Ashdown Engineering

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1368191525' post='2074293'] They may not.... but they would have to pay for the promo seminars and workshops... so I guess it is some sort of play on the contract... Not having to pay people for your stuff sounds a nice creditable stance.... if you can carry it off... I know drummers who/were are major endorsees and they have to provide workshops etc as part of the deal... [/quote] We do not give gear to artists... We may loan the odd rig here and there when required but generally speaking if someone wants to use Ashdown and be an artist we insist they put their hand in their pocket. In fact it's only really ever young bands who need a little help that we loan gear to. Nate Mendel, Adam Clayton, Pino, Shavo, JJ etc etc have all paid for their rigs. We don't have contracts and don't expect anything in return apart from them except using the gear for as long as they want to, we would never want a player using Ashdown because he/she is paid/contracted to do so(which quite a few large brands do either in salary terms or via paid clinics) its hard these days as many company's are giving away boatloads of free gear and offering the world to people but for us as a little UK family company it means something that the player likes and wants to use the gear and isn't using it because its free/they're being paid to do so...

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1359630847' post='1957760'] As soon as I saw the new web site I thought, wow, that looks good. I appreciate you have lots to do still, which can only mean it's going to be stunning. Good work chaps. Geoff [/quote] Thanks Geoff, it's been a ton of work but we're getting there!

Hey Guys, The new website is far from complete and we will be getting far more detailed specs/information and videos up there as soon as we can. It's been a hell of a lot of work transferring info from the old site over Christmas and adding all the new gear before we flew out to Namm a couple of weeks ago. Please remember we are a small family company consisting of only 10 people in total so it is lots of late nights and all hands on deck with these kind of things, plus we have just been out at the Namm show and got back just a couple of days ago. Any feedback/comments welcome and we hope you like the new site Cheers Lee @ Ashdown

No worries

It's a rack head yes? The sleeved ABM heads have always been blue and the early ABM rack heads like yours were bare brushed steel, this then in later incarnations became the Chrome fronted ABM 500 RC... Lee

Evenin, must have missed your emails to us on this apologies! The ABM 400 is 400 watts at 4 ohms, the confusion may have been that it will put out around 250 watts at 8 ohms... Hope this helps! Lee @ Ashdown

Thanks guys, really nicely written review, thanks.

[quote name='owen4220' timestamp='1322342023' post='1449768'] I've had this for 11 years now and used it for about 11 hours! The thing is as soon as I turn it on it trips out the electric in the house. I took it to a mate's and it did the same thing. An email to Ashdown later and they say it could be the output transformer - they don't have one but could have one made - ££££ ??? Just wondering what this might normally cost and would it be worth it? It is an original 1998, pre commercialism, combo and in a way would seem a crying shame to bin it. Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts. Cheers Owen [/quote] Hey Owen, sorry to hear about your combos desire to blow up your electrics, far from ideal! Obviously it is best part of 15 years old and it's difficult to say what the issue is without seeing it but saying that I'm sure we can get it sorted for you. Have you spoken to Guy in our service dept? If not that's the best place to start, the number is 01621 856010. Do you live near a dealer that could send it back to us? Or if you fancy a day trip you're welcome to come down to the factory with it and we can try and fix it whilst you wait? Let me know and hopefully we can get this sorted for you as the ABM C110 is a great little combo. If you want to email me at any point my email is [email protected] All the best, Lee

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1317132988' post='1387144'] Fair point... [/quote] Happily build you a totally made in England MiBass but doubt on the whole people would want to pay the price difference, sadly that's what we are up against these days and to be honest after working with our china factory for 10 years now the quality of our Chinese made products is so good would you want to pay a large premium simply to have made in England on it? If you do want to buy British we still make plenty of high end totally made in Essex products and offer a total custom shop service too...

No worries Geoff, glad you are happy, enjoy!

We say 4 ohm minimum for a reason.... ;-)

Adding an extension cab will definitely give you more volume, first off you will be getting full power from the amp by dropping to 4 ohms as well as moving more air with the extra cab, most common extension cabs with the MAG combos are the compact 210 or 115 but the MAG 410 will work great just make sure its an 8ohm 410 and not the 4 ohm 414. Hope this helps.

