At 50 watts, the Hartke HD50 has enough juice for use in small venues and rehearsal spaces. Yet it can be soft enough for use in your bedroom, and can be used for quiet practice via its headphones output.
Feature wise, this amp is straightforward, with 3-band EQ and a volume knob for adjustment. But what sets it apart is how it reproduces Hartke’s characteristic “zing” in lower volumes, this is thanks to its HyDrive speaker, which combines paper around the outside and aluminum in the middle of the speaker.
Features
- 50-Watts
- 10” Speaker
- Controls: Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble
- AUX-In and Headphone-Out
Pros
Clean and powerful are two adjectives that sums up how most users describe the sound of the Hartke HD50. Even Jonathan Herrera of Bass Player Magazine described is as having “a strong sound that punches beyond its weight class”. Build quality also gets a lot of thumbs up.
Cons
There are few who report buzzing sound when driving the amp. Also note that this is another one trick pony bass amp – which seem to be popular in this price range, not much in terms of effects and sound shaping to play with.
Overall
The Hartke HD50 is a bass amp that can go from your bedroom to rehearsal, to small venue gigs, highly recommended for those who want an all-around portable bass amp.
Although this was previously on our recommended list, there are now more highly rated options available which you can see in our guide to The Best Bass Amps Under $500.
