Anyone got a Little Bastard near Glasgow?

[magee]

Hello,

has anyone in or near Glasgow got an Ashdown Little Bastard?

I got one a couple of weeks ago and can't get as much cleanish volume out of it as people seem to say I should be able to. I've tried two sets of different preamp valves but still get the same farting when I turn it a little past halfway, which I need to do for gigging.

I was hoping to compare it with another one, if someone's happy to let me come and have a go. That way if this is just the way they are I can sell it on and find something more suitable, but if it's not then I can continue to try to find what the problem is.

Any help would be really appreciated,
thanks,
Matthew

[Beedster]

Anyone got a little bastard near Glasgow is yet another classic Glasgow-esque thread title

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/176491-hard-case-glasgow-area/page__p__1654803__hl__glasgow__fromsearch__1#entry1654803

Sorry my post wasn't much help Matthew, hope that old Jazz is doing OK?

Chris

[discreet]

No doubt, but I've never heard from him.

[xgsjx]

There's plenty of em in Stirling!

Sorry I can't help.

[bertbass]

It's only 30 watts and half way could well be flat out with decent pickups. You may have reached the limits of the amp.

[magee]

Chris,

the old Jazz is a bit neglected because I still haven't found a better neck for it. I haven't been looking very hard, mind, and I keep meaning to order one from Warmoth but I've been distracted by a '62 Precision the wife bought me in the mean time. You can see how that would turn a chap's head.

bertbass: I fear you're right, but other users of the amps insist it's loud enough to gig with and my band's not that loud, so I'm keen just to eliminate any possible faults before I give up and sell it on.

Thanks,
Matthew

[bertbass]

Just heard the little bastard here, Zoom Q3HD, in the misc for sale items, what a great little amp. Never heard one before. You could try adding another cab or perhaps having 2 of them.

[magee]

Update on this: I phoned Ashdown and talked to Dave Green himself, who's going to take a look at it if I pack it up and send it to him. He, too, thinks that there may be a fault, maybe it's not using all the power valves or something. Given that he designed and built it, if he can't find out what's going on then nobody can.

If it works out and he finds and fixes the fault (if there is one) I think this is going to count as one of the great customer services experiences of all time.

[lettsguitars]

[quote name='magee' timestamp='1339143441' post='1684181']
Chris,

the old Jazz is a bit neglected because I still haven't found a better neck for it. I haven't been looking very hard, mind, and I keep meaning to order one from Warmoth but I've been distracted by a '62 Precision the wife bought me in the mean time. You can see how that would turn a chap's head.

bertbass: I fear you're right, but other users of the amps insist it's loud enough to gig with and my band's not that loud, so I'm keen just to eliminate any possible faults before I give up and sell it on.

Thanks,
Matthew
[/quote]I gig with a 30watt fender champ (handmade, not fender) and it's well loud enough. Guitar not bass, though the amp would be fine for bass with a couple more cabs.

[Beedster]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1339170640' post='1684866']
I gig with a 30watt fender champ (handmade, not fender) and it's well loud enough. Guitar not bass, though the amp would be fine for bass with a couple more cabs.
[/quote]

Depending on the type of sound you're after, there's a big difference between guitar watts and bass watts. I use over 200w of Mesa tubes to get the tone I want alongside a guitarist using 20w of Fender tubes. OK, if I was happy with less control over tone and a lot more drive I might be able to use less, but I'm not. Personally I think that you'd need to be playing in a pretty quiet band for a 30w bass amp to do the job [i]well[/i]. Wiser heads may of course disagree.....

[bertbass]

Any news yet?

[magee]

bertbass: sorry for the long silence. Dave Green at Ashdown was unbelievably helpful. He thought there might have been an issue with the power tubes but when he checked it out he said it's working perfectly and pushing out the 30 watts. So it looks like I just need a bigger amp to keep up with my band.

To this end I've bought a Mesa/Boogie Buster from here (200 watt all tube head) and the Little Bastard is for sale here:
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/202074-ashdown-little-bastard-30w-all-valve-amp/page__fromsearch__1

It's a real shame, it was nearly the perfect solution: all tube tone, light, small, portable. I guess it'll just have to go to someone who likes a bit of grit or who plays with a slightly quieter band.

[Mr. Foxen]

Louder cab is the cure.

[RandomBass]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1363198469' post='2009696']
Louder cab is the cure.
[/quote]
Indeed. Use the high input to keep the pre clean, mid up full, other eq to suit and push the volume. Sounds superb and loud through my Compact, and also through my cheap pair of 2x10s. Not been wanting yet to be honest. And the DI is great too - straight off the output transformer - if needed.

[davehux]

Several of us on here have played around with various valve permutations for the LB - there's a whole thread at http://basschat.co.uk/topic/185585-little-bastard-valve-advice/

Although I loved mine, in the end it just ran out of steam when competing with big drums, keys and guitar. I now use a MarkBass F1 to put my point across

[Freddie75]

Glasgow is full of little bastards - so I have heard! lol - apologies, I couldnt resist! No offence meant to anyone from Glasgow.

You got a free bump though!

[rednose200]

Loads of them living round here