Wolverinebass

Exactly. Whomever made that decision has literally no taste at all. I think that clearly it's just being shoved out now for whatever reason. Considering the price point, there are so many things that are infinitely better around there. I can't see many folk using this giving the voicing of the pedal has been changed so much from the original. Whilst I appreciate that the type of distortion one uses is a very personal thing ranging from mild overdrive, through tube distortion to full on djent chainsaw type, I can't hear how that pedals sound is going work for anyone that well. If someone was recording bass in my studio and sounded like that, I'd probably have to have a difficult conversation about their gear and overall tone. Or I'd just re-amp it all through something decent.

What I'm now actually finding hilarious is the Facebook reels by Ashdown and PMT today. Which are some synth music zooming into the pedal on top of a combo and about a minute of James LoMenzo chatting respectively. None of them have audio from the pedal. It's kind of "if we don't mention that it sounds awful, nobody will know and that's okay isn't it?" I wonder if they have the "crisis management team" on call for whenever someone thinks about plugging a bass into this pedal and uploading a demo to the Internet they get smashed with a "cease and desist" legal letter. I'm almost tempted to buy one just to really know if it actually is so unfathomably pish. Obviously, it'd be going back under distance selling regs, but it does pose some interesting questions. Will my rib cage survive either the dry heaving from being so violently sick after playing it, or from laughing so hard that I could forget to breathe for several minutes? In many ways I'd actually like to do a review of it by putting some insanely high end basses through it and seeing if any or all of them (possibly) come out sounding like an out of tune Sue Ryder bass from 1986.

Well, the PMT video is back up, though in a different cut. Kind of like Blade Runner, except without being any good. In case anyone is wondering, the demo still sounds absolutely crap. I think this is quite astounding that Ashdown have in effect ruined probably the best pedal they've ever made. Don't expect any more demos as since they won't get favourable reviews, there won't be any. The only reason this is out is because LoMenzo is interviewed for most of the video. I think had it not been the case, it would have stayed taken down.

I think the main point of contention is that Charles is a YouTuber. Now, he's obviously a very talented chap and fair play, he appears to be doing rather well for himself at the whole video content thing. I very much doubt that it's easy and no doubt comes with as many (if not more problems) than being what some might consider to be a "conventional" working bass player. I think what most people take against YouTubers is the clickbait titles, the constantly spamming groups on Facebook, the "personality" that inevitably goes hand in hand with constant content creation in an effort to be seen as edgey or exciting. It's just the nature of the beast. It's quite easy to not watch any of this stuff if you don't want to. Or, if they're one of the aforementioned people spamming a group you're on on Facebook with their inane clickbait, just block them. Easy enough. Why get annoyed?

@Baloney Balderdash, I'm not jealous at all. Wooten is the only high profile bass player I could think of on the spur of the moment that does that and that's why I mentioned him. There will be others of course, it was just the first name that came to mind. It's a fairly well known thing that Hartke pay him and have done for years. I had heard that in quite a few threads, but actually it was Mark Gooday at Ashdown who told me that at the Bass Guitar Show a few years ago. Apparently, they wanted him on the roster, but he wanted about 30 grand a year to do so. So they declined. However, I wasn't making a judgement on Wooten or saying he was an awful person for doing that. He seems like a nice guy and is incredibly talented. My point however was that since the Megadrive is now sounding really bad, do we think Lomenzo will even use it without a skip full of cash? I suppose a better question is, would you feel okay about having your name on something which sounded really awful?

I doubt it. Their PR department is probably busy photoshopping pictures of the Royal Family. It does make me wonder though. Whilst Lomenzo in all likelihood doesn't need the money per se, does anyone think that he's "doing a Wooten" and only playing (or saying he's playing) this for money? After all, that's the only reason Wooten uses Hartke amps. He's paid to. With a pedal that firstly sounds nothing like the original and secondly, more than a bit pants it's not too much of a leap? Or even, did he have any say or hand in the development of it at all if it really is as total garbage as the demos make out?

Make it stop!! Make it stop!! I guess now we can see why there weren't any demos prior to launch. The pedal is very likely garbage and doesn't sound anything like the original. Considering that the original Lomenzo pedal is brilliant, what is this meant to be? In theory, the functionality of the new unit was meant to solve some the things people didn't dig on the original and provide some more control. Instead, we get something that sounds like it was fished out of a skip. Ashdown have totally and utterly went into "pooch screw territory" with this. Anybody who thinks "That's not how it sounds" is going to be mistaken I fear. I forget who the gentleman demoing it in that Instagram video is, but he often does videos for Ashdown, so that pedal will have been played with long before anyone here had heard anything. If you don't think that's the best that can be done with it, you'd think someone who's had access to it would be able to do so wouldn't you? The obvious answer is, that's about as good as it'll get which is pitiful.