[quote name='radansey' post='1364249' date='Sep 6 2011, 04:28 PM']This is odd. I have been emailing them with regard to my EB 180-12 for the past month and have heard nothing. I have requested access to the schematics (the VU meter is non-operational) and even registered for the latest news on the website, and to date absolutely nothing so far. Puzzled. Ross[/quote] Cheers for the comments guys - we do try to go above and beyond and it's nice to know it's appreciated ;-) Ross not sure why you haven't had a response regarding your EB12 that's very unusual, maybe caught up in our spam filter or summut... Email me and I'll get you sorted - [email protected] Cheers, Lee

[quote name='walbassist' post='1265686' date='Jun 12 2011, 02:24 AM']Can anyone provide me with the dimensions and weights of the Ashdown VS212, VS115 and LB212 cabs? Cheers Gareth[/quote] If you have a look at the cabs on our website the dimensions are listed at the bottom of each product page Gareth... www.ashdownmusic.co.uk Hope this helps!

[quote name='stevie' post='1196766' date='Apr 12 2011, 01:28 PM']Hello, Mr Ashdown person. I wish you every success with the launch of the miBass but my question has to be asked: has anyone at Ashdown considered the wisdom of making a ten quid optional extra this product's main USP?[/quote] Hey Stevie, I guess it is a USP but certainly not the main USP of the MiBass... Hopefully when/if you get chance to try a MiBass you'll realise the faceplate thing is just intended to be a bit of fun personalisation of what is a serious amp.

[quote name='eude' post='1196547' date='Apr 12 2011, 09:33 AM']Thank you very much for chiming and taking the time to clear up a few of the points. Not many manufacturers, especially the big boys, make the effort to contribute to forums like this one, but it is always appreciated Looking forward to trying one of these out when they appear in the shops, however I have a couple of further questions if you'll indulge me. 1. How does the 4 Ohm/8 Ohm switching work? 2. Any chance of you slapping in the dual tube front end in this in the future? Cheers, Eude[/quote] Hey Eude, In answer to your questions; 1. No switching simply that in the way the power section works there isn't a noticable drop in power from 4 ohms to 8 ohms(it confused us at first too) This will be great for anyone wanting to use a single 8 ohm cab. 2. We are actually throwing around a couple of ideas at the moment involving the all valve preamp from the 427 Smallblock head so will keep you posted ;-) Hope this helps!

Evening Chaps, Just thought I should jump in and clear up a couple of points here. First of all the MiBass has been a long time in the making and we have waited until we could source a power section that we felt could deliver the goods properly, often in the past the power section has always been the weak link in the chain in any class D amp. The power amp that we are using in the MiBass blew us away in testing and is much more warm and powerful than any class D poweramp we have used in the past and also has handled anything we could throw at it during months of soak/play testing. The front end is an evolution of the Little Giant preamp with a few nips and tucks under the hood, yes it isn't fully parametric but the controls do all interact with one another hence us describing it as semi parametric, we will however now simply describe it as an interactive eq if this will make people happier ;-) We think that its a great pre amp and offers a huge range of tones that can be shaped very quickly, deep bassy dub tones up to bright slap happy sounds no need for filter knobs or limiters, We had great positive feedback from the guys who tried it last week at the Musik Messe but would urge that you hang fire on opinions until you can actually try one in a shop first. Finally the optional front panels.... Wow this seems to have stirred opinion! We have done lots of custom amps and cabinets over the years in different colours and finishes at the requests of artists and often regular gigging Joes who want something a bit special and more personal. We thought with the MiBass due to the way the front panel is an overlay it would be nice to offer people the chance to either pick their own colour for the front or design their own incorporating band logos or whatever they fancied. The key point to make here that this is optional and if you don't want to change anything then you don't have... Thanks guys been interesting reading peoples opinions, any more queries just ask.

