Ashdown ABM owners club

[Chaddy]

On 20/08/2022 at 14:46, Lozz196 said:

Agree, nowt wrong with supporting home grown businesses, but for me I’d be wanting something “extra” if the price was more than a comparable item manufactured elsewhere. Dr Martens spring to mind, their UK made boots are of a much better quality than the overseas made ones - with a price tag to reflect this of course.

Free stickers! Gone are those days!   

[MattW]

Picked this up on eBay today.  Did I need another stack?  Absolutely not!  However I couldn't turn down the opportunity to try a original MK1 ABM 500w head and two 408 cabs.  What a sound!  Can't wait to try them out in a band situation!!

 

 

[Lozz196]

Nice one @MattW I’ll bet that sounds awesome, those 408s are great cabs.

[DGBass]

I owned one of these heads for a while and it sounded awesome with any cab option. These have the 400 watt mosfet power amp board as standard and depending on what transformer is fitted will be rated between 400-500 watts. You won't get much grind out of the valve input mix knob but it does add a glassy sheen to the tone that is quite something and not available on later ABM's. Enjoy! 

 

[King Tut]

4 hours ago, dangoose said:

I owned one of these heads for a while and it sounded awesome with any cab option. These have the 400 watt mosfet power amp board as standard and depending on what transformer is fitted will be rated between 400-500 watts. You won't get much grind out of the valve input mix knob but it does add a glassy sheen to the tone that is quite something and not available on later ABM's. Enjoy! 

 

So is this the first generation ABM? An EVOi so to speak?

[ern500evo]

I’ve got the same one, but the chrome version. Very early model with 2 separate hi/lo inputs 

[pbasspecial]

 

Used mine at a gig on Saturday.
Touch of compression and the amp sounded amazing on its own. 

Didn’t even need to/want to use any effects as the tone was incredible. Didn’t want to spoil it. 

[ern500evo]

10 minutes ago, pbasspecial said:

 

Used mine at a gig on Saturday.
Touch of compression and the amp sounded amazing on its own. 

Didn’t even need to/want to use any effects as the tone was incredible. Didn’t want to spoil it. 

Nice EBS Sheehan signature pedal i see lurking on the board! 

[Kevin Dean]

On 14/11/2021 at 12:18, Lozz196 said:

ABM600 & 2 x ABM PRO NEO 210s here as well.

 

The ABM600 is the best amp I’ve ever had.

How do the cabs compare to other cabs you've had sound & volume wise ?

[Lozz196]

41 minutes ago, Kevin Dean said:

How do the cabs compare to other cabs you've had sound & volume wise ?

I’m yet to use them in a band environment, Kevin. Both rehearsal rooms I use have provided speakers so I’ve been too lazy to take them along. At home volumes they sound just the same as my old ABM410- EVO-IV though.

[pbasspecial]

On 03/10/2022 at 11:17, ern500evo said:

Nice EBS Sheehan signature pedal i see lurking on the board! 

Well spotted!

The amp sounded lovely on its own, the band wasn’t that heavy, so I didn’t need any extra dirt from the Billy Sheehan pedal. 

[uk_lefty]

Took a half stack for the last gig. Plenty of low end volume though for a big venue with a smidge of low end in the PA. Played the fretless for the first time with this band and had a touch of valve drive on for the whole time, occasionally dialing it up and down as needed. Lovely sound.

[Chaddy]

ABM packed up finally and off for a service, all hail the old printer box!

 

 

[BruceBass3901]

2 hours ago, Chaddy said:

ABM packed up finally and off for a service, all hail the old printer box!

You mean you don't hoard all the boxes for your gear and various other things?!

[Chaddy]

Second hand purchase , got the ones for my pedals & TV. 

 

[Chaddy]

Cracking service by Ashdown, Arrived yesterday mid day, completed today and just got a call back from Dave to sort out payments from the work that was ridiculously cheap and will be back with me by Friday

x2 Pots, Power amp section & new fans with the control board tightened up.  What a company. 

