Ashdown ABM owners club

[DGBass]

I've used various ABM's for five or six years now and recently had a bit of a clear out as my old Trace Elliot stuff has been creeping back into action. My favourite ABM was an old mosfet ABM 500 EVO. My last remaining ABM is a big box ABM 500 EVOIII bought as a spares/repair project and its now fully rebuilt/restored with an EVO IV pre-amp shoe-horned into it. It was originally a 2010 model and now sounds like brand new and is immensely powerful.  Currently used with either a 1980 Musicman RH115 or a 1990 TE 1518T both with Faital Pro 15-PR400's. I can't recall ever using anything else that can move so much air.     

[SonnyBassPlayer]

I'm the proud owner of an ABM500 EvoII RC from 2007 that I bought used about 4 years ago.

 

I used it live with 4 different bands and genres, recorded stoner and shoegaze alike greatly.

I added the Gator case last year during lockdown. It's very heavy but worth it IMHO.

 

[BassAdder60]

The EQ sliders on the ABM amps are very sensitive and offer a huge boost or cut. 
 

It’s easy to get carried away but I often find the Flat EQ is a good place to start and flavour from there.

 

Try to avoid the Shape Out option because as soon as you hear that it’s hard to get that deep full sound out of your head. Makes Flat sound .. very flat !! 

[artisan]

Absolutely love my new ABM 600 evo IV.

It is the best sounding amp I have owned in the 42 years I've been playing.

So easy to get a good tone out of these,as above shape button in (disengaged) & a pretty flat eq does it for me with mid slightly boosted,treble slightly cut.

I just use the sliders for fine tuning to different rooms,however my P sounds massive through this.

One of my favourite things though is the valve drive,I just love it 😀 

My "clean" tone it's set at 1 o'clock & up full for pure filth,it is fantastic,no use for my bass driver anymore.

[SuperSeagull]

On 14/11/2021 at 22:44, Silky999 said:

Are combos allowed in this club? If so;

 

Original(1999)  ABM C115 500 combo and VS115 200 cab

I have an ABM C110 300 combo bought in August 1999 from The Bass Centre. 

[gjones]

On 15/11/2021 at 17:45, Jonse said:

 I also have a Barefaced 610 that I'm yet to try but I feel that something like the Ashdown 610 may suit me better since they're apparently a bit darker sounding.

 

I'd recommend plugging in your Barefaced 610 and seeing if you like it first.

 

 

[MichaelDean]

I love my ABM 600. I've got it paired with a Zilla neo 212, and they seem to work really well together. It's got all of the mystical heft you could ask for and more than loud enough for any gig I would ever play. Reminds me of a better version of the Trace Elliot combo (Commando 12) that was my first good amp, but wasn't quite loud enough to gig with. 

[MichaelDean]

Whoops - double post...

Edited November 16, 2021 by MichaelDean

[Jonse]

13 hours ago, gjones said:

 

I'd recommend plugging in your Barefaced 610 and seeing if you like it first.

 

 

Yes, I'm going to head down tonight to give it a whirl. 

[BassAdder60]

Ok so the Adam Clayton post made interesting reading !

 

Ive noticed the suggestion in the manual for Rock does indeed have Sub engaged !

 

Again I tried the suggested settings for rock and they work but I will keep Sub off I think 

[BassAdder60]

So I’m starting to see that with the right EQ and very low Sub you do get a good sound 

Back playing with fingers for the fullness and using my Ampeg Compressor I’m getting some great rock tones 

[Marky L]

I love my Ashdown gear. My gigging set up has been the same for a number of years now and I have no real reason to change it. (I have some other Ashdown bits at home)

Klystron 500 with Neo 2x10 and Neo 1x15. Sansamp to make it .. me. Nearly always a P bass, always roundwound, SD Qpounders and 95% of the time a pic.

 

[BassAdder60]

Two workable settings for my rock sound, PICK setting has SHAPE button OUT 

FINGERS setting SHAPE button IN 

Notice the difference in Input Gain !!

Main EQ similar but look at the sliders and in particular the 340HZ slider as they are very different 

Im also running SUB on but very low so it’s only just there for a little extra 

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by BassAdder27

[Jonse]

Stuck my new Sansamp in front of this today and there was the sound in my head. Brilliant stuff. 

[BassAdder60]

20 minutes ago, Jonse said:

Stuck my new Sansamp in front of this today and there was the sound in my head. Brilliant stuff. 

Wow master volume is up way high !!

[Jonse]

3 minutes ago, BassAdder27 said:

Wow master volume is up way high !!

Fiddling with the settings a bit but my drummer is very loud with a huge Ludwig kit! 

[BassAdder60]

1 hour ago, Jonse said:

Fiddling with the settings a bit but my drummer is very loud with a huge Ludwig kit! 

And your input gain is very low I noticed ! 

[BassAdder60]

Has anyone compared the ported compact Ashdown cabs with the sealed Pro Neo cabs ? 
 

Naturally they are heavier and slightly wider I think but what about sound 

[CJPJ]

On 02/12/2021 at 08:59, BassAdder27 said:

Has anyone compared the ported compact Ashdown cabs with the sealed Pro Neo cabs ? 
 

Naturally they are heavier and slightly wider I think but what about sound 

 

Would also love to know. I want to switch out my TC K410 with an Ashdown 410 or possibly a 210 with a 115 stacked. I really don't know where to start as there seem to be different versions with Ts and Hs and RM and Neos and some weighing vastly more than others. I find the K410 at 27kg a bit too much to lug up the stairs to our practice room each week. BF is the other option but I'd really like to match amp and cab.

[Lozz196]

I’ve only compared them at home volumes and my two PRO NEO 210s sounded pretty identical to my regular (but sealed not ported) ABM410. So really I’d think that in comparison the PRO NEOs being sealed are  a tad “tighter” sounding than the regular ABM range, less loose on the low end, as they do have a lot of lows (hence why I had mine sealed).

 

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Lozz196

[BassAdder60]

So I’m now digging ABM115H cabs with my ABM600 

Slight changes needed to my usual EQ settings ( my Pro Neo cabs have plenty of mids ) 

The ABM115H is a deep sounding cab so it needs a mid boost so I up the 340hz slider 

Finding it a very nice match for the band. 
The cab variants certainly make a huge change to possible tones… more so than changing amps I fear !

Happy Bassist now 

[alexa3020]

I love my ashdown 15’s. They don’t have horn or tweeter but they sound massive

[CJPJ]

Just can't decide on whether to go with the RM-414 EVOII 600W or 2 x ABM115H . . . . 

 

[alexa3020]

28 minutes ago, CJPJ said:

Just can't decide on whether to go with the RM-414 EVOII 600W or 2 x ABM115H . . . . 

 

I’ve not heard he pro neo ABM’s, but I would go (standard heavier) ABM’s over Rm cabs any day

[la bam]

1 hour ago, CJPJ said:

Just can't decide on whether to go with the RM-414 EVOII 600W or 2 x ABM115H . . . . 

 

 

I had the rm212. Just be aware the earlier rm stuff was heavy. The 212 weighed in over 30kg, so a 410, could be even heavier. The newer rm stuff is a lot lighter.