Hartke History

Hartke Systems is a brand of electronics best known for their bass guitar amplifiers and cabinets. They do, however, also produce guitar amplifiers, effects pedals, strings, and other accessories.

Hartke introduced aluminum speaker cones into the world of bass amplification, which were a favourite of Jaco Pastorius among others. Aluminum coned speakers were a favourite of many 1980s hair metal bands for their clear high frequencies. Some critics say the aluminum cones make the high end sound brittle but all Hartke amplifiers have at least one form of equalizer in the preamp and Hartke also offers cabinets with traditional paper cone drivers.

All Hartke products are exclusively distributed world-wide by the Samson.