Ashdown ABM owners club

[DaleASmith]

I think the ABM is an all time classic bass amp. I love mine. The warmth and growl can’t be bettered in my opinion. 

[bassbiscuits]

I’ve done the obvious thing and run them together….

 

 

Edited March 1 by bassbiscuits

[alexa3020]

Spent the day at the recording studio, going through various ampeg amp Sims. Wasn't 100% happy with the tone. Re-amped the Di through the Ashdown and a trace 410, shape on and slightly boosted mids, and that was it - the sound I was after and so much better than what I had before. I've never usually engaged the shape button live, but it worked so well recording  I might have to start using it live.

[Lozz196]

I’ve always thought of the Shape button as the “get out of the way” option, it just seems to put the bass in a place all of its own.

[BassAdder60]

Especially sounds good played with a pick 👍

[alexa3020]

9 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I’ve always thought of the Shape button as the “get out of the way” option, it just seems to put the bass in a place all of its own.

That's exactly what it did - all the flabby  mids that seemed to be getting in the way, it removed. Similar thing with the sansamp bass Di for me - I've got quite a mid rangey bass & it gets rid of the unwanted frequencies

[paddy109]

I've just joined a band that will use front of house pa for me to run my bass through. Can someone explain in simple terms what I need to do with my ABM di and what 'pre' 'post' eq does. I don't want to look a complete novice when it comes to setting up!

I have looked at the Ashdown online manual but still confused.

[Huge Hands]

5 minutes ago, paddy109 said:

I've just joined a band that will use front of house pa for me to run my bass through. Can someone explain in simple terms what I need to do with my ABM di and what 'pre' 'post' eq does. I don't want to look a complete novice when it comes to setting up!

I have looked at the Ashdown online manual but still confused.

In simplest terms, "Pre" means FOH will get a flat signal regardless of what you set you mid, bass and treble to.  "Post" means they will get the same as your settings.

 

Most FOH engineers prefer pre as they can do their own shaping to suit the PA, but if you have critical wacky EQ settings that suit your style of music, I would go post.

[Bassybert]

Post eq means the eq settings you are using on your amp will be sent to the pa so it ‘should’  replicate the sound you’re generating from your amp. If you have extreme eq settings some engineers don’t like it. 
 

Pre eq takes the signal from the preamp before your eq settings have affected the tone (essentially the sound of your bass/any effects you might be using in-line that aren’t in an effects loop) and uses that cleaner signal where the mixer/soundperson can tweak the eq on the mixing desk to create the front of house bass sound, meaning your amp tone is really used as a monitor on stage. 

Edited May 10 by Bassybert

[paddy109]

Thank you both. That is clear.

I regards to type of cable from di to desk what am I looking to buy?

[Bassybert]

A good quality XLR cable is what you need. XLR cables are used for DI’s as they provide a balanced, low impedance signal the desk needs. You’ll need a female/male type. 
 

The length however depends how far away your amp is from the mixing desk or a DI box. A 20ft cable should be ok unless you’re playing at Wembley Stadium 😄

Edited May 10 by Bassybert

[BassAdder60]

Also if I recall post EQ can push the level up out of the DI if you adjust EQ / master volume etc 

 

As mentioned pre EQ DI is your best choice 

[Lozz196]

I look at pre/post like this. If you’ve spent a long time rehearsing with your band and fine-tuning your eq so that all the instruments fit in the mix in a way that you are all happy with going pre simply ignores all that work. 

[alexa3020]

Presumably you still get the valve drive, octave and compressor regardless of if pre or post is selected. What about the shape🤔

[BassAdder60]

9 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

Presumably you still get the valve drive, octave and compressor regardless of if pre or post is selected. What about the shape🤔

I think Pre is in front of all of those 

[NAS Bass]

I always send Pre to FOH to give the engineer the cleanest possible signal to work with. Any colouration can come from your cab and if the venue requires it, this this can be mic'd up and mixed on a separate channel. I wouldn't get to wound up about losing "your tone" by going Pre EQ. Work with the FOH engineer. 

[Bassybert]

2 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

I look at pre/post like this. If you’ve spent a long time rehearsing with your band and fine-tuning your eq so that all the instruments fit in the mix in a way that you are all happy with going pre simply ignores all that work. 

Agreed, if your bass tone is integral to the band’s sound and you’re sending a pre eq signal you’re at the complete mercy of the engineer to approximate the sound out front. 

Edited May 10 by Bassybert

[Bassybert]

1 hour ago, BassAdder60 said:

I think Pre is in front of all of those 

 

According to the ABM manual...

 

DIRECT INJECT (D.I.) - A balanced D.I. is provided on a latching XLR socket. This has a push button placed below it that allows the user to choose either a Pre E.Q. signal (button pushed IN) or a Post E.Q. Post Sub and effects signal (button OUT).

 

Pretty sure from experience the valve drive is part of the preamp signal so would be included in the Pre signal.

 

Can't find anything about the compressor position, but the sub and effects loop are definitely after the EQ, so won't be included in a DI signal if you're choosing the Pre option.

[DaleASmith]

1 hour ago, Bassybert said:

 

According to the ABM manual...

 

DIRECT INJECT (D.I.) - A balanced D.I. is provided on a latching XLR socket. This has a push button placed below it that allows the user to choose either a Pre E.Q. signal (button pushed IN) or a Post E.Q. Post Sub and effects signal (button OUT).

 

Pretty sure from experience the valve drive is part of the preamp signal so would be included in the Pre signal.

 

agree this is correct, but it wouldn’t make sense for the effects loop to be excluded from the DI signal would it? So either the effects loop is pre EQ or you need to select post EQ DI if you’re using the effects loop. 

[Bassybert]

24 minutes ago, DaleASmith said:

agree this is correct, but it wouldn’t make sense for the effects loop to be excluded from the DI signal would it? So either the effects loop is pre EQ or you need to select post EQ DI if you’re using the effects loop. 

 

I'm sure I've seen amps that have ability to have the effects loop pre or post DI. Maybe I'm remembering something that doesn't exist, it has been known 😂

[paddy109]

Back to DI output question again. Does using my bass or amp volume controls effect FOH or is this purely set at mixing desk?

This is a new concept to me.

[gjones]

15 minutes ago, paddy109 said:

Back to DI output question again. Does using my bass or amp volume controls effect FOH or is this purely set at mixing desk?

This is a new concept to me.

That's a very good question. I know some bass amps volume controls do effect the level going to the mixing desk (I know the Orange Terror bass head is set up like that) but most modern amp heads make sure the DI out isn't affected by the bassist fiddling with the gain or master volume.

[Woodinblack]

26 minutes ago, paddy109 said:

Back to DI output question again. Does using my bass or amp volume controls effect FOH or is this purely set at mixing desk?

This is a new concept to me.

 

Bass volume affects it. Generally on an amp, any preamp volume will affect it, but not master volume

[0175westwood29]

25 minutes ago, paddy109 said:

Back to DI output question again. Does using my bass or amp volume controls effect FOH or is this purely set at mixing desk?

This is a new concept to me.

I’d imagine I put gain would effect the di however the output volume doesn’t atleast on the abm and ctm head I’ve had. 
 

You’ll have a pre post sw next to the di, now this does effect the di pre it would have any eq from the amp post it will 

 

[uk_lefty]

I often DI my ABM head and there is no issue adjusting the master volume for on stage sound only. It's playing with the EQ settings and input gain that can p!ss off the soundman IME.