ashdown abm rig?

[mat gregory]

hey im gonna buy an ashdown abm 300 head a mini 4x8 and a mini 115 cab , only snag is they dont sell them round here!! what will the cab configuration be like?? il start off with the 4x8 cab , how low can this speaker cab go without sacrificing bright highs and snazzy mids?? will it b loud enough?? i play in church and the occasional rock gig , most places we play are p.a supported but our church isnt! will 575 watt head b better but the mini 15 is only a 300watt cab lol any info will be appreciated , thanks in advance

 

[wulf]

It will sound great although, unless you've either got a huge church or a really noisy congregation, you may well find the combination to be overkill.

I've played all the gear you're talking about and own a mini 1x15 cab. Personally, I thought the mini 4x8 was a bit harsh on it's own although it sounded great paired up with the 1x15; only with a lot of slapping did I think the 4x8 sounded better on its own.

What about the Birmingham Bass Centre (is that still up there?).

Wulf

 

[mat gregory]

It will sound great although, unless you've either got a huge church or a really noisy congregation, you may well find the combination to be overkill.

I've played all the gear you're talking about and own a mini 1x15 cab. Personally, I thought the mini 4x8 was a bit harsh on it's own although it sounded great paired up with the 1x15; only with a lot of slapping did I think the 4x8 sounded better on its own.

What about the Birmingham Bass Centre (is that still up there?).

Wulf

cheers for that!

yes its a small church lol , our guitarist has his amp out of the room and mic'ed so it somes thorugh the p.a cus its that loud lol , the brum bass center closed down!! i guess it was choked by soundcontrol and PMT!! (buggers!!) , soundcontrol sell the ashdown gear but they dont have any of the cabs i have in mind though!!

 

[mat gregory]

cheers for that!

yes its a small church lol , our guitarist has his amp out of the room and mic'ed so it somes thorugh the p.a cus its that loud lol , the brum bass center closed down!! i guess it was choked by soundcontrol and PMT!! (buggers!!) , soundcontrol sell the ashdown gear but they dont have any of the cabs i have in mind though!!

bump for more responses

 

[Peter Squire]

I got the 400w combo w/ 2x10's and it handles great!

Had the chance recently to pair it with the 1 x 15" cab and it shook the foundations - a little too much for my needs, heh!

I love the eq section on this baby, don't really use the Grind or Subharmonic features that often, usually only when I'm recording and looking for some variance.

The Grind feature can be a but nasal for my liking, but with either my Jazz or SR5 I can get just about any tone I'm looking for.

The 400w combo can get LOUD! I may get flamed here, but I think the Ashdown stuff (especially the earlier gear like mine) is sort of Trace Elliot on 'roids.

JMHO

 

[wulf]

If you had a poll, my vote would be to go for the head and mini 1x15 cab. Of course, I'd still have further questions:

- why Ashdown (accepting of course the generally postive reviews, such as Pete's one above)?

- what else is available locally that you can try?

- what's wrong with your existing gear (Peavey Fury IV, Ampeg SVT 15T combo, according to your profile)

Wulf

 

[mat gregory]

If you had a poll, my vote would be to go for the head and mini 1x15 cab. Of course, I'd still have further questions:

- why Ashdown (accepting of course the generally postive reviews, such as Pete's one above)?

- what else is available locally that you can try?

- what's wrong with your existing gear (Peavey Fury IV, Ampeg SVT 15T combo, according to your profile)

Wulf

i like the look of ashdown gear and the positive reviews theyre products get , locally i can try ampeg , peavey , ebs , yahama and orange but with alot of those i seem to get less for my money. the mini cabs also suit me as im only a little guy and im my own roadie sumtimes.

as for the ampeg , its old 1989 , its a got a bad connection sumwhere so it cuts out , its goin in for repair today though , but its a 115 and only 120watts its not really loud enough for the rock band i play in , but loud enough for church. not to mention i play alot of slap and the 115 is a little slow for playing that kinda bass.

cheers for the help guys!

 

[Peter Squire]

If you had a poll, my vote would be to go for the head and mini 1x15 cab. Of course, I'd still have further questions:

- why Ashdown (accepting of course the generally postive reviews, such as Pete's one above)?

- what else is available locally that you can try?

- what's wrong with your existing gear (Peavey Fury IV, Ampeg SVT 15T combo, according to your profile)

Wulf

Good post Wulf!

My positive review was obviously JMHO, and yeah, I hadn't checked out the existing gear. Ampeg SVT's are very decent amps.

Although I have a great amp in my Ashdown, I have also heard that their more recent gear hasn't been as solid as their early stuff.

My combo is one of their first models and is absolutely 1st class. Often, when a company becomes larger through excellent products, their quality control can slip (see Fender). The pressure on a company to keep up with demand means that often they outsource parts of their construction to other companies. This in fact, was what caused Trace to come into difficulties IIRC.

So, all in all - I love my Ashdown, but your mileage may vary...

 

[TaySte_2000]

I have an ashdown c110 ABM 300 with a 4x8 mini cab under it. I love my combo so much the sound is great, very think and full and suits any style of music, I tried the 1x15 and while it was good it just didn't hit me like the 4x8 did, I've never found my 4x8 coupled with a 1x10 harsh at all, but I know if I'd have got the 1x15 I'd have found thise setup boomy.

Personally I say go for the 4x8 and 1x15 setup it should be great, but bare in mind that while these are small cabs they are not light (Not overly heavy but they certainly ain EBS Neo's)

Cheers