morgano Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I'm considering buying one of these (either 220 or 550W), but haven't found that much in the way of reviews, either magazine reviews or in the bass forums. There are a few threads it seems, but surpisingly little coverage for what seems on paper like quite a well spec'd head. Any owners (current or previous) care to share their views on these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Well I like mine. I have the 550. Very light and pretty loud. EQ is good too. I'm sure there's an Ashdown video of it somewhere on youtube but you're right there's not many reviews. I had a fender TV15, a TC electronic classic 450 and an Ashdown ABM in the 18 mths before I got the MiBass but it was the MiBass I ended up keeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 After a quick search and I found this thread from talkbass. It explains the EQ very well. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/ashdown-mibass-756384/index7.html"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/ashdown-mibass-756384/index7.html[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Yes...They are ace. I replaced my Genz Benz with the 550 pretty much as soon as they came out,and I've just paired it with the Mi12 cab. I love these amps..Ashdown,I think,have got it right with this amp. It's small,loud and has a really good EQ section. I generally have a pretty full range,modern sound and it does this easily..but it will also do the old school sound too. It's really flexible. I've used it for pretty much everything since I got it and it's always sounded great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgano Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 Thanks for the comments so far... Doddy, which Genz Benz did you replace? Would be interested to know how they compare, because one or other of the various Genz Benz offerings is on my shortlist too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 [quote name='morgano' timestamp='1350336632' post='1837611'] Thanks for the comments so far... Doddy, which Genz Benz did you replace? Would be interested to know how they compare, because one or other of the various Genz Benz offerings is on my shortlist too. [/quote] I used (and still own) the Neo Pak 3.5,which was the predecessor to the Shuttle series. I ran it through a Bergantino HS410. It's a really good amp...it did the modern tones brilliantly-it's very clean and hifi,although you could get a bit of grit out of it if you cranked the gain.It's got a single valve in the preamp,but I don't know if that makes that much of a difference really. I can't knock Genz Benz at all,but the Ashdown is what I want from a bass amp,right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I agree, the MiBass heads are fantastic! I've always been a bit hit and miss with their heads.. But not this one! The shape puts me off though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Im a fan of Ashdown amps, but the mibass didnt float my boat. I found the 550 version I had just didnt have any oomph behind it. The preamp went into nasty clipping before the power amp was being driven properly. Nice design and facilities though. Cheers Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 [quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1350343183' post='1837718'] Im a fan of Ashdown amps, but the mibass didnt float my boat. I found the 550 version I had just didnt have any oomph behind it. The preamp went into nasty clipping before the power amp was being driven properly. Nice design and facilities though. Cheers Geoff [/quote] It took me a while to figure out how the EQ actually worked because Ashdown ,for whatever reason, don't give clear instructions on their website. The 3 rotary knobs allow you to pick the frequency you want to boost for lo mid, mid, and hi. Once I'd figured that out it opened up a world of different EQ settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 [quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1350343183' post='1837718'] Im a fan of Ashdown amps, but the mibass didnt float my boat. I found the 550 version I had just didnt have any oomph behind it. The preamp went into nasty clipping before the power amp was being driven properly. Nice design and facilities though. Cheers Geoff [/quote] I've never had that problem with mine.It's always had plenty of power and oomph with no clipping. It's just a matter of familiarising yourself with the controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I think the semi-parametric EQ is brilliant, and worked really well on the Mibass I had. Also, the input felt more senistive than usual for Ashdown so didn't need such a high setting on the input knob to get that tiny meter needle moving. What I did find is that the Mibass pre-amp went into clipping before it had a chance to drive the power amp sufficiently. By using the FX return as an input from a booster, and thus just using the power amp section, I was able to get a much louder output from the Mibass. It's as if the preamp output was not correctly matched to the power amp input requirements. Perhaps it was the particular one I had that didn't cut the mustard, and all the others are fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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