New Ashdown range coming

[Thunderpaws]

Some social media posts popping up for a couple of new Ashdown amp lines. I’m personally hoping for a new CTM 100 that includes modern recording options. Next week will be interesting…

[Chienmortbb]

A slimmer ABM would be nice. Widthways that is not height.

[MichaelDean]

From what I've seen, I think it's going to be a new range of guitar amps. Probably two based on this. 

 

 

 

[Merton]

I guess this all ties in with their recent merge with / acquisition by the Algam group:

 

https://www.mia.org.uk/2024/08/ashdown-engineering-team-establishes-algam-ashdown-in-the-united-kingdom/
 

They have an 80% stake in the company now, will be interesting to see where it goes.

[eude]

3 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

A slimmer ABM would be nice. Widthways that is not height.

I've been trying to convince them to make a smaller ABM still with a real old school power stage for ages. Apparently the main circuit board prevents it being any smaller, but surely the solution would b a redesign?

[eude]

I should also chime in, I expect a push on the guitar side of things. They've just appointed a new guy who's a guitarist.

[eude]

More than a whiff of guitar I reckon...

 

[Russ]

There's supposedly some new bass cabs coming soon, according to Mark Gooday's Instagram, but no new amps yet. Apparently they're going to make a proper 2x12". 

[Rayman]

I was there on Thursday. A lot of Algam stock on the shelves. They’re going to need a bigger warehouse to accommodate all the new equipment. Bass amps will still play an important role, but there’s a lot of other irons in fires by the looks of things.

[Merton]

10 hours ago, Rayman said:

I was there on Thursday. A lot of Algam stock on the shelves. They’re going to need a bigger warehouse to accommodate all the new equipment. Bass amps will still play an important role, but there’s a lot of other irons in fires by the looks of things.

Yep that makes sense in line with the press release. Essentially they are Algam UK now and the Ashdown part is a small cog in a bigger machine now.

[gjones]

Ashdown making valve guitar amps.......good luck with that. In my experience, I find guitarists incredibly conservative, if it's a valve amp and it's not got got Marshall or Fender on it, they're just not interested.

 

 

[Chienmortbb]

Victory have made inroads in the Valve Amp market as have Friedman. There are also more niche makes like Two Rock. 
 

In my  opinion both Marshall and Fender can be improved. The Fender combos are often described as “good pedal platforms” to my ears they are timeless unless they have a pedal or two in front of them. This is made worse by using Fender guitars. The Telecaster bridge pickup through a Fender should be illegal. 
 

Many, but not all Marshalls are difficult to get a clean tone from. Especially with a humbucking pickup. 
 

If Ashdown can nail clean and dirty channels well in one amp they may do well. However I suspect the main reason for selling guitar amps is the smaller outlets reluctant to stock brands with “ limited” ranges. 

[Russ]

5 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Victory have made inroads in the Valve Amp market as have Friedman. There are also more niche makes like Two Rock. 
 

In my  opinion both Marshall and Fender can be improved. The Fender combos are often described as “good pedal platforms” to my ears they are timeless unless they have a pedal or two in front of them. This is made worse by using Fender guitars. The Telecaster bridge pickup through a Fender should be illegal. 
 

Many, but not all Marshalls are difficult to get a clean tone from. Especially with a humbucking pickup. 
 

If Ashdown can nail clean and dirty channels well in one amp they may do well. However I suspect the main reason for selling guitar amps is the smaller outlets reluctant to stock brands with “ limited” ranges. 

Blackstar have done pretty well too, and they're a UK company (mostly ex-Marshall people). Their bass stuff sadly doesn't seem to have taken off though. 

 

There's always been a high-end specialist guitar valve amp market - the likes of Soldano, Fortin, Diezel, etc, usually endorsed by some super-shredder. Not to mention the likes of the Dumble - rare as rocking horse s**t and often considered the best amps ever made. They change hands for stupid money since the guy who made them died. I think he only ever made around 300 of them. There's one on Reverb right now for US$50,000. 😮 

 

Edited September 8, 2024 by Russ

[Chienmortbb]

16 hours ago, Russ said:

Blackstar have done pretty well too, and they're a UK company (mostly ex-Marshall people). Their bass stuff sadly doesn't seem to have taken off though. 

 

There's always been a high-end specialist guitar valve amp market - the likes of Soldano, Fortin, Diezel, etc, usually endorsed by some super-shredder. Not to mention the likes of the Dumble - rare as rocking horse s**t and often considered the best amps ever made. They change hands for stupid money since the guy who made them died. I think he only ever made around 300 of them. There's one on Reverb right now for US$50,000. 😮 

 

When I started my first amp was a Selmer Zodiac Twin 30. Superb amp but eclipsed by the AC30 in popularity. had two of the legendary original Celestion G12s. The bassist at the time had an AC30 Bass. How times have changed 60 watts between the two of us...

[Beer of the Bass]

22 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Victory have made inroads in the Valve Amp market as have Friedman. There are also more niche makes like Two Rock. 
 

In my  opinion both Marshall and Fender can be improved. The Fender combos are often described as “good pedal platforms” to my ears they are timeless unless they have a pedal or two in front of them. This is made worse by using Fender guitars. The Telecaster bridge pickup through a Fender should be illegal. 
 

Many, but not all Marshalls are difficult to get a clean tone from. Especially with a humbucking pickup. 
 

If Ashdown can nail clean and dirty channels well in one amp they may do well. However I suspect the main reason for selling guitar amps is the smaller outlets reluctant to stock brands with “ limited” ranges. 

 

Guitarists are a fickle lot (bassists too, but not in the same ways) - it seems like new guitar amp names who start in the high-end boutique world and then expand into the mass market can do quite well. Getting a new valve amp range accepted by the market without that sort of buzz attached to the name seems to be more of a tall order.