• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

OFFICIAL ASHDOWN CLUB

#922
BassAdder27 said:
Customer service from Ashdown especially in the U.K. is superb

Dave and colleagues are very helpful and have pride in their products.
Click to expand...

They do, and he's helped me a few times. One time I even had a notion he liked. :)

I didn't know this thread existed, so I here's my summary...
One ABM 4x10, nicely discounted by PMT Ltd in the south of England, sent to me for free, barely a mark on it, for B stock it's damn near an A. Dave Green helped me with a lot of tech data about those.. Later, wanting to further emulate how JJ Burnel does things, I got a used ABM 1x15 on Ebay to put the 4x10 on. It's a bit large for my place, but I was brought up with a Bluthner grand piano in the front room, so I inherited the same sense of priorities! The 1x15 turned out to have a slightly frazzled voice coil so it was like a permanent gentle fuzz, nice but not if you want it gone. The seller was great, he accepted my recordings of both cabs as valid evidence that there was a problem, and was happy to pay for a driver because I said I'd replace it myself and not pass on any costs for my own work. He sent Ashdown the payment, and they sent the new driver to me. Dave Green advised on the replacement, and I suspect he negotiated the internal details to make sure this odd arrangement of payment and mailing worked right.

Later, wanting a small system that was far more portable, I got two OR-110 1x10 cabs I was lucky enough to find new, strongly discounted, after Ashdown discontinued making them. These are very nice cabs! The drivers are some of the best made drivers I have seen anywhere, and I suspect that Ashdown only discontinued for lack of interest, so the cost of making them wasn't being met. Compared to the ABM, there was only one flaw, as I heard it, a nasal ringing in the dust cap. I explained to Dave Green via email that I'd used a small wire to scrape the cone and cap to determine which contributed this sound, at which point he suggested dopant to damp the speaker, but this could be risky and might not get the improvement hoped for. I left the matter for a week then had the idea to use foam tape from an automotive accessories supplier, it's 10mm wide, about 1mm thick, easy to cut, and to peel off the green plastic film that protects it. It's sticky on both sides. I cut just enough to lay it across the dust caps to form a '+' that extended all the way to the attachment with the cone. I peeled off the top plastic film and replaced it with black insulating tape before laying the foam tape onto the dust cap. This works WELL, because it's so light it won't mess with the electroacoustics of the system, and most of the dust cap area is unchanged so the direct HF part of the wave arrives as intended, but the tape damps transverse HF in the cap to damp the ringing. :) The sound became 'drier', better at making the hard-edged Burnel-like sound I got from the larger cabs. I was so pleased with the result that I described it to Dave Green, and he liked it and said so.. So, he knows his stuff, is helpful, and also willing to accept a good idea from an end user if it solves something useful and specific. That moment made me very happy to have chosen Ashdown cabs.

I have never used their amps though, I chose to use a single 1U Oberheim GM-400 to do all the sound shaping, because it simulates UK valve amps well enough and does compression, valve overdrive, etc, then I feed the cabs using a clean amp, an IMG Stageline STA-400D. I prefer doing it this way because I get more control and consistency in the sound, and can modify it to get even closer convergence in sound between the two systems.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: kobass and javi_bassist
#923
IMG_20220908_135550104.jpg


YES!!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Novarocker, javi_bassist, God's Favorite Bass and 3 others
#925
So I noticed this last week but held off on bringing it up. The new black face Evo V seems to be this head with 150 extra watts. These are getting cleared out for significantly less than the Evo V if you don't mind red or a name on an amp. I definitely don't care, I am a fan of SOAD and Shavos lines were some of the first I ever learned when I made my first attempt at bass in my teens.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Novarocker, Dasgre0g and kobass
#929
Naigewron said:
How do you like that Kiesel? It's been on my GAS list for ages, but I've never actually played one :laugh:
Click to expand...
In response to your post on the other euro brands thread... I've come full circle with tube sounding pedals to the realization that nothing sounds or feels like a tube other than tubes. The AO900 can get pretty close to the tone of my ashdowns and handbox heads but it just doesn't have the heft in the bottom end to match and the harmonics are there but thinner and more shrill than musical.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lammchop93
#933
Paddy515 said:
When I want my ABM 3 setting to flat, where should I position the eq knobs/sliders and shape button?



I know that all to 50%/12 o'clock isnt necessarily the answer.
Click to expand...

The big question is why would you want to? It's not like it's going to sound like a clean DI, because the amp circuitry and tubes will shape and colour the tone pretty significantly even if you could find a "flat" setting.

The better question would perhaps be to explain what you're trying to achieve and then see if anyone has any tips.
 
#935
IMG_20220911_105931.jpg


And then there were two... Selling my other amps and sticking with the Ashdown stuff. It just has so much more low-end content. They love to be played loud, you can use a pick with high mids boosted without ice picky top end, and they're freaking sexy. I hate letting the other amps go, one is limited edition and is a seriously great amp with more features than the ashdown but they're not features I use (cab sim, headphone out) and the Handbox is just a great amp with even more tube magic than the ashdown (I will probably pull that ad unless someone grabs it quickly). But I've been A/Bing the Shavo and LB550 and they just have the sound that I love and prefer. I've been selling off tons of excess gear and spending more time practicing and it's paying off big time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scarlesolo, Novarocker, JeezyMcNuggles and 6 others
#939
Nuage420 said:
View attachment 4811264

And then there were two... Selling my other amps and sticking with the Ashdown stuff. It just has so much more low-end content. They love to be played loud, you can use a pick with high mids boosted without ice picky top end, and they're freaking sexy. I hate letting the other amps go, one is limited edition and is a seriously great amp with more features than the ashdown but they're not features I use (cab sim, headphone out) and the Handbox is just a great amp with even more tube magic than the ashdown (I will probably pull that ad unless someone grabs it quickly). But I've been A/Bing the Shavo and LB550 and they just have the sound that I love and prefer. I've been selling off tons of excess gear and spending more time practicing and it's paying off big time.
Click to expand...
Hey Nuage, how's the preamp on their tube amps? I almost bought the 200w, it's just having a fully passive eq is an iffy thing to me. Flat being dimed, cut only knobs, and being at the mercy of the amp doesn't quite sit well with my gut if I can't play it first. Know what I mean?
 
  • Like
Reactions: kobass and Nuage420

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back