I wanted to snag a backup non tube head just in case my Little Bastard goes down and replacement tubes are unavailable.
Didn't need anything massive and I wanted to match my Ashdown 410. I found this as a demo special at Sweetwater so I shot a text over to my dude Matt S and got the order in. It's my 3rd ashdown head now, I had one of the UK Built 12-Bands and it was a great unit but a bit too bright for me (go figure it's a reissue of Mark Kings signature model) so I let it move on. My daily amp is the all tube Little Bastard 30 that is pure rock and roll tube magic. Excellent choice for anything rowdy. But, it's limits can be found with the modern tones, dubby reggae, R and B, sub bass stuff just isn't in its wheel house.
My first thought was the ABM300 even though it's a tube it's only one and I do have ONE spare lol. But the RM300 with the red caught my eye and for a few hundred less I figured would be worth a try. Worse case if I don't like the RM300 I return it and get the ABM. That probably won't be happening though. Right out of the gate it sounds great and had some surprises. Even though there is an RM500 and 800 Ashdown didn't take away any of the features from those two models when designing the 300 watt model. They're all featured the same.
I knew it was light when I picked up the double boxed package from the porch. I weighed it at 4.48lbs. I love the red anodized brushed aluminum face and the black casing with the black logo on top. The only gripe I have about the chrome face LB30 is that you can't see poopie lol. The ugly yellow of the VU meter hides a green LED clipping light in the top left, a blue LED top right to indicate the mute on. Personally I'm not a fan of the ugly yellow but it doesn't take away from the overall look and the green and blue indicators help it out. IMO 5 out of 5 for looks.
The control layout is a little tight but not so much that it'll cause you to accidentally knock a next door knob. I read one review where an owner didn't like the push buttons and said there was no way to tell if they were on or not. He's not wrong, but not entirely right either. Pushed in they sit almost flush with the surface and stick out pretty far when not engaged. Up close I don't see how you could be confused. The second part of that... the buttons engage drive, compression, a huge mid scoop, the elimination of the EQ section and Mute. I don't think you're going to have any confusion knowing if those are on or off.
The EQ section surprised me, with everything at noon it's flat. To test this I rode the strings and turned the EQ Section on and off to hear no change. I think this is an incredibly smart design, in the world of preamps and tone shapers you can use this by itself or as a power amp for your favorite pre amps or modelers.
The EQ is a cut/boost 5 band with BASS MIDDLE TREBLE and two more very useful at 240hz and 1500hz. Another shocker to me was the treble knob normally I'll roll it back to 11 on all amps. Treble is shelved at 7k and I actually like it bumped up to about 1, it's not harsh at all and gives it a sparkle that reminds me of the magic you get from boosting a Musicman Stingray. Usable treble has not been something I've found common on most amps. The bass is set at 100hz and I'm a fan of that, definitely helps with boominess. Middle is at 660hz above the muddy freqs. The shape button adds 8db at 50hz and 10db at 10k both points outside of the EQ control and is a one way ticket to slap town.
The one knob compression is very noticeable as soon as you turn it on, even at the lowest setting. Sounds good and as you turn it up gives a good boost to volume as well as filling out the tone. Could easily be used as an always on at it's lowest setting up to about 7-8 o'clock.
The drive is cool and can do the standard light overdrive up to almost fuzz. I do have to boost the high mids and the treble a hair for a good distorted tone but there is no loss of bass anywhere, which really shocked me.
The Sub Octave is pretty cool, it's said it can help fill out your sound when used lightly and I agree used lightly you won't really hear it but feel it. But from 9-12 you get some really good Octaver effects. It sounds to me that it's running parallel to your clean signal. Past 12 and with the compressor I was able to easily pull up some fun tones. It tracks extremely well and fast. With the knob cranked and it can get a little choppy, but I don't think anyone would be using the Octaver that much anyways. The Sub octave has been described as a wet blanket for your tone or instant mud. I disagree, I think users may have just thought about it in the wrong way.
Input and output gain control is awesome. Input for ashdown amps you adjust by playing a bit heavy your lowest open string and turning the input up until the needle is staying around the 0 mark right before the red zone. That's supposed to keep your input level as high as can be and prevent clipping. You can dip into the red a little but you don't want to stay there. It also has Active and Passive input jacks.
Out back, you have a 33ohm 3.5mm headphone jack. I'm a huge fan of this as I won't need to worry about finding my adapter to use it as with every other amp headphone jack I've had. It also has headphone on off that will mute the output to the speaker, another well thought out addition. There is a footswith out that a 2 button latching footswitch (ashdown has one but it's sold out) can activate the drive and compression. The DI out is post eq. Line/aux in is put in back but they included a line level control in front so you can adjust volume for backing tracks or whatever playback device you're using. FX loop send and return finish out the back end with send coming after the EQ. the send can also double as a line out, unless a jack is in the return nothing interrupts the signal.
As for Power Ashdown rates it at 304watts at 4ohms. Hooked up to my 8ohm 410 it's slamming hard with plenty of clean volume. Hooked up to my 4ohm 212 and I didn't want to turn the volume past 1 o'clock. As has been my experience with Ashdown Amps, It's Loud!
All in all I'm very impressed and pleased with the selection. for ~ $650 new ( I snagged the demo for 550 plus tax) it comes ready to go. Plenty of power with a solid EQ section and the availability for drive, compression, and some octaver tones on hand you could slim down or leave your pedalboard at home.
***A few notable differences between this and the ABM. Single input and a button for active or passive. ABM has tuner out but no headphone in. ABM has pre and post EQ DI with the output on the face. 9 band EQ and obviously the tube in the pre amp section. The ABM priced at 850 and the RM at 650 with a $200 price difference. I would be satisfied with either at the new prices and ,as I am, very happy grabbing one at a discount.
