Ashdown Basses?! Woo!

[Cuzzie]

You actual can’t win here cant win here can you?!

These are familiar shapes that people en masse do like and are ergonomic, and have stood the test of time.

If they look and sound great, have a high QC control and feel better than a ‘Fender’ at a great price, have great customer service especially with a hub in the U.K.  - then is that not a victory for us as consumers?

Why not trade an official Mexican Fender knock off for a UK/USA fender knock off?

If they designed something different which look like a child drew a melted candle with a chubby crayon, then you may all silently applause, but the likelihood is y’all wouldn’t rush to buy one and support the venture no matter how good it sounds.

As an example So much gets discussed how a P sits in the mix, so a company reproduces that bass that a metric tonne of people use, and they get panned for it. 
The proof is indeed the fit and finish, rolled neck, neck profile, neck and body feel, pick ups, pre-amp etc.

Who knows good be a bloody good set of basses or an absolute turkey, but you know what - they look alright, not offensive  in the least

[AndyTravis]

Well, yeah.

Just like fender “it’s the same 4 models every year, emperors new clothes...”. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

Here’s the thing though, there are 2 familiar shapes but there are variations of short and extended scales. There’s something for the rock kids with the fenderbird, and the p/j is a bit of a quirky take on a familiar set up.

So if they do a short scale Jazz type - they’re covering something fender did for a bit...and now don’t.

I dunno, I’m looking forward to having a mess about with them - Hope the P is nice.

[Cuzzie]

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts-think they look pretty good.

Any nudges on pick ups, electronics etc?

[AndyTravis]

1 minute ago, Cuzzie said:

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts-think they look pretty good.

Any nudges on pick ups, electronics etc?

Not sure. I’m trying to sort a shufty at them - doubt it’ll happen before Namm...

Looking at cab options for my RM too so could just use it as an excuse to be nosey.

[bloke_zero]

I like the lodestone slanted headstock idea - strong break over the nut would be good for intonation right?

[CamdenRob]

It’s really hard isn’t it... if they make anything other than Fender copies they just won’t sell in large enough numbers to make the venture justifiable. That said the headstock shape may prevent sales in any great numbers by itself 😕 It looks OK on the four string... less so on the five 😐

Can’t see how these are offering anything new at the target price point, however I really do wish anything Ashdown are involved in the very best of luck. They are famously tip top on customer service and I understand  - despite not having actually met them myself -  throughly decent blokes 😊

Edited December 24, 2019 by CamdenRob

[Cuzzie]

Fender have barely offered anything new for eons - They call it a professional, pro, Elite, journeyman etc. And pretty much Re-hash what they have and say it’s the best range ever - they get meh’s on here but are bought up.

I suppose their throwback/bastardised/chimera  range was not bad and those Sandblasted finishes were mint - but, there you go....

[lemmywinks]

Dan Lakin is known for his own take on Fender basses with inspiration from Musicman and G&L - the bass commonly associated with him has MM bridge and Jazz neck pickups, a high end preamp, 35" scale and other niceties like Ultralites and coil tapping options. It's an amalgamation of Leo Fender designs with a big dollop of his own vision to make them stand out and you don't need to look at the headstock to identify the 55 series bass.

 

Fender also offer their own take on the crowded super Jazz market with high end appointments, a decent pre etc. I just don't think we need any more keenly priced passive P/J clones as there are numerous great options at every price point already. The Trace T-Bass was a cool take on a Jazz, these Ashdowns are just pretty boring IMO.

[lemmywinks]

6 hours ago, bloke_zero said:

I like the lodestone slanted headstock idea - strong break over the nut would be good for intonation right?

It's a poor implementation of a good idea, the T-Bass had it (the designer may currently be at Ashdown due to their TE connection) but it was a more elegant design.

Edited December 24, 2019 by lemmywinks

[Stub Mandrel]

If the red, blue and silver/grey are metallic they may look a lot tastier in the flesh.

[AndyTravis]

4 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

If the red, blue and silver/grey are metallic they may look a lot tastier in the flesh.

They are - the photos I’ve put on were robbed from Facebook and then uploaded here so super compressed...the blue in particular looked great.

Don’t know if this helps...

 

[Merton]

1 hour ago, lemmywinks said:

It's a poor implementation of a good idea, the T-Bass had it (the designer may currently be at Ashdown due to their TE connection) but it was a more elegant design.

It was designed by Rob Green at Status “on the back of a fag packet” with someone or other from Trace Elliot - possibly Mark Gooday of course. The Lodestone version isn’t as pretty for sure, I suspect they had to tweak it enough to make it not a complete clone of the T-Bass/Status version.

