Ashdown VU meter

[Mog]

In a lot of venues over here Ashdown amps seem to crop up as backline. The vu meter freaks me out because I always seem to be in the red. Even with the input gain at around 1/4 I seem to be driving the meter into what I presume to be overload. Wheres the ideal location for the needle to be when playing? And is the meter a clip or overload indicator?

[MB1]

MB1.
.. Keep Out Of the red and into the Black!.. and theres Nothing for Two in a Bed!..Not in this game anyway!...(Jim Bowen/Bullseye)

[Mog]

Cool lad. Easy to remember. I hate using Ashdown gear. They sound great but I've seen too many crap out to be comfortable using one.

[rasher80]

I asked a fella from Ashdown about this back in the days when i had one, the idea being that the needle needs to be up around the area where the black ends with your hardest playing.

I'm not sure if the red portion is overload or clip though!

[acidbass]

I generally try to keep mine around 50-60% on the meter - if it's constantly going into the red, it's probably not good for the preamp, unless of course it has a valve in it which you want to drive. Your bass must have a super high output BTW?

[MB1]

[quote name='acidbass' post='725215' date='Jan 26 2010, 02:32 PM']I generally try to keep mine around 50-60% on the meter - if it's constantly going into the red, it's probably not good for the preamp, unless of course it has a valve in it which you want to drive. Your bass must have a super high output BTW?[/quote]

MB1.
...DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!...
...If your using a Status Kingbass!...You should be able to get the vu to rotate 360..

[Adrenochrome]

Mine sounds sh1te if it goes into the red more than occasionally. Usually the needle is around 12 o'clock and all sounds great.

[umph]

you can crank the input gain as much as you want if it's distorting you may want to turn it down a bit though

[bassmansky]

if you use the eq you probably wont get the pre-amp knob past 9 o'clock.i dont use the eq and i can wind the pre-amp up to about 11 o'clock,just hit the e string hard and adjust so as the needle keeps just out of the red.you can always turn up the valve drive if you need more dirt!

[BluRay]

I've used a few ashdowns - solid state and some with tube pre-amps. So + 1 that intermittent spikes into the red are fine. Anyhow, I've frequently pushed em slightly harder (so its in the red quite a bit) specifically to get the grrr from the ABM tube and always been ok - and never seen one fail - maybe been lucky! I think it’s just a visual reference isn't it (and a bit of a gimmick), so I reckon if it sounds ok it probably is. :-)

[Mog]

[quote name='acidbass' post='725215' date='Jan 26 2010, 02:32 PM']I generally try to keep mine around 50-60% on the meter - if it's constantly going into the red, it's probably not good for the preamp, unless of course it has a valve in it which you want to drive. Your bass must have a super high output BTW?[/quote]
Yep! Gotta love Vox basses! Musicman type tone without the 2x4 neck and batteries! Most of the Ashdowns I've come across have been combos.(300 watts my ass!!) I would love to try the more expensive heads but they dont pop up much over here.
Thanks for the replies peeps. Informative and stimulating as always.

[jim_bass]

I have an Ashdown head and with my bass (Yamaha RBX374 - active), I need to push the input gain up to almost max to get anywhere near the red!

Does the active/passive switch on the input pad the gain? Is it like a 20db cut like in a DI box or something? Anyone know how these work? What happens if you use an active bass, but leave it set to passive? Can it damage it?

[ColinB]

I also use an active pass in to the passive input all the time, with the input gain almost maxed out and the needle will occasionally hit the red.

It is a dB cut, but my user manual doesn't say by how much and no, you can't damage it by doing this.

[Mog]

Cant really answer the 2 Q's above. I know VERY little about Ashdown gear. Never took any notice of Pad switches. IME they range from -6dB to 15 dB. Active and passive pups vary greatly. Some passive systems are louder that active and vice versa.Even with everything boosted in active mode my streamer is still louder passive.

