Merton Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 (edited) AFAIK the valve is only there for overdrive, I can’t remember seeing any diodes but I wasn’t really looking tbh! @Al Krow the “thru” can effectively be used like that, albeit unbalanced via a jack. I use it to feed my tuner so that is now out of my signal chain. The actual balanced DI is essentially always affected by the 5-band EQ and so on. EDIT - didn’t read @JapanAxe’s question properly. AIUI the valve is the source of the overdrive and the Valve Drive control os there to push more single through it to get it to clip in that lovely way we like. Edited January 24, 2021 by Merton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 The headphone out is a tad noisy but you can’t hear it when playing. Dave Green told me not to use quality headphones, in jest mind. I love the sound out of this and it’s my default preamp for recording. I’d like to test different valves too. I have the yellow/gold version but I’m not sure of the difference if any between that and the red one. Mark Gooday mentioned that the difference was ‘More drive’ ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 6 minutes ago, Muppet said: The headphone out is a tad noisy but you can’t hear it when playing. Dave Green told me not to use quality headphones, in jest mind. I love the sound out of this and it’s my default preamp for recording. I’d like to test different valves too. I have the yellow/gold version but I’m not sure of the difference if any between that and the red one. Mark Gooday mentioned that the difference was ‘More drive’ ..... Yup apparently NWR wanted the valve to drive harder than the, er, original OriginAL pedal. I don’t really associate him with heavy overdriven tones so that surprised me but there we go! My favourite setting is low input and drive gain levels with the drive level balanced so I’m getting a nice tip into overdrive if I dig in my it stays crisp and clean with a lighter touch. It is very responsive to this I’ve found. (That said the tone I got in the video of Nowhere is quite lovey too and may well become the core tone for my punk band if we ever get back to gigging) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 Having mastered AFAIK, IBTL, IMO, IMHO and even TLDR, I was definitely stumped by AIUI and had to look that one up! Ah well that's my new thing for today... Now is someone going to explain valves and voltage to me please? 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Al Krow said: Interesting point. If it's done by diodes, what's the valve actually doing? My skepticism about valves in pedals is whether sufficient voltage is available to really drive them?I think purists / experts would say that even with the 240v in an amp, preamp valves are not going to provide the same tonal impact as power amp valves. I don't have the engineering nous to expand on this, though. I had a 20W Marshall transistor guitar combo with a valve and a diode pair in the preamp. I removed the diodes and you could still get a certain amount of overdrive by turning up the gain (and turning down the master volume quite a lot). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bam Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 Dont forget this isnt a 9v driven pedal. Off the top of my head it's an 18v pedal with a stepper in there somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 5 minutes ago, la bam said: Dont forget this isnt a 9v driven pedal. Off the top of my head it's an 18v pedal with a stepper in there somewhere. Correct - can operate from 12V but 15-18V are preferred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Merton said: Correct - can operate from 12V but 15-18V are preferred But that's still tiny compared to 240v mains. This is where my lack of engineering nous on valves and voltage starts to show though! Edited January 24, 2021 by Al Krow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 11 minutes ago, Al Krow said: But that's still tiny compared to 240v mains. This is where my lack of engineering nous on valves and voltage starts to show though! I remember Gallien Krueger making a fuss about their original MB Fusion head, saying the preamp valves operated from a ~300V supply rail and that anything less was wussy and weedy. Not sure that’s actually true but I, like you, don’t know the ins and outs of preamp valve requirements and design! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 2 minutes ago, Merton said: I remember Gallien Krueger making a fuss about their original MB Fusion head, saying the preamp valves operated from a ~300V supply rail and that anything less was wussy and weedy. Not sure that’s actually true but I, like you, don’t know the ins and outs of preamp valve requirements and design! Yeah thanks - it's that sort of comment by manufacturers (who should know their onions, provided it's not just marketing spin!) that I have had at the back of mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 Calling @Woodinblack... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 6 minutes ago, Al Krow said: Calling @Woodinblack... Oh I am not that great on valves, I grew up later A valve such as a 12AX7 can be powered from anything really as long as its heater is on (it can be run without it but that is a different discussion), however the linear amplification region of the valve is a small percentage of its power supply, so where as at 300V it is something like 60V or so that is linear, at 12V you are talking something very small, 1-2v, outside of which it distorts a lot. Maybe you want that distortion in which case that is fine, otherwise you need to make sure the signal is small on the input and the output has a traditional solid state amplifier to take what comes out of the value up to a decent level. But I am guessing you want it for distortion, or why would you bother with a valve there! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javi_bassist Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 I finally replaced mine. I'm happier now. The previous one was much more aggressive and fuzzy. Good quality though. It was a JJ (I switched for another JJ, which are my favourite). I changed the valves in my Spyder head for the same model the OriginAL had. I have to say that it was difficult to get to the tube. I had to open the preamp and get to the circuit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 (edited) Hmm, this thread has come at an interesting point in my insane and indefensible gear hoarding. I'm pretty much burned out on pedal gas and have had no real bass gas for a long time. So my thoughts turn to my Bi-amp rig. The top end is sorted with a guitar multi / amp sims pedal, but my bottom is still up for grabs. Pre-amp madness awaits. Edited January 27, 2021 by stewblack 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 (edited) Got it today, just put it through an hour or so of playing along to songs on YouTube. First impressions are it’s a heavy, quality piece of kit, like all Ashdown gear imo the sound on its own is ok but in the mix it excels, and that the drive is far too much for my needs. I can get a just breaking up sound from it though, so it’s not unusable. I think for my classic rock band it will be the ideal backup on a pedalboard option, but certainly home use is where it’s at for me, I get that great sit in the mix Ashdown sound at home volumes. Later on I might get the valve changed as others have but no rush. Edit - what I forgot to mention was the fact that even boosting the treble & high mids the sound doesn’t get harsh, there’s obviously a greater definition when they’re boosted but none of the brittleness you can get with some pedals - and indeed, amps. The sound has that warm “spongey” feel to it that comes with valves, and the D & G strings don’t sound thin in comparison to the E & A, always a good sign of a great piece of kit. So far I’ve tried it with a Precision with CS62 pickups, a Jazz with CS62 pickups and a Precision with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders. Once I’d established a core sound I’ve found it can be pretty much left alone and each bass sounds great in its own right. Edited January 28, 2021 by Lozz196 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 I reckon Rush would be the ideal thing to play through it! 😄. I’ll get my coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 11 minutes ago, Lozz196 said: Got it today, just put it through an hour or so of playing along to songs on YouTube. First impressions are it’s a heavy, quality piece of kit, like all Ashdown gear imo the sound on its own is ok but in the mix it excels, and that the drive is far too much for my needs. I can get a just breaking up sound from it though, so it’s not unusable. I think for my classic rock band it will be the ideal backup on a pedalboard option, but certainly home use is where it’s at for me, I get that great sit in the mix Ashdown sound at home volumes. Later on I might get the valve changed as others have but no rush. Yes the valve drive can be quite tough to tame. Lower the input gain control to around 9 o’clock and it opens up more possibilities. But yes, I rarely push the valve drive gain past 10 o’clock! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Sounds like the old DHA kit - the input pad control is fairly essential! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bam Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 It's good when you get used to it. It's different to the ABMs in that you dont have to max the input to get the drive valve working properly. So the sound can be achieved at a lower volume setting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 I must be the only man alive who really loved the old ABM drive knob!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 9 minutes ago, stewblack said: I must be the only man alive who really loved the old ABM drive knob!! Oh I like it too, but have it almost completely maxed out! Need to try some different valves in that tbh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 11 minutes ago, stewblack said: I must be the only man alive who really loved the old ABM drive knob!! I have an old old ABM in the corner, and a shiney new ABM600 Evo IV, and the knob looks pretty similar to me. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javi_bassist Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 I played yesterday in an acoustic vibe gig. I played with my Epi Jack Casady with flats and with the Ashdown Preamp. Nothing else. No amp, no pedals. I added a little bit of overdrive with the valve. I was really happy with the combination of the two. Vintage vibe. The soundguy came after the show to compliment how good the tone of the bass was. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 1 hour ago, javi_bassist said: I played yesterday in an acoustic vibe gig. I played with my Epi Jack Casady with flats and with the Ashdown Preamp. Nothing else. No amp, no pedals. I added a little bit of overdrive with the valve. I was really happy with the combination of the two. Vintage vibe. The soundguy came after the show to compliment how good the tone of the bass was. Those settings look so similar to my standard setting too! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javi_bassist Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 13 minutes ago, Merton said: Those settings look so similar to my standard setting too! With these settings I think it sounds really cool. In a rehearsal there was a problem though. I was given a Fender Rumble 500 , so I plugged the Ashdown to the return of the amp. It didn't have enough signal since the input is relatively low. I have to say that I'd used it this way with other amps without any problems, but not with the Rumble. Anyway, when plugged through the DI it sounded awesome and no problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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