BassAdder60

It really is straight forward but if Ashdown do it then you know they will check it over too

Yes that’s true .. A marvellous thing yet so fragile

In amps where the humble 12AX7 or ECC83 is the pre amp tube or tubes they tend to last years in comparison to power stage tubes. Just maybe they are working this tube hard to get the grind and drive tone ?

They really are a lovely little amp. Simple to get a good sound and the Opto Compressor adds a bit of boost and slight grind if pushed

I have the excellent Orange LBT head as my spare amp head which was new last July I noticed the compressor control was a bit crackly when turning ( was like it from new ) so reported it to Orange who said to return it to PMT PMT then said it would go back for repair ( to be honest I was hoping they would swop it over ) so I thought instead of the hassle and possible risk of shipping it and waiting a while I took it upon myself to investigate. Opened the top and sprayed contact cleaner into the pot and turned several times. Put it back together and issue now gone, result. Took 30mins to sort and it’s now even better than new. Still think they are often overlooked in favour of the Terror series but the LBT has a tube feel to it and it’s a loud amp. Had considered selling it last year but for now it’s definitely a keeper albeit as a standby to my Ashdown Update : Decided to send it back to PMT and they replaced it with a new unit 👍

Recently my two month old Ashdown ABM600 started to make a slight humming noise when engaging the drive circuit / tube When new it was very quiet and did its job, I started to notice the hum and gave Dave Green a quick message ( thx Dave ) and he said swop the tube and report back. Did this and it’s back to its original great sound without the annoying hum. My question is how many ABM users have had to drop out the tube ( mine had a Ruby in it ) as I’m somewhat surprised it would need changing only after a few months of regular use. As a drive tube I guess it’s going a fair bit of work perhaps ? I popped in a JJ ECC83 S and I will see how long it lasts It’s an easy job but annoying having to carefully remove the four plastic screw covers and pull out the amp from its wooden case. Hopefully a one off ?

A lot of negative comments about service To me that smacks of a business struggling with either stock and funds or staff. Hopefully they will improve if not they may not survive

When I was looking at their gig bags for amp heads and asked about internal depth I thought they would at least measure one. Nope they replied should be ok if not return it !! Thankfully it was ok but what a faff if it didn’t fit. Customer Service makes a difference you know !!

Yes twice the weight !! More awkward getting through door ways and carrying too far but … The sound and clarity and punch is amazing with the ABM600 head

So today saw my remaining Ashdown cab depart and I’m now sporting just the Ampeg cab SVT212AV which is an amazing single cab. The Ashdown cabs were very nice but for me and my band the SVT212AV does it better and louder !

But that was my point .. I don’t need synth sounds for the music I play. As I said for some I can see the advantages of a multi fx on bass but kind of wasted on many bassists I think

Nice but …, put it in a loud live band with loud over driven guitars and you will no longer hear much of a difference to a normal bass sound ( generalising I know ) For the money I would buy an extra amp ! For certain genres with keyboards etc it would work nicely I’m sure

That’s true but the whole thing still twists on a strap hence why I’ve stopped using them. The grub screw only stops the knurled top from unscrewing ( good ) but even using a lever through the two holes to really tighten on to the strap they still moved on the strap itself by a fair bit

Yep I’m using the black Fender ones on my PBass and BC orange ones on my spare bass Simple but effective and a lot less hassle

After trying these new versions of the Schaller S I’ve today removed them from both my basses and gone back to basic “leave strap on” using BassChat rubber strap locks Last band rehearsal the part fixed to my leather strap starting tuning even though I had tightened them up very tight. Im done with them and will stick with the more basic but trustworthy method. Although the older Schaller had issues I think this new variant is terrible

I’ve even had high end Gibson and PRS guitars go back due to poor QC or knocked about in the store I half expect a bass to arrive damaged or marked or bad build quality, the price for mass production and lack of quality checks etc even at the shops as they don’t seem too concerned!

That’s not been my experience at all so I guess it’s pot luck if you get a good one or a duff one that shouldn’t of passed QA Tuners on mine (2021 model ) are superb and stable and the only upgrade I’ve made is adding a Fender HiMass Bridge

I think also I get nervous buying ( online ) a bass circa £500 or less as I expect the quality to be iffy something you would notice if sat in a shop. Many basses in the stores are marked or being hanging up for yonks and have dead strings. When my new Player Series PBass arrived it appeared to be as new as you could hope for and it’s a lovely bass in every way. So far last year I had a Sterling Stingray bass new arrived with marked neck ( returned) and a G & L Tribute L2000 with faulty preamp controls ( returned ) etc etc It saddens me new doesn’t arrive as new anymore and store stock is in many cases near to “ B” stock at best

This is interesting as I was at PMT Norwich before Christmas to try out a cab Their store stock of basses was woeful and they asked what I played to which I said Fender Player Series PBass. The nearest they had was a Squire PBass and it sounded horrible as if a blanket was over the speaker ! I thought it was the cab at first. Told them and they gave me a Player Series Jazz to try and the clarity from the pickups was better like my own bass. Sadly I concluded I wouldn’t risk buying a squire if that’s how they can sound !! Sadly I didn’t take note of exact model so might of been an Affinity ?

Quite like that idea although no stock of the LB-100 showing anywhere I believe

Some more meat to the original post Don’t need extra cabs as I’m happy I have a spare Yamaha bass ( cheapie ) so Bass would need to be close in spec to my Pbass No to multi fx as been there and don’t like them much

Ok folks I have a spare £500 approx burning a hole in my pocket after Christmas and I keep wondering what to buy 1: Bass guitar as second guitar to my Pbass 2: Spare amp head but I have two already 3: Better than my g30 wireless system 4: Other ? I’ve looked at Sterling Sub Ray4 and G & L Tribute 2000 and Player series Jazz and of course a couple of Ampeg heads to use with my SVT212AV I don’t want to not use my Ashdown abm600 so an extra head would be a spare so possibly wasted purchase. I really like my PBass Fender Player and it all works well in my rock covers band

I just find that running a bit of compression before the amp stops those low E peaks into the red The finished result is you actually get a louder volume from the head without so much pushed input. All the notes have a more uniform level and it seems to benefit the ABM600 head in relation to the VU input signal not being hard over in the red too often !