Bobthedog Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) [quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1420135259' post='2646017'] Worst I've played through is a 10w line6 combo. Still got it though. It does the job for learning new tunes. But make no mistake, it's awful. [/quote] Similar answer for me: Vox Pathfinder 10w bass combo. Awful, absolutely awful, but it is my practice amp when in Scotland. Edited January 3, 2015 by Bobthedog Quote
0175westwood29 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 [quote name='Merton' timestamp='1420220413' post='2646848'] I currently own 3 Ashdown amps: I have to say I think it's their speakers which let them down, these all sound incredible through my Barefaced cabs - full bodied but punchy and articulate as well. I once had the misfortune of gigging a Hartke HA3500 through an Ashdown MAG 8x10 cab - should have been plenty but the cab ruined the Hartke's sizzle completely. Worst rig I ever used, dare I say it was an Ampeg SVT stack, again the cab just sucked the life out of the tone so it was inaudible unless stood directly in front of it... Have never managed to successfully (IMO) gig an Ampeg rig actually.... [/quote] now thats really interesting! for me the worst cab ive played thru was a really old laney 115 god awful, and the worst amp has to be an old behringer ultrabass however it saved the day after my ampeg head blew up! so cant hate it to bad but back to the cab, i really like my 810 mag, absolute steal at just over 430 quid! however mine is the newer version. andy Quote
Dan Dare Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Leaving aside small practice amps, the rehearsal room we use has a Hiwatt bass amp which is spectacularly awful. Eq totally ineffective. Take my EBS along these days. Quote
Brother Jones Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 I do think it's a bit unfair for people to rate amps based on their rehearsal room experience of them. Those amps are abused almost every day for years on end, so small wonder they sound rubbish. Quote
djaxup Posted January 6, 2015 Posted January 6, 2015 I don't know about the Ashdown amps, but the Ashdown 410 Mag10 Deep is a superb cab imo. One of the best low budget cabs that can easily power a loud band rehearsal. The by far worst amp I've ever played was a Crate B200-XL. Like someone said at Talkbass: "it has a very powerful EQ that can go all the way from squirrel fart to pillow cushion" Absolutely impossible to get a decent sound out of it, it always sound like it has a bunch of wool blankets thrown over it and has absolutely zero lows. The perfect cab to go with this amp is the Hartke 410 VX, the officially worst cab I ever played. The sound is just mids, no lows and a shrill horn. Quote
BigGuyAtTheBack Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 Ashdown Superfly, I thought it was the answer to my prayers. light, loud, programmable. Oh dear! not a single decent tone to be had and you could fry an egg on the casing. Gutted!!!!! If I see an Ashdown backline where I'm playing I die a little, I just cant get them to work for me. Oh and one of the best live bass tones I ever heard was from a P bass into a Carlsboro twin speaker combo, go figure. My HH VS100 bass combo bought brand new from Bruce Millers in Aberdeen (hire purchase!) was no great shakes either! Loud though. Quote
CamdenRob Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Any Ashdown amp / cab I've ever played through... They are everywhere in London, pretty much a staple in every rehearsal studio and I can't for the life of me imagine why... I have never managed to get a usable tone out of any of them, just a muffled rumble that changes very little despite the eq settings. Orange stuff is almost as bad. Edited January 7, 2015 by CamdenRob Quote
taunton-hobbit Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 The worst pa that I ever had the pleasure of suffering was at the Hammersmith Palais, another long-gone Mecca hole - they pulled it down and put in a Tesco....for once, it was probably an improvement.....and no, I never did get paid........... Quote
spectoremg Posted April 4, 2015 Posted April 4, 2015 Trace GP7 2x10 combo - weighed a ton, gave me a prolapsed disc and wasn't very powerful. Amp I shouldn't have got rid of: Hartke HA2000; decent sound and super reliable. And as for Ashdown or any endorsees; they don't RELY on those amps, we do. Quote
JTUK Posted April 4, 2015 Posted April 4, 2015 [quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1420217880' post='2646797'] maybe your cab (runs and hides)? [/quote] No, as Carlbro and H/H were combos in a studio and they were awful and pretty much not useable. The GK was borrowed so not my cabs either, that was awful too, IMO. and the Ashdown was run with my cabs and I know how they sound which is why I owned them. The guy who subsequently bought them used an Ashdown and he sold the cabs as well... .. I think he should have sold that amp, for sure.. I recently used a Ashdown 210 combo and that was quite decent... Quote
JTUK Posted April 4, 2015 Posted April 4, 2015 [quote name='Brother Jones' timestamp='1420323592' post='2648167'] I do think it's a bit unfair for people to rate amps based on their rehearsal room experience of them. Those amps are abused almost every day for years on end, so small wonder they sound rubbish. [/quote] True, but I remember them when some of them were new... and they were awful then.. Quote
JapanAxe Posted April 4, 2015 Posted April 4, 2015 Like many here, the worst amp I've owned was a Laney 1x15 combo rated at 100W or 120W. I only realised how bad it was when I tried to gig with it - it just could not compete with 2 guitars and a drum machine. I went from that to an Ashdown ABM combo, which I used for the next 10 years or so before discovering Basschat and bass amp GAS! Quote
