x10 you'd say oh well pretty good sounding combo. But it's a 1x10. You can practice easily with a couple of loud guitar players, if you add drums maybe pushing it. The headphones sound great for silent practice and the 1/8th aux. input sounds fine with or without headphones. Audiophile playback no. Do you really expect it to sound like a big rig? No you just wouldn't. It gets awfully close though. So buy yourself one. Even the HD25 sounds good. I'd say for practice only on that one though. You could gig small venues with this though. Just mike it with a really good mike and use this for your personal monitor. Boy low wattage practice amps have come a long way. Thanks Larry Hartke for an easy to carry practice and light playing out. Oh I have been playing many years and have owned most everything out there. Played for thousands and played for 10. So I kinda know what works. This works. For small stuff.

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 wanted a budget/small amp to mess around with as I'm learning bass after playing guitar for years. I had relatively low expectations, but I'm blown away with the sound I'm getting out of this thing. Best part: not needing to spend forever messing around with settings to get great tones.Definitely prefer the tones out of this to the similar Fender amps for the kind of music I play, it sounds more "modern" with my bass (active pickups on it). I have no intention of gigging, but this could do a fine job of deafening me in my house.