9
Setting Up and Using Your Hartke Hydrive
Combo Bass Amplifier
Setting up your Hartke Hydrive Combo Bass Amplifier is a
simple procedure which takes only a few minutes:
1. Remove all packing materials (save them in case of need
for future service) and decide where the amplifier is to be
physically placed. You may decide to use the “kickback” posi-
tion for additional directionality and high frequency clarity.
To avoid potential overheating problems, make sure that the
rear panel is unobstructed and that there is good ventilation
around the entire unit.
2. Before you plug-in the power cable, be sure the Power
switch is in the off position. Connect the supplied power cable
to the AC inlet located on the rear panel. Then, plug-in the
3-pin AC plug into any grounded AC socket. Don’t turn the
Hydrive Combos on just yet, though.
3. Use a standard instrument cable to connect your bass to
the Input jack located on the Hydrive front panel. The Hydrive
combo’s Input has been designed to handle a wide range of
input signals. So, If your bass has passive electronics (that is, if
it has no battery), or if your bass has active electronics (that is,
if it has a battery), you’ll achieve a clean signal level.
4. On the front panel of the Hydrive Combos, turn the Level
and Compression control to their minimum (fully counter-
clockwise) position. Set the Bass, Treble and all seven graphic
EQ sliders to their “0” position.
5. Make sure the Bass Attack Overdrive ON switch is NOT
engaged. That is, the light is off. We’ll come back to the Bass
Attack Overdrive in a separate section later in this manual.
For more information, see the section Using the Bass Attack
Overdrive on page 13.
6. Press the front panel Power switch in order to turn on your
Hydrive combo amp; the LED in the switch will light up.
7. Set the output of your bass to maximum and then, while
playing, slowly turn the Hydrive Combos Level control up
until the desired volume is achieved. It’s nearly impossible to
overload the Hydrive combo amplifier, so if you hear distor-
tion even at low Level settings, check for a faulty cable (if it’s
good, simply back off the output of your bass).