Roger2611 Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 Quite a few of the touring bands I have seen recently have used Ashdown bass amps, so they still seem popular with the pro's out there, I had the Little Bastard for a short while but found it wasn't loud enough to gig with what was a pretty quiet covers band so moved it on, I do keep looking at the EVO heads but as yet haven't taken the plunge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 55 minutes ago, fleabag said: I also had the Superly, and mine was 99% brillant, but quite a few suffered from that high pitched digital clock whine, on one channel IIRC. Apparently there was nothing could be done. Possibly cheap Chinese components, but i bought mine 2nd hand so never got to debate with Ashdown about it. I also dumped the rediculous alloy outer casing. Save a fair bit of weight. Bill Fitzmaurice used to use one, or maybe still does Yeah after mine had been back to the seller (wanna say G4M or Sound Control) a few times it was fine, never had any of the whine and it held out for a fair few years stripped of the outer case with the sharp corners rounded off and some rubber feet fitted. Loved the feature set and it was really well suited to a home practice head - could grab any bass and have a seperate eq for it with the press of a button plus it had lots of flashy lights which as everybody knows means serious pro audio. Wish I hadn't sold mine tbh as I could do with one now for home use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBass Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 Purely my opinion / experience, but I had an Ashdown EVO300 4 x10 combo for a short while and I hated everything about it. Sounded terrible, bland, lacked any sort of tonal character and weighed a ton. I’ve got a dodgy back anyway and I could hardly lift it into my car. I gigged it twice and got rid of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJE Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 A friend of mine recently bought an early 1x15 combo, electric blue? Anyway it weighs a ton but sounds amazing and he paid £90 for it. It has a presence in the sound which I can’t really explain, maybe it’s the mythical ‘heft’ everyone talks about? Either way it’s a great amp for a silly amount of money and after years of moaning about Ashdown I genuinely don’t think they sound any better/worse than any of the high end amps I have used over the years. I also noticed a well respected producer using the same £90 combo as part of his studio recording set up with a mic on it which says a lot for the quality of the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 I quite liked the EB combos, the ones with the LEDs instead of the silly VU meter. Unfortunately they are popular choices for practice room amps so they've usually been thrashed. I remember preferring one to an early Klystron 115 combo back in the day (the lower wattage one they released, think 350w or something). Now that had the famous Ashdown wooly tone down to a tee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 (edited) On 01/09/2019 at 23:26, bearhart74 said: Ashdown got a bad rep for quality and never seemed to recover. I think they've probably had their moments, as have most manufacturers to be fair, but by and large their customer support has always been great. The ABM stuff has always been well made, I think it's some of the cheaper stuff that perhaps got a bad rep. I used to use a rehearsal space in Glasgow and I kept blowing up their stupid Ampeg SVTs, eventually they bought in an ABM, for us tricky bass players, and it never missed a beat. Real workhorse stuff. And as far as the Superfly being a bit crappy, I think it was the first commercially available class D bass amp on the market, which nobody ever seems to give them props for never mind all the extra crazy stuff it did too. Sadly, I think Ashdown are a brand that some folks like to bash, and I have no idea why. On 01/09/2019 at 23:39, fleabag said: I thought Peavey took over TE ? They did but after Gibson, who bought it from Kaman. I got my first TC amp just after the Gibson takeover, as far as I'm aware the original work done by the real Trace engineers was still in effect with Kaman, and then Gibson came in and ruined everything. For some mad reason though, folks were selling off pre Gibson stock cheap, even though it was far superior! It was a good time to buy... Personally, I'm a very big Ashdown fan. Eude Edited September 11, 2019 by eude 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky L Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 I love my Ashdown kit. I gig my rig most weekends and it's rock solid. I have the Neo 210 and 115 cabs which make shifting them about easier. The head, a Klystron Classic 500, probs needs a service now, but it's just arranging it around down time. I also still have my old original first series ABM 115 200W combo. That needs some work, occasionally get a really loud buzzing when you turn it on and sometimes not. Got a couple of other bits n bobs too! Anyhoo, I just see myself ever changing from them 😊 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 (edited) I love Ashdown amps. I have four. I just bought a Spyder 550 on eBay for peanuts, turns out I paid less than it cost them to make them 😳 My ABM head cost me £90... It’s possibly (perceived) market saturation - they tend to be very easy to get hold of in shops and second hand, and perhaps some of the cheaper ranges have devalued the others. Maybe being a UK company makes this the case - are they seen as more boutique overseas?! They do have an excellent set of class D heads in the RM at the moment and their RM cabs are pretty light so it’s not like they don’t do lightweight stuff. I’ve always found them hugely helpful and respectful - the amount of time they’ve taken over the years talking to me and entertaining me when I pop in to see them is insane, I’m a nobody in the bass playing world but they always have the time for me. All I want now is a CTM preamp in an RM800 box. And a stripped back, half-width ABM500 too. It’s not too much to ask 🤣🤣 Edited September 11, 2019 by Merton 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 PS - it was about 6 years ago I became a convert. Before that I was in the “woolly” brigade but realised the error of my ways. An ABM is a superb amp to have behind you on loud gigs with no PA support. An Ampeg.... not so much IMO! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 PPS - Gibson ruining TE... When Gibson bought them, they kept asking “why buy that component for £5 when you can buy this for £1 and make more profit?”. Hence the Gibson stuff falling apart... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edstraker123 Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 I had a CTM15 and the B- Social which were both terrible and I've got an LB30 which is sublime. Just need to sort out quality control issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 I think they tend to be very brave with their decisions to make new products such as the B-Social, and also with their use of overseas manufacture. They will be the first to admit some forays into Far Eastern manufacture haven’t gone well. That being said, based on everything they’ve said to me their Chinese factory now is doing really well - and given that three of my four amps were made there I’d be inclined to agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 I don’t think Ashdown have any more issues with their gear than most manufacturers. I had an ABM500 head a few years ago which was built like a tank. I dropped it off a stage once and broke a few knobs/sliders, messaged Ashdown and had the replacement parts mailed to me free of charge within a few days. Top service really. Wouldn’t hesitate to buy Ashdown in the future 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 I had 2 Ampeg PF-500s go pop with in a few months, got a full refund after the 2nd one and replaced it with an Ashdown JJ-500. I'm beginning to become very tempted by the idea of an all valve amp and it will be a CTM, not an SVT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 I'm very new to Ashdown amps having just picked up my first amp and cab setup in the past few weeks. I picked up both used for very small amounts considering what they are and I'm very impressed thus far. Prior to that my only experience with them were the NM-2 Distortion pedal, which was a bit of a weird product since it was a signature pedal that wasn't actually used by the Artist in question nor modelled after a pedal he did use :). I didn't keep it very long but I can't see me moving on the amp / cab any time soon. If I get back into a gigging band I'll definitely look at an ABM head. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visog Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 On 11/09/2019 at 18:41, edstraker123 said: I had a CTM15 and the B- Social which were both terrible and I've got an LB30 which is sublime. Just need to sort out quality control issues. God yes I went through the whole B-Social debacle too. I get the impression that their premium lines are good but their scaled mid-lines have the issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 On 11/09/2019 at 19:41, PJ-Bassist said: I Prior to that my only experience with them were the NM-2 Distortion pedal, which was a bit of a weird product since it was a signature pedal that wasn't actually used by the Artist in question nor modelled after a pedal he did use :). How so? He seemed to be pretty involved with it's development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Just now, Cosmo Valdemar said: How so? He seemed to be pretty involved with it's development I just don't recall him ever actually using it with the Foo Fighters live or hearing it referenced on a recording. I thought he remained pretty faithful to his Fulltone Bassdrive's and more recently the Darkglass VMT. For me if it's a truly a signature model the artist would actually use it themselves, at least for a period of time, that just didn't seem to be the case with the nm-2. I maybe completely wrong though and you'll tell me he used it for for the entirety of Concrete and Gold recordings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 On 02/09/2019 at 13:52, fleabag said: I also had the Superly, and mine was 99% brillant, but quite a few suffered from that high pitched digital clock whine, on one channel IIRC. Apparently there was nothing could be done. Possibly cheap Chinese components, but i bought mine 2nd hand so never got to debate with Ashdown about it. I also dumped the rediculous alloy outer casing. Save a fair bit of weight. Bill Fitzmaurice used to use one, or maybe still does I had both a Superfly and a Superduperfly (the 1000W version). Both suffered slightly from high pitched twittering - not noticeable gigging but nevertheless annoying. The front end on them was brilliant and I did suggest to them that they revive the preamp as a stand-alone unit (they were polite but nothing has happened so I think that got filed in the round basket). I'd love to get hold of one with failed power amps for notalot and extract the preamp from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 I think we are all affected by pre judgement and our own narrow experiences. I have a deep seated negativity around another highly regarded brand after using one of their combos in an audition. Ludicrous and indefensible but kind of visceral. I had this weird idea that Ashdown were bedroom amps for kids just starting out. Can't tell you where that came from, literally no clue. My Trace Elliot love is well known to some of you and the Ashdown connection ought to have been a huge plus. But there was something wishy washy and pale blue about them. And that homemade looking logo always struck me as amateurish. All of this utter nonsense wasting brain space before I'd ever played through any Ashdown gear. I bought a couple of cabs which came with an ABM 500 virtually thrown in so why not? I could always sell it on. What a revelation. Seriously. I now own the CTM 100. It hasn't quite pushed the SVT out of the door... yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Thinking back I’ve had quite a bit of Ashdown gear, but I was always chasing something else, but I’ve now realised that I like the sound of their amps after digging out my old mag 300 combo and adding a Te 15 cab in my summerhouse, and it sounds great, I’ve also just bought a mag 300 head with the compressor and I’m enjoying that too, but I do think I need to add the ctm 100 to my list 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bam Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 There was an Ashdown evo 4 600w on ebay in great condition yesterday. Didnt even sell for £200. It's crazy. Meanwhile bedroom amps and some class d average at best amps go for £350+ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 I've owned an ABM300 Evo II 2x10 combo with an ABM115 Compact cabinet, and I liked it as long as I kept the bass knob at 9 o clock. Otherwise it would just drown in any mix. It was just all subs, taking up all of those 300 watts. I never really liked it, and sold it around 10 years ago. I once damaged a knob during transport, and Ashdown sent me a new knob free of charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 2 minutes ago, LeftyJ said: Ashdown sent me a new knob free of charge. Even the NHS can't manage that! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstelie Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 (edited) If someone wants to sell me a CTM100 for nothing I'm in !!!! Edited September 16, 2019 by lstelie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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