beastie

hi i have an original abm 500 1 x 15 combo which i use with an abm 1x15 extension cab with my muicman hh bass i recently took the amp back to ashdown for a service and was told the following from the ashdown enginer the origanal abm 500 has a differant sound to there two later models the abm 11 and abm 111 the abm 11 being a little plastic in its sound the abm 111 is a cross between the original abm and the abm 11 the origanial abm was made in the uk the other two made abroad the original abm was very close to sounding like the best years of the trace elliot range of amps made in romford in essex back in the late 70s and early eighties which if you did not know where made by mark who went on to form the ashdown range my sound is full of depth and character and i can dial in any sound i need from the chills to the funk brothers to slap there are some people out there useing the wrong amp and cabs in the ashdown range you should not be useing a mag amp with abm speakers and vice a versa they will give you a poor sound the klystron is made in the uk to order and is very close to the original abm models which are the best of the amps to date and are quite rare so if you have got one dont sell it that was the advice i was given by the enginers at ashdown the only other amp/ cab i would swap over to is the mesa bogie big block with the ampeg 6x10 hlf cab the sound from this with my musicman was increadable i tried it out at pmt at southend along side the klystron 1000 into the 8x10 neo cab and there was certain notes around the 9/10/ fret on the e string this cab did not like we canged the cabs over to 2 4 x 10 and sounded the same plugged back into the messa/ampeg rig and on quarter volume when playing slap the punch /air movement iwas incredable price wise the mesa is about £350 more then the klystron but if you are looking for a great all round sound i will argue with any one that with the musicman you will struggle to get a better sound the ebs equipment are great amps i have used them as i was introduced to them from bernie at gb guitars who distributes them for ebs i have a gb bass and they sound great with the ebs amps but there are sounds that you can not get from the ashdown rig that you can from the ebs set up useing the gb bass but then there are sounds that you can get from the ashdown rig that you can only get with the musicman bass so golden rules what sound do you want take you bass and try them out you will be amased at the differance in sounds use your own ears to make up your mind not the commision selling shop worker if you are not happy with the sound it will effect your playing as you will never be comfortable and fully enjoy your playing as for the wooly sounding abms you have just got to adjust your amp settings and use an active bass and you here the differance yes i know 1x15 cabs are slower in responce but in my opnion the 10 inch speakers still lack depth apart from the that ampeg cab

[quote name='zapp' post='110534' date='Dec 29 2007, 02:28 PM']Thanks for the input guys, I've just taken delivery of and EBS Multicomp from fleabay. I'm still tinkering at the moment but first impressions are 'wow' what a great pedal. It seems to give real solidity to the sound right accross all strings and adds real life (best word I can think of) to the overall tone, not that it was bad to begin with. I've also picked up a power supply today because I don't have too much faith in the lifespan of the average battery! All the best Guys and a Happy New Year to all.......[/quote] hi i have a ebs multicomp bought from the bass centre i see you have a nine volt mains surply where did you get that from as i am after one for mine do ebs do there own veresion

just bougt a stingray hh 3 eq 4 set up on delivery was ok after a bit of tweeking the bass is brilliant a real growl of a sound cuts through the mix ok it is used with a ashdown ABM 575 WATT head and 1x 15 and 2x10 abm cab the tonal veriations are pretty good and does not seem to be lower in volume on the g string i also use a gb bass from mr goodfellow a differant style off bass sound due to the electrics on bernies bass as the ray is 12 volt with cut and boost of 15db whilst bernies bass is 24 volt and a cut and boost of 24db it also depends on what you want from your bass the amp will make or brake that sound you are looking for as my gb bass sounds incredable via a ebs amp but the stingray sounds best via the ashdown set up hope i have not confused you to much all i can say is try them out its all about personall prefrances