[AndyTravis]

4 minutes ago, Merton said:

It was designed by Rob Green at Status “on the back of a fag packet” with someone or other from Trace Elliot - possibly Mark Gooday of course. The Lodestone version isn’t as pretty for sure, I suspect they had to tweak it enough to make it not a complete clone of the T-Bass/Status version.

The trace version has more or less a fender front profile...but it all looks a bit Dali when the player turns either way.

ETS ergonomic tuning system. 

[BlueMoon]

I want to like them.......since the guys at Ashdown offer us bass-players great stuff in terms of amps and cabs.

I'll reserve judgement until seeing one "up close and personal". Unfortunately, at the moment they're a bit "meh" though.

[lemmywinks]

56 minutes ago, Merton said:

It was designed by Rob Green at Status “on the back of a fag packet” with someone or other from Trace Elliot - possibly Mark Gooday of course. The Lodestone version isn’t as pretty for sure, I suspect they had to tweak it enough to make it not a complete clone of the T-Bass/Status version.

Ah I seem to remember Status having something to do with them, always fancied one since seeing a natural 5 string in the window of a local shop years ago. Wasn't even into Fender shapes at the time but it jumped out at me, looked great.

[AndyTravis]

[AndyTravis]

Sort of like Status didn’t bother second time round...

[PatrickJ]

On 23/12/2019 at 15:57, AndyTravis said:

Apparently these are prototypes and a couple of niggles to be sorted before namm.

Prices will be in and around Skyline Prices.

Think if they do the P in LPB with a matching head, I could be in bother.

Obviously a nod to John Entwistle who was big buddies with Ashdown.

And a short scale Jazz, as well as 34” and 35” 5 string...

 

The P looks alright, but by Skyline pricing does that mean they will be around the £1k region?  Will they be built in the UK or Asia somewhere?

I assume this being @Ashdown Engineering the pickups and electronics will be of their own design but any information on tonally how they'll be voiced, or details on woods, weight etc.?  

[AndyTravis]

12 minutes ago, PJ-Bassist said:

The P looks alright, but by Skyline pricing does that mean they will be around the £1k region?  Will they be built in the UK or Asia somewhere?

I assume this being @Ashdown Engineering the pickups and electronics will be of their own design but any information on tonally how they'll be voiced, or details on woods, weight etc.?  

I know as much as you at this point - I get the feeling a Korean factory will be making these...

[PatrickJ]

2 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

I know as much as you at this point - I get the feeling a Korean factory will be making these...

I was hoping you had some insider information

[AndyTravis]

13 minutes ago, PJ-Bassist said:

I was hoping you had some insider information

Haha. No mate. I’m as inside as a nosey neighbour - just used to work closely with Lee at Ashdown. We’ve kept in touch.

[LukeFRC]

On 24/12/2019 at 18:16, AndyTravis said:

The trace version has more or less a fender front profile...but it all looks a bit Dali when the player turns either way.

ETS ergonomic tuning system. 

the thing is the T-Bass essentially was a Fender with some really cool improvements. You could argue that is something that would sell. 
The Status version has a less pretty headstock but it's the same idea.
The lodestone was like someone took the improvements and decided to design a bass that no-one would want to buy to try and disguise the fact that it was essentially a jazz bass the whole marketing was a bit random, I always wondered - why...

D-Lakin and Ashdown ... could be underwealming, could be amazing, with the high price of new Fenders there must be a gap in the market that they are looking to exploit. I'm sure enough Sire's have been sold to show there's a market for this sort of thing, Sadowsky/Warwick seem to be aiming for a similar segment. 

[AndyTravis]

 

[BigRedX]

TBH there are only 2 types of Fender style basses that are worth making if you are not actually Fender.

1. Standard P and J style basses of a reasonable quality that can be sold cheaper than the equivalent Squier branded model.

2. Specialised models that look on the face of it look like a typical P or J but have been customised to exactly match the requirements of the player ordering it and come with a correspondingly high price tag.

Pretty much everything else is going to be doomed to failure.

[acidbass]

10 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

TBH there are only 2 types of Fender style basses that are worth making if you are not actually Fender.

1. Standard P and J style basses of a reasonable quality that can be sold cheaper than the equivalent Squier branded model.

2. Specialised models that look on the face of it look like a typical P or J but have been customised to exactly match the requirements of the player ordering it and come with a correspondingly high price tag.

Pretty much everything else is going to be doomed to failure.

Agreed.  Not sure the £1k+ price tag of these Ashdown instruments will appeal to buyers - it's a hugely saturated market at that price point.  Certainly a lot of PR needed and positive reviews in all major publications to develop the brand awareness of the instrument side of the business.