Kevin Dean Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Myself & a lot of my friends use Markbass amps for mainly pub/club bands . I found it interesting when walking around the Isle of Wight Festival to see how how many bands use Ashdown I wonder why ? .........I'm currently looking for a stockist that has a Ashdown ABM Neo 400 H in stock & getting cheesed off with Web site telling me they have one in stock & next day delivery etc & they haven't . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 You're looking for an amp that you wonder why people are using?! I would be wary of buying kit on the premise that you've seen a few bands using it at a festival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badboy1984 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I think is a personal preference thing really ........ sometimes festival gigs band shared backline equipments. I can only think of why people use ashdown because they can be found fairly decent price second hand and even brand new it sell cheaper then most markbass stuff in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throwoff Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Ashdown have hit that rare thing in the guitar market. Their product is 'decent' It's not the best sounding, lightest or cheapest but it is priced at a low area and sounds good enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Dean Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 [quote name='Fionn' timestamp='1403594667' post='2484133'] You're looking for an amp that you wonder why people are using?! I would be wary of buying kit on the premise that you've seen a few bands using it at a festival. [/quote] Perhaps I'm nuts but I'm trying to get a full rig that is made in the UK & I've noticed their lighter ABM heads are made here . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 A lot of bands using the same amps at a festival? My guess is that the back lines would have been hired in by the promoter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 [quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1403600470' post='2484217'] Perhaps I'm nuts but I'm trying to get a full rig that is made in the UK & I've noticed their lighter ABM heads are made here . [/quote] all valve orange awesomeness! you may need a luggage trolley but your ears will love the sound!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBass3901 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Ashdown have quite the following (John Entwistle, Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro, Arctic Monkeys, Black Stone Cherry, Buckcherry, Paul McCartney and Paramore to name a few of their highest hitters with other 'big pop acts' using them such as Rizzle Kicks who get to play festivals etc as they are on Radio 1 a lot). Although many people will not see these guys as 'the best of the best' in the world, they are all touring (other than The Ox obviously) and playing festivals all over the world. The OP is regarding the Isle of Wight Festival, which had Ashdown artists on the main bill. The fact that this festival is in the UK helps as they are a UK company and have been known to provide backline for their artists at these kind of events. You would have noticed the same at Download this year and will notice it again at Glastonbury. throwoff did hit a point of the price not being high (although tell that to my bank account after the funds for my CTM were whisked off!) but the sound is great (IMO of course). Sure, there are better sounding amps, but not in the same price bracket or available 'off the shelf.' At the end of the day, these bands get to pick and choose what they use from pretty much any 'big name' in amplification and they choose Ashdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badboy1984 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I choose ashdown because of price and is decent product. I choose the LB30 because not much choice in the market apart from buying ampeg b15 but that will cost me alot more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 One word - endorsements! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 The top bands will get a truck load of choice for the backline. In their riders will be minimum requirements to be supplied and Ampeg and Ashdown are known quantities so they get to be shown the most. Players will have exposure on the kit so will know what they can cope with and choose accordingly. The backline will be made up from that and wheeled in per act. On lesser stages, there is less choice as changeover is tighter, so it makes sense to keep the technical consistant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTB Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 [quote name='Alec' timestamp='1403606573' post='2484322'] One word - endorsements! [/quote] I suspect most bass players at festivals will IEMs and feed a DI to the PA so what kind of bass amp is on stage is irrelevant to what the crowd hears. It's likely to be whatever they endorse or whatever the promoter provides, as others have said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTB Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 [quote name='Alec' timestamp='1403606573' post='2484322'] One word - endorsements! [/quote] I suspect most bass players at festivals will use IEMs and feed a DI to the PA so what kind of bass amp is on stage is irrelevant to what the crowd hears. It's likely to be whatever they endorse or whatever the promoter provides, as others have said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBike Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) Some years ago the Trace Elliot combo that I had at the time went up in smoke (literally), so I went looking for some new gear and had my heart set on an Ashdown rig. I went to my "local" shop and took regular my bass along, plugged it and it sounded awful. No matter what we tried (the guy in the shop was checking everything) we couldn't get anything out of it other than a really muddy sound. We tried a couple of Ashdown amps (a MAG 300 combo and a separate amp/cab if I remember correctly) and it was the same for both. I then tried a couple of Ampeg rigs and they sounded awesome. I was really disappointed but relieved that I'd tried out the Ashdown stuff before trying it. In the end I didn't buy anything, because although I could afford the Ampeg rig I could neither justify it at the time nor fit it into my car/lift it on my own (despite the fact that the guy in the shop suggested I buy another car). As it happened the band I was in at the time folded shortly afterwards and I drifted away from playing music for some time. Now I have an the new Ampeg Portaflex rig which is both portable and has the sound I want. I've been put off Ashdown ever since, but the moral here is that you should really try before you buy. Also (as was stated above) the backline is often provided by the organiser, the other thing to consider is that they may be endorsed by Ashdown to promote their amplifiers. Edited June 24, 2014 by DrBike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBass3901 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I have been led to believe by Mark (the owner of Ashdown) that they do not actually endorse bands the same way that other manufacturers do; everybody who plays Ashdown (where it isn't already at the venue/gig etc.) has had to pay for it. They may offer some form of discount for artists, but there is still a pricetag that needs to be paid. Ashdown do 'loan' stuff out for gigs and to bands (see the B-Stock sales they have done in the past) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badboy1984 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I personally think the Ashdown ABM and the valve amp is lovely and not muddy at all. I do have problem with the MAG and Blueline series which tend to be very bass and doesn't sound well in the band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 [quote name='BruceBass3901' timestamp='1403609963' post='2484371'] I have been led to believe by Mark (the owner of Ashdown) that they do not actually endorse bands the same way that other manufacturers do; everybody who plays Ashdown (where it isn't already at the venue/gig etc.) has had to pay for it. They may offer some form of discount for artists, but there is still a pricetag that needs to be paid. [/quote] True. I used to have an endorsement with Ashdown back in the day and I paid for all my stuff at discount. Incidentally, I used Ashdown because I wanted to, not because they chased me (not that they ever would!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) - Edited February 19, 2022 by Jus Lukin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I seem to always add these comments on Ashdown threads, JJ Burnell & Bruce Foxton use them, and neither of them are known for their muddy sounds. Ashdown make good gear, as said not too light, but not too expensive, and from what I understand, it`s reliable. That must be a big factor in providing amps for big events, knowing it will cope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mcgiver69 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) You forgot to mention Norman Watt Roy as another Ashdown user. Having said that, all the people mentioned happen to use passive basses, I used to play a MAG300 combo and found that it didn't agree too much with active basses. Edited June 24, 2014 by Mcgiver69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Ashdown have been producing good reliable gear since they started. Sure, there has been a few exceptions (Superfly anyone?) by generally you don't hear too many complaints about the ABM range, and I know a couple of gigging bassists playing three or four times a week who swear by the reliability of the MAG series gear. Horses for courses, I've never found 'my' sound from an Ashdown head yet, but that's not to say that I won't in the future or if I had more time with one of their heads. They do seem to come in for a disproportionate amount of stick on here which is disappointing as they are a British company and the vast majority of us on here hail from the British Isles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 It is all stage dressing, proper pa wedges will always be better than a bass amp on a big stage, other than flea who puts a 4x10 on the guitarists side of the stage I cant think of any big stage where the bass amp is spread out like that, do you think you would clearly hear an ampeg 6x10 on the far left of the stage at download if you were a guitarist on the right hand side with a drum kit in the middle? Those big rigs are more for us pub giggers to think they must be good as x uses them than they are for backline imo. Im considering taking just my 300 watt genz head and use the di from now on, whatever a roadie wants to put behind me is up to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Ive said it before even as an early uk built evo owner, I think the mag range sounds better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Dean Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 I've just ordered a ABM NEO 400 R & I will compare it against my Mark bass little Rocker , Mark Bass Mo Mark & TC BH250 via my Barefaced super 12 T . Two of these amps will be sold on . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 [quote name='PTB' timestamp='1403607221' post='2484333'] I suspect most bass players at festivals will use IEMs and feed a DI to the PA so what kind of bass amp is on stage is irrelevant to what the crowd hears. It's likely to be whatever they endorse or whatever the promoter provides, as others have said. [/quote] In ears systems will be spec'd like everything else so it really goes to whether the band is permanent or not. if you leave the tour, chances are you wont keep the plugs and that is assuming the band can afford to kit the band out anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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