Anybody know Ashdown's stuff? (specially bass players)

continuous · Post by **continuous** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:16 am

Well I'm pretty close to buying a new bass head and I'm thinking MAG 300H from Ashdown as I am pretty broke but need to move forward.

Anyone got goodz or badz here?

p.s. DK I looked into the setup you recommended and it sounds awesome but is just out of range right now.

cheers

BDS · Post by **BDS** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:21 am

continuous -

I don't own any of their equipment personally, but I've played on it several times - I have to say that I've always been impresssed by the sound & the price.

this might date my experience with the amps, but I spent a majority of time using a 4 10" combo unit that absolutely spanked.

I'd say get one & get one quick - unless you can find an ACOUSTIC for the same price.
Then buy the ACOUSTIC.

continuous · Post by **continuous** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 6:03 am

nah the 410 sounds sweet...
Yeah... I'm hearing mostly positives regarding the Ashdown stuff but you know its always good to ask around.

can always rely on the knowledge and experience of the members of this forum!

Do you understand the relationship of head to cabinets in regards to ohms?
EDIT: Nevermind... just googled it and found a nice explanation... at http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_amps/how ... inets.html

cheers

mercyplease · Post by **mercyplease** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:01 am

continuous wrote:Well I'm pretty close to buying a new bass head and I'm thinking MAG 300H from Ashdown as I am pretty broke but need to move forward.

Anyone got goodz or badz here?

p.s. DK I looked into the setup you recommended and it sounds awesome but is just out of range right now.

cheers

I can tell you exactly whats used on the recordings dont know about live
early 80s Fender Jazz through an empirical labs distressor with some tasty eq and sometimes detuned

mercyplease · Post by **mercyplease** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:02 am

wrong guy I thought your post said Ashcroft

continuous · Post by **continuous** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:13 am

well I've got a jazz bass, but not an early 80's model... very recent but I like it quite a bit. The distressor sounds sorta familiar. I'm gonna go google it!

Thanks

Damn, now I'm confused again...so hard to make good decisions... gonna check out the ACOUSTIC stuff too AND reconsider DK's recommendation of the Stewart power amp. I'm a little confused what the difference would be between a power amp and a bass head... any thoughts there? I have a 15 inch cab that I want to use as part of this setup.

cheers

continuous · Post by **continuous** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:16 am

mercyplease wrote:wrong guy I thought your post said Ashcroft

I most definitely did not and never ever will! Ever!

mercyplease · Post by **mercyplease** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:17 am

its a killer combo but it has to be the ones made in japan not the mexican ones
distressor is shit hot but pricey for some
in my opinion worth every penny and for those that can get over to the states from the uk they are a total bargain right now due to the strength of the pound. Works out about 500 quid and thats an amzing comp for that money nothing can come close to it. can be used on anything except stereo buss, especially amazing on room over head mics

continuous · Post by **continuous** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:21 am

mercyplease wrote:its a killer combo but it has to be the ones made in japan not the mexican ones

you mean the jazz basses or the distressor?

thanks for the tips man, it's much appreciated!

cheers

EDIT: ok ya the distressor is way out of my range(for now at least)!

ohiowa · Post by **ohiowa** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:31 am

just so you know the distressor is a COMPRESSOR with mighty powers and capabilities but it is not an amplifier, you will spend $1400 and have a great piece of outboard equipment but it will not properly amplify your bass. if this is understood i apologize, i just want you to be clear on this.

if you get a stewart power amp you'll need a preamp, this could be a bit complex and unnecessary, but there are many bassists out there that swear by a more modular set up (seperate pre-amp which give you your tone and the power amp which makes it louder and also augments your tone).

