Ashdown Rootmaster RM owners club

[BassAdder60]

Mine ( RM800 ) goes click 1 quiet for practice, click 2 loud practice at home, click 3 loud enough for band practice with guitar and drums ( rock ) click 4 very loud band with Marshall stack and hard hitting drummer. Click 5 onwards never needed 

Note for vol 1,2,3 I was using a single 210 cab, volume 4 both 210 cabs 

It’s a loud amp but I guess most of its volume is at around 5 and the rest is a small increase. 
My Orange Little Bass Thing 500w is similar I feel so it’s likely yours is faulty 

You could always speak to Dave Green at Ashdown U.K. as very helpful 

[M@23]

15 minutes ago, BassAdder27 said:

Mine ( RM800 ) goes click 1 quiet for practice, click 2 loud practice at home, click 3 loud enough for band practice with guitar and drums ( rock ) click 4 very loud band with Marshall stack and hard hitting drummer. Click 5 onwards never needed 

Note for vol 1,2,3 I was using a single 210 cab, volume 4 both 210 cabs 

It’s a loud amp but I guess most of its volume is at around 5 and the rest is a small increase. 
My Orange Little Bass Thing 500w is similar I feel so it’s likely yours is faulty 

You could always speak to Dave Green at Ashdown U.K. as very helpful 

Thank you for that and you’re experience.

I’m trying the retailer first as it’s brand new, to get their impression. I don’t want to bother Ashdown if they can sort something. They may come back and say they’ve checked a few and they're all like that! 
 

[BassBunny]

2 hours ago, M@23 said:

Thank you for that and you’re experience.

I’m trying the retailer first as it’s brand new, to get their impression. I don’t want to bother Ashdown if they can sort something. They may come back and say they’ve checked a few and they're all like that! 
 

It won't be a bother for Ashdown, believe me. Best customer service in the business.

Just give them a call and if you get Dave Green, he probably designed the RM, he will explain all.

[BillyBass]

After reading these last few posts I've just tried mine out at home.  Mine is certainly more usable than @M@23's.  The volume is very dependent on the input knob.

 

With the input knob at 12 o'clock, through a single Barefaced one10 I could play at home with the gain knob at the 8th or 9th notch and the volume didn't really increase much unless I turned the input knob up past 1 or 2 o'clock.  This would be slightly too loud if my neighbours were in perhaps

 

With the input knob at about 3pm I could play at home without disturbing neighbours with the master volume on the 2nd notch.  By the time it gets to the third notch I would get banging on the wall from the other half of my semi-detached.

[BillyBass]

More experimentation.  With the input at 9pm the amp never gets too loud to play at home.  There is very little increase from about notch 6 or 7 up to max on the output knob.  There is an increase but its not great.

 

So I suppose with this amp I will be adjusting the input knob to suit the room/venue as opposed to getting the needle to just stay out of clipping.

[TheGreek]

9 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

By the time it gets to the third notch I would get banging on the wall from the other half of my semi-detached.

 

If they're out of time, go round and complain...

[Musicman20]

These seem incredibly cheap?! £287 for a a RM-800 EVO II?!

 

I assume that included delivery and any tax/import duty?

 

A

[Merton]

35 minutes ago, Musicman20 said:

These seem incredibly cheap?! £287 for a a RM-800 EVO II?!

 

I assume that included delivery and any tax/import duty?

 

A

There’s a separate thread somewhere on here I think; price includes everything. Utter madness. And screws me up when I’m contemplating selling my RM800 EVO 🤣

[BassAdder60]

It’s a lot of amp for that money .. 

 

Ashdown must of done a volume sales order to MP @ super low pricing 

 

If I was a U.K. agent PMT / Andertons/ Guitar Guitar I wouldn’t be too happy as it’s driving pricing down to the bottom 

[M@23]

The markup must be tiny. In fact, I’d be surprised if there’s profit in them. The combos for instance, are £270ish exc. costs. 
Shopping around recently, I found out that Anderton’s selling a Fender Am Pro I P bass for £1399 was LESS than it cost a few smaller independents to buy from Fender!

 

Thanks to everyone for their volume-pot-experience. Mine does seem to have developed a fault and today it’s taken it a step further by cutting out completely on occasion. 
No stress though, the retailer have dragged their feet a bit, but it’ll get sorted. 
I’ve no doubt this is a random and isolated incident and I have no questions about sticking with the RM. 

