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OFFICIAL ASHDOWN CLUB

#662
God's Favorite Bass said:
Yup. Just a Little Tike. My RM800 it ain't.
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I have a few hybrid amps; SWR 400s, Mesa M-2000 (650w) and my Ashdown 550 Spyder. Out of the 3, the Ashdown is calibrated very differently. On both the 400 and 650, I never need to turn up the volume past 9:00, where as to get a similar output on the Ashdown, it's at 12:00. All are very useable/sound great in a rehearsal/live situation - just different in that way. I normally use an Eden 2X10 or my Ampeg B-15n cabs but have used the 400s with an SWR Goliath 4X10/Carvin 1X18 and it handles it w/o breaking a sweat. (it has a dedicated bi-cab section) My Mesa Millennium is the beast - 2 amps in one. (tube/FET) and with power to spare. Never even come close to using the available headroom. I've heard the RootMasters are nice sounding heads.
 
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#663
JIO said:
That is all truly bizarre Jim. I heard something about the curse but had no knowledge of the details. Once I learned of the connection, I wondered what they were thinking. Kind of morbid really - beyond retro/nostalgic alignment. Interestingly enough (even though flirting with apophenia here) my 550 Spyder "crashed" while on stage within months of buying it (demo model) and I just recently had it resurrected (repaired). Luckily it wasn't "life threatening" :). Gotta have fun with such!

FTR - like motorcycle cc designations many times, 550 (watts) was a stretch-to-fit being closer to 500 actual watts (can't recall the exact wattage - 530?) So apparently there was a marketing guy at Ashdown who was a really good salesman.
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The very fact that you even had one, let alone one that crashed, and play Ashdown gear; is truly amazing.
Shiny side up mate; they go better thay way!

Well the ABM 500 is now called a 600 - Makes sense if they are really 575 watts @ 4 Ohms.

As far as Ashdown power goes: My SWR SM400, with a HPF, is noticeably louder than my ABM500
Odd since every other British amp Ive owned (Trace and Marshall) as well as a bowered Hi Watt were seemingly much louder than their wattage rating.

OTOH, The Ashdown has the tone and wallup that I love and is enough with a 2x12, loudish rock band, with vocals only in PA for club work!
 
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#664
Jim C said:
The very fact that you even had one, let alone one that crashed, and play Ashdown gear; is truly amazing.
Shiny side up mate; they go better thay way!

Well the ABM 500 is now called a 600 - Makes sense if they are really 575 watts @ 4 Ohms.

As far as Ashdown power goes: My SWR SM400, with a HPF, is noticeably louder than my ABM500
Odd since every other British amp Ive owned (Trace and Marshall) as well as a bowered Hi Watt were seemingly much louder than their wattage rating.

OTOH, The Ashdown has the tone and wallup that I love and is enough with a 2x12, loudish rock band, with vocals only in PA for club work!
Click to expand...

It wasn't until it crashed that I realized how rare they are. In the short time I used it (prior to the crash) I really liked the tone and wanted it to be fixed. To add to the strange coincidental 'curse' connections, I gave it to a guy who works on amps out of his house to fix. (this is weird now that I think about it) Shortly after he started working on it - he had a heart attack. (not kidding) He recovered but never really got back up to full speed. He was really slow to work on it (understandably) and gave me a vintage ('76) Fender Super Bassman as a loaner. I bought the Mesa M-2000 in the interim and stored the Fender as it was too heavy/big to gig. (even though it did sound nice) The Spyder sat on his worktable collecting dust for 5 years. Life keeps you distracted but I kept thinking about how good it sounded, so finally decided to get it back regardless of what state it was in. The Fender was returned, and I finally got the Ashdown back and it hadn't been fixed. (and he didn't look well~)

Anyway - sorry for the long story, it's fixed now and it sounds great! Luckily it has no parts that were from JD's "Little Bastard". :)
 
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#665
JIO said:
I have a few hybrid amps; SWR 400s, Mesa M-2000 (650w) and my Ashdown 550 Spyder. Out of the 3, the Ashdown is calibrated very differently. On both the 400 and 650, I never need to turn up the volume past 9:00, where as to get a similar output on the Ashdown, it's at 12:00. All are very useable/sound great in a rehearsal/live situation - just different in that way. I normally use an Eden 2X10 or my Ampeg B-15n cabs but have used the 400s with an SWR Goliath 4X10/Carvin 1X18 and it handles it w/o breaking a sweat. (it has a dedicated bi-cab section) My Mesa Millennium is the beast - 2 amps in one. (tube/FET) and with power to spare. Never even come close to using the available headroom. I've heard the RootMasters are nice sounding heads.
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I'm really happy with the RM and it seems to be the same as your experience on volume. Of the class D's I own it has the most delightful clarity but does require an extra little turn on the volume. While we are admittedly excessively loud, it has room left on the knob for yet more ear ringing and runs cool as a cucumber. Through a MB 104hf it edges out my MiniMega 1000 and crushes the dependable albeit wet blanket-y Rumble V3 like the hammer of Thor.
 
