dan670844 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Just snagged one of these I am valve powered, but due to a lot of short notice bass related travelling these days, its not been practical to take the CTM300. So I got one of these. My lightweight set up. What can I say about this amp.... Its pretty darn good, its warm punchy, loud very dynamic and quick, the response is lightening. The bass is cellar deep and very tight, crystal clear highs, and a good amount of mids. It has a great deal of clarity, so it wont hide sloppy playing.I would never give up my CTM300 or LB30, but its much better for me than other solid state bass amps that I have had to use,it suits my playing style very well. The tone s all in your fingers with this amp. Perfect! Its the polar opposite of an ABM. The caveat with this amp you have to use it with a decent cab, theres's a lot of sub 100hz tight defined thump going on. Don't connect it to that fart in a bag, Behringer cab at your rehearsal place....... I opened it up to have a look, the preamp actually runs at high voltage, I checked the primary and there is a 250 volt tap. If you look it is real hybrid, Dave Green designed preamp and a Clive Button designed ABM power board. The preamp is a work of art very high quality double tracks, shows up the ABM board sorry, clive,! that's not to say however that the output board is poor quality. On di the pre is silent no hiss hum as good as hifi Very Impressed question is why aren't there more of these around, its a great amp, you all missed a good 'un. I tried the Chinese made one (blackface rather than red) nowhere near as good, it didn't have the same clarity and response.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Great amps. Thinking of getting another myself.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow_22 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Had the 330 version a while back. As per yourself im very much a valve guy but loved the Ashdown. Miles better than solid state for me and swapping the valves for some NOS brimars really did the amp wonders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan670844 Posted December 14, 2013 Author Share Posted December 14, 2013 Mine had ruby ac5 in which i think once they burn in are pretty good for bass amps, they do take a while to burn in though. They are very warm, I dont think they are so good for guitar amps though, in high gain situations they sound like mud. But you are right about the preamp tube, since they are actually doing all the tone generation they make a massive difference to the tone. My preference are brimars too, they are very underated and cheap as chips, but the modern tungsols and gold lions are also pretty good. I love the ABM power stage, it really is fast, dynamic and powerful. it does add to the character of the amp greatly. Although nothing really emulates the tone of big iron tube power. This power stage however, does nail the feel of Ashdown take on valve amps, which is fast, dynamic and powerful, with a solid bass and tight articulate clarity love it. I wasn't trying to knock the ABM down either its a great amp too, I have an early one. Its just so different in feel and tone. I am waiting for the woolly comments haha, thats a load of bulls@@t look at the diverse range of dudes who use one, pino, nick fyffe, macca, norman watt roy. I would be embassed to make such a comment haha as it would show i didnt know how to eq.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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