[BassAdder60]

I’ve seen also a collaboration between MP and Ashdown selling a basic ABM600 without the tube 

 

I think Thomann did  the same with some Toneman version cabs 

[Merton]

10 minutes ago, BassAdder27 said:

I’ve seen also a collaboration between MP and Ashdown selling a basic ABM600 without the tube 

 

I think Thomann did  the same with some Toneman version cabs 

This one?

 

https://www.musik-produktiv.com/gb/ashdown-amp-600h.html

 

That’s just the old MAG series

[Lozz196]

A nice amp, the MAG600

[MattW]

10 hours ago, Musicman20 said:

These seem incredibly cheap?! £287 for a a RM-800 EVO II?!

 

I assume that included delivery and any tax/import duty?

 

A

 

Seems to fluctuate a bit, must be a currency thing - I paid £290 last week! Arrived on Monday - no extra charges. Only thing is that it comes with an EU kettle lead - but they included a free adapter!!

[M@23]

I’m going to go a different route, picking up a RM210 cab and head. Now, 500 vs 800w EVO II… are they voiced the same? The difference in price is minimal. I’ll never use a 2nd cab, so not worried about power. I’ll likely stick with the 500 as I like the grey faceplate. Unless the 800 offers more than just additional power?

[Merton]

11 minutes ago, M@23 said:

I’m going to go a different route, picking up a RM210 cab and head. Now, 500 vs 800w EVO II… are they voiced the same? The difference in price is minimal. I’ll never use a 2nd cab, so not worried about power. I’ll likely stick with the 500 as I like the grey faceplate. Unless the 800 offers more than just additional power?

I preferred the power delivery from the 800, and never found it wanting on a gig. I did manage to push the 500 to its limit though. If there’s not much in it, I’d always get the one with a (tiny) bit more headroom.

[BassAdder60]

The RM800 doesn’t sit to well on the cabs with top handle, you will need a rubber mat ideally 

 

They have different cases and feet spacing 

 

I would imagine the RM500 a good choice with the 210 cab 

[M@23]

21 minutes ago, BassAdder27 said:

The RM800 doesn’t sit to well on the cabs with top handle, you will need a rubber mat ideally 

 

They have different cases and feet spacing 

 

I would imagine the RM500 a good choice with the 210 cab 

Ahh, nice one. Good shout. I just checked and saw the cases were roughly the same size, but the 800 looks to have the feet nearer the middle?

It always bugged me on Markbass stuff that the amp didn’t sit well on the handle. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by M@23

[BassAdder60]

Yep for some reason they use different cases. I mentioned it to Ashdown who suggested four stick on rubber feet ! 
 

I just bought a sheet of 6mm rubber and it sits on that just fine and it helps reduce cab to head vibration 

[MattW]

My new RM800 met it's partner in crime for the first time this evening - a Barefaced Big Baby II.  Smart little rig and sounds great at home -straight out to a gig tomorrow night for a proper test!

[Lozz196]

Just got back from rehearsal, first time I’ve used my RM500 EVO2 with the band and it sounded great, if anything I need to tweak it to reign it in a bit. It was through an Ampeg 810 though.

 

Shape in, touch of compression & drive. Might either take off the drive or put a set of Rotosound flats on my Precision, reckon for 70s classic rock they should work nicely with the RM.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Lozz196

[M@23]

Hoping my new RM setup will be here this week, but it’s probably looking like next week. 
Played and ABM 1200 and 410/115 this weekend. Punchy!

Wish I had the means to shift the RM 610 that’s listed on here!

[M@23]

This arrived! Only spent 30 mins with it, but first impressions are great! Really tight, clear and punchy sound. Great slap sound, handles the low B really well. My mrs will kill me for not getting the painting done… so I’d better revisit it later!

Already extremely tempted to make this a 4x10 set up. 

Edited September 28, 2021 by M@23

[BassAdder60]

Yep two of those cabs makes a great rig .. well done 

Welcome to the RM club 👍

Edited September 29, 2021 by BassAdder27

[M@23]

Ok, first impressions are still solid. I’m very happy with this set up! The initial issue I had with the combo I briefly owned (volume dial acting more like an on/off switch) is definitely not the case here, it’s much more useable!

 

It’s probably one of the best slap sounds I’ve had with the jazz bass. 
 

For £446, all in, posted and taxed, it’s a winner.