pbasspecial Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Hi Fellow BC'ers, I just bought a lovely chrome Ashdown ABM 500 from here. It was delivered yesterday, so excited unwrapping new (and older) gear. Everyday can be Xmas when you have GAS! Anyway, all looks great, sounded lovely until I switched on the the valve drive button. Noticeable loss of power and tone. Really thin sounding. So I swapped the valve with another one I had but no difference. Turning the dial left or right didn't bring about any wanted grit effect. :( I wondered if any of you had any thoughts? Btw- the seller has been really good about it all too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 As no fan of thermionic valves I could be cheeky and say you will only get a lovely warm drive tone from a solid state amplifier. On a serious note, call Ashdown. Their customer service is awesome. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Yes, Ashdown are very good on customer service, they’re on here as well @Ashdown Engineering 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stofferson Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 1 hour ago, pbasspecial said: Hi Fellow BC'ers, I just bought a lovely chrome Ashdown ABM 500 from here. It was delivered yesterday, so excited unwrapping new (and older) gear. Everyday can be Xmas when you have GAS! Anyway, all looks great, sounded lovely until I switched on the the valve drive button. Noticeable loss of power and tone. Really thin sounding. So I swapped the valve with another one I had but no difference. Turning the dial left or right didn't bring about any wanted grit effect. I wondered if any of you had any thoughts? Btw- the seller has been really good about it all too. Hey dude, Deffo email Ashdown, they're amazing, I bought an ABM600 2nd hand from here too and had the same issue, although mine turned out to be just the valve that had gone, they suggested a dodgy pot and suggested either send it in for repair or they could send over the bits FOC if your handy with a soldering iron. Call Us at 01621 857853 [email protected] 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrumpymike Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 +1 for contacting Ashdown. There's no other company anywhere that supports its products as well as they do. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashdown Engineering Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 2 hours ago, Stofferson said: Hey dude, Deffo email Ashdown, they're amazing, I bought an ABM600 2nd hand from here too and had the same issue, although mine turned out to be just the valve that had gone, they suggested a dodgy pot and suggested either send it in for repair or they could send over the bits FOC if your handy with a soldering iron. Call Us at 01621 857853 [email protected] Give us a call and ask for Guy he should be able to get you up and running again. Cheers. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbasspecial Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 Thanks Ashdown. I shall give your guy Guy a call! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbasspecial Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 (edited) Amp Update: I just spoke with amp legend Dave Green. He thinks it's more than likely a damaged pot. Will be taking it direct to them next week to get it looked. Can't trust those pesky couriers. Great customer service Ashdown! A+ for effort Edited October 30, 2019 by pbasspecial 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashdown Engineering Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 2 hours ago, pbasspecial said: Amp Update: I just spoke with amp legend Dave Green. He thinks it's more than likely a damaged pot. Will be taking it direct to them next week to get it looked. Can't trust those pesky couriers. Great customer service Ashdown! A+ for effort Good news. Everything we make is repairable forever so we should be able to get you sorted fairly quickly. Cheers. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 I took my ABM600 to my tech, who spoke direct with Ashdown and had some minor problems fixed in a matter of moments. He's worked for some big name amp companies before and said the Ashdown guys were incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Love @Ashdown Engineering - had a wonderful chat with Dave Green today about my CTM100 which he said looked like it had been stored in a swimming pool by its previous owner 🤣 Top notch amps and chaps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassmoon Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 I shall be heading out there one Wednesday soon - work keeps on getting in the way of that trip hahahaha - hopefully it'll be a simple fix for me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 19 hours ago, pbasspecial said: Amp Update: I just spoke with amp legend Dave Green. He thinks it's more than likely a damaged pot. Will be taking it direct to them next week to get it looked. Can't trust those pesky couriers. Great customer service Ashdown! A+ for effort I had the same thing when I bought an ABM 500, rang ashdown and was told the same thing, sent it back and it turned out it was just a resistor that had packed up, they repaired it and sent it back, no charge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbasspecial Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 Met Mark and the guys at the last 2 London bass shows. Super friendly team. Also think me and my 3 lads were on their Instagram post too as my seven year photo bombed/stole the bass of me whilst I was demoing their amps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 On 30/10/2019 at 09:08, pbasspecial said: Hi Fellow BC'ers, I just bought a lovely chrome Ashdown ABM 500 from here. It was delivered yesterday, so excited unwrapping new (and older) gear. Everyday can be Xmas when you have GAS! Anyway, all looks great, sounded lovely until I switched on the the valve drive button. Noticeable loss of power and tone. Really thin sounding. So I swapped the valve with another one I had but no difference. Turning the dial left