hamfist

Update ..... ..... THe Ashdown ABM500 EVO III arrived yesterday and, despite one little niggle, is instantly providing me with much more the sound I am looking for. I'm sure it's simply down to the EQ centres on the mid adjustment, of which the ABM is particularly flexible too. The key frequency I seem to like boosted is about 600-650Hz, of which there is a nice big dial on the ABM for. The LMIII lower mids is 360Hz, and the upper mids is 800Hz, which just doesn't get me what I'm looking for, however I twiddle them. I was also able to rehearse the ABM with the band last night and, with myEBS multidrive on all night, I had a big smile on my face (literally !!! .... I looked like a bit of a mug to be honest). The drummer and guitarist both commented on how awesome the tone was. Volume was fine, although I can tell that in real terms this amp doesn't put out quite the volume of the LMIII. It's close though, so no biggie for me. The little niggle I mentioned earlier was a sort of quiet ground-type hum/buzz that there is over every note I play on the ABM. The LMIII simply does not have this as it is so clean with so little background, or unwanted, noise. A quality bit of kit. A real pleasure in fact. And Sooooo much lighter than the ABM. Such a pity it can't quite get me where I want to go. Anyway, in real terms though, as soon as I start playing properly I simply don't notice the hum/buzz on the ABM as it is really quite quiet. Just a bit annoying for a bedroom geek, but fine in a band, in the real world. So ultimately the ABM is a keeper for me. I will be experimenting a bit further with pedals/compressors etc for OD sounds but ultimately this amp does what I want an amp to do and has the EQ flexibility that I am looking for. Can't wait to put it through my "big cab rig" (2 x TC Electronic BC210's) at the gig on saturday. So anyone looking for an almost new, mint, LMIII ... keep an eye out on the for sale forum !

Great thoughts. THanks guys. Hadn't thought of the AMpeg SVT 7 pro before. Judging by the available vids and the manual it seems to be clean also though ? Really ????. ON a separate moan ..... it so pisses me off when people put out lengthy video reviews of amps and completely ignore the different gain variations available. Just because the reviewer doesn't like OD they assume no-one else is interested. GGrrrrrr. SO is the AMpeg "gain" just input volume control to avoid nasty clipping (like in a LMIII) or can you use it to overdrive the 12AX7 somewhere in there ? I was expecting the latter TBH, Also, if an RH450 comes up at the right time and right price I would definately give it a shot. Can't remember which video it was, but one of the RH450 youtube efforts seriously impressed me, which is not easy, as I'm a picky bu**er.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1329850760' post='1548559'] Then again, I like the ABM heads (and the Spyder) too, so you might be good to go with that. [/quote] Hmm interesting. [quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1329850760' post='1548559'] Oddly, this'll be the second time today I've typed this, but I used to have a LMIII, and ended up putting a Sansamp/BDI21 in front of it to get an Ampeggy/drive tone, and then I bought a TC Classic (and then a RH450, for the bells and whistles, which are great - there's nothing out there which will do all the RH450 will do in one box) and sold the LMIII and the pedals straight away. The RH450 has frequency controls for the Bass, Low Mid, etc, so there's lots to play with, but, as is being discussed currently, it's a low-mid voiced amp with a definite character that doesn't suit everybody (but then what does?). Having said that, it sounds like it might suit you. The BH500 apparently has the same tone circuits, but is a lot bigger, I've never tried one. Then again, I like the ABM heads (and the Spyder) too, so you might be good to go with that. [/quote] Hmmm. Interesting. The RH450 has definately been on my radar. Just not sure that I'd like the rather compressed tones that the RH series seem to produce (according to popular www gossip). WOuld like to try one if possible though. Oh, I forgot to mention, that I tried an Ashdown Spyder 550, and was thoroughly unimpressed at it's EQ inflexibility. The ABM's, on paper, have a LOT more flexibility.

As a "recent returner" to bass I wasn't really aware of what was on the market but, after a little research, I ended up buying a new LMIII a short while ago to enable to get into gigging on bass again. It seemed well thought of and well made. Anyway, I'm really not sure that I have bought the right amp for me. I now play in a wedding covers band, but am looking for a fairly "rocky", slightly overdriven, mid-heavy tone for most of it. I would find it difficult naming artists whose tone I would like to emulate , but something very similar to this .... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ed8NBPmits[/media] , as the band (and my personal tastes) tend to sway towards a pretty punchy, aggressive sound, definately with some OD in it. I'm pretty sure that the J bass I have is the right bass. I have been through a few OD's in the last few weeks (as I didn't realise just how clean the LMIII is). An ODB-3 (gone), a Hartke Bass Attack (gone), and an EBS Multidrive and DHA VT1 EQ. Both of which I am impressed with. Been through a few cabs too. Ended up with two Tc electronics BC210's, which seem to have a very good "bang for buck" ratio. I like them a lot. So, anyway, it's the amp that I really think has been a poor choice for me. I want more control (and boost) in the mids than this amp gives me. I just think the Markbass low and high mid frequencies (360 and 800 Hz) for their control knobs are not to my tastes. I suspect its also in the 500-600 Hz range that I want some control. Also the sheer clean-ness of the amp is not good for me. I have an Ashdown ABM500 coming in the post tomorrow, which I will give a good audition to. But what else could you good BC'ers suggest ? We're talking amps, pedals and maybe even cabs and basses. I want punchy attack, very flexible mids control and a nice understated background overdrive going on. BC ... please help me.

