Awesome Ashdown

[Rayman]

Not only do they make, in my opinion, the best bass amplifiers, but if you’re lucky enough call in and see them, they are the most amiable, passionate and generally awesome people you could ever wish to meet.

 

I purchased a pretty tired EVO II 500 combo from here recently, at a bargain price. I took it apart, cleaned the cab and vacuumed it out, and took the amp stage into Ashdown for a service and replacement parts. Unbelievably lovely people, unbelievable value repairs and this old ABM now sounds absolutely stellar. 
 

I had one years ago, and totally loved it, but mistakenly, I went down the smaller, lighter, more expensive rig route, and could never recreate my sound. The band never forgave me for it.

 

Now, this 20yr old EVO II has a new lease of life, and according to Dave Green, another 20yrs in it at least.

 

I’ll never go for another brand, they are my sound. A small British company, with a big heart, made up of awesome people, building awesome amps. Proper amps. 

[pbasspecial]

Totally agree.
Had an original (20 yo) chrome ABM 500 which they serviced for me for free. Sounded amazing. only recently sold it because I had the opportunity to upgrade it to a limited edition ABM 600. 
I also bought a studio 210 combo for rehearsals/jam night gigs. 👍 Ashdown

[BassAdder60]

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

Not only do they make, in my opinion, the best bass amplifiers, but if you’re lucky enough call in and see them, they are the most amiable, passionate and generally awesome people you could ever wish to meet.

 

I purchased a pretty tired EVO II 500 combo from here recently, at a bargain price. I took it apart, cleaned the cab and vacuumed it out, and took the amp stage into Ashdown for a service and replacement parts. Unbelievably lovely people, unbelievable value repairs and this old ABM now sounds absolutely stellar. 
 

I had one years ago, and totally loved it, but mistakenly, I went down the smaller, lighter, more expensive rig route, and could never recreate my sound. The band never forgave me for it.

 

Now, this 20yr old EVO II has a new lease of life, and according to Dave Green, another 20yrs in it at least.

 

I’ll never go for another brand, they are my sound. A small British company, with a big heart, made up of awesome people, building awesome amps. Proper amps. 

100 % agree … they are all decent and helpful folk. Their after sales service regardless if you are the original purchaser is famed as one of the best in the amp world. 
They do have some aging staff ( Guy just retired, Dave Green must be close ) so hopefully new blood will arrive. 
Dan is doing a fine job after his dad stood down. 
A visit is quite a surprise as they are not a big company in size but their achievements are to be commended. 
 

I still miss my CTM100 but I have the ABM600 which always does the job. 
 

Great Company 

Edited July 4, 2023 by BassAdder60

[TheGreek]

Agree with every word written. 

 

Any time I have needed to have contact with Ashdown the service has exceeded my expectations. 

 

I once bought an amp from ebay,  after speaking to Guy I had it sent straight to the Ashdown factory where it was serviced FOC and sent to me without charge. I didn't give them a penny!!

 

That is my yardstick for good customer service and nobody,  and I mean nobody,  has come close. 

 

Closest was Bernie Goodfellow who, similarly, was servicing a bass for the owner which I bought while in his care.

 

Bernie rang me to ask how I wanted the bass set up  - loooow - and what strings I liked. I like very light strings (95s ideally) - he didn't have a set in stock so went and bought a set, set the action and fitted the strings for me. 

 

He even paid for the courier - so a very close second. 

 

Big companies have no excuse!! - Warwick are you listening??

 

[Machines]

Another fan here. I started playing with Ashdown and something about the brand styling is just awesome to me.

 

I've also forayed into the lightweight stuff (Genz Benz/TC Electronic), but now Ashdown are competing in that market, i'm back.

 

I met Mark at the Guitar Show in Birmingham a few months ago and echo he is a lovely chap, happy to talk shop all day. I will get down there for the day at some point this year, maybe.

 

[Lozz196]

Yup, Ashdown are amazing. I’ve had to move on my heavier gear but my RM500 EVO-II still delivers. 
 

Edit - my ABM PRO NEO 210 cabs  deliver as well.

Edited July 5, 2023 by Lozz196

[asingardenof]

Another convert here. When I was looking for my first post-Marshall Super Bass amp (sob) I never really considered them and thought I should by an Ampeg because that's what bass players do. Then @merton lent me his ABM500 and I never looked back. When it failed on me on stage (it was quite old, mind) Dave at Ashdown was really friendly to speak to about what the problem might be. Now I'm loving my ABM600, albeit my little Elf might give it some competition for smaller gigs!

[barkin]

I used to have a red faced MAG400 combo. Got rid due to the weight. 

I often wish I still had it - great amp. 

[BassmanPaul]

Sometimes you leap before you look!.  

 

[DGBass]

I don't think i've been without an Ashdown of some sort for at least the last ten years. Mostly ABMs of all shapes and sizes as they are my favourites and I understand why the OP says his ABM is his sound. I've sold on a few Ashdown's in the past, always in great working order and when I've asked the buyers why they were looking for an Ashdown, I hear the same reasons over and over. They sound great, they are reliable, and something that is said very often is "my tech told me to get one" and that's because they aren't disposable like so much gear is becoming these days. They are very durable, can be repaired easily and that's usually a sign of a quality design. And of course they are backed up by Ashdown here in the UK. 

[police squad]

I'm proud to be using Ashdown these days. Awesome company

[BigRedX]

On 04/07/2023 at 18:32, TheGreek said:

I once bought an amp from ebay,  after speaking to Guy I had it sent straight to the Ashdown factory where it was serviced FOC and sent to me without charge. I didn't give them a penny!!

