Kickback KB12 / Kickback KB15 Bass Guitar Combos Owner's Manual
Important Safety Information ATTENTION RISQUE DE CHOC ÉLECTRONIQUE NE PAS OUVRIR WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK) AS THERE ARE NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.
Important Safety Information 1. Read these instructions. 2. Keep these instructions. 3. Heed all warnings. 4. Follow all instructions. 5. Do not use this apparatus near water. 6. Clean only with dry cloth. 7. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. 8. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat. 9.
Introduction Thank you for purchasing the Hydrive Kickback KB12 or Kickback KB15 Bass Combo from Hartke! We know you don’t like reading owners manuals, but you’ve just purchased one of the finest bass combos around, and we want to tell you about it. So, before you plug in and start playing, we’d like to suggest you take just a few moments to scan these pages. The Kickback Series Combos feature a 500 watt, high-efficiency class-D amplifier.
Features The Hartke Kickback Series offers all the state-of-the-art speaker technology as well as robust amplification in an extremely compact size and affordable price. Here are some of its main features: • • Earth shaking 500 Watt amplifier • • • KB12: 12” Hydrive bass speaker • 3-band equalizer offers a broad range of tonal colors for your instrument. • Shape control circuit continuously sweeps a preset EQ curve through a wide frequency range.
Front Panel Controls 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. INPUT - Connect your bass guitar here using a standard ¼” unbalanced instrument cable. 2. VOLUME Control - This is the overall volume control. For best signal-to-noise ratio, keep the output of your bass at or near maximum and adjust the VOLUME to the desired level. 3. SHAPE switch - When pressed it activates a special equalization curve that is designed to enhance the sound of your bass instrument. When out, Shape is inactive. 4.
Rear Panel Controls 1 2 CAUTION 3 ATTENTION 4 1. AC Inlet - Attach the grounded AC power cord here to connect your amplifier to mains power. This cord comes supplied with the appropriate plug for your geographic area. CAUTION: Do not use an adapter to defeat the third grounding pin on this plug or severe electric shock may result! 2. Fuse Holder - The fuse holder comes from the factory with the appropriately rated fuse for your model.
Quick Start Setting up your Hartke Kickback Series Combo Bass Amplifier is a simple procedure which takes only a few minutes: 1. Remove all packing materials and decide where the amplifier is to be physically placed. 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. 3.
Using Equalization The Hartke Kickback Series Bass Amplifier gives you control over shaping the sound of your bass, using a process called equalization. To understand how this works, it’s important to know that every naturally occurring sound consists of a broad range of pitches, or frequencies, combined together in a unique way. This blend is what gives every sound its distinctive tonal color.
The Shape Control The Kickback’s unique Shape control enables the sound of your bass instrument to be enhanced at the touch of a button. When the front panel Shape switch is pressed in, a special equalization curve is activated that is designed to enhance the sound of most electric bass instruments. This curve provides moderate boost at certain frequency areas and deep attenuation at other frequency areas. Furthermore, the Shape control adds a filter to a selected frequency area within the Shape curve.
Specifications Rated Output Power 500 watts Peak / 250 watts RMS Rated Input Level 77.46mv rms (@1kHz) Total Harmonic Distortion 0.54% (@1dB below rated output, 1kHz typical) Signal To Noise Ratio 1W/49.3dBu (1Wrms @1kHz) Signal Gain Speaker Output 37.1Vrms Signal Gain to Direct Out 4.2Vrms Equalizer Center Frequency Bass Midrange Treble 70Hz 700Hz 5kHz Shape Control 100Hz - 900Hz Fuse Rating 220V-240V:T1.5AL AC250V 100V-120V:T800mAL AC250V Weight KB12: 28.2lb 12.8kg KB15: 35.6lb 16.
45 Gilpin Avenue Hauppauge, New York 11788-8816 Phone: 1-800-3-SAMSON (1-800-372-6766) Fax: 631-784-2201 www.hartke.
