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Ashdown Mark King head.

sloppysubs

sloppysubs

Nov 24, 2002
1,862
49
Tarboro, NC
sweetsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
#1
I played it today.

Honestly, I was very let down. I LOVE Ashdown gear. Big time Ashdown guy right here.

Anyway, let down. I mean it sounded good. But the "Harmonic Emphasis" switch is a low cut switch. Sounds like complete crap. Completely useless feature. The eq is very good.

All in all, not bad. Good sound, good eq. If I had the time to really play with the eq it would've been great. But the harmonic empahsis not so much. Bad idea....
 
#5
HotTubesGrooves said:
I guess the question is, do you want to sound like Mark King? I can see how a low cut would be useful for emulating his sound (although why anyone would want to is beyond me). Not the amp for the non slappers then?
Click to expand...


Yea, not for the non slappers. I don't understand the harmonic thing either, but oh well.


I'm sure it's a great amp. Like I said, given more time with the EQ and what not I'm sure I could've had her singing. But with the initial impressions it was sub-par.
 
#6
I believe you left with this impression because you didnt mess around too much with the EQ. Also I wanted to know what bass did you try it with?
I ve just ordered a MK500 my self, I m gonna put a review up soon. I ve noticed you have the Ashdown ABM head, which is basically a 7 knob/slide EQ... so its not logical a 12 slide EQ will sound worse!
And one last thing: Mark King does NOT use the Harmonic emphasis effect. And with not playing too much with the EQ around maybe thats why you didnt like the effect also, since it works better(or not) with some particular settings.
 
#7
Was wondering if anyone was gonna post a pic! :hmm:

ALMK500.gif
 
#12
The harmonic emphasis circuit is not a low cut, although it does emphasize some other frequencies that make the tone sound less bassy by comparison.

It's like any other tool - you have to get to know it and how it works in combination with your bass, your cabinets, and your style of playing. I find it very useful in mild doses.
 
#13
I had one of these for a time, I personally found it to be quite uninspiring.

I know of someone else who's had two of them, he actually sold the first one to me, then went out and bought another about 6 months later, to go with his new Status Kingbass.
He also sold that after a short time, like me he found it to be quite a nice amp, but not fantastic.
We both use EBS heads now, which are far better, in my opinion, and offer that something that was missing in the MK head.
 
#14
zongeek said:
I played it today.

Honestly, I was very let down. I LOVE Ashdown gear. Big time Ashdown guy right here.

Anyway, let down. I mean it sounded good. But the "Harmonic Emphasis" switch is a low cut switch. Sounds like complete crap. Completely useless feature. The eq is very good.

All in all, not bad. Good sound, good eq. If I had the time to really play with the eq it would've been great. But the harmonic empahsis not so much. Bad idea....
Click to expand...

Perhaps its voiced to match their cabinets, like the Eden contour knob on the WT800, which works very well with their honky mid-rangey cabinets by giving them some bottom and top, but sounds horrible through most other speakers and is more or less useless.

I used to have the old Trace Mark King model, the 1225V, which was an awesome amp, and I tried the Ashdown twice in a store, and found it somewhat anemic and underpowered. Looked nice and was well made, though, but soundwise was lacking.

IMHO,
Cameron
 
#16
Reviews about this head seems to vary. If you read in the "reviews" section I 've just uploaded yesterday my review on my MK500.. which I m bas(s)icly saying that is the best tool I have found for my personal sound nowdays, after using full SWR products for more than a decade! Nothing is missing, and I feel I have total control for once over my sound! "Anemic, underpowered,soundwise was lacking" is something I had with ather amp heads, and believe me NOT with the MK500. I dont know what speakers they had it on, or where they had it (room acoustics etc. etc.)...
As for the Harmonic Emphasis I dont find that it makes my sound less bassier. It just "opens" the sound but I dont loose my bottom end... maybe though is the low end my Acme cab can handle so well, I dont know.
Anw... even my review is not enough, I feel I can talk for quite a long time about this head. Obviously I m pleased with this product... but I can proove to you, with tracks I will record in near future, that you can do anything with this head, and it really kicks some major butt!
Now Ashdown, endorse me! :D
 

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