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New Ashdown bass guitars
- Thread starter JoeyLiv
- Start date
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- Tags
- ashdown bass guitar
A t-bird, a precision, a jazz, a short scale jazz and a PJ reverendish thing. Hmm. 
I’m thinking I would like to try one of these. Probably the low rider (thunderbird)
Funny, I was recently thinking about the basses, and strings that Trace Elliot made in the mid-90's - and thinking how unlikely it would be for Ashdown to reboot that part of their Trace history...
I mean, I was timely. Completely wrong, but timely I tell you.
I mean, I was timely. Completely wrong, but timely I tell you.
Am I the only one skeptical about these?
Who's actually making these basses? The fact that the information isn't included instantly makes me think far east. They don't even mention what body wood they use or pickup specs...
Who the hell is going to buy this for 1k? Can somebody explain why anybody would choose this over a Fender, Lakland Skyline, G&L, Sire... ? I don't see any differentiation...
EDIT: My dumbass didn't scroll down the page far enough specs are there!
SPECIFICATIONS:
BODY WOOD - LIGHTWEIGHT ALDER
BODY FINISH - HIGH GLOSS POLY
NECK WOOD - MAPLE
FINGERBOARD WOOD – ROSEWOOD
NECK FINISH - OIL
FINGERBOARD RADIUS - 10
TRUSS ROD - 2 WAY - ALLEN ADJUSTMENT AT BODY
INLAYS - DOT AND OR BLOCKS WITH BINDING
NUT - BONE
FRETS NO. - 20
SCALE - 34
PICKUPS - 2 -J STYLE SINGLE COIL
PICKGUARD - WHITE
CIRCUIT - NONE
CONTROLS – VOL/VOL/TONE
POTS - 3 - CTS STYLE 250K
KNOBS – JBASS STYLE
SWITCH – NONE
HARDWARE COLOUR - CHROME
BRIDGE - 4 STRING THROUGH BRIDGE STRINGING ONLY
TUNERS - HIPSHOT LICENSED - ULTRA-LTE CHROME
STRINGS - HIGH QUALITY - STAINLESS STEEL ROUNDWOUND .045-.105
STRING RETAINER - STRING TREE
STRAPS - DUAL DESIGN
WEIGHTS - 3.8KG - 8.3LBS
Who's actually making these basses? The fact that the information isn't included instantly makes me think far east. They don't even mention what body wood they use or pickup specs...
Who the hell is going to buy this for 1k? Can somebody explain why anybody would choose this over a Fender, Lakland Skyline, G&L, Sire... ? I don't see any differentiation...
EDIT: My dumbass didn't scroll down the page far enough specs are there!
SPECIFICATIONS:
BODY WOOD - LIGHTWEIGHT ALDER
BODY FINISH - HIGH GLOSS POLY
NECK WOOD - MAPLE
FINGERBOARD WOOD – ROSEWOOD
NECK FINISH - OIL
FINGERBOARD RADIUS - 10
TRUSS ROD - 2 WAY - ALLEN ADJUSTMENT AT BODY
INLAYS - DOT AND OR BLOCKS WITH BINDING
NUT - BONE
FRETS NO. - 20
SCALE - 34
PICKUPS - 2 -J STYLE SINGLE COIL
PICKGUARD - WHITE
CIRCUIT - NONE
CONTROLS – VOL/VOL/TONE
POTS - 3 - CTS STYLE 250K
KNOBS – JBASS STYLE
SWITCH – NONE
HARDWARE COLOUR - CHROME
BRIDGE - 4 STRING THROUGH BRIDGE STRINGING ONLY
TUNERS - HIPSHOT LICENSED - ULTRA-LTE CHROME
STRINGS - HIGH QUALITY - STAINLESS STEEL ROUNDWOUND .045-.105
STRING RETAINER - STRING TREE
STRAPS - DUAL DESIGN
WEIGHTS - 3.8KG - 8.3LBS
Last edited:
Do you know who Dan Lakin is? That’s the answer.
(Also, I drilled in a bit - the materials are addressed clearly though not the country of manufacture. I assume Asia somewhere; the price works.)
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,895
- 142,212
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
The Lo Rider is a nice take on Peter Cook's 7enderbirds, except for the pickups - they really look out of place.
So the answer is brand recognition? I guess that's fair as an answer, personally that's not good enough for me to make a purchasing decision. I mean, are you going to preorder one?
At $1k I'd guess Chinese or Indonesian manufacturing. Korea is possible but most WMI seems to be over that price point nowadays. No interest from me, that's a brutal price point to enter the market with nothing new to offer.
Nope. But I do think that when you want to get into a new line of business, landing a recognizable name like Dan Lakin to attach to the project is a normal move. Same thing Sire did, though obviously Marcus has broader appeal than Dan Lakin does.
Solves a bit of mystery, too - I wondered what Lakin's plans were when he exited the business kinda abruptly a couple years ago.
Oh good, not enough $1200 import P and J clones on the market.
Yep, I'm IN! A cool P/J and a Thunderbird, all with matching headstocks? Dan, you were reading my mind!
Um, read the description? Body wood, weight, specs are listed under each. And the price is in pounds, not US dollars. I have not idea what the current exchange rate is.
With 5 year warranty.
No clue as to quality since brand new, but willing to bet Dan and Ashdown are not going to produce crap.
But they look like high quality. Just checked the P: lightweight alder (I don't know how they manage every single instrument to be 3.5 kg / 7.7 lbs., the Jazz 3.8 kg 
Hipshot tuners, Wilkinson bridge, matching headstocks. A shortscale Jazz...
I have enough Fenders, but why not?
Hipshot tuners, Wilkinson bridge, matching headstocks. A shortscale Jazz...
I have enough Fenders, but why not?
If you check out the NAMM videos they are very open about where they are made. They are made in Korea. They are using the same factory that the initial D.Lakin basses were made which is the Mirr factory. Top notch stuff comes out of that factory (Reverend and Duensenberg). The Ashdown website is pretty detailed on specs too. The bodies are alder. I spoke with Dan and he said the quality is equal to the last Lakin basses which were extremely high quality. I have one on order right now. The tough thing is that there likely won't be any readily available in stores in the USA to check out.
Good for them. But let's wait a while and see how they show up. Since they are clearly private labeled are they worth it? They look OK but wouldn't run to a mystery maker instead of a known brand.
I'm not saying "pick a lane" either. Let's see how they do. But I'm also surprised that a niche sorta boutique player wouldn't go a little higher-end for basses. Because they have a well-respected and sought after brand in their amp/cab and electronics lines.
Kind of like if Mesa or Aguilar got into the guitar biz. Would they be good? Same answer, depends who actually makes them.
I'm not saying "pick a lane" either. Let's see how they do. But I'm also surprised that a niche sorta boutique player wouldn't go a little higher-end for basses. Because they have a well-respected and sought after brand in their amp/cab and electronics lines.
Kind of like if Mesa or Aguilar got into the guitar biz. Would they be good? Same answer, depends who actually makes them.
To both these points; I don't mean to say that I think these instruments are going to be crap. I'm thinking about this relatively speaking, for example the Sire V7 starts at $600 is half the cost of the Ashdown Gail (899 pounds = ~$1200) or for the same cost you can get an American made Fender.
WHO are these basses for? At the $1000 price point what person chooses Ashdown over an equally priced MIA Fender/Lakland Skyline or at half the cost a Sire, Squire or G&L Tribute? How many Lakin fan boys are there that are looking to purchase a diluted version?
