Ashdown OriginAL valve preamp/DI

[Merton]

 

Try something along those lines. It works great for me. A bit of grit but not too much.

[glassmoon]

My input gain is a wee bit higher, but the drive level and gain are pretty much exactly that.  

[DaleASmith]

As an ex owner of an ABM ( MK1 ) is it safe to say this isn't for me if I want the AMB tone?

 

I use the valve grind dial around 3pm and love that warm valve breakup. Best sounding amp I've had and looking to get another, but was looking at this as an alternative...

[glassmoon]

21 minutes ago, DaleASmith said:

As an ex owner of an ABM ( MK1 ) is it safe to say this isn't for me if I want the AMB tone?

 

I use the valve grind dial around 3pm and love that warm valve breakup. Best sounding amp I've had and looking to get another, but was looking at this as an alternative...

Hi @DaleASmith... absolutely... it is NOT the ABM... which is a pity as that was the impression I had 9from reading a lot before this particular thread of course).

The ABM tone is amazing... truly a win in my opinion.  This is a win too - but a different win.  It is a stunning pedal no doubt.  Are you looking for this pedal?

[Lozz196]

You can get near the ABM tone with it by lots of careful playing, mainly cutting on eq rather than adding, but it’s not exact as the ABM has a lot more tonal options, especially the 600 where it’s 9 band eq v 5 on the OriginAL.

[DaleASmith]

@glassmoon thanks for the reply. What you have said is pretty much what I've read.

 

I'm after another ABM head after mine spontaneously combusted a month ago, and this pedal opened up the option to just buy a decent power amp and run a pedal setup, but with Ashdown tone..  

Edited March 16, 2022 by DaleASmith

[Lozz196]

3 hours ago, DaleASmith said:

@glassmoon thanks for the reply. What you have said is pretty much what I've read.

 

I'm after another ABM head after mine spontaneously combusted a month ago, and this pedal opened up the option to just buy a decent power amp and run a pedal setup, but with Ashdown tone..  

Have you tried getting it fixed by Ashdown, they’re great on the customer service aspect, and seem to be able to fix pretty much all of their amps if something goes wrong.

[glassmoon]

1 minute ago, Lozz196 said:

Have you tried getting it fixed by Ashdown, they’re great on the customer service aspect, and seem to be able to fix pretty much all of their amps if something goes wrong.

That is 100% the truth - my old ABm 210 combo was making all sorts of weird noises - Guy from Ashdown stripped it, replaced one board, re-soldered a whack of it - put in new slider grips and gave it a hair cut, all for the princely sum of a great chat!!!!  And for that reason, I am Ashdown4Life.

[Merton]

Have a listen to this video I did a while back. Comments on YT suggest they think it does indeed sound like an ABM:

https://youtu.be/DsdfJF2Ehgs

[DaleASmith]

2 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Have you tried getting it fixed by Ashdown, they’re great on the customer service aspect, and seem to be able to fix pretty much all of their amps if something goes wrong.

Hi. I did contact them, but the parts alone made in none economical, along with the fact I wanted to swap to a head instead of a combo in any case. (this amp was originally a combo but I separated it from the 4x10 speakers).

 

No doubt about the quality of their customer service though...👍

[javi_bassist]

Yesterday I took my Original again for a gig. I left my pedalboard at home and I played my Yamaha BB414 to the Original to FOH. It sounded amazing. Really fat but also punchy. With the Valve always on.

[javi_bassist]

Back again with my Ashdown preamp. I must admit that I love the sound and it is a very underrated preamp IMO. I am not sure if it will last in my board because I really like to take with me as few pedals as I can, but I must say that I prefer to have it. Sounds really good. I use it as a valve DI and it gives some nice overdriven sound that fits perfectly in the mix. 

 

 

[javi_bassist]

I don't really know if there is love for this pedal anymore, but I still love mine. However, I wanted it to be more clean. I swapped valves again. I tried a 5751. Too much overdrive (coming from a 12AT7). I got myself today a 12AY7. I love it. Now I can get some clean tones or overdriven sounds, but the Drive Gain is useful (before it was almost all the way down always). If you guys feel like experimenting (and prefer a little bit of a cleaner sound) I really recommend you to put a 12AY7. You won't regret it.

[Lozz196]

That was my experience, tbd gain was just too much on anything other than virtually fully down. Great sounding pedal otherwise though. 

[Spoonman]

I'd be interested to know if anyone has had any experience with the Pro-DI version of this?

 

It's said to be the same as it's red counterpart, just without the valve. Looks like a classy bit of kit to me... 

 

https://ashdownmusic.com/products/ashdown-pro-di-1

[Lozz196]

It`s currently on my radar. I was meant to be visiting Ashdown HQ tomorrow so was hoping to try one out, plans have now changed so may well have to visit PMT in Northampton.

[javi_bassist]

On 22/08/2024 at 14:22, Spoonman said:

I'd be interested to know if anyone has had any experience with the Pro-DI version of this?

 

It's said to be the same as it's red counterpart, just without the valve. Looks like a classy bit of kit to me... 

 

https://ashdownmusic.com/products/ashdown-pro-di-1

 

I haven't tried the Pro-DI, but reading the specs, it seems the same than the OriginAL without the Valve (as you said).

IMO it is a good move, since the OriginAL is in a price point competing with more loved preamps with much more features. And the valve doesn't help, since it is only used for overdrive (and it is too much overdrive). Don't get me wrong, it sounds great just clean, but for clean, you can now get a much cheaper Pro-DI. 

I do miss the VU meter in my OriginAL. The design is beautiful, but I like the VU meter in Ashdown products hehe.