Clearly someone at Ashdown has "had a word" and the video has been taken down. I mean, how did anyone let that out?! Guess who's never getting to demo an Ashdown pedal ever again? What a tool. Now, I have nothing for or against Youtubers, but someone has made a decision to give the pedal to that guy to not only review, but interview James Lomenzo. If he's not really a bass player, why would you do that? Wouldn't you go to someone else that is? I mean, Ashdown have Cici on the roster and she's very good. If it's a straight review surely they could have went after Patrick Hunter or any number of decent reviewers that wouldn't have made arguably a flagship product sound like a broken Behringer Boss pedal clone? The mind boggles.

Well, that was impressive in it's absolute awfulness. I mean, with so few high level endorsees left of any note, they give Lomenzo a product like that? Discount the oversize form factor, discount the gimmick VU. Discount the fact it costs £230. It sounds dreadful. Whomever signed off on the audio in that demo should be not only ashamed, but actually embarrassed for themselves at their lack of taste. Or possibly concerned that they're getting sacked tomorrow.

Good grief! I'm getting one of them right now! That's outrageous!

What I meant was I'm not entirely sure Modulus sold any commercially. I should have been clearer there. You're in for a disappointment if you think the 80s Warwick Buzzards have a slimmer neck profile. They don't. By default they all have the baseball bat wide neck. Even the post death cash grab ones. However, if you want to play the Status, you're welcome to pop round to mine if you're ever in London or Kent.

I don't count the Warwick or Modulus buzzards in the same way as the Status version is definitive in many, many ways. For several reasons. Firstly, virtually nobody has ever played a Modulus Buzzard as there were so few made. Secondly, the Warwick version is crap. Anyone who has played both the Status and Warwick versions will tell you the Status version is superior in every way you can imagine a bass is or can be better. The Warwick is insanely heavy, has a neck dive you almost wouldn't believe until you try it, the circuit and pickups are poor and the neck profile is a horrible baseball bat. The Status is the opposite of all those things. As it's all graphite, it's very light, it doesn't neck dive despite having a larger headstock, has a more precision neck profile and some of the best circuitry ever. It's basically what John wanted. A bass with almost unlimited amounts of cut.

No, they're crap. I've played the blatant Alembic Spyder ripoff one and it's not that great. There are so many reasons he wouldn't have played that due to neck profile, circuitry and frankly sound, as its laughable. It's just a cash grab by his son and Steve Luongo. Besides which, Dean have got serious form for this. How many posthumous Dimebag guitars were there after his death? Even a Dimebag signature bass! The only Entwistle signature is the Status Graphite Buzzard or Alembic Spyder and the latter wasn't ever offered as a signature during his lifetime. Even afterward, they modified it and did a limited run and it still wasn't officially a signature bass.

I met Justin Currie in 2001. He was just randomly at a gig at Glasgow University. We had a chat for about 15 minutes and he was a really amusing guy. That sucks that he's got Parkinsons as Del Amitri are one of my favourite bands.

That could be one of the funniest things I've heard in years. Just when you think it can't get any more insane, it does. I'd be really tempted to use that as a sample in a song.

Tech21 said something similar on here a few years ago when an amp they were selling was $1800 in the US (roughly £1300) and the UK distributor was pricing it at £2500. I pointed out (just as you have) that you could just not work with them as surely there would be reputational and brand damage caused by certain territories being "exploited" shall we say. I appreciate that they've got contracts etc. so it's not as easy as just saying it. However, that being said, Mesa have managed to sort out things so folk only have one calling point for spares/repairs which can only be a good thing rather than going through middlemen.

The GK Fusion was £949 from Thomann. It was new, not B-stock and believe it or not, was cheaper than Polar Audio! I still don't quite know how I got away with that. The irony was that everywhere in the UK was selling the 800 version for about that price with the 1200 version about 200 quid more.

No, it's not massively important to me if the amps are made in the UK. In fact, the last 3 amps I've owned have actually been from American companies. I think some of Ashdown's ABM range is still made in the UK, but I find that range a bit heavy, so there's another thing to consider as a factor. I actually considered Mesa when I bought my GK and at the time, the prices weren't so far away from each other. I felt the GK did what I wanted better, so I bought that. Value for money is of course down to the purchaser of course. By whatever pricing, feature or arbitrary comparator they wish to use to decide.

@agedhorse, if it were 800 quid for an 800w amp, thats okay. For something that is so ludicrously low powered, er, no. Mesa isn't a budget brand and that's never been the case. I've never tried a Mesa amp I didn't like, so I have no axe to grind as regards the quality of the products you're selling. You asked what people's criteria is for choosing. Mine is probably quite similar to most people's: "Not getting price gouged." Nobody that isn't American gives a toss if the product is made in America. People care about virtually everything else though. Pricing, value for money, treatment of staff etc. Whilst the whole sourcing of parts is I'm sure no doubt a problem, the fact that you're having to justify the pricing maybe says something in itself about the misjudging of the perceived acceptability of it? Rightly or wrongly.

