basskit_case Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I am interested in purchasing a Ashdown Little Bastard Amp Head and was wondering if those with experience of the unit felt the Limited Edition was worth the extra money over the mass produced version? Apologies if this has been raised elsewhere, searched through and couldnt find anything. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 According to the interview in BGM a while ago with Mark Gooday Ashdown decided to produce all valