Please tell me why I should avoid Ashdown amps? (aka why Ashdown are just great!)

[doomed]

2 hours ago, bartelby said:

ALL companies have the off products. Look at the original versions of the Ampeg PF-500s. What a sack of crap they were. Yet very few people would rip into Ampeg with the same vitriol as some are doing with Ashdown.

True, I could jump into every Hartke thread and shout loudly about how the Kilo ( their flagship amp) I recieved the day after they launched here, crapped out after less than 8hrs use, and the following 3 months of smoke and mirrors and utter horses**t from Korg UK  (their distributor at the time) but I let it go, it was resolved in the end, I wouldn't pass water on Hartke if they were on fire again but I know plenty here swear by them and good luck to them all.

[artisan]

32 minutes ago, doomed said:

True, I could jump into every Hartke thread and shout loudly about how the Kilo ( their flagship amp) I recieved the day after they launched here, crapped out after less than 8hrs use, and the following 3 months of smoke and mirrors and utter horses**t from Korg UK  (their distributor at the time) but I let it go, it was resolved in the end, I wouldn't pass water on Hartke if they were on fire again but I know plenty here swear by them and good luck to them all.

+1 me too,Hartke didn't give a damn when my new Kilo died,they didn't ever return any of my emails.

I got my CTM100 second hand from here & when i phoned Ashdown (twice) for a little advice they couldn't have been more pleasant/helpful to me so they get a big thumbs up from me.

 

Edited January 11, 2018 by artisan

[Phil_T]

Same here, Dave Green at Ashdown was really helpful when I bought a second-hand CTM-30 and even gave it free check-over just to resassure me that it was all working 100%. 

[BigRedX]

It is posts like the two above that add to my misery, as it seems obvious that most of the time @Ashdown Engineering are providing great customer service, I must have just got them on an off week.

And it's even more galling when I discover that they were able to repair another Basschat members second-hand Superfly amp FOC when enquiries about getting a fix for mine (owned from new) with what sounds like a similar fault was met with evasion, indifference and finally silence when I was politely persistent.

Edited January 11, 2018 by BigRedX

[edstraker123]

I agree with BigRedX  the only thing that matters is the experience received by the individual. Being busy over the least few weeks explains the bad customer service but does not excuse it. What reason can there possibly be for the sorry build quality that Maude uncovered having taken his amp apart ? I appreciate this is not an issue unique to Ashdown , but the important thing to me is how  companies make things right . Having sold me a shoddy product the least they could have done was to have arranged the courier to collect it on the agreed date, then I wouldn't have wasted a days holiday and put my elderly parents to the trouble of having to  take it to the post office to return it, especially when the initial  delivery had been delayed supposedly for an engineer to check the amp before it was sent to me.

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by edstraker123

[Ashdown Engineering]

12 hours ago, BigRedX said:

It is posts like the two above that add to my misery, as it seems obvious that most of the time @Ashdown Engineering are providing great customer service, I must have just got them on an off week.

And it's even more galling when I discover that they were able to repair another Basschat members second-hand Superfly amp FOC when enquiries about getting a fix for mine (owned from new) with what sounds like a similar fault was met with evasion, indifference and finally silence when I was politely persistent.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to recall in another thread we were being a bit bashed by you and when I apologised and asked for details it all went quiet?

Again if we dropped the ball with you apologies but I need at least some info on what happened as we are never evasive or indifferent. If this was done via email and you still have copies would you be so kind to resend to [email protected]  so that I can fully investigate what happened and come back to you with some proper answers.

Also in these days there are so many ways to contact companies(some would say too many) please remember that we are always at the end of the phone, happy to talk and that is often the best way for a time dependent response...

Edited January 12, 2018 by Ashdown Engineering

[Ashdown Engineering]

11 hours ago, edstraker123 said:

I agree with BigRedX  the only thing that matters is the experience received by the individual. Being busy over the least few weeks explains the bad customer service but does not excuse it. What reason can there possibly be for the sorry build quality that Maude uncovered having taken his amp apart ? I appreciate this is not an issue unique to Ashdown , but the important thing to me is how  companies make things right . Having sold me a shoddy product the least they could have done was to have arranged the courier to collect it on the agreed date, then I wouldn't have wasted a days holiday and put my elderly parents to the trouble of having to  take it to the post office to return it, especially when the initial  delivery had been delayed supposedly for an engineer to check the amp before it was sent to me.

Yes totally agree. When you made us aware of the issues which I believe was the 22nd of December it was too late for us to do a next day collection as we closed on the 23rd and our last courier day was the 22nd. So as you rightly say we booked the couriers to collect from you on the 3rd of Jan which was the earliest day after Christmas we could do, so all good...

Then of course unbeknown to us the 3rd arrived and collection didn't happen for whatever reason(we are still waiting on an explanation from TNT) and we were unaware until you contacted us. We would have happily rearranged for a day to suit you so that your elderly parents didn't have to take it to the post office but alas by this point you were(understandibly) already enraged and took it in to your own hands to ship it back. I'm not attempting to shift the blame here just stating the facts of what happened regards the return of the amp. Apologies again and I hope this helps to clarify the situation. Again maybe in hindsight if you had given us a call once the courier hadn't shown up we could have immediately put a plan B in place for collection...

11 hours ago, edstraker123 said:

 

 

[edstraker123]

I appreciate the apology for the courier debacle but would be extremely grateful if you could explain the B- Social quality issues as you said you would in your earlier post. 

Edited January 12, 2018 by edstraker123

[Ashdown Engineering]

1 minute ago, edstraker123 said:

I appreciate the apology for the courier debacle but would be extremely grateful if you could explain the B- Social quality issues as you said you would in your earlier post. 

Absolutely - I'm in the middle of writing a fairly long reply to Maude now on the other thread but of course other things I have to deal with keep happening around me so please bear with, should be finished shortly.

[BigRedX]

7 hours ago, Ashdown Engineering said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to recall in another thread we were being a bit bashed by you and when I apologised and asked for details it all went quiet?

Again if we dropped the ball with you apologies but I need at least some info on what happened as we are never evasive or indifferent. If this was done via email and you still have copies would you be so kind to resend to [email protected]  so that I can fully investigate what happened and come back to you with some proper answers.

Also in these days there are so many ways to contact companies(some would say too many) please remember that we are always at the end of the phone, happy to talk and that is often the best way for a time dependent response...

I did reply to you and not only that but also tagged @Ashdown Engineering in my post, so you should have seen it.

The re-itterate what I said, unfortunately the emails at my end have long gone - it was 2009 or 2010 (more likely to be the latter). If you want to look for them they will most likely have come from an email address which is similar to my user name here. From what I recall, the responses I got from whoever I was dealing with at Ashdown were not very helpful considering that both the issues my Superfly amp (high pitched whine at from the speaker outputs and problems getting the amp to switch on in the first place) were well known on the internet forums, and at least one of them was generally acknowledged to be a design fault. 

TBH if it hadn't been for the fact that the amp had been bought from Sound Control who had since gone into receivership, I would have taken it back to the shop and demanded my money back as the amp that produces extraneous high pitched noises and won't switch on reliably was clearly not fit for purpose. Unfortunately this wasn't an option, and so based on all the great customer service reports I'd read about Ashdown here I had hoped that you would be reasonably sympathetic to my plight. This wasn't the case, and I was left with a useless amp and bitter taste from my exchanges with your customer service department.

The amp itself was disposed of when I had a big clear out of unused gear about 3 years ago.

I would have probably let it lie, and put it down to experience, had it not been for another Basschat member's very positive experience where you apparently repaired his second hand malfunctioning Superfly amp FoC only a few months ago. It was a pity that back in 2010 (or whenever) I couldn't have received a similar high standard of service, for what appeared to be a very similar fault.

I don't have anything against the equipment itself. Whenever I've been presented with an Ashdown rig at equipment sharing gigs I've always been able to get a good usable sound out of it, and my Superfly amp, when it was working properly, was fantastic - relatively small and light with MIDI programability and great sound. However an unreliable amp is not one I could take to gigs or rehearsals ad therefore is essentially useless. 

[Al Krow]

4 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I would have probably let it lie, and put it down to experience, had it not been for another Basschat member's very positive experience where you apparently repaired his second hand malfunctioning Superfly amp FoC only a few months ago. It was a pity that back in 2010 (or whenever) I couldn't have received a similar high standard of service, for what appeared to be a very similar fault.I

I suspect we all sympathise with where you're coming from Big Red; but if it's the case that Ashdown now have (generally) fantastic and responsive customer service and from what you are saying it is a big improvement on what you experienced 7 or 8 years ago then that is something to be applauded and cheered, right?

[VTypeV4]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

I suspect we all sympathise with where you're coming from Big Red; but if it's the case that Ashdown now have (generally) fantastic and responsive customer service and from what you are saying it is a big improvement on what you experienced 7 or 8 years ago then that is something to be applauded and cheered, right?

This, absolutely..

I've said this before but other than the odd exception of the smaller companies (TKS, Barefaced to name a couple), none have a presence let alone a real person here. The fact that Ashdown do - a multinational company - is something to be applauded.

From a personal and slightly selfish perspective regarding my own gear - the Trace Elliot company that built my V4 haven't existed in over 15 years despite the brand still being around. I'd probably get more knowledge from Ashdown regarding it rather the current Trace Elliot. The Fender company that built my Bassman have gone through many changes since it was built during the CBS times and it seems unlikely to offer much support regarding it. And lastly, my SWR cabs were made by a company that also no longer exists. In conclusion, I have no real direct manufacturer contact for any of my gear which would, sometimes be really helpful..

[Ashdown Engineering]

1 hour ago, VTypeV4 said:

This, absolutely..

I've said this before but other than the odd exception of the smaller companies (TKS, Barefaced to name a couple), none have a presence let alone a real person here. The fact that Ashdown do - a multinational company - is something to be applauded.

From a personal and slightly selfish perspective regarding my own gear - the Trace Elliot company that built my V4 haven't existed in over 15 years despite the brand still being around. I'd probably get more knowledge from Ashdown regarding it rather the current Trace Elliot. The Fender company that built my Bassman have gone through many changes since it was built during the CBS times and it seems unlikely to offer much support regarding it. And lastly, my SWR cabs were made by a company that also no longer exists. In conclusion, I have no real direct manufacturer contact for any of my gear which would, sometimes be really helpful..

If you ever need any help with the V4 just give us a shout 

[VTypeV4]

3 minutes ago, Ashdown Engineering said:

If you ever need any help with the V4 just give us a shout 

Thank you.

[mcnach]

I'm not a current owner of Ashdown products (I did own a MAG250 head and 115 cab years ago, as well as a couple of pedals, including the very cool James Lomenzo overdrive, a real unsung hero of the bass overdrive world)... but seeing their participation in this thread makes me feel very warm about them. Customer service is very important. I rate a company not just by the quality of their products but also by the quality of their customer service: when things go wrong, that's when I need them to be there for me. 

Thank you Ashdown. 

[Ashdown Engineering]

On 11/01/2018 at 09:51, Kevin Dean said:

I'm wondering if the ABM600 now covers these tones or they have a new model for Him ?

JJ loves his amps, he has ABM as well but the JJ heads never go wrong even after around 15 years of heavy touring and he has 3 or 4 which we see for a service every once in awhile but that’s about it really so no real need to build any more... 

We would of course never say never though... ;-) 

[Ashdown Engineering]

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

I did reply to you and not only that but also tagged @Ashdown Engineering in my post, so you should have seen it.

The re-itterate what I said, unfortunately the emails at my end have long gone - it was 2009 or 2010 (more likely to be the latter). If you want to look for them they will most likely have come from an email address which is similar to my user name here. From what I recall, the responses I got from whoever I was dealing with at Ashdown were not very helpful considering that both the issues my Superfly amp (high pitched whine at from the speaker outputs and problems getting the amp to switch on in the first place) were well known on the internet forums, and at least one of them was generally acknowledged to be a design fault. 

TBH if it hadn't been for the fact that the amp had been bought from Sound Control who had since gone into receivership, I would have taken it back to the shop and demanded my money back as the amp that produces extraneous high pitched noises and won't switch on reliably was clearly not fit for purpose. Unfortunately this wasn't an option, and so based on all the great customer service reports I'd read about Ashdown here I had hoped that you would be reasonably sympathetic to my plight. This wasn't the case, and I was left with a useless amp and bitter taste from my exchanges with your customer service department.

The amp itself was disposed of when I had a big clear out of unused gear about 3 years ago.

I would have probably let it lie, and put it down to experience, had it not been for another Basschat member's very positive experience where you apparently repaired his second hand malfunctioning Superfly amp FoC only a few months ago. It was a pity that back in 2010 (or whenever) I couldn't have received a similar high standard of service, for what appeared to be a very similar fault.

I don't have anything against the equipment itself. Whenever I've been presented with an Ashdown rig at equipment sharing gigs I've always been able to get a good usable sound out of it, and my Superfly amp, when it was working properly, was fantastic - relatively small and light with MIDI programability and great sound. However an unreliable amp is not one I could take to gigs or rehearsals ad therefore is essentially useless. 

Thanks for filling in the history it’s appreciated.

Sound Control went into administration in April 2008, remember it well as we lost an incredible amount of money because of it. But also good guys like you weren’t given the proper back up you deserve and in many cases much worse. We heard many tales of customers who had paid for expensive special order items who simply lost their money and all hope of what they ordered the moment the shutters went down. Sad all round.

Apologies for how it all played out, it must have played on your mind greatly to be this passionate a decade on. If you still had the Superfly I would be offering to take a look at it but hey that ship has sailed as you say.

I think now we hug(briefly and with manly back slap of course)and move on? 

[Ashdown Engineering]

On 11/01/2018 at 11:32, ped said:

Trello it!

Let’s make this happen. 

[Al Krow]

3 minutes ago, Ashdown Engineering said:

Let’s make this happen. 

Looking forward to it!

So @Ashdown Engineering, if I may, here's one of my Qs from the start of this thread, which you can maybe put to bed?

The new Ashdown Doom does look gorgeous (and one of our BCer's @doomed has gone so far as to name his avatar after the amp methinks!). High marks for design (and yes it does matter!) 

The Doom is an extra £400 on top of the EVO IV price and from your website you say that the Doom has been "3 years in the making", so I'm presuming you've managed to include something 'over and above' for the considerable extra £cash?  However, from the spec it appears to essentially be a 'prettied up' version of the ABM EVO IV 600 with a second VU and an extra (nominal 66W) instead of a compressor?! I'm hoping there is more to it than that? Grateful if you could elaborate?

 

[Ashdown Engineering]

34 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Looking forward to it!

So @Ashdown Engineering, if I may, here's one of my Qs from the start of this thread, which you can maybe put to bed?

The new Ashdown Doom does look gorgeous (and one of our BCer's @doomed has gone so far as to name his avatar after the amp methinks!). High marks for design (and yes it does matter!) 

The Doom is an extra £400 on top of the EVO IV price and from your website you say that the Doom has been "3 years in the making", so I'm presuming you've managed to include something 'over and above' for the considerable extra £cash?  However, from the spec it appears to essentially be a 'prettied up' version of the ABM EVO IV 600 with a second VU and an extra (nominal 66W) instead of a compressor?! I'm hoping there is more to it than that? Grateful if you could elaborate?

 

Absolutely, the core of the amp is obviously ABM, there’s a reason that the ABM range has been in production continuously for 21 years since day one. Saying that the differences are more than just skin deep.

