Hartke was founded by electronics gurus Larry Hartke and Ron Lorman. Lorman was an engineer at the famous Bottom Line club in New York's Greenwich Village in the late 70s while he and Larry were tinkering with prototype aluminum cone drivers. Club regular Jaco Pastorius heard a prototype, and suggested they build him a bass cabinet. They built him an 8 x 10" that is still in production today, the 810XL.
Later, Lorman would travel the world as an engineer for artists like Frank Zappa, Paul Simon, Jack Bruce and Miles Davis. Hartke prototypes were tested on stages around the world with players like Jaco, Marcus Miller, Darryl Jones, Jack Bruce, Will Lee and Garry Tallent.
Aluminum speakers produced an all-new kind of bass tone: a clear, punchy, accurate sound with far broader dynamics than had ever been heard before.
In 1985 the first Hartke production models were built. The first cabinet was a 4 x 10" module, the 410XL. Soon after came a 1 x 15", 2 x 10" and the 810XL. All are still in production. Since then, Hartke has introduced a complete line of bass gear, and introduced the Hartke sound to a whole new generation of bass players.
