Sibob Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) So before I go out on tour this coming tuesday, I had to go and get an intermittent but fairly serious problem fixed on my ABM EVO II 500.......oh and before you say anything about reliability....it's taken the amp 5 years of playing hundreds and hundreds of gigs without a single service to develop this issue . A slight side point, turns out my amp is a 2003 UK built. Anyway, got there about 2pm and the guys were busy doing stock-take and getting ready for NAMM the next day, within 10 mins of me chatting to Russel (my tech for the afternoon lol) and identifying the problem, Chris Bates* (head of sales) had offered me a cup of tea and told me to keep the (Ashdown) mug haha!. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have a secondary angle for my visit, that being to make them aware of my band, how long I've played and enjoyed Ashdown for etc etc, try and get them behind FSOF!, but I didn't really need to, Mark (head dad) Chris and Dan Gooday (artist liason) were both genuinely interested in what one of their players was upto, asking for further press kit, photos and quotes etc! After about 30mins of Russ trying to sort the issue, which had been narrowed to the EQ/Preamp board, he decided to simply replace the whole board, this took him about an hour and involved my amp being in complete pieces....a sorry but necessary sight . Mark offered to lend me an ABM 900 for the tour if I couldn't wait for mine, but I wasn't in a hurry, very nice of him though. During this time, I had interesting talks with Mark, Chris and Dan about their current product line, future plans and their imminent trip to NAMM. Dan was very kind and sent me away with some Ashdown wearables and a shoulder manbag type thing (very handy for tour). Russ put my amp back together with the new board, along with a new valve (seeing as it hadn't been changed in 5 years), totaled up the bill, i was nervous that he had to use a calculator to do so, although he assured me it wasn't because the number was big lol. I won't say what the figure was, but I was very very happy with it! Overall, I guess I just wanted to say that I had a fun trip to Ashdown, really nice guys, family run business, very accomodating and genuinely interested in satisfying their customers. Si *correction Edited January 11, 2009 by Sibob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRISDABASS Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Thats great news!! customer service IS still alive in the UK after all!!! Glad you got it sorted mate! good luck with getting them to back you and your band too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 That really is great service, especially as they seemed busy preparing for NAMM. A good job all round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blamelouis Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Well done Ashdown ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrenochrome Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Well despite being often slagged off on here, I've had my Ashdown MAG 300r for almost 5 years of faultless operation without being serviced. It's played 200+ long gigs and many more rehearsals than that. It has been fantastic for the money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilb Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Short correction, its Chris Bates who is the sales guy (blonde hair) and Mark Gooday is the big boss man. Ashdown are only 10 mins away from where I live and I often pop in. Great guys, great company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Hah you got there before me on the correction neilb . And i'd love to go down there - bit of a drive for a cup of tea though ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-ic Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Great ! Its good to hear that they really do understand the meaning of service. Good for then. I wonder if other manufacturers read this forum/thread. If so read on! Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJE Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 That is a really nice story and like others have said, its great to know that there is still good customer care about. As has been said previously there has been lots of Ashdown bashing on here but they do look after people. several years ago I has a mag 300 head that had some intermittent problems (it had been gigged heavily and dropped a few times). I called Ashdown and and I had it sent by courier the next day. They looked at it called me back explaining the problem which basically meant it needed a fair amount of work. As mine was an older Mag ( there had been an update since I bought it) they simply said this fault should never have happened so basically took the guts from the new mag and just slotted them into my head. They paid for it to be sent back and didn't charge me for the work. This and the story that started the thread is basically why I use Ashdown (along with the fact my ABM sounds awesome), British made and I know they are on hand if anything goes wrong. Ace! WELL DONE ASHDOWN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I'm not an Ashdown knocker but they don't work well for my ears. However I've had a number of contacts with Mark Gooday over the years and it's always been a pleasant experience. Absolutely great to see a small business can survivve amongst the mayhem. There is no doubt tthat the service ethic and access to the decision makers is part of that. Well done Ashdown and thanks to Si for telling us the story. I hope they give you and endorsement deal .. nice Entwhistle rig sir? No problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escholl Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Ashdown ftw! Never had a problem with the one I used to have, and am planning on getting a LG350 when I can afford it, so stuff like this is great to hear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilb Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) [quote]Entwhistle[/quote] Entw[i]h[/i]istle???/ Edited January 10, 2009 by neilb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_the_bassist Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Altho I know a lot of guys who love the heads, I've never been able to get the sound I want from the ones I've used. On the flip side, the 4x10 cab in the local rehearsal studios sounds EPIC with my Ha5500, so much low end, and a really tasty warm tone...definately the setup I'd use when we record the new bunch of demos!! [quote name='neilb' post='376087' date='Jan 10 2009, 01:00 PM']Entw[i]h[/i]istle???/[/quote] take a deep breath Neilb, he didn't mean it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowbee Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I've had several lengthy phone conversations with Chris and numerous emails and he's a genuine, helpful guy. As said, customer service in the UK is alive and well and living at Ashdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayfan Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) Not an Ashdown fan either, but it sounds like they treated you well and gave good service. Top marks! Edit: and many of them are ex-Trace Elliot, so double points. Edited January 10, 2009 by stingrayfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote name='Machines' post='375982' date='Jan 10 2009, 10:52 AM']Hah you got there before me on the correction neilb . And i'd love to go down there - bit of a drive for a cup of tea though ![/quote] MB1. Manchester to Chelmsford?....Coffee please! Thats what i like about Ashdown a Great British Company and only a phone call away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmansky Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 ive dealt with chris bates before and he is a top guy,as well as mark (boss)gooday.great sevice from a british company!(not many about these days). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 That's awesome, i heard they were a really nice bunch of guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I hung out with Mark a few years ago at one of the Bass Player Bass Days, over here in NYC. Top bloke. Anyway, enough with the pleasantries... what did they have that was new for NAMM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='Russ' post='376890' date='Jan 11 2009, 04:37 PM']I hung out with Mark a few years ago at one of the Bass Player Bass Days, over here in NYC. Top bloke. Anyway, enough with the pleasantries... what did they have that was new for NAMM? [/quote] MB1. A Green Box with the Jolly Green Giant on it!...and an orange box with the phantom jaffa cake eater on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 (edited) [quote name='MB1' post='376906' date='Jan 11 2009, 04:46 PM']MB1. A Green Box with the Jolly Green Giant on it!...and an orange box with the phantom jaffa cake eater on it! [/quote] have they STILL not launched those yet? EDIT: yeah they have, and why do websites say they have a 7 band EQ? It's blatantly 4 band semi parametric Edited January 11, 2009 by budget bassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='budget bassist' post='376912' date='Jan 11 2009, 05:02 PM']have they STILL not launched those yet?[/quote] MB1. Now available at a Music Shop!...near you! (well Musicground Manchester have got em!).....Theres Orangey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Are they running the Lodestone basses operation from the same place, then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 (edited) [quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='377232' date='Jan 11 2009, 10:13 PM']Are they running the Lodestone basses operation from the same place, then?[/quote] I think so! Well, in as much as they had a load hanging up and even more in boxes scattered around! I don't believe construction of the Lodestones is on-site though, could be wrong of course! Chris said that they have taken delivery of the LG's, even he mentioned that it had taken an AGE for them to be delivered Si Edited January 11, 2009 by Sibob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 [quote name='neilb' post='376087' date='Jan 10 2009, 01:00 PM']Entw[i]h[/i]istle???/[/quote] Oooops, Sorry Neil. I hope your blood pressure didn't rise too sharply By way of an apology here's a picture of the man and his Arsedown rig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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