Hartke Kickback 12 120-watt Combo Amp

A great value - the best "under $ 500" amp I have found. A very high quality USA Made product!!!

Features: The tone "shape" feature is what sold me - really nice tonal adjustments can be made with this knob. Seems to vary the "attack" of the notes being played when you adjust this control. My hat's off to the Hartke engineers for this little trick! I also love the "direct out" feature: I run direct out of the XLR into a sound board (I play weekly in a mid size hall) and this allows me to adjust stage volume without affecting the house sound level.

Sound: It won't blow windows out, but it sure gets the job done for a small venue. It's a small-medium size amp for a small-medium size gig. I haven't had the need to turn it up past 75% but it could probably max out and still sound clean. The tone is superb - makes a cheap bass sound good, a good bass sound great and a great bass sound fantastic!! (I own one of each)

Durability: I worry about whacking the knobs while moving from home to gigs and back, so I use a narrow strip of plastic, attached by velcro, to cover the knobs to protect them from being knocked off/broken.

I played through one of these at a studio recently, and it cooks for a small amp.

This amp for the price is great its every thing you need and nothing you dont. I would replace this amp in a heartbeat if stolen. I looked at crates peavys and fender amps when buying this amp while this amp does not have as many bells and whistles as some of those other amps, but it does have something that those amps should have great clear bass sound! if you want those bells and whistles effect pedals do those functions better

Features: This amp is a 120 Watt amp combo that powers a aluminum 12 inch driver. It features solid state electronics with standard equalizer and volume knobs. It also has a cool tone shaper mode that allows you to tune out certain frequencys. The amp also has one imput jack a head phone jack and a mic out jack that allows this unit to be fed directly into a mixing board or P.A . The amp also allows you to disconect the speaker in the back via a stero jack that easly unplugs. This amp can also be kicked back on to is angled back to create a stage monitor.

Sound: This amp sounds great with my fender deluxe bass it creates deep lows and also can capture high end sound and still be punchy. This amp is great for many styles and provides adequate power and sound for recording or small gigs. It remains clear even at high volumes and does not distort easy.

Durability: This amp was made for durability! The box is made of thick heavy duty particle board that is covered with speaker box carpet. The edges are covered with heavy duty rubberized plastic skidguards. The speaker is protected by a heavy gage metal screen that looks as if it could take a beating. I mentioned above that the woofer was alumminum which can take much more of a beating then wood fiber woofers can. Hartke builds these amps this way for a reason compare this construction to some of those other amps that have plastic enclosures with fabric speaker guards and ask your self which one looks like it could handle faling out of a window.

IMHO this is the best amp I have yet played with...the rest of the band are also very impressed with the quality of the sound as well as its compactness...I would be really ticked off it was stolen and would definitely buy another. I like everything about this amp and can think of nothing that could be improved....so...if you haven't got the message yet....go and get one - you will not be disappointed!

Features: This is a simple to operate (just my level!), single input, powerful little combo. With EQ and switchable sound shaper, effects loop and DI out it has got to be the most versatile bass amp in a bijou package - Wonderful! And, with 120W of Hi-fidelity, kicking output it really punches through a live gig. I have replaced a 600W Carvin with this (and I thought that was good), but what really wins it for me is...it is half the size and weight of the Carvin!

Sound: I use a Guild Starfire semi-acoustic and my trusty Carvin AC-40 (also semi-acoustic but with piezo undersaddle pickup). The band is a 7 piece Rock N Roll showband - with some Blues thrown in for good measure and this amp really holds it own...in fact the drummer keeps telling me to turn it down :) I cannot fault this box of tricks...simple to operate..lightweight, but enormous capability...love it!

Durability: Very reliable so far, runs fairly cool is very strongly built and literally can be kicked back without too much trouble !

I love this amp!!! It sounds great, is very easy to use and I love the kickback feature. I would definitely replace this if it were lost or stolen - no question about it. I chose this one over the others I mentioned due to its sound and the fact that it kicks-back. If I had to make a suggestion as to how to improve it, I would say to add an effects loop. I would recommend that anyone who is looking for a $400-500 comnbo amp to try this before purchasing something else. I think you will like it!

Features: The features on this amp are pretty simple: The band EQ, volume, headphones and a "shape" control, which is essentially a filter knob. Although the features of this amp are simple, it is very easy to get a great sounds from this. This is the kickback model as its name implies, so the amp can rest on its back like a monitor - pretty nice. The speaker has the aluminum cone. I have to give this a 4 for its features because it does not have as many features as other amps in this price range, such as an effects loop. However, I love the simplicity of this amp.

Sound: I play a Fender Deluxe Jazz (Mexican) through this and it sounds great - very punchy. I play primarily classic rock but it would work well for a variety of other types of music. It can get very loud too. Before buying this I played the Fender Bassman, Peavey Basic 112 (not my thing), the Ampeg BA115, and the SWR WM 12. They all sounded nice, except for the Peavey but to me the Hartke with the Jazz sounded very smooth. Also, the Hartke to me seemed to have a lot more balls.

Durability: I have only had this amp for a couple of months but it seems well built to me.

I looked at a Crate BX-50 and then played this, I never went back to Crate. This amp is excellent, powerful low end for jazz or metal and great high too. Its just solid all around.

Features: Of course it had the usual 3 band EQ but with a cool Shape switch and shape knob to adjust frequency is really cool. I use it for jam sessions and to play at home, this thing just kicks ass!

Sound: I use a cheap crappy Silvertone bass with this amp, and even it sounds good on this! I plan to get the John Myung Yamaha next so I am sure it can handle the B string. I play Heavy/Speed Metal and this amp works great, very clear low end and great high end, makes the P-pickups on my POS bass sound great!

Durability: Its really sturdy, a little heavy, but overall it defenitly can take a bump or too, strong steel grate and body protects the 12" aluminum cone speaker.

This is a great, portable combo. Powerful enough to stand on its own for smaller venues (church gig, coffee house, etc.). A side-by-side with my (former) SWR Workingman's 10 was all I needed to see what I was missing.

Features: 12" aluminum-cone woofer in a ported, angled cabinet that allows the amp to be positioned upright or tilt-back for more projection. Volume, low, mid & high and a mid-range "shape" control. Passive and active inputs, effects loop, headphone out and balanced, XLR direct-out. 120 watts into 8ohms. 19"(H) X 15.5"(W) X 16"(D), 42 lbs.

Sound: Bass you can feel. I was amazed and the fullness of the sound produced by this relatively small combo. The Hartke has great tone and it moves alot of air - the cabinet design is terrific. It is all at once punchy and tight with both clarity and great bottom.

Durability: I just picked this one up, but from the looks of it I expect this amp to be very durable. Reinforced corners and a steel mesh front grill.