or right didn't bring about any wanted grit effect. I wondered if any of you had any thoughts? Btw- the seller has been really good about it all too. I bought the same amp last year from PMT new and had the same issue. I changed the vale as you did but to no avail..... I returned it to get another but had the same fault...... Total refund in the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbasspecial Posted November 5, 2019 Author Share Posted November 5, 2019 1 hour ago, Mike Byrne said: I bought the same amp last year from PMT new and had the same issue. I changed the vale as you did but to no avail..... I returned it to get another but had the same fault...... Total refund in the end Sorry to hear that. I thought the were built like tanks. Thats why I'm personally taking it there tomorrow. Fed up with broken gear because the couriers are driving around flat out and lobbing packages because: 1. Get paid very little per job 2. Don't give a stinky poo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrumpymike Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 4 hours ago, Mike Byrne said: I bought the same amp last year from PMT new and had the same issue. I changed the vale as you did but to no avail..... I returned it to get another but had the same fault...... Total refund in the end Disappointing that. Must say that I've thought more than once I should be buying a new ABM600 to support Ashdown. It's a decent amp that's good value for money IMHO - certainly the best in their range for me. If it went on a diet and shed a few kilos I'd be there! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painy Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 2 hours ago, scrumpymike said: Disappointing that. Must say that I've thought more than once I should be buying a new ABM600 to support Ashdown. It's a decent amp that's good value for money IMHO - certainly the best in their range for me. If it went on a diet and shed a few kilos I'd be there! Buy the rack-mount one and put it in a lightweight Gator case or a rack bag to save the weight of the plywood sleeve? Sorted! 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbasspecial Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 (edited) Ashdown Update: I took the amp over there this morning. Quite a pleasant 50 mile drive there surprisingly. Guy had a look at it, put it on the bench and gave it a full service. Said the drive was working but it's a subtle thing, not a gnarly, gritty thing. Replaced the valve for a higher output ecc83 JJ one. Still not a lot of grit so, he modded it with a resistor and a bit of techie magic. Seemed to improve it a bit. He also fixed the mute button issue. Turns out someone had removed the three transistors??? How much did they charge me? Zero, zilch, Nara, nothing. Ashdown, you now have a friend for life. Well done Mark and the gang. And mostly a big thank you to Guy. You sir are a rootin, tootin, troubleshooting superstar. Edited November 6, 2019 by pbasspecial 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 (edited) 19 minutes ago, pbasspecial said: Ashdown Update: I took the amp over there this morning. Quite a pleasant 50 mile drive there surprisingly. Guy had a look at it, put it on the bench and gave it a full service. Said the drive was working but it's a subtle thing, not a gnarly, gritty thing. Replaced the valve for a higher output ecc83 JJ one. Still not a lot of grit so, he modded it with a resistor and a bit of techie magic. Seemed to improve it a bit. He also fixed the mute button issue. Turns out someone had removed the three transistors??? How much did they charge me? Zero, zilch, Nara, nothing. Ashdown, you now have a friend for life. Well done Mark and the gang. And mostly a big thank you to Guy. You sir are a rootin, tootin, troubleshooting superstar. excellent customer service, which is what I got, however, valve drive on mine gives a noticeable overdrive tone, not Lemmy territory but heading in that direction, unlike the valve preamp on my Trace SMX, doesn't seem to make any difference at all Edited November 6, 2019 by PaulWarning 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbasspecial Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 2 minutes ago, PaulWarning said: excellent customer service, which is what I got, however, valve drive on mine gives a noticeable overdrive tone, not Lemmy territory but heading in that direction, unlike the valve preamp on my Trace SMX, doesn't seem to make any difference at all Maybe as this is one of the earlier models, it's spec is probably similar to the Traces. That's why I thought it was broken as it didn't seemed to make a noticeable difference. Expected a bit more grit. Great amp nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Definitely warm overdrive tone on mine, but mine's a 600 Evo IV - maybe that's different. Either way, superb service! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 AFAIK the EVO IV is when Ashdown changed the valve drive to be fatter, before that it was more like a subtle nuanced addition 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 should have said mines an EVO III 500 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGBass Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Dave Green is in my opinion legendary in his Ashdown advice. He recently fixed me up with a replacement set of Mosfet's for a super early 1997 ABM500H rack mount amp. I also personally use a 2000 vintage ABM EVO500 as my main gigging amp and the valve sound on these amps is more like a valve 'presence' than a 'grind' option. I must admit to liking this very much. I also use an EVO2 300 watt ABM big chassis version (2005 vintage) where the valve sound is much more aggressive than earlier models so there is def a difference in pre amp valve performance for different model year ABM's. I have no experience with evo 3 or 4 versions so not sure how these are voiced. The older ABM's in my opinion have a much more subtle rounded presence rather than a grit/grunge sound. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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