MattW

Looking good Mike!!

3 hours ago, Cosmicrain said:

Been busy with my CNC, programming and cutting Matt's black block inlays.  Note the small tabs to stop them flying across the workshop.  In all a good job.

More progress from Mike - neck pocket and pick up recesses hand carved using the template seen in the pics:

Mike is on to shaping the body now!!  Love the detail of adding the dark veneer between the body and the bookmatched top!

Some more build photos from Mike this weekend, all taking shape nicely!!

No sorry sold now, will change the title.

2 hours ago, Osiris said:

I've got one and like it a lot. I've not yet gigged it as I use a Stomp with either in ears or backline but I'd have no problem using on a gig and I can't see how it wouldn't cut it live. I don't do any home recording so I can't help you out there either! 

But having used it a lot at home I'm happy to share my thoughts on it. For the money you get a lot of useful and usable features especially when compared to some other bass pre-amp pedals. The EQ is simple but very effective and will dial in petty much any sound you're likely to need. The centre frequencies don't seem to be stated anywhere but they feel like they're in about the right place, the bass EQ control is a little low for my tastes but I play short scales exclusively these days so the inherent short scale tubbiness could be part of the issue here, although I only use it for cutting rather than boosting as that helps to add clarity with a shorty. The mid control has a wide sweep and goes from scooped slappiness to a nasal grunt. The treble control is pretty much where I want it for adding clarity without getting brittle and even rolled right back it still leaves the tone with a usable amount of definition. 

The compressor feels like it's an optical design although this isn't explicitly stated anywhere. I'm not really a fan of optical compressors but it works well although it's not always quick enough (there's no Attack control) to catch big spikes, this could be an issue if you slap but it works well enough with finger and plectrum styles. It also has a clean blend for dialling in some parallel compression.  The threshold control seems to have a limited usable range, essentially only really usable below around 9 o'clock with passive basses, I suspect a hot bass could be problematic. There's a single LED meter but you can feel the compression kicking in before the LED lights up so it's kind of redundant. It's not my favourite compressor but it does the job. 

The drive section is very good, IMO. It's more of a warm and rounded drive so if you're looking for a Tech 21/DarkGlass scooped clank look elsewhere. It seems to have an inherent mid boost (think Tube Screamer style drive) and a fixed clean blend, both of which work really well when playing along to backing tracks. At low gain it does a good 'hint of breaking up' sound and when pushed it gives a pleasing smooth distortion, neither fizzy or bloated. There's a toggle switch to change the position of the drive and compressor, I personally like to use to comp before the drive so that it can be kicked in for a gain boost. But using comp after drive gives a more controlled tone. 

The pedal itself is reassuringly heavy and feels well made and pretty much bomb proof with solid feeling footswitches. I'm not overly enamoured with the anaemic pi55y yellow finish, the white lettering will make it a nightmare to read on a dark stage but the blue LED's in each control will help you see where things are set in the dark, but due the pedals colour scheme you'll need to memorise which control does what if you want to change things on the fly on a gig. 

In summary, I think the colour scheme is a questionable design choice,  black lettering would have made more sense than white, IMO. But blue LED's are cool, they just are. The compressor is good but not great and the pedal itself feels solid and has excellent EQ and drive sections. 

Brilliant, thanks for such a comprehensive review!    Sounds like it would be ideal for what I have in mind based on that 👍

Anyone had any experience of these?  YouTube reviews seem largely favourable, but wondered if anyone has used one in a gigging or recording situation?

Seems like a lot of pedal for not a whole lot of money.

Cheers!

Now on eBay with a £35 starting bid 😬

Has gone up on eBay now but if anyone on here is interested I'd drop the price to £350.

Now includes postage.

About a year old.  Mainly had home use and a handful of rehearsals.   Really good condition with only the slightest of superficial marks.  Reason for sale is that I have decided to upgrade to a POD Go as I have starting to get into DAW's during lockdown and want something with amp modelling.

M-Audio expression pedal which is basic but works well and has probably only seen an hour's use tops.

Complete with box, Original PSU and packaging.  Both have velcro fitted from being safely kept in my Diago pedalboard when not in use.  Has the latest updates done and will be restored to factory defaults before sale.

Collection from Chelmsford, Essex. Price now includes postage to mainland UK.

This is a really great stack that covers a lot of ground for not much money.  Has the Profet 3.3 head which is rated at 300w.  This is a really decent unit and a great improvement on the 3.2 as Warwick sorted out the input gain settings.  Does everything you could want - inbuilt compressor, decent EQ with bright, deep and contour so is easy to get a sound you want, a plus DI, effects loop and tuner out .  Also has headphones out for home use too!

Just been professionally serviced as I took it in exchange and the mute switch was temperamental.  Was just a couple of dry solders on the relay which have all been sorted and then it had all the pots, IDC's etc all cleaned and checked and all is all running perfectly now.

Comes with a WCA 410 Pro (300w) and WCA 211 Pro (400w) cabs which are in really good clean order with hardly any signs of use.

