eude

Huge fan of Ashdown here, the only amps I couldn't kill back in the day. I'm not gigging for now, thanks to having young kids, but I'll get back to it, so I have a wee MiBass mini rig of doom that has held it's own at jams, a spot of recording (it has a wonderful DI) and is WAY too loud for home practice. Recently though, I got my hands on a lovely UK made ABM EVO II RC for free, "spares or repair" from an Ashdown artist, who had another 4 and was moving home, couldn't be bothered to deal with it. Less then £100 for a full service, repair and clean up, and it's alive and kicking. I had the extremely talented Mike Walsh make up a sleeve for it too before I got my hands on it, and he did an incredible job (I really need to take some photos). A/B-ing my MiBass 2.0 with the ABM was night and day, the MiBass is great, especially for the size, but you don't know what's missing until you plug in an ABM. Hugely powerful, with effortless low end girth and muscle. I can't wait to get back to gigging again 😎 Eude

This is going to be stunning my friend! I think your "spec creep" has been in all the right directions. Eude

I used to have the original Promethean combo, which featured the head you're talking about. It's an awesome piece, very loud with a nice warm tone. The graphic EQ is very useful and all in, if I'm honest, I wish I'd never sold mine. I have no idea why on earth they stopped making them, but it was a bad move. The newer ones are a bit pants... If I was you I'd go for it 😎 Eude

Really nice buddy, congrats!

I needed a nice amp sleeve made up for an Ashdown ABM and went with Mike Walsh of Zoot Basses fame and he knocked it out of the park, he even managed to ape the sleeve design on the newer IV series and it's perfect. I'm delighted Zilla didn't get back to me. He used to make great cabs under the guise of Purple Chilli back in the day, light weight, but more burly than the Barefaced stuff. I think Zilla and Barefaced are very much apples and oranges here, but if Mike was still happy to make cabs, he'd maybe be somewhere in the middle. Eude

They're not fantastic at replying to emails or returning calls. I ended up going elsewhere for what I needed. Eude

I play 31.5" scale 6 string basses with custom strings, with a 125 taperwound B and it works perfectly. I reckon some custom strings are likely the way forward then. Eude

Newtone strings are your friends here, custom made to your specific requirements. Give them a shout, but keep in mind a good setup will really work wonders too. Eude

I think they're a standard foot switch type of arrangement, so if you can find something with the same number of switches and the same connectors for less, you should be fine.

Cost me less than £100 to have my ABM which wasn't working, diagnosed, repaired, serviced and cleaned up. Bargain really, given the age of it. Fantastic communication before and during having the work carried out too. I think they can pretty much repair any ABM head on site, of any age. Eude

I've just had an ABM EVO II serviced and repaired at Ashdown HQ for very little money in the grand scheme. ABMs are awesome amps, however I think the IIIs were assembled overseas, whereas the IIs and IVs are UK made? Correct me if I'm wrong. Happy hunting! Eude

Sorry, should add Huawei P10 and Chrome here.

Same issue here. Something to do with an advertising change?

Oh, and you'll love the Salace SC E Type shape, it's super ergonomic without looking weird. Eude

I'm 5"6' and shrinking thanks to carrying my enormous children on my shoulders. I reckon a 26.5" 6er might be the first bass that would look about right on me! Eude

Awesome! I've been thinking along these lines myself! Will it be tunes B to C? Eude

Completely agree, strings vary SO much in tension and feel too. I use custom Newtone strings on my basses, would to compensate for the loss of tension due to the shorter scale, but I popped a set of stock SIT Silencers on my fretless 6er as I had them lying around, and the tension on them, even though they're designed for 34" scale, is actually really good. Custom strings really help, but as you stated, you might find that regular strings work just as well. Eude

Excellent, best of luck with it! I'd be really interested to hear what you make of the Warwick too, I don't need one, but I have issues. Oh, one other thing to look for is the original Ibanez Promethean P5110 combo >> These are ridiculously good, I used to own one and really regret ever moving it on. Very hard to come by now it seems, but it's the best pro level 1x10 bass combo the right side of £1000, even at the original full price. Eude

There is this on Gumtree... https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-bass-amplifiers/fender-bassman-150-combo-amp/1336206425 It's the 12" version, but equally nice, just not nearly as compact. Eude

Fair enough mate. Not sure why but this little Warwick combo really intrigues me... https://thebassgallery.com/products/warwick-cube-100s-ex-demo Also keep a look out for the Fender Bassman 100 tilt back combos, from the mid 00's I think. They were wonderful little beasts... Eude

Have heard good things about the 10 too, nearly bought one myself back in the day. Anyway, The Bass Galley have one at the moment... https://thebassgallery.com/products/swr-workingpro-10 Eude

That sounds fantastic! What strings are you using? Eude

Is it any worse than the Katalox I sent you?... Eude

Ooooh, I like that!

That does sound nice, not quite is intricate as the Warwick, more of a sledgehammer, but it works...