[EmaTheMirror]

"Active" and "Passive" are to me somehow confusing ways to label amp inputs if considered literally, they were early simplicistic associations to the assumption that "active is loud" which have been kept since their appearance. I would somehow relate them to the term "hard disk", contraposed to the "floppy disk" which at first (the big one) was very flexible... everybody still uses the HD term, though nobody really thinks of its "solidity"

Though chances are that an active bass signal is probably beefier, it's not the law: active preamps mostly provide low impedance signals, a wider freq. response and give more onboard flexibility[color="#FF0000"][b]*[/b][/color], but I've heard more than one passive bass with higher volume outputs than "hi-fi" active ones, it also depends on the preamp design... a MusicMan or G&L preamp is on the "beefy" side, whereas others are designed for tone control.

To sum up: I'd personally use the "passive" input (or the pad button set to off) for both passive and active basses, the Ash input knob has enough headroom for a good adjustment. I'd use the "active" (or pad button) input only for extremely loud basses which would otherwise clip, basses passing through extremely loud and "preamp-like" pedals (say the Tech21 VTbass), external tube preamps (that was my case with my former MAG and a Presonus TubePre, before switching to the ABM), line signals and so on... if your active bass allows a good input adjustment in the "passive" one without the need to keep it below 8 or 9 o' clock, go for it.

I'd personally call them "low" or "high" inputs (just like in the MAG series) than active/passive




[color="#FF0000"][b]*[/b][/color]by now I prefer passive basses, so it's not a discrimination at all

Edited January 31, 2010 by EmaTheMirror

[Bassmouseman]

I have a Ashdown MAG 600 and set it so my loudest notes just go into the red.
I have spoken to a number of people about the Ashdown meter and most agree that its not very accurate! and its best to not rely on it too much.

[AlanP2008]

[quote name='Bassmouseman' post='745832' date='Feb 15 2010, 01:38 PM']I have a Ashdown MAG 600 and set it so my loudest notes just go into the red.
I have spoken to a number of people about the Ashdown meter and most agree that its not very accurate! and its best to not rely on it too much.[/quote]

I think "don't worry about it too much" is probably the advice... Get it somewhere around mid-scale - just touching the red if you like, and that should be just fine....
It is a VU meter (and there is no indication of how it is calibrated with respect to headroom etc..)

To monitor clipping, a peak meter would be the appropriate device, whereas the VU is an averaging indicator. Therefore, just use it as an indication that there is a decent signal present - I think that's about all you can derive from it...

Re: inputs... On the MAG preamp, the high sensitivity input has a very high input impedance - a fet and a resistor to ground of 3M9. The low sensitivity (active) input has a 6dB pad, but more significantly perhaps, a much lower input impedance of 20k. The ABM 500 willl probably be pretty similar.

[elliswasp]

you know its funny i have a passive bass and i had the same problem as a few of you could hardly turn the input volume up at all before hitting the red although i have changed my pickup for ceymour duncan hot's so that might explain why also i would agree 300w my A** ive just taken mine back after i had to knock the living daylights out of it whilst at a gig just to keep up with the rest of the band i was massively unimpressed i now have a ashdown 600h head and a seperate 210 cab in stead of the combo oh and im running a 115 cab as well hoping that will do the job.

I was under the impression that if you occasionally touched the red it was ok but not if your in it alot or constantly i dont know if this is right or not.

Markus

[coffee_king]

My VU meter on mine keeps breaking. Currently it lights up but the needle will not move.
£30 including P&P for a new one from Ashdown.
Hmm, is it really worth it though?
You know when your driving your rig hard!

Shippo

[thinman]

I fitted a chocolate teapot to my MAG when I had one. Found it quite useful by comparison.

[Bankai]

I saw someone using an Ashdown at a gig recently. He was running it as far as the needle could go for about half an hour!

If that were mine I would be seriously worried and kill the power straight away. Although suprisingly, despite this destruction, the amp was working fine the next day...

Edited February 18, 2010 by Bankai