Ampeg SVT 7 PRO vs Ashdown ABM EVO II 900

I used to be an ampeg fanboy...that is, until I got an Ashdown.

 

I practice through a 7 Pro into a Classic 410 HLF. I own and gig through an Ashdown ABM 500 EVO II 210 combo. For tone, for my tastes, the Ashdown absolutely SMOKES the Ampeg rig. The Ampeg is dry and sort of characterless, the Ashdown is warm, round, and organic by comparison. My guess is that it has something to do with the enormous transformer and the tube pre section, but I'm neither an electrician nor an amp guru...

Don't get me wrong, the 7 Pro is a very nice amp, and I've owned and gigged a 4 Pro, but I like a really warm tone, and the Ampeg Pro series, thus far in my experience, doesn't do it for me. It's not necessarily all that modern sounding, but it's just a little harsh for my tastes.

My Ashdown has had two issues: the VU meter bulb going out, and the transformer coming loose at one point. I haven't bothered to replace the VU bulb (a local outfit does an LED conversion so it will happen at some point) and the transformer hasn't moved since I got it fixed a number of years ago. Other than those two instances, it's been an absolutely bomb-proof, dependable, tough amp through a LOT of gigs. I like it so much I had Soldano retolex it put a cloth over the grill and it feels like I have a new 'vintage' British amp. I've yet to play through another amp that works for me as well as this particular one.

 

if you ever go for the 7 pro... the JJ tube in it is nice, but i can get farty lows pretty fast and you may like a tung sol as well in it... very warm and vintage character: Nice round and cleaner lows and plenty of warm mids with a bit of roll of highs... It gives more headroom than the JJ. The tung sol tubes works very well and warmth well the SVT7, a lot... This tube was an around 25$ investment that made it for me !!

 

ampeg has the distinct low mid bump that seems a but narrow and muddy to me, where the Ashdown has a more natural sounding eq, but it can still do a throaty ampegish growl. it sounds more dynamic and responsive to me and the overdrive blend means you can get exactly the amount of grit I want where the ampeg seemed to go from clean to buzzy right away.
ampeg always had me twiddling. Ashdown has me smiling.

I remember the first show I played with my Ashdown. I couldn't get over what a GREAT rock tone I had! then I noticed my guitarist was looking at me while playing with a look of "what did he do?". after a few songs he asked "what pedal are you using that sounds so awesome?". I wasn't using one...just the amp.

 

My experience is similar to eyeballkid's. I had to tweak the EQ on my SVT 4 Pro considerably, and use an Aguilar Tone Hammer DI, to get a tone I liked. With the Ashdown? I dialed it in once, using the three main knobs, and except when someone else has used it and changed settings, I haven't had to do anything beyond slight adjustments for a room here and there. I also no longer use the TH DI. The only reason I haven't sold it is you never know when a piece of gear like that might come in handy. FYI, the 4 Pro I owned sounded better than the 7 Pro I currently rehearse through.

For me the Ashdown is a much simpler amp to deal with to get the tone I like.

Honestly, you're not going to really know unless you get to test each of them. For those who needed to tweak an Ashdown to get a useable tone it may simply be that they didn't really like what it does, just like I didn't ultimately care for what my 4 Pro did. They're different amps and have different sounds.