Overall User Ratings

"I wish I'd bought one of these a long time ago!"

Feature:
It's simple and basic - no bells, whistles, or silly stuff. That's what has made it a classic.

Quality:
It certainly appears to be well put-together. Esthetically, I'm not the biggest fan of carpet coverings, but that's what everyone uses now, and it's not a quality issue.

Value:
For sound, portability, and versatility, there's nothing close to it in its price range.

Sound:
The SOUND was what hooked me! The aluminum speaker was a real eye-opener. The bottom end sounds smooth and endless, like an early 60s B-15 with a JBL D-140 in it. The top end is brilliant and clear, like a good studio monitor. All with a single 12, no horn or tweeter! I'd seen a lot of people using these speaker, and now I know why. The back-ported cabinet has a very large presence onstage, even at low volumes. You can hear it almost as well from the sides and back as you can in front of it, which helps the whole band stay in the pocket.

Ease of Use:
Stellar, intuitive tone shaping! I had my sound in about 8 seconds. Larry Hartke is a bass player himself, and he hangs around with a lot of bass players. It shows in the simple, elegant circuitry. The manual has helpful suggestions for getting the most out of the tone controls.

Support:
Never needed any service, so to me that constitutes GREATt service.

Overall:
What I wish I'd known before I bought it was how much I was going to like it! I'd have bought one a lot sooner! I have a larger rig for big venues, and a smaller one for acoustic gigs. If I had to only have one amp, the Kickback 12 would be the one I'd keep because it can cover just about everything.

"The Marshall of Bass Amplification has been found!"

This reviewer purchased this item from Same Day Music.

Feature:
The 3 band equalizer is mire efficient than most other systems that I've listed above too. If you want specific tone, you can get to it very very easily. It doesn't feel like you 'lose' anything off the high-end if you turn up the bass on the EQ, and vise versa. But this is only PART of the beautiful sounds that you hear from the 12-inch aluminum cone. The Shape control. When you first sit down and mess with the "Shape" feature, you're in a totally different world. It can change your sound from funky slap bass, to a perfect deep bellow for bass walks in ska.

Quality:
The quality was one of the things that lead me to buying. It's rock solid and can recieve some serious abuse, perfect for gigging at local venues or miles away from home. You never need to worry about a back-up amp with Hartke's, it's definitely road-worthy. I personally like carpet coverings moreso than other textures, even though cleaning can sometimes be bothersome. But that's when you buy a 99 cent lint roller at Wal-mart, right?

Value:
When you saw the price did you gasp? Did you think to yourself "I can go get a Line-6 even cheaper!" Once you play through this ampflifier, and look back at the price you'll be saying "This could easily be worth twice as much as what I payed for it, I got a great deal." Indeed, you're getting ALOT for your money.

Desirability:
I play anything from Ska to Classic Rock, Swing to Punk, Funk to New-wave, and when listening to any style of music you get the sense that this amp will fit perfectly. There's just something right about that feeling, listening to a song and looking at this masterpiece thinking "I could see myself getting that sound too..." If you lost this amp in some tragic accident, you wouldn't want this amp back, you'd NEED it back. Get it.

Sound:
I first got hoooked on this amp in Jazz Band my Freshman year of Highschool, I played guitar in band back then. But over the course of that year, I fell in love with the bass guitar, and subsequently, the amp that was paired with it. I've been around looking for differen't amps to top this, the Behringer 12 combo with the same slant-back cab, a Line-6, Ampeq, etc... but nothing could top this beauty, not even close. I play bass in band now, and plan on it for my remaining years of schooling.

Ease of Use:
It's fairly straight forward, and you don't expect to get the results you want by doing something so simple, but you do. You can literally get the tone that you want withing 10 seconds. It's perfect for making quick adjustments between songs during a show, or practicing at home. Easy is good.

Support:
I've never needed any support from Hartke. Making a product so high in quality, and so durable, constitutes great service for me.

Overall:
It's safe to say that I'm going to be using this as my main bass setup for a very very long time. I have a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass, with flats on, and this amp- that's all I'll ever need. I buy pretty high-quality gear when It comes to my true love of music, Les Paul, SG, Marshall Amp heads, Fender Jazz Bass, but this piece- this Hartke, just seems to be perfect. It has me wondering why Hartke isn't more popular, the Marshall of bass amplification? Possibly.

"Hartke kickback 12"

Feature:
It's got an extra 60W output on it, so you can hook up another speaker and get a more full sound out of it, and you can change the shape of the sound. It's also got a 3band equalizer on it, but i think most amps come with something like that..

Quality:
its never given me a problem yet

Value:
good value

Desirability:
if you need a great practice amp or monitor, this is it

Sound:
This thing makes an excellent practice amp, and if you want to use it for shows, it makes a good monitor too.

Support:
couldnt say, ive never had to contact the company