The ashdown stuff i've played through has been the EVO II 500 head on various cabinets and i really like it. it's solid and i have friends that swear by them, very versatile heads. the mag series seems more stripped down with less bells and tubes, but i do hear good cost vs. sound stories although i've never played one. not to add to the pile of suggestions, but...

depending on your needs, if it's just for recording, i'd say look for an old 70's era AIMS, Sunn, or Ampeg tube amp as you can get 50-60watt heads for a few hundred bucks and they record very well. i use a '68 ampeg B-15n combo and Sunn 200s for recording and they're amazing. but if it's a live thing that you want you'll more than likely need more power than that in which case i'd suggest looking for a used Eden wt300 as they sound great (i have one) and are the least pricey of the eden line. they are identical to the wt400 and wt550 with the number being the difference in wattage, and the 550 is the only one that is still in production.

hope this helps and doesn't add to any confusion. ashdown is prettty good stuff, i hear about quality issues with some of the mag heads but it could have been a bad batch a few years ago that everyone is still bitching about.

Sartori · Post by **Sartori** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:14 am

Ashdown make good gear, the Mag is decent for its price. Not earth-shatteringly great like some of the higher-end gear they make (especially my own favourite, the Ashdown Labs heads with tasty-good eq on them)

Cheap and decent bass head/speaker combinations are fairly easy to find. I've had good experiences with Behringer and Hartke, and some Peavey and Carlsbro gear is also usable. At the moment I'm playing an old valve Laney half-stack which sounds grand...

My biggest recommendation would be to steer clear of Marshall gear - I had nothing but bad luck with them in studios for many years. Apparently their high-end bass stuff is nice, but the lower end of the Valvestates was all crappy for me!

jesso · Post by **jesso** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:28 am

Dude,
Check out the markbass stuff. I dont own any yet, but after comparing it to my ampeg valve amp, im mightily impressed.
Theyre itallian, and they are really small and light, but dont sacrifice anything to sound or volume. Plus itll fit into my laptop/courier bag (with my laptop!)

Try www.thomann.de.

BDS · Post by **BDS** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:29 pm

continuous -

sorry - think we might've had a bit of a comminucation breakdown: that 410 is teh awsome = spanked. really good sounding gear. that model I used briefly had a warming tube circuit (similar to my SWR) I think. And even if it didn't, it still sounded great.

typical usage for me: SWR redhead w/ workingman's 410 & an ampeg B25 w/ the 2 15" cabinet & occasionally a 2 12" cab for giggles.

my neighbors hate me or they're jealous.

in terms of portability, the ashdown stuff always seemed to be great; they don't have that "deep cabinet" thing that my SWR cabinet has & ashdown sounds really good, too.

Unofficial ACC - ACOUSTIC Control Corp. If I could own just one bass amp, it'd be one of these.

later

tjwett · Post by **tjwett** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:32 pm

bass player here. not a big fan of the ashdown stuff. not that it's not quality gear, it's just a tone thing for me. they do have a pretty distinct sound, kind of big and hollow and dry. i'm more of an Eden guy personally. i do know a few ashdown users who swear by the stuff though. try bgra.net and harmony-central for some reviews.

continuous · Post by **continuous** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 3:43 pm

Thanks so much for all the suggestions... excuse me if my responses are all mixed together.

I've been looking at the MarkBass stuff, it looks great but I don't know anyone that has any experience with it. (great site by the way.... I love the presentation and organization of info on that site).

The Acoustic Control stuff looks way way cool - probably out of my price range though.

Ya BGRA I've been checking it out... mostly in my research on the Stewart power amp setup.

The Eden stuff always seems pricey for the level of playing I'm at.
I'm kinda hoping to be able to do this on my Music123 card as I just paid off my Motu Traveler and it's clear now. So it would have to be new.

The head I currently own is a Fender B100... which I bought for $100 and have never liked. I'm still pretty green in terms of experience so the range I'd want to spend would be 300-800.

I've also looked at the GK 800 RB (bi-amping is attractive) and Ampeg B2RE. If I keep the price fairly low then I can probably get a 210 or 410 cab sooner, to go along with the 15 inch cab I currently own. Oh yeah... I'm playing a Fender Jazz Aerodyne through this.

cheers all

Thanks for helping a noob and also thanks for indulging my OT thread...

Anybody know Ashdown's stuff? (specially bass players)

Anybody know Ashdown's stuff? (specially bass players)

Re: Anybody know Ashdown's stuff? (specially bass players)