Her name is Ida. ;-)

[quote name='voxpop' post='899026' date='Jul 19 2010, 03:04 PM']Yes please.......... [/quote] Can't really talk about what we are working on as will be a way off yet but my guess is that you may like one of them

[quote name='voxpop' post='897334' date='Jul 17 2010, 03:08 PM']I haven't gigged the LB yet but feel you are right in saying that its not quite powerful enough. Through two Compact 115's ( 4 ohms ) the sound is very smooth with plenty of punch. The EQ has a very subtle effect on the sound. I found it very different with the two Sandberg basses I own. On both the Spyder and the LB the mid has very little effect in one switch position and quite a powerful mid scoop in the other when using the knob in a counter clock wise setting. Bass switch works great on the LB, one switch position give a growl and the other a mellow relaxed sound which is great for blues. BUT on the Spyder it only gives the growl sound as the switch does nothing in the mellow position....( another bad design ). The treble both amps work a treat. The BRIGHT switch on the LB works great BUT on the Spyder does nothing....I really mean NOTHING..( another crap design ). I use very high quality cables and basses so can hear the differences, no matter how subtle...... I'm sure these switch problems need to addressed as I'm getting very frustrated and I am seriously thinking of sending BOTH back so that ASHDOWN can get the design right. To finalize the two design / build problems................. [u][b]The Spyder.....[/b][/u] Both the BASS and MID switches have very little effect or may be nothing at all in one position. This is the DOWN position. In the UP position they work as described. The BRIGHT switch has NO EFFECT when used..............NOTHING.???? No XLR DI out only a stereo jack plug....WHY???? [u][b]The Little Bastard....[/b][/u] The HIGH and LOW inputs are the other way round from the Spyder..( bad design ) MID switch is the same as the Spyder but reversed.....Up is down and down is up ( bad design ) The MUTE switch is the same, up is down and down is up. PLUS points....... The Little Bastards BASS switch works a treat, from growl to mellow in one switch movement. WHY cant this design work on the Spyder. Both of these amps a great in isolation but when put together they look like they have been designed and built by two very different people. Both amps came with the WRONG manuals...I had to go online to find how the switches work. When I did I found out that they work in completely different ways on each unit. I am going to have a rethink and maybe return BOTH as neither do as they are described. If ASHDOWN are reading this then please PM me as I have had enough.[/quote] Hey Guys/Girls, After reading this thread we felt that we should jump in and explain/clarify some of the points that you have been raising. The first and most important point is that the Little Bastard and the Spyder amps are completely different amps. The Spyder is not a higher powered version of the LB and they are not designed to work in the same way or to sound the same and is also why the inputs are different and the toggles work differently. Sorry if there has been any confusion but apart from any styling similarities they are completely different in the way that they work and operate. Also it is important to note that whilst we know many people have had great success gigging with the LB but it is not primarily intended as a gigging amp, the idea behind the LB is an all valve amp that produces valve tones at manageable volumes for studio work/home recording, home practice etc and at a push small gigs, however you can always DI from the LB and run through a PA if necessary. The all valve sister product to the Spyder is actually the 427 Smallblock and these two amps do share the same preamp and features and hence the same front panel and controls. A quick point regarding the EQ, please be aware that on both amps they have an interactive passive EQ and when any toggle switch is changed this will in turn affect all three rotary controls, so do experiment by changing one toggle at a time and playing around with the rotary's, it is a simple old school system but there are a lot of different tones to be found if you do this. Concerning the DI, all Spyders now have an XLR DI as standard, if your Spyder was one of the first and doesn't then please contact our factory on 01621 856010 and we will be happy to get it changed for you free of charge. The mute button on the LB works correctly it was actually the manual that was incorrect, we have taken the manual offline and this is being corrected today. As regards the incorrect manuals being sent out with the products it was always intended that the manuals for these products would be downloadable and there would be no printed manual in a bid for us to be a bit more eco friendly. What you should have had is a sheet explaining this so apologies for those who received the an incorrect manual instead. By the end of play today all manuals for the Valve range should be back up on the site with errors corrected. I hope this helps to explain some of the points you guys have been making and if there are any other queries then please do ask. We really do appreciate the feedback from you guys out there and will always work hard to put anything right that isn't. It's been heartening to see the great reaction to our new valve series and we're sorry about any inconvenience that may have been caused with the initial teething problems. Thanks again for supporting an independent English company and Made In England products and once again we're glad to hear that perhaps most importantly everyone loves how they sound. Last but not least there will be further additions to the Valve Range for next year so watch this space... Thanks, Ashdown