Norris Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 My Kustom 10W practice amp. Totally useless for bass but great for the electronic drum kit. I use an old powered monitor wedge for practice. Worst gigging amp was my HH 100W 1x15 combo. Totally gutless for what I needed. I replaced it with a Traynor head and 2x15 cab - much better but a beast to cart around Quote
chrismuzz Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 [quote name='Brother Jones' timestamp='1420323592' post='2648167'] I do think it's a bit unfair for people to rate amps based on their rehearsal room experience of them. Those amps are abused almost every day for years on end, so small wonder they sound rubbish. [/quote] Very fair comment, I just finished a rehearsal putting my Markbass LMT800 through an Ampeg 810 and it was so muddy sounding I had to turn the treble up to max just to get any kind of tone. Low mids sounded OK but you lost any kind of depth if you played anything below C... Last time I used an Ampeg 810 it sounded really nice though! Quote
Twincam Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 A lot of 1x15 combos have had a battering on this thread. So far i can now say the worst amp ive owned is a Carlsbro cobra 90bg 1x15 combo. Just so so bland sounding like a constant droning noise even though everything on the eq worked well it never changed the inherent blandness. And it weighed a ton, urgh that horrid grey vinyl covering. Before i sold it i had a look inside out of curiosity, a lot of made in England and even a few US parts which i thought was cool. Quote
JTUK Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 But still around and doing 'sterling' work from abuse they get in rehearsal studios.. and I use the word 'sterling' very lightly.. but I wonder if you'll be able to say the same with all the amps that are all PCB's that no one will even try and repair, in 20 or so years time..?? Quote
RhysP Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 (edited) Worst amps that I've ever owned were my old Trace Elliott AH250 head that sounded OK but was very unreliable - used to cut out quite a bit when gigging & I didn't used to drive it hard at all. The other was my EBS Gorm combo, again due to reliability issues that, even though the combo was under warranty, both the UK distributor & EBS themselves refused to fix. The whole episode left such a bad taste in my mouth that I would never use EBS gear ever again even if I was given it for nothing. Edited April 5, 2015 by RhysP Quote
kevvo66 Posted April 6, 2015 Posted April 6, 2015 Ashdown little giant utter sh*te dodgy fan and mag series , great if you wanted a unreliable rig ,oh yeah and orange head and cabs I used at a gig in a very famous club in Liverpool .rubbish ,then they wonder why people are turning their backs on uk based company's ,have a word and sort it out ? Quote
Big Black Shed Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) The first proper rig I had was a secondhand HH from a friend of a friend. 1x15, 2x10, and supposedly a 600w head. Whenever he played through it it sounded full, rich, and clear, with loads of headroom. Whenever I used it, it would be woolier than a wooly mammoth. And barely audible. So quiet. I then sold it back to him, at which point he said "had I used the input bridging to get the volume output?" Doh! I then bought a massive trace rig. 2x15, 4x10, brightbox, and the 1000w head. It was stunning if I could turn it up past 1, which was very infrequently. Too big for small gigs, then couldn't use the potential on big gigs because nobody else on stage could hear themselves. It was capable of killing the front row. Awesome piece of kit. I have been doing sound for a local band for the past 10 years, the bass player had this god awful Ashdown combo. Took no care of it at all. Just no tone or power at all. It was only when we did a local music festival, with back line provided, that I got him a bass sound. Ampeg STV and 8x10. What was killing his sound was his small pedal board with a compressor and a limiter on it turned pretty much to max which he didn't use through the Ampeg. Next gig back on the Ashdown, no pedalboard, no difference. Still dirge. Edited April 8, 2015 by Big Black Shed Quote
rungles Posted April 8, 2015 Posted April 8, 2015 Eurgh! A Peavey TKO. Not only horrible sounding but back-breakingly heavy. I had a wry smile on my face when I sold it and the poor (little) guy came to pick it up Quote
Jenny_Innie Posted April 8, 2015 Posted April 8, 2015 I used a markbass 2x10 combo once. It looked awful and sounded terrible. Never again. 1 Quote
byrne182 Posted April 8, 2015 Posted April 8, 2015 the worst amp ive ever played through was an Ampeg SVT CL head and matching 8x10. Had zero tone that ampegs are known for and I was really disappointed when it sounded like a fart in a dustbin underwater. Quote
JTUK Posted April 8, 2015 Posted April 8, 2015 [quote name='byrne182' timestamp='1428480524' post='2741581'] the worst amp ive ever played through was an Ampeg SVT CL head and matching 8x10. Had zero tone that ampegs are known for and I was really disappointed when it sounded like a fart in a dustbin underwater. [/quote] Could well have been a hire-rig that had been hammered. I was offered an SVT 2 with an 810 Ashdown but it sounded awful, so I went for the Eden rig instead. Quote
40hz Posted April 8, 2015 Posted April 8, 2015 An older Fender rumble combo. The one with the red LED's. 100w through a 15. Truely awful! Quote
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