[JPJ]

My new ‘small’ rig. This started as the quest to find a small powerful gigable combo that wouldn’t break either my bank account or my back. Basschatter FunkyDoug was selling the rather tasty ABM NEO 400 1x15 combo locally, and then I spotted that Sharkfinger was selling the matching Neo series 1x15 cab for a very reasonable £75. So this is now the go to small rig for tight stages 😎  

[King Tut]

29 minutes ago, JPJ said:

My new ‘small’ rig. This started as the quest to find a small powerful gigable combo that wouldn’t break either my bank account or my back. Basschatter FunkyDoug was selling the rather tasty ABM NEO 400 1x15 combo locally, and then I spotted that Sharkfinger was selling the matching Neo series 1x15 cab for a very reasonable £75. So this is now the go to small rig for tight stages 😎  

 

And your 'Big Rig' is?!!

 

[JPJ]

1 hour ago, King Tut said:

 

And your 'Big Rig' is?!!

 

Ashdown Head of Doom into SWR Goliath 4x10, or SWR SM1500 into the same cab 😎

[ern500evo]

My very early ABM500EvoRc decided to give up the ghost on me tonight, with a puff of smoke and the delightful smell of electrical burning, halfway through the first set of a gig. One stroke of luck, before the gig I was going to take my Darkglass Microtubes X ultra off my little pedal board and put my EBS Sheehan pedal back on but decided I couldn’t be bothered  to faff about. I don’t usually go through the PA for smaller gigs, but luckily I was able to use the Darkglass as a DI box to bail me out. 

Edited October 15, 2022 by ern500evo

[BreadBin]

3 hours ago, ern500evo said:

My very early ABM500EvoRc decided to give up the ghost on me tonight, with a puff of smoke and the delightful smell of electrical burning, halfway through the first set of a gig. One stroke of luck, before the gig I was going to take my Darkglass Microtubes X ultra off my little pedal board and put my EBS Sheehan pedal back on but decided I couldn’t be bothered  to faff about. I don’t usually go through the PA for smaller gigs, but luckily I was able to use the Darkglass as a DI box to bail me out. 

Definitely worth contacting @Ashdown Engineering they are really helpful and can usually get you sorted.

[ern500evo]

Sod’s law that it decided to pack up the night before I sell my EBS amp, which is being dropped off to its new owner today. So for now, I’m ampless! I will get it sent off to Ashdown for an assessment, but I’ve been meaning to get an ABM600 for a while now, so maybe it’s the kick up the derrière I needed 

Edited October 15, 2022 by ern500evo

[uk_lefty]

10 hours ago, ern500evo said:

My very early ABM500EvoRc decided to give up the ghost on me tonight, with a puff of smoke and the delightful smell of electrical burning, halfway through the first set of a gig. One stroke of luck, before the gig I was going to take my Darkglass Microtubes X ultra off my little pedal board and put my EBS Sheehan pedal back on but decided I couldn’t be bothered  to faff about. I don’t usually go through the PA for smaller gigs, but luckily I was able to use the Darkglass as a DI box to bail me out. 

I always think a preamp DI pedal is a good investment, better than a spare amp.

[ern500evo]

3 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

I always think a preamp DI pedal is a good investment, better than a spare amp.

I was planning on selling the X Ultra and getting a Sansamp Paradriver, safe to say I’ll be buying the Sansamp before the X Ultra goes, to make sure I’ve always got a DI pedal with me. 

[ern500evo]

Dropped my EBS TD650 off to it’s new owner yesterday, and with the ABM500 currently dead, I’m ampless for the first time since I started playing at the tender age of 17. I’d kind of made my mind up that I was going for a ABM600, will get the 500 repaired in due course (assuming it’s financially viable), and then from out of nowhere, a GK Fusion 550 becomes available. I’ve gassed for one of these things for years, this is going to be a tough call! 🤦🏻‍♂️