Let's talk about the Ashdown Little Bastard

Hi folks!

Let’s talk about the Ashdown Little Bastard 30.

A couple of years ago, Ashdown Engineering produced the Little Bastard: a 30-watt all-tube head with a sound to die for. The way Ashdown put it:

“Rebellious, uncompromising and cool as f***, James Dean - and the car he nicknamed the Little Bastard - are the inspiration for this iconic, all-tube mini bass amp head.”

A pretty accurate description if you ask me. Have a look!



Yeah, the chrome front panel is beautiful. And that VU-meter gives it a cool-factor that other amps don’t have. The rotary controls are big and convenient and the amp has a very basic circuit.

It’s equipped with two 12AX7-tubes in the preamp and four EL84’s in the power section. My go-to tech guy popped it open to have a look under the hood. By no means I’m an expert, but the amp did make a good impression on him. I brought in a Mexican-made amp at the same time, which was nowhere nearly as well-built. It seems like Made in China has become a badge of honor.

In spite of it’s stripped-down appearance, it is packed with features: there’s a mute switch, a high and a low input, an effects loop and a bunch of rocker switches to tweak your sound. This tiny amp is has it all!

Using the 1⁄4” speaker outputs on the back, you can hook up 8- ohm or 4-ohm cabinets.

The sound

I’ve had mine for a while now, and I absolutely love it. Needless to say, it gets a lot of use.

The amp is pretty small, but boy, does it sound good! Thick, warm tones; rich, classic harmonics; mild tube-saturation and full-on grind: the Little Bastard does it all. It has - for lack of a better term - a certain ‘heft’ to it. Something you rarely find in low-wattage amplifiers with limited headroom. Must be the tubes, right?

Comparing the Ashdown to some of my other tube-amplifiers, it sounds even warmer and thicker. Needless to say it sits very well in a mix. And I haven’t even mentioned the transformer-coupled DI yet. It’s post-EQ only, but this is what a tube-DI should sound like.

So how does it perform in real life?

This little amp plays with the big boys. It might be the perfect studio weapon. It’s very manageable, but the sound is glorious. Tubes – or valves – really are something else.

Hooking it up to my 112 cabinet, Motown is right around the corner. But with my 410 it becomes quite nasty. It’s capable of delivering a drive-sound no pedal can achieve. And with a vintage 215 cab it keeps up with a drummer.

The 30-watt Ashdown delivers a tonal quality very few amps offer. It rivals the sound you hear on so many old Motown records. But those who seeking a more modern sound, should be on the lookout for a used one as well.

That doesn’t mean this is the perfect amp for every occasion. Live, it quickly runs out of headroom. You may get away with a coffee shop gig, but for anything bigger, it’ll need some PA-assistance.

As a studio tool, a silent-out would have been nice. But other tube heads offering this feature are more expensive, and often they don’t sound as good.

So why aren’t these amps all over the place?

Who knows? The last couple of years, the good folks at Ashdown have put out a ton of different amps. The lineup has become a bit confusing. A shame, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Little Bastard 30 is an amazing piece of gear.

It was only in production for a short while, but from time to time one pops up on Reverb or the Bay. Keep an eye out for the LB-30 and the CTM-30 as well. They don’t look as good, but on the inside, they appear to be the same beast. Has anyone played both?

 

Thanks @basscooker, looks like I'm in for a good read, great stuff!

 

Great, thanks! The amp in your avator looks pretty sweet as well

 

Thanks for the confirmation, it's good to know they really are the same amp.

Any chance you've used it live with a load box? Some people seem to use their Ampeg pf's as a DI, especially nice when playing with in-ears.

 

Interesting! To me, the EQ feels very intuitive. I have a Fender Bassman 100T as well, and the LB is much more straightforward. The Fender sounds really great and have more headroom, but I always have to work the EQ a bit harder.

 

You are absolutely right. Either way, it's built with quality components. The Made in China-badge may raise some concerns to some people, but I don't think they should be worried about the Little Bastard.

 

How are you liking it so far? Seems like a great solution in many situations!

 

Wow, that looks great! I'd hold onto that one for sure