 

I had exactly the same amp with exactly the same problem (one that was well known and widely discussed on line) that I had owned from new, and Ashdown simply did not want to know. I was fobbed off with excuses and excessive charges for simply looking at the problem and eventually they stopped answering my emails. The amp ended up being sold for spares and repairs on eBay for next to nothing. I would have put it down to the fact that the amp was poorly designed and essentially unfixable, and unsurprisingly Ashdown would want to wash their hands of it, until I read the original story post by @TheGreek of his experience, which left me even less happy than before.

 

Personally I will never buy anything from the company again.

[NAS Bass]

On 04/07/2023 at 16:51, pbasspecial said:

Totally agree.
Had an original (20 yo) chrome ABM 500 which they serviced for me for free. Sounded amazing. only recently sold it because I had the opportunity to upgrade it to a limited edition ABM 600. 
 

And its still sounding great!

[Lozz196]

23 hours ago, DGBass said:

I don't think i've been without an Ashdown of some sort for at least the last ten years. Mostly ABMs of all shapes and sizes as they are my favourites and I understand why the OP says his ABM is his sound. I've sold on a few Ashdown's in the past, always in great working order and when I've asked the buyers why they were looking for an Ashdown, I hear the same reasons over and over. They sound great, they are reliable, and something that is said very often is "my tech told me to get one" and that's because they aren't disposable like so much gear is becoming these days. They are very durable, can be repaired easily and that's usually a sign of a quality design. And of course they are backed up by Ashdown here in the UK. 

That’s quite telling in itself, that techs recommend them.

[DGBass]

30 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

That’s quite telling in itself, that techs recommend them.

I sold a 2002 ABM to a local player recently, and told him it was over twenty years old. He didn't seem phased by that and told me he had been using a Portaflex PF500 which failed just a few weeks outside of its warranty. His local tech shop told him it would cost more to repair than it was worth. When he asked the repair tech what to get, he said get and Ashdown, and an ABM if you can. If anything happens to it, I can fix it for you next time. Not much changes design wise in some Ashdown models, its is an Evolution process that works. I also sold a lovely EVOIII ABM to a well known visitor of this site recently. It was one of the best EVO III examples I've seen in a long while. It had all the full spec completely original 575watt parts in it and was around ten years old and just needed the dust removed for it to be as good as new.  Most of the major parts from the 2002 ABM would also work in the EVO III ABM. They are that compatible and I guess thats why techs like them. There are however many subtle spec differences between versions of the same models that mostly Ashdown will only be aware of and thats why it always makes sense to get Ashdown to service one if you can. I haven't come across any ABM models ever that couldn't easily be repaired.

Edited July 6, 2023 by DGBass

[Russ]

I don't play Ashdown any more, but I'd recommend them to anyone, mostly based on their customer service and general bulletproof-ness. I've owned two ABMs and a RM-800, all of them gave me years of good-sounding, problem-free service. 

 

If they ever come out with a valve preamp version of the RM-800, that'll be my next amp!

[asingardenof]

4 hours ago, Russ said:

I don't play Ashdown any more, but I'd recommend them to anyone, mostly based on their customer service and general bulletproof-ness. I've owned two ABMs and a RM-800, all of them gave me years of good-sounding, problem-free service. 

 

If they ever come out with a valve preamp version of the RM-800, that'll be my next amp!

Would that not tread on the toes of the ABM range to do that?

[Russ]

2 hours ago, asingardenof said:

Would that not tread on the toes of the ABM range to do that?

I don't think so - the ABM range are the more traditional, full-size class A amps, the Rootmasters are the smaller class D amps. Different markets, I think.

Plus, it hasn't stopped GK, Mesa, Orange, Markbass, Ampeg, etc from doing it.

[Marky L]

Just another to add further props to Ashdown.

 

My Klystron Classic 500 head was in dire need of servicing when the gain pot started to play up . Spoke to Dave, shipped it back, it was given a thorough clean (I swear I did dust it.. once..), parts changed and all serviced and shipped back in no time. I have absolute faith in the brand and have no reason to ever change from them.

[gjones]

I've had 3 Ashdowns over the years. An EB150 combo, a MiBass 550 and an ABM EVO III (twice).

 

The sound I have in my head, when I think of the tone I want, is the sound of my bass through an Ashdown.

 

I sold my ABM EVO III to buy something small, silver and light but could never really get the sound I was looking for.

 

A couple of years ago I saw an ABM EVO III head going for a song on Ebay, so I bought it.

 

It sounds fantastic even though it's about 15 years old.

 

I tend to think that the old the jokes about Ashdowns sounding woolly, had more to do with the cabs than the heads. I put mine through My Barefaced Compact, or my Super Compact and it's definitely not woolly. 

 

I still own a few little silver, lightweight heads, just in case the ABM starts to feel it's age halfway through a gig (which it never has so far).

[pbasspecial]

On 06/07/2023 at 19:51, NAS Bass said:

And its still sounding great!

Really pleased to know that. Loved that amp. Had serious sellers remorse when I sold it! 

[TheGreek]

On 11/07/2023 at 10:26, gjones said:

I sold my ABM EVO III to buy something small, silver and light but could never really get the sound I was looking for.

 

Been there...

[Muppet]

ABM750 EVO V

RM800 EVO II

MiBass 220

OriginAL Preamp

Tonepocket

B-Social

Studio 10

 

Nope, no preference for Ashdown whatsoever....

[msb]

A friend recently bought an Ashdown in Texas , but the amp quickly had some issues and he had service problems.

 

I was telling him the service in England was stellar.

 

… back it went