New Stingray

[LeftyLB]

Mobay,

The mirror image of mine, which gets played through my Kickback 12".

It will be interesting to see if your Kickback mysteriously starts giving you problems in the next few weeks - I sincerely hope not!, but that is what I found - hope it was merely a coincidence with me and not the SR.

Liam

 

[midopa]

Probably will. I play through a Kickback 15 at church and the darn thing decided to die on me two weeks ago. We had to take it to a shop to get it fixed.

 

[Mobay45]

What kind of problems did you start having? I've had my Kickback 15 for over 4 years without any problems at all. In fact, I think the 'Ray sounds head and shoulders above the P-bass through it.

 

[LeftyLB]

What kind of problems did you start having? I've had my Kickback 15 for over 4 years without any problems at all. In fact, I think the 'Ray sounds head and shoulders above the P-bass through it.

As I said, it oculd be a coincidence, but it seems that it is only since I have been playing my Ray through it has the Kickback started giving me problems.

The first time I thought the speaker had blown and sent it back for repairs and apparently it was only the "dust cover" on the speaker - what ever a dust cover is????

The second time the jack socket had to be replaced.

The third time, I had to have the speaker reconed because it was damaged.

Perhaps it has nothing to do with the Ray, but I have this little niggling doubt that the power of the Ray is just too much for the Kickback to handle - I don't constantly crank it by any means.

Good luck!

Liam

 

[LeftyLB]

Not that I am "kicking" the Kickback, but I have also had the Kickback start cutting out because the power lead has vibrated out of the socket, so that the amp switches off and I have to fumble around mid song pushing it back in - and that is not even when the amp is in the "kickbacked" position, as I daren't use it in that position because of the increased risk of the power lead falling out!

Liam

 

[mike jewels]

The first time I thought the speaker had blown and sent it back for repairs and apparently it was only the "dust cover" on the speaker - what ever a dust cover is????

Liam

I think your tech at Hartke was referring to the dust cap, which covers the voice coil. At least that's what I think it is.

Mike

 

[LeftyLB]

I think your tech at Hartke was referring to the dust cap, which covers the voice coil. At least that's what I think it is.


Mike, you could be right! I am not that techie!

That makes sense because when the speaker went the second time I took it to a local repairer first and asked him if it was the dust cover, he said "there isn't one!"

It is such a shame because the sound out of the Kickback 12 is pretty awesome for such a small amp.

I was considering upgrading again to a Hartke 3500 head and a non-Hartke, non-aluminium cone cabinet, but I now have started to hear horror stories about the reliability of the Hartke 3500 head. The 3500 head has been in the market since 1991, so surely they must have sorted out all the problems with it by now.

I don't have much spare cash for new equipement so I don't want to pay £600-£700 for a new rig and then one month out of the warranty have to tell the wife that I need to blow another £100-£200 on repairs already.

Problems, problems problems!!!

Liam

 

[bovinehost]

I don't have much experience with combo amps, but I recently picked up a 50 watt Ampeg combo, the B-50R, and that little sucker sounds great. It won't do a medium sized room with drums and loud guitars, but wow, for at home use, it KILLS.

I had a Hartke 2115 a few years back and it was a decent amp, but I didn't use it much either, so.....

Try the Ampegs if you're going to use a combo.

 

[LeftyLB]

I don't have much experience with combo amps, but I recently picked up a 50 watt Ampeg combo, the B-50R, and that little sucker sounds great. It won't do a medium sized room with drums and loud guitars, but wow, for at home use, it KILLS.

I had a Hartke 2115 a few years back and it was a decent amp, but I didn't use it much either, so.....

Try the Ampegs if you're going to use a combo.

Bovine, I was specifically going to mention the costs of the real "top shelf" gear, but the post was getting long enough.

The US bass amps cost a fortune in the UK and I am not the kind of person who will risk buying second hand gear so Mesa, Ampeg, SWR, David Eden, would love it - but just can't afford that kind of money.

I need about 300watts to have the head room on certain gigs where the stage sound is very loud because the bass is always feed into the main 2k PA at every gig.

I always feel the Kickback is being pushed too much when I see the cone moving like a Turkish belly dancer.

Liam

 

[Mobay45]

Now that I've had the Hartke Kickback 15 for a while, I wouldn't buy another one, even for a practice/small gig amp. I've heard so many good things about Ashdown that I would be tempted to check them out. I still like my 3500, even though it died on me once. I think I could have prevented that if I had used a power conditioner on it from the get go. Personally, I like the aluminum cone speakers. I like that unique sound that you get from them. But I'm sure that when the time to change rigs comes again, as it always does, I will probably go with something else.

I did buy a Behringer BX300 about 3 weeks ago. I like that fact that I can plug in the bass, a cd player and headphones. I use it for learning covers. I don't even use the speaker at all.

Everyone here seems to be high on the Ashdowns. Can't change for a while though, I need to get the 'Ray paid for first.

 

[Moondog]

I sold my Hartle 4.5XL & gave away my 3500 several years ago b/c of recurring problems w/the amp. I now use a s-redhead at home & would recommend it for small to medium size gigs w/pa. If you don't mind used, you can pick one up in the $600-800 range.

 

[dlloyd]

Bovine, I was specifically going to mention the costs of the real "top shelf" gear, but the post was getting long enough.

The US bass amps cost a fortune in the UK and I am not the kind of person who will risk buying second hand gear so Mesa, Ampeg, SWR, David Eden, would love it - but just can't afford that kind of money.

I need about 300watts to have the head room on certain gigs where the stage sound is very loud because the bass is always feed into the main 2k PA at every gig.

I always feel the Kickback is being pushed too much when I see the cone moving like a Turkish belly dancer.

Liam

Have you tried Ashdown amps?

If it's a 300W combo you're after, you can get one of the ABM series amps with 1x15" or 2x10" for £669 or £789 (respectively) from Sounds Live. Seriously nice amps.

www.gmaudio.co.uk sometimes have Trace Elliot gear for sale (not at the moment) and since they're (IIRC) the old techs for Trace you won't be risking much.