steve and ashdown

[sloppysubs]

hey steve,
ive noticed in a lot of yoru pics that there is ashdown amps/cabs etc in the photos. im guess that you use(d) the equitment. what amps/cabs/combos did you use and what did you think? do you still use ashdown and do you find them to be compatable with solo bass? what did you like or dislike about them?
i have an abm 900 and im currently waiting on a 414 (4 ohm 4x10). i love the amp, blows people away. however, i noticed that it is a low end monster. i have a hard time getting a good high end from it, ecspecially when tapping. in one set of pics off your site there is and abm 1x10 combo and in almost every picture the settings are different? do you like twiddle knobs to see what kind of sounds and tones you can get or are you more of a consistent sound guy? thanks

 

[Wrong Robot]

I just wanted to chime in saying that I *really* dig my ashdown 4x10, it's one of hte cheaper ones, but it's still totally sweet.

that is all

 

[Dr Steve Lawson]

hi Keith,

I used Ashdown for years - my first album - And Nothing But The Bass - was recorded live with a mic on my Ashdown 1x10 combo, and my second solo album used the Ashdown ABM-500 head as a preamp for recording.

I recently switched from Ashdown to AccuGroove, in search of a more refined hifi sound. The first thing I noticed was how much treble I'd been adding in my lexicon preamp/FX unit. I always ran the Ashdown flat and control EQ from the Lexicon, but when I switched to the Accugrooves, I flattened out a lot of that extra high end, it was articificially enhanced to compensate for the fact that most bass amps aren't designed to deal with those frequencies.

I really liked the sound from my Ashdown stuff, and it was certainly compatible with solo bass - I used it for years, and demo'd their stuff - but for the full range sound I'm looking for now, the combination of AccuGroove cabs and a QSC poweramp would be very hard to beat.

Steve
www.stevelawson.net

 

[TaySte_2000]

I'll also chime in I've got that ABM 300 C110 combo like what Steve used only mines a bit new (So better than his ).

I bought it purely because of how much Steve raved about it. Thats a lot to lay down from word of mouth, and all I can say is......






This is the greatest amp in the world an my setting is nothing like Steve's I use all the eq and the overdrive in a loud rock band. Its loud, punchy, clear, I still think its heavy but people tell me its light and I would never replace it I would only ever by an additional bigger rig for those massive gigs.

I'm actually thinking when I get a full time job after college I'll be selling my hartke cab cos its to big and be buying a smaller ashdown mini cab. Probably the 4x8 because Steve raved about that and he not often wrong.

P.S. for good high end just leave the eq on its flat preset, it's a very solo bass sound But there is a volume drop between this eq preset and your own already on the amp

 

[sloppysubs]

thanks for all the input guys.

steve, how do you use the amp head as a preamp? would run into the amp and then from teh amp into the board? ill also check into using an eq before the amp and leaving the eq flat. thanks alot for all the help guys and gals.

 

[Dr Steve Lawson]

I just had my bass going into the input on the amp, then out of the effects send into my rack. from the desk I sent a signal back to the effects return, and one to the computer to record. I did try recording my second solo album by mic'ing the amp, but couldn't get a sound I liked at all...

I'm in the process of recording a new solo album, and for this I'm using my Lexicon as a preamp and processor, and a Mackie desk as the hub distributing signal to my soundcard and to my AccuGroove set up for monitoring.

Steve
www.stevelawson.net