Tell me your Ashdown horror stories

[JAUQO III-X]

I'm planning to jump on the Ashdown ABM wagon very soon.

What are you thinking about getting?

 

[svtcobraboy81]

What are you thinking about getting?

I've found a used ABM 900 EVO III for a killer price.

 

[GBassNorth]

I had an Ashdown Evo II Mag300 2x10 combo for a while. Loved the tone, buttery smooth and deep with very good tone shaping ability and plenty of power for a 200 watt combo amp. It did seem to have a relatively dark and mellow sound but I really liked the tone.

I ended up selling it and buying a GK MB210 ultralight combo. Not because there was anything wrong with the Ashdown, it never gave me any problems. It was just too heavy and bulky for a small combo.

The Ashdown weighed somewhere around 50 pounds and had handles on each end of a horizontal 2x10 cab configuration, which means it took two hands to carry it and it was nearly too wide to go thru a door without busting your knuckles up every time. The GK I replaced it with is also a 2x10 but only weighs about 30 pounds and has one handle on top, which means I can carry it with one hand and my bass with the other and have no problems with doorways.

 

[Dominic D]

It was just too heavy and bulky for a small combo.

That's my one real complaint, at least with the MAG series. The cabs are a little too heavy. If I remember correctly, the combined weight of my MAG 300 head and 4x10 cab was around 100 pounds. That was my main reason for switching to Markbass. I still prefer the Ashdown sound and I'm really interested in hearing those MiBass heads.

 

[gillento]

Ashdown is no different from ANY reputable amp maker. Their top-of-the-line gear is always their best, Ashdown's is the ABM line), and as with ANY piece of electronic equipment, sometimes stuff breaks down. If the amp is working properly when you buy it, it shouldn't have problems later, unless it's mistreated.

+1

 

[Bassmec]

My elderly Asdown ABM EVO 0 500 115 has horrifically just been returned by the person who hired it last night.
He said it performed very well indeed and that it was really quite punchy.
Can no mortal finally destroy Springvale's undead Ashdown hire combo.

 

[georgestrings]

Although their tone doesn't quite do it for me, I think Ashdown stuff is as reliable as any other major brand, and maybe more so than some others... I wouldn't worry about gigging Ashdown gear from a reliability angle...


- georgestrings

 

[Mouth_Plugbass]

i got the MAG 600 recently, disappointed by its lack of power but it's a great amp, and I can always DI it during gigs, no problem. Ashdown is a pretty good brand for me, and reliability issues will plague any manufacturer no matter the brand. I had a top level Ampeg head that blew up within 10 minutes of playing. No joke.

 

[2milehighspike]

Careful what ya say about that Am@$g brand, having the audacity to expect a new product to last longer than ten minutes is not alowed i guess. As far Ashdown goes, I loved the sound and it was reliable, but I also thought it was'nt as powerful as the stated wattage, so I f you want to go that route get one with as many watts as you can.

 

[Chuck D]

I've had an ABM EVO III for about 7 years now...and I LOVE it...the only issues I've had with it have been your general maintenance issues...I had to replace one of the pots in the EQ and had to replace the preamp tube...that's it

 

[gazzatriumph]

Ive used 3 local rehearsal studios and they all have ashdown bass amps, im pretty sure if there was reliability issues they would not use them.

 

[eyeballkid]

my horror story is that I sold my 72 svt, my orange, fender 100t, my electric © amp, mesa, svt CL, traynor, and am considering selling my Morgan because none of em make me as happy as my EVO II.

 

[chaosMK]

When I had an Ashdown I ran it with a 2x10/1x15 rig. Once the guitarists in my band told told me to turn down since I was drowning them out. That was the only problem I ever experienced with mine. The funny thing was I delighted in drowning them out, they were kind of douches.

 

[PJSim]

Bought a ABM EVO II 500 used 7 years ago . Last week the lightbulb behind the vu meter stopped working.
What a piece of crap

 

[Al Florenzo]

I have the Spyder 330 hybrid amp. I love it, it's light it sounds fantastic and is loud enough for me with a 4 ohm 4x10. Hell, maybe a bit too loud, gotta turn it up real high to get dirty. Died during practice after about a year of use. Apparently one of the pre amp tubes had gone dark. Got it replaced and works great again. The guy who made the fix said there were some questionable construction methods used (well it IS a pretty cheap amp), but overall the quality seemed pretty good. I now have an EBS classic T90 (real tube amp, yay!) and will definitely be keeping the Ashdown as a backup.

 

[Marial]

I've only had two issues with mine: the transformer came loose, and the VU meter light went out. That's it. The transformer could have been a real nightmare as it could have squashed all of the internals (it's freaking huge), but it didn't. There's a local shop that does an LED conversion for the VU meter but I haven't bother to take it out of the head yet.

I will say the ABM 500 EVO II 210 combo is a bit awkward to move around. It's heavy and wide, but I picked up a Gruv Gear cart so unless I have to go up stairs it's no longer that big of a hassle to move it around.

I was playing through an Ampeg SVT 4 Pro/410 HLF set up for a few years but decided to pull the Ashdown out again. I had it retolexed and cleaned up and every time I play through it now I ask myself why I didn't do that sooner.

 

[Phlipper]

Reliability rumours work like this: One guy posts a minor technical problem with their amp, others run of waving thie arms in the air shouting OMG OMG I will NEVER EVER buy amp from evil Brand X again. EVER.

Joel - you just met 3 of those guys.

I'll have to disagree strongly. In the mid-2000s when I first started gigging on bass (coming from guitar) the Ashdown reliability stories were everywhere on here and elsewhere, and heard in person, as well. Just like with some of the Carvin series heads/combos at the time (some say still). If you can run a search on "brand X reliability" or "brand X problem" or whatever via Google or here on TB and get a page of hits in just the past six month, especially with similar issues across the threads, there is a problem. I don't care if your particular amp has run for a million years.

Some of the Carvin guys are the same way. I like Carvin's hi-fi clean tone. But there are more than a few stories here and on Carvin.com of (assumed) thermal shutdowns and reactions to dirty power rendering their BX line useless at times. Their CS is excellent and I'm glad they're assembled in the USA, but it is what it is.

It ain't personal. It's sharing info. You guys act like amp brands are a religion. Geez.

 

[MrLenny1]

Buy US made!

 

[Zooberwerx]

The score thus far: great amps, crappy lightbulbs. Fair trade-off IMO.

Riis

 

[crguti]

I have been using an ABM 500 that was made in 2000. I have kicked, thrown, and spilled beer on it and it's still going strong.