Hartke
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Hartke Systems is a brand of electronics best known for their bass guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets. They also produce amplifiers and speakers for electric guitar, keyboard, acoustic guitar, as well as effects pedals, strings and other accessories.
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[edit] Design features
Hartke revolutionized the sound of electric bass when they introduced their aluminum speaker cones into the world of bass amplification. Larry Hartke learned the craft of spinning aluminum cones by hand in dies, and assembling speakers, from experince he gained working for A. Stewart Hegeman, renowned audio designer previously of Harmon Kardon. He applied that technology to stereo speakers and then to speakers for bass guitar. He started in Bloomfield, NJ, in a shop in the basement of the home he grew up in. The first Hartke bass cabinet was built for bass legend Jaco Pastorius in 1984. Hartke contacted Jaco through business partner Ron Lorman, who was a sound man for a number of big name bands, including Frank Zappa and Miles Davis, and who received producer credits on Miles' "Decoy" album. Before long Hartke was seen on almost every professional stage[citation needed]. Several well-known artists were using Hartke amplifiers and speaker cabinets, including Jack Bruce of Cream, Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, Garry Tallent of the E-Street Band, Stu Hamm of Joe Satriani, and many others.
Hartke aluminum cone speakers produce a wider frequency range , with more lows and more highs than paper cone speakers[citation needed]. Aluminum has a faster transient response than paper, producing a quicker, clearer tone[citation needed]. Their production was, however, so finicky and time-consuming that, for many years, no one could produce them except Hartke.
Hartke has been responsible for many other innovations in the music industry.[citation needed] Hartke designs are the most-copied in the industry.[citation needed] Their Kickback Combos have been widely copied by others, as has the whole Hartke look, with their distinctive metal grills that allow you to see the speakers and provide extra protection.[citation needed]
The Hartke 3500 bass amplifier is the largest-selling bass amplifier of all time.[citation needed]
[edit] Range of amplifiers and speakers
Hartke makes a wide range of amplifier and speaker models for instrument amplification, and they are distributed worldwide. Hartke's speaker products utilize both paper and aluminum cone speakers as well as a hybrid combination of aluminum and paper speakers known as "HyDrive". Hartke products are genuinely and generally considered to be among the finest quality available anywhere.[citation needed] Today Hartke is one of the largest producers of bass amplification.[citation needed]
[edit] History
Starting in 2006, company founder Larry Hartke published his personal cell phone number in his ads in bass magazines and advertisements around the world, making him the most accessible man ever in the history of the music industry.[citation needed] Larry takes calls and answers questions from players and customers seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.[citation needed]
Larry Hartke can be contacted directly on his cell: 201-680-8153; or at his MySpace page [1], where he answers all messages personally. As of 2007, Hartke could also be seen in what he calls "sitcom-merical video shorts" on his MySpace page[2], featuring Larry and his "guest star" bass-playing friends in a reality/comedy show.
All Hartke products are exclusively distributed worldwide by the Samson Technologies Corporation.
[edit] External links
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