New US made Tube amp from Ashdown!

[blendermassacre]

Why not? I'll take an Ashdown endorsement, too.

as long as they're handing them out....

 

[tombowlus]

Tom, are you guys going to be able to test out these bad boys any time soon?

Nothing scheduled yet. I imagine that I will be discussing this with Mark Gooday at NAMM.

 

[jowens004]

Looks like one is in transit today or tommorow to Bass Emporium in Austin, TX. Should be in first week of january or so depending on the xmas shipping delays. Guess I will be popping in there every day till it gets here. Damn I cant wait to see if I can break thier front window with it.

 

[pablomigraine]

Nothing scheduled yet. I imagine that I will be discussing this with Mark Gooday at NAMM.

Mark is one of the coolest cats Ive ever done business with. Im sure he'd lend you one for a test drive...

 

[tombowlus]

Mark is one of the coolest cats Ive ever done business with. Im sure he'd lend you one for a test drive...

Agreed, and yes, I hope you are right.

 

[tombowlus]

Ashdown introduced a slew of all-tube heads (and some new hybrids) at Winter NAMM.

Check it:

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You can view slightly larger images at my link, below. For some reason, the "full size" pics don't want to link here very well.

 

[JimmyM]

i'm dyed in the wool ampeg, but remembering how good those trace v-series heads were, this ashdown stuff is getting my attention.

 

[HEADLE]

i'm dyed in the wool ampeg, but remembering how good those trace v-series heads were, this ashdown stuff is getting my attention.

I'm a trace guy but this gets me excited too. Besides who wouldn't love a head called the "Little Bastard"!

H

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I have owned an ABM-400 for ~10 years and it has performed brilliantly. Great sound, dead reliable.

 

[seamonkey]

Ashdown introduced a slew of all-tube heads (and some new hybrids) at Winter NAMM.

Any "US Made" ?
Besides the cabinets.

Why don't they just ship the parts to a factory here and assemble them here? Even Kia does that.

 

[tombowlus]

Any "US Made" ?
Besides the cabinets.

Why don't they just ship the parts to a factory here and assemble them here? Even Kia does that.

I believe that these were all US-made.

 

[bassguppy]

Here's the first one I've seen for sale...Who's gonna fork over the $$???

I look forward to your review.


http://cgi.ebay.com/Ashdown-BTA400-BTA-400-All-Tube-UK-Made-Bass-Amp_W0QQitemZ360238841116QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item53dfe87d1c



.

 

[Tim C.]

Definitely WANT. Actually, I want the 427. And the cash to be able to afford it.

 

[seamonkey]

Here's the first one I've seen for sale...Who's gonna fork over the $$???

I look forward to your review.


http://cgi.ebay.com/Ashdown-BTA400-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item53dfe87d1c



.

That says "UK Made"

 

[EAdanikDG]

Ashdown introduced a slew of all-tube heads (and some new hybrids) at Winter NAMM.

Check it:

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You can view slightly larger images at my link, below. For some reason, the "full size" pics don't want to link here very well.

Wowzers, what cab is that underneath the Little Bas*ard?

 

[scowboy]

The cabinet under the LB is a matching 2x12. Both of those went to The Bass Place in AZ after NAMM. I tried to buy just the head. They are both gone now though. I wanted the LB to go with the MOjO Mini 10's I was using at the time, thought it would be perfect for my normal Wednesday night acoustic gig.

Wowzers, what cab is that underneath the Little Bas*ard?

 

[MAMMOTHvolume]

That says "UK Made"

whats wrong with that?

 

[Sliderbass]

Just bought a BTA400. Should have it sometime next week. Got a "too good to be true" deal on it so I'm cautiously optimistic. I'll feel better when its IN my hands. Full report to follow...

 

[chris lykins]

Cant wait to hear the review on this and the 427. I love my UK ABM and am interested in what the tubes will bring to the table.

 

[Sliderbass]

My BTA-400 arrived on Tuesday. It was shipped with all the output tubes in place so you can imagine what happened. Only three actually popped-out of their sockets but were not damaged. I took the top grill off and put everything back where it was supposed to go but I did mark the three tubes that were loose just in case something develops over time. At least I'll know if an output problem does happen where to look first. Other than that little problem, all seems to be well with the head.

The good news is that is seems to be working just fine. The bad news is that I really can't crank it in my house with causing damage. I ran it with a Schroeder BMF-412 and was basically shaking the entire house! Very deep when needed. Very clean when needed and can get dirty as well. The basic Bass, Mid & Treble controls seem to work well by themselves but the slider controls between them seem to make more of an impact on the overall sound. It could be just the ranges that the sliders operate in or the cab I was using, or it could be operator error as I really didn't read the manual(who does???).

The compressor seems to function best at about 9o'clock. Again I'll have a better idea after a gig and some real-world testing. Active-passive switch works but I wonder if you really need to use it. With my Carvin B-1500, I leave that switch in passive and rarely if ever get the clip light of come on. I do run a compressor in front of the input on that head so I guess that helps. Running the Ashdown in passive mode with an active bass will drive the VU meter crazy. I may need to figure-out a way do damp its movement if I run it that way. Again, I need to run this rig in a real world situation. Its great that I got it when I did but my band is quiet until 7/9. That will be the true test.

It only has about an hour on it but this head sounds really good! I've been an Aguilar guy for about six years now but that may change in about two weeks...