Actually the first point is that each Head Of Doom is built here in England by one of two people. One being the guy who actually designed the amp Dave Green and the other his wife Joanne who between them have around 60 years of amplifier design/building experience. This is the same for all our valve heads as well. The standard ABM 600 is made in our China factory so for starters it was always going to be more money than an ABM 600.

Externally the steel housing and front panel costs a lot more than the wood ABM chassis and wood sleeve amazingly. Then internal differences are increased voltage running the valve pre amp(the Doom...) increased output transformer and the part which adds a good chunk of the added cost is the three isolated slave outputs, these each have their own small transformer for true isolation. So add to the cost an extra three transformers, all of which are handwired by one guy 10 miles down the road, this also includes the output transformer as well....

Then don’t forget the extra VU meter! ;-) 

Hope that helps. 

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by Ashdown Engineering

[Al Krow]

Yes, really helpful thanks!

Made in the UK vs made in China is exactly the same rationale that Warwick (Made in Germany vs made in China) or Fender (Made in USA vs MIM) or Yamaha (Made in Japan vs made in Indonesia) etc all have for a premium product range. Actually Warwick's mark up for their German custom made range is very significantly higher.

Then steel vs wood + additional isolated transformers (and of course that additional VU meter!)

Yup, it's now VERY easy to understand why this is a premium product. Thank you.

And whilst aesthetics is very much in the eye of the onlooker / personal; I know a LOT of folk have commented on its head turning good looks. It's always great to see form and function coming together.

My only other Q on the Doom for @Ashdown Engineering is: when did you envision that your half-decent or even semi-pro bass player is likely to be needing to make use of the isolated slave outputs (I suspect most of us will typically gig with one or possibly two cabs, there will of course be a few with grander rigs)? I'm guessing the three extra transformers add both significant additional weight as well as cost to the amp head, so it would be a shame if they are essentially redundant for all apart from the most successful pro's amongst us?

 

Edited January 14, 2018 by Al Krow

[VTypeV4]

2 hours ago, mcnach said:

I'm not a current owner of Ashdown products (I did own a MAG250 head and 115 cab years ago, as well as a couple of pedals, including the very cool James Lomenzo overdrive, a real unsung hero of the bass overdrive world)... but seeing their participation in this thread makes me feel very warm about them. Customer service is very important. I rate a company not just by the quality of their products but also by the quality of their customer service: when things go wrong, that's when I need them to be there for me. 

Thank you Ashdown. 

Me too, above and beyond - I'm not  even a customer and I'm being offered support on a product that they didn't even build. Superb.

[doomed]

11 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

(and one of our BCer's @doomed has gone so far as to name his avatar after the amp methinks!).  

 

😆 I was Doomed years before I got the amp...

[Al Krow]

40 minutes ago, doomed said:

😆 I was Doomed years before I got the amp...

Aha. So it was inevitable that, as night follows the day, you were going to end up buying this amp and not only that, but it was destined to be just perfect for you, right? Sounds like a karma chameleon to me! 

[Al Krow]

The new 'Ashdown Doom Metro'

"...and the part which adds a good chunk of the added cost is the three isolated slave outputs, these each have their own small transformer for true isolation. So add to the cost an extra three transformers, all of which are handwired by one guy 10 miles down the road..."

So my little grenade if I may: @Ashdown Engineering definitely not sure when folk are going to have call for three isolated outputs? Not really heard anyone (including from my fellow BC Ashdown lovers on this thread) say that this is the killer feature they've been waiting for? You'll know if this was widely market tested, or just felt like a good idea at the time!

What possibility of offering a slimmed down, lighter version of the Doom with the same power, steel housing and UK build and with its excellent design (and still providing that extra VU meter, of course! ) but without the additional slave outputs - which for many of us simply represent additional redundancy, weight and cost? 

What do you think? Maybe be a winner?

Edited January 18, 2018 by Al Krow