I must admit, I concur about the 350W amp being "pricey." Whist, I accept that costs have gone up, I got the GK Fusion 1200 for £940 new. For something that has a quarter of the power, being almost the same price is laughable. Mesa have now went full Warwick/Ernie Ball with their pricing thanks to Gibson. They are to be congratulated. Who, apart from well off people are going to buy this stuff? Oh, it's "aspirational" we are about to be told. No, that's crap. 800 quid for a 350w amp you'd be redlining the whole way through a gig (unless it's a jazz gig) is into the beyond of far off deep space exploration of justification for overpriced products. Well done Gibson, that's something else you've ruined for us all.

That's even before you get to the basses. I recorded a band whose bass player had a Saint bass. So, I had a go on it. It wasn't great. I said he might like to use my Fender 50s classic precision instead. So we used that. An infinitely better bass. Which ironically is almost 300 quid less. I mean, to me that's a pointless niche to try and get into. There's so many manufacturers at that £1100ish price mark that they're never going to get many people buying them unless they're diehard Ashdown bods. To me, the bass played okay, but the pickups were nowhere near good enough considering the competition. I kind of feel the company as a whole is slightly backwards looking. Geezer has retired, Mark King left, John Entwistle died, James Lomenzo and John Myung are nearly 60. Even the Biffy Clyro lads are closer to 50 than 40. The point is, they could have went after a whole generation of upcoming players and didn't. I'm not saying get every Instagram influencer they can manage of course. However, nothing really appears to be as cutting edge as one might like. Is an ABM with 9 sliders going to do it for you if it still weighs 15kg? Probably not if you can get a lighter amp for the same money that you can pick up with one finger. In a way, it's quite sad.

To be fair, Ashdown's output is always a bit hit and miss. For every amazingly brilliant thing they've done, there's at least 5 things as crap and pointless as the B-Social. Plus, none of the amps hold their value at all. Rightly or wrongly. I got a Hyperdrive from Ashdown during lockdown when they cleared out their warehouse. Its great. For the price of the Mega Drive, it's not worth it I don't think. For maybe £170 I'd take it if they'd make it smaller. I appreciate that the VU thing is their thing/calling card, but it's kind of become counter productive when it makes a pedal chassis almost twice as big as it needed to be. I remember trying the Geezer Butler head. I couldn't understand how aside from the name they'd sell any as soundwise, my Wounded Paw Battering Ram EQ pedal gives an infinitely better "doom" type sound and only cost £150. Even the triple roast overdrive pedal. Soundwise, sounds good. They priced them at 300 quid. Good luck with that. I don't think they could give them away for £150 now. Most of Ashdown endorsees are maybe not as current as they might like or once were. None of them are under 40. Or even 50 actually. In many ways that doesn't bode well. Whilst I doubt they'll ever end up as utterly crap and creatively bankrupt as Hartke, they've maybe lost their way a bit and had a march stolen on them by other companies like Darkglass in the case of pedals or take your pick for amps. Ashdown seem to be immune to the lightweight trend, and fair play, I've played quite a few ABM's and MAG's and they're great. Given the choice is anyone going to get an amp that weighs 15kg when they could get something lighter that won't lose half its value the split second you've bought it? No.

I don't mind Tim at all actually. However, there is a point that he's hardly unbiased as he works for Tech 21. Fair enough. We're quite a way away from Scott Devine levels of irritating where the universe implodes on itself due to all matter being sucked into a clickbait YouTube wormhole full of cheery, plastic optimism. Were it me doing the reviewing, there would probably be too much John Entwistle type playing with chords, typewriter tapping and people would probably be just as infuriated by my style as much as anyone else's as it's not their own. On the other hand, I would just make stuff up on the spot to play rather than something from Moving Pictures every time.

The rack thing is perfectly true. However, if it were a rack unit it would have outputs for both channels, possibly loops for both sides, maybe even a dual input if you want to run say a Rick 4003 or Alembic in stereo. The comparison point to the ADAM/Photon/X series and whatnot is that the functions are accessible through presets and the XB has none. Say you have the Darkglass X version and want to go from something with quite a high crossover and medium gain (maybe a Geddy type sound) to say a low crossover point with loads of gain (a Muse type sound), you can do it in one pedal press. You can't do it with the XB as all the functions such as bite and crossover are small buttons you have to push with your fingers. Looking at pricing, the X version is still a good £50 cheaper than the Sansamp and it has multiple accessible settings due to having midi capability. I honestly will say, if this was £450, I'd entertain the idea of getting one. £600 for the functionality it's got (or not got) is "jog on" territory.

I don't care how it's worked out 600 quid for a pedal is robbery. Now, bear in mind, the Darkglass ADAM, Photon and X versions are midi compatible so you can store presets. Most of the functions of the XB can't be accessed even with a pedal push as they're buttons. No presets. No ability to flip from dual rig to crossover on the fly. No dual outputs or inputs. See where I'm going with this? Also, just for comparison, an HX Stomp is what, 500 quid? No, I'm not digging on this at all.