Agreed. The DI out is very nice. Clean, no noise and a great representation of the tone the pedal is putting out through it's jack output to the amp. With decent foldback and a sound engineer who knows what they are doing, I'd have no hesitation at using this as an ampless rig in a live situation.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1329743362' post='1546555'] Thanks guys. Most of the time I want a nice clean sound but it would be nice to have the option of some grit now and again though. However it looks like the VT1 isn't really clean enough for me. I think what I need is a Twin-DI-EQ---I want the headphone amp and line in features too y'see... [/quote] Just FYI, the VT1 EQ also has the headphone amp and line in features.

[quote name='DHA' timestamp='1329730020' post='1546336'] its not intended to be a hifi clean, more to add valve warmth from "valve clean" to crunch tones. I do non valve, clean pre-amps as well which have the same EQ and Di sections. Dave [/quote] Dave ... stop wasting all this time posting on forums !!! and get on with making my VT2 !!!!!! (only joking, of course, it's great that you are an active member here)

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1329695393' post='1546193'] Well, I was basically wondering how it worked as a "clean" preamp. I don't tend to use distorted sounds very much you see. I'm beginning to think this isn't the pedal for me after all, if thats as clean as it gets...hmm. [/quote] Ah, OK. So to be used into a power amp or straight into a computer for example ? I could certainly do a clip DI-ing it straight into my computer to mimic that sort of use. It does have a range of clean tones. As you cn see from my vid, with my (relatively low output) J bass, with the input level knob set at 3 o'clock, it still isn't really breaking up significantly until the gain knob is getting up to about 2 o'clock. So the whole gain dial up to 2 o'clock will be pretty clean, just with differing levels of compression and subtle increasing harmonics (I guess)

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1329677150' post='1545756'] Sounds good. I'd quite like to hear what it sounds like with less gain though! Any chance of some low gain clips? [/quote] Hey Unc ! The vid took me a couple of hours to put together. Not sure when I can get myself together again to do another. What exactly are you looking for ? The gain at 0:22 is about as low as it gets without sounding exactly the same as the amp with the pedal off. Are you looking for examples of more EQ-type changes at that level of gain ? I could put together an audio clip much quicker than a video if you can guide me as to what you are looking for,

I am really impressed with this new pedal (bought from this forum). Still working out how to get the very best from it but here's a, decent sound quality, demo for you all. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYpdDY3dMxo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYpdDY3dMxo[/url]

Bought a DHA VT1 EQ pedal from Paul. Great communications, sent swiftly and the pedal was exactly as described. Top bloke to deal with ! Very pleased. Thanks very much Paul.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1329074145' post='1536848'] Well I run everything on the amp at midday - apart from volume as that would kill my ears, it`s a very loud amp - so I don`t really use the OD much, though I have tinkered with it, to get the sound at the start of the VR track. That`s with the gain at about 3 o`clock. But it does get quite dirty on full - a nice Lemmy-type sound. [/quote] I'm guessing your MXR M-80's OD/distortion tones are more to your tastes then ?

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1328997770' post='1535965'] For an idea of what the MB500 sounds like, seek out this from Duff McKagan. Not exact, but very similar, bearing in mind this is studio production: [media]http://youtu.be/KLvZUKBS1HA[/media] [/quote] Appreciate that Lozz. However, apart from that short high bit at the start, I'm awful at picking out what the amp might sound like from the heavily produced sound of the whole band in that video. What is your own experience of the amp's OD sounds (as I see from your sig that you own an MB500) ?

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1328982733' post='1535695'] The Reidmar doesn't have a drive channel. To get overdrive you will have to use a pedal. [/quote] Quoting the EBS website ..... .... "The EBS Reidmar provide a powerful and defined sound at all levels and when pushed to the limit it provides a natural and useful amp distortion, like a nice Drive" There is also a youtube clip of the Reidmar in overdrive [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlOqnnv-zzw[/media] (at 4:26in the video). However, unfortunately, it was whilst slapping.

Nowhere near me stocks these amps, and there seems to be nothing online that I can find to give me much of a clue for rock-type overdrive tones from either of these amps. All the youtube offerings are either clean, or all slap or whatever, but no simple rock OD tones at all. Can anyone either guide me to online examples of OD tones from either of these amps, or try to explain what OD tones they are capable of. If it helps at all, I have an EBS multidrive, whcih I'm guessing might offer similar drive tones to the Reidmar.

Just bought EBS multidrive from Simon. pedal was in immaculate condition, packed appropriately and sent very promptly. Great comms all the way. Thanks very much Simon !!

It's the ODB-3 that cuts mids to my ears.

Just sold a bass to Pat. He paid extremely promptly, and had good comms througout. Very easy transaction and dealings. Thanks very much !

Ivan sold me a Hartke Bass Attack pedal. It was despatched promptly and really well packed. Great communications too. ! thanks very much !