Provides a really good modular stack.  You could just take the 210 or 410 to a smaller rehearsals/gigs, or ramp it up to the full 610 for bigger venues.  Cabs are fairly lightweight and a good size but seems really solidly put together.  Also with just the 210 or using the headphones it is good for home use too, so really covers everything you could need.

Would be quite happy to play this myself and would be very pleased if I turned up at a show and it was the backline,  it's really impressed me, but I have a full line up of Ashdowns and really don't need it!!

Comes with all the leads and manuals.  Collection from Chelmsford, Essex

Mike has made a start on my neck so thought I'd share some photos! Looking great @Cosmicrain

Sold

Just to add that I would consider trades for effects pedals...

On 05/06/2020 at 11:26, pbasspecial said:

I was under the impression that the ABM500s are actually 575watts, so there's only a 25 watt difference. I have a lovely original ABM500 in chrome which I picked up for about £170. There is a lovely ABM600 in chrome for sale for £450 (with foot switch).  As much as I would love to upgrade, I am struggling to justify spending nearly £300 extra for essentially the same amp?

Would genuinely love to know the differences as well. 

Yes that's correct - the 500's are 575w.  I had an ABM300 Evo ii combo once that was crazy loud, and when I spoke to Dave Green about it he said they were always badged as being less than they really were - under promise and over deliver was the ethos.  Pretty sure thats true of the old UK made Trace amps too.  I think he said the early Evo 300's were actually 400w.  It was awesome anyway and regreted selling instantly when I changed to a Class D amp which I can only have gigged 10 times before going back straight back to an ABM.

On that note it was my EVO IV for sale.  I have a CTM 300 now and I should really move it on.  However after a lot of interest I just couldn't bring myself to sell so I have withdrawn it.  Having had an EVO II I have to agree the EVO IV is a massive step up.   It's what everyone says, more punch, the EQ is better, Drive gets grittier etc.   I like the Compressor and despite a lot of folk not liking the Sub feature, used sparingly on a low setting I think it can be quite nice when switched in/out for backing guitar solos. 

I'm going to keep if as a spare or for when it's too tight on space or risky to take the CTM out - thats how I've justified it to the Mrs anyway 😄

Hi All,

I bought this to fit into an Ashdown Mag 300 combo I use for rehearsals to replace the stock 8ohm speaker and get a bit more punch.

However unfortunately although the bolt pattern is the same it's just a mm or two too big for the cab and I don't want to start cutting it about, so am moving it on.  

These speakers have a great reputation plus you can easily recone them.

£75 collected from Chelmsford or I could post in the UK for £5 

Thanks for looking!

13 minutes ago, BruceBass3901 said:

Glad you got it sorted.

Enjoy a truly stonking head! Give the switches along the top a good workout to try and see how versatile this amp can be. Each has quite an effect on the way the knobs react as well, so there is plenty to experiment with. The only constant on mine is the Shift switch stays engaged because it just hits so good!

I started having a good play this afternoon before being told the house was shaking too much 😆

However you are absolutely right, there is a serious range of tones in there, it's certainly not a one trick pony!  I feel like I've only had a taste of what's to come!

Well it's back and sounding amazing!!  So glad I didn't just send it back to PMT, Ashdown were brilliant and had it back to me and all sorted in 3 working days.  It seems it had taken a serious knock, one of the tubed had imploded, everything had shifted and 2 internal fuses has blown.  The packing was completely intact so hard to say of that happened in-store or in transit.  Pretty impressed it made any sound at all when it arrived!

Now it's working at full strength I am super pleased with it, and paired with my Stringray it makes the sound that was in my head but I never quite managed to translate into the real world.  Can't wait to gig it now 😭

Following everyone's advice I have decided to add a second ABM 210 Evo IV cab, it seems thats best compromise of sound/weight/portability/cost - it helps they Thomann have them of special at the moment too!

Thanks everyone for the help!

Withdrawn - have decided to keep the head for now!

Sold

38 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

There’s one of these at my local rehearsal room - the guy won’t sell it me. 
 

if I could have two of these with an old trace head...I’d have a massive heavy rig I’d rarely use Hahahaha!

But you don't have to play it many times to justify £85 😉

1997 UK made Trace Elliot 1048T cabinet.  Well used with some carpet damage and dings but sounds awesome and in is perfect working order.  Comes with original cable and warranty document.

I bought this as a package with a head that I wanted but the cab is surplus to requirements.

Collection from Essex, or may deliver locally for diesel money.

Built like a tank, but sounds incredible.  Perfect for someone needing a cheap but reliable and great sounding 410.

8 hours ago, E sharp said:

I've got some gear on the cusp of selling , and was looking to hit the button on one of these from PMT ; but this has put me right off really . Not very good from them - how would I know that they'd not send me another knocked about one?

The only thing I can suggest is that you can reserve online to collect in your nearest store, so you can see/test it before taking it away and not risk it being couriered.  I should have done that and just waited until after lockdown to get my hands on it.

However thankfully for me Ashdown are very local and I have always had excellent service from them, so looks like I will have it up and running very soon.  It is gutting though when the amp of your dreams arrives in a poor state, and can't say I'd recommend getting one mail order now.