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#666
God's Favorite Bass said:
I'm really happy with the RM and it seems to be the same as your experience on volume. Of the class D's I own it has the most delightful clarity but does require an extra little turn on the volume. While we are admittedly excessively loud, it has room left on the knob for yet more ear ringing and runs cool as a cucumber. Through a MB 104hf it edges out my MiniMega 1000 and crushes the dependable albeit wet blanket-y Rumble V3 like the hammer of Thor.
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Interesting - so it's an Ashdown trait. Mine also runs very cool - the twin fans do a good job and are pretty quiet. Considering the band I use it for strives to be 'not loud' at rehearsals and live (singers mic loudest in the mix so all words can be clearly heard) - it's just right (presence) and has awesome tone.
 
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#667
JIO said:
No, it's not a Heathkit. (but the badge is) It's a Spyder 550 Dual Tube Technology Ashdown. (coupled with my 76 B-15N with a late 60's JBL speaker)

View attachment 3503551
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I love the Spyder 550. I could only find the 330, but it sounds awesome.

JIO said:
I know this post is from a while back, but my 550 Spyder fans (2) aren't really that loud. Maybe for recording it would be something to deal with, but I've used amps with much more audible fans. (my SWR 400s for one) Having a few different amps, it's characteristic tone is why I like it - erring on the side of a more vintage tone.
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It is not like you cannot use the amp, but it is loud. My RM500 is very quiet

H Nighttrain said:
A little while ago I picked up a used ORIGINal 300. I've been an Eden guy for many yrs and I have decided I'll either sell the Ashdown or keep it but only as a backup or practice head.

I'm also in a band where I'm not on bass, and thought I'd give the bass player first dibs on either the ORIGINal or an EA iAmp 300 I'm also planning to sell. He needs a better amp than his old Carvin 'cause oftentimes my two bands share a bill and I use his amp!

Anyway he plays EUB and I was sure he'd like the iAmp better - and honestly I thought he sounded better with it, it's a real clear sounding amp - but he was more into the Ashdown, and the rest of the band preferred it too.

Not sure why I'm telling y'all all this... here's my issue. As an Eden guy I prefer a mids-forward tone, and the Ashdown has a more bassy tone. When I EQ it I dial down the bass quite a bit, then boost the low mid knob, but never quite get my tone. I looked around and can't find an answer:

Is the bass a shelving knob? What freq does it shelve down from - like 80 Hz, 100 hz, ... seems like it gets into the range of the low mid knob, I think the two knobs cancel each other a bit. Also, does anybody know how wide the low mid EQ is (I think that's the 'q' value), iirc it's centered at 180 Hz.

Apologies for the lengthy post, it's late here... hope I'm making sense, and tia for any replies!
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The Bass control is set at 100Hz, which IMO, it should be Low Mids. Most of the modern Ashdown amps (the RM for example) has this EQ. The ABMs set the Bass at 40Hz, which I think it is more accurate. The Treble is set at 7 kHz, which I think it's too much. However, if you boost a little bit the bass and the low mids, you may be found the sweet spot. Once you get used to this EQ, is very effective.
 
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#668
image.jpeg
Had my ABM Klystrom for 20 years
And the CMT-300 for 3

Cool amps

Btw @Wasnex wrote a good description on how the passive EQ on some Ashdown Amps works
 
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#669
foal30 said:
View attachment 3505984 Had my ABM Klystrom for 20 years
And the CMT-300 for 3

Cool amps

Btw @Wasnex wrote a good description on how the passive EQ on some Ashdown Amps works
Click to expand...

My review of the CTM300 can be found here: CTM 300 Review and Operation

My understanding is Ashdown has revised the tone stack with new Bass, Mid, Treble pot values that make the controls a bit more intuitive and less interactive. Users report the amps sound great with the controls straight up at noon.

With older amps with the original pot values, my general advice is to start with all tone controls at 9 o'clock and then keep them within +/- 2 clock face settings. Within that range the controls are relatively intuitive and there are a lot of great tones.
 
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#676
God's Favorite Bass said:
It's a game on their FB page...artists using Ashdown on stage "Spot the VU". I spotted yours. On the other hand, if it's barely moving spank the pre and post knobs hard to the right and get your tinnitus on!;)
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Got it! I essentially chose this amp based on its looks (and Ashdown's reputation/accolades/reviews) and lucked out on how good it sounds! :) The chrome face and VU meter weighed in heavily on my buying it. That and basic controls that shape the tone simply/directly. All & all - it's slightly fabulous!
 
#678
javi_bassist said:
That's a really sexy amp! I love the Spyder. I could only find the 330 where I live, but I love it. Which cab are you using?
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It's my '76 Ampeg B15 cab with upgraded late 60's JBL. I made a lid for it mimicking the flip-top base/lid (so much lighter to haul!). I have used the flip-top amp for shows but wanted to test the Ashdown with that JBL live. Very pleased with its tone and performance. The Spyder's are not common around here either these days.
 
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