binky_bass

@BassInstincts - could you not speak to Mark or Dave at Ashdown and see if they could send you one directly? Fortunately for me I live 15 minutes away from Ashdown, so have the luxury of being able to 'pop in', not that I've ever actually done that as yet!

Dunlop Dual Action Strap Locks all the way for me. I have them on every instrument and every strap I own. Best in the market (IMHO).

It's a CTM300. The bigger brother of the CTM100! Tis a beast.

Bluey... Nice!

I doubt you'll be disappointed, I think I've probably had 3 or 4 various iterations of these over the years, they always surprise me at how good they are for the price point, especially on the second hand market.

Get a Cort A6. You can pick these up pre-owned for £300-£400. Excellent build quality and a 6 string bass will definitely help expand your playing (IMHO).

Mine...

Sounds like you acted in a completely reasonable way, hopefully lessons have been learnt at their end since your experience and they've now seemingly significantly upped their customer service game. Shame you had that bad experience, things like that can certainly put you off a company for life, but companies can change for the better, so let's hope that your experience contributed to a realisation that a better customer service should have been provided and will now be provided going forward.

I suppose it depends on how you approach them... if it's with diplomacy and a friendly attitude I'd hope they'd be as helpful as the majority of reports suggest. I sent them an email a day ago just for general advice on something and to see if they had a replacement grill for a 410 cab that I have that's a little tatty - got an email back from Dave within 24 hours. 👍

That VBA400 rig has always been on the 'want' list! If you ever want to rid yourself of it...

I'll probably shift on that Peavey at some point if I'm honest, I've not used it since purchase and can't really see me ever using it so it should really go somewhere where it can do its thing!

3 rigs at the moment, albeit temporarily as one will have to move on sadly!

It's basically a Mesa Strategy in a Laney box. These have excellent reviews. A other after a powerful all-valve brand new rig should consider this. I did... then an Ashdown CTM300 came up at a price that compelled me to buy it!

Having just acquired an Ashdown CTM300, and living 15 miles from Ashdown HQ, stories like this are reassuring!

Good choices in heads sir. A might respectable pile up!

.