CJBassman64 Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Recently accidentally dropped post gig my very heavy Ashdown 550 Touring Combo with 115 500W driver. A much cherished part of my gear used with a VS212 cabinet. The result was the chipboard cabinet has completely split and as a wooden box no longer has an real structural strength. The horn unit has also broken around the plastic horn part but still actually works. Amazingly all other hardware, including the amp (and valves) and speaker still work. I was wondering (its a real long shot, I know) if anyone can advise on which Ashdown combos shared the same cab / chassis so I could try to source a used one to allow me to rebuild the combo and hopefully get it back into service. I did call Ashdown who were really helpful but don't have in their warehouse any 'old' stock products available that could help with a fix. The did tell me the 550 Touring was based on a wide chassis design and not their narrow version. Any advice much appreciated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 (edited) Could you split the combo? As in get an amp sleeve for the amp chassis and then make the speaker section into a 1x15 speaker cab? I guess it would depend on where the damage is and how easy it would be to repair. I have seen plenty of combos that have had the amp section chopped off. Edited May 29, 2019 by BassBunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 My first thought was the same as BassBunny, great opportunity to split the head and speaker up into two separates, which would make it much easier to move around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJBassman64 Posted May 29, 2019 Author Share Posted May 29, 2019 Thank you to all for the suggestions. The cabinet is a write off so its either a replacement cabinet for the combo or look at separating the amp and speaker into a head and cab configuration. I think its a regular look either here or elsewhere on the web for a suitable 15" cab for the speaker. Am guessing that the amp enclosure will need to be custom made in order to create a head unit. The wide chassis requirement for the head unit means an Ashdown sleeve is more difficult to find used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 2 minutes ago, CJBassman64 said: Thank you to all for the suggestions. The cabinet is a write off so its either a replacement cabinet for the combo or look at separating the amp and speaker into a head and cab configuration. I think its a regular look either here or elsewhere on the web for a suitable 15" cab for the speaker. Am guessing that the amp enclosure will need to be custom made in order to create a head unit. The wide chassis requirement for the head unit means an Ashdown sleeve is more difficult to find used. There's so many head units out there I doubt you'd need to go the custom route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 (edited) Why not contact Ashdown? Your biggest advantage is that they are UK based and unbelievably helpful. Obviously this is an unusual request but if you don't ask... If not and you don't want to split the cabs unless you have to then I can't see building a single combo cab to the same dimensions as the original will be any more difficult than building two separate cabs. You have the original as a template. If you build it of ply then it will be a little lighter than the chipboard and a lot tougher. If you DIY it then the only problem with a combo is the difficulty in covering the finished cab with vinyl. You can get round that by using Tuffcoat as used by a lot of manufacturers now. First of all though contact Ashdown. Edit oops should have read all the way through, shouldn't give advice when I've only just woken up, sorry. Edited May 30, 2019 by Phil Starr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Wonder if this would do the job? I guess you would have to model your speaker, (or speak to Ashdown), to see how it would perform. That's assuming the amp head would fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJBassman64 Posted May 30, 2019 Author Share Posted May 30, 2019 Bass Bunny - thanks for the info on the cabinet, but unfortunately the amp does not fit a narrow chassis. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 15 minutes ago, CJBassman64 said: Bass Bunny - thanks for the info on the cabinet, but unfortunately the amp does not fit a narrow chassis. Chris So it's wider than the standard 19" rackmount size? That's a bummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 I cut down a wide Ashdown amp to fit a standard 19" rack. Mainly with an angle grinder. 😇 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown_User Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 Maybe I'm fundamentally misunderstanding and I've never attempted anything of this sort before, but if it's just a couple of split boards, can't you remove the broken ones, get some new board and cut it to size, then attach the new board? I know you'll have to recover it and stuff but it seems like, given you are struggling to find a replacement box, it would be the quickest way to a fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJBassman64 Posted June 3, 2019 Author Share Posted June 3, 2019 Many thanks to everyone for the suggestions on how to get my trusty 550 Touring back into service with either a used combo cab or taking the split route and going with separate heads and cabs. Am going to look at sourcing a used amp sleeve and a used 115 cab as my preferred option. I think this is the more straight forward route and as has been suggested reduces the weight of the rig. Even the broken chipboard cab is heavy minus all the electronics and hardware parts. Thank you again for the comments and guidance from my fellow bassists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 3 hours ago, CJBassman64 said: Many thanks to everyone for the suggestions on how to get my trusty 550 Touring back into service with either a used combo cab or taking the split route and going with separate heads and cabs. Am going to look at sourcing a used amp sleeve and a used 115 cab as my preferred option. I think this is the more straight forward route and as has been suggested reduces the weight of the rig. Even the broken chipboard cab is heavy minus all the electronics and hardware parts. Thank you again for the comments and guidance from my fellow bassists. That is probably the best way forward, however sourcing a used amp sleeve may be not be that easy as most would be standard width, (19"), and then 1U, 2U etc. etc in height. I've got a new 2U one but your head is too wide. The cabinet is a different situation as either modelling the driver, or a quick call to Ashdown, and you'll know what size cabinet it will work in. If the cabinet surrounding the amp head is still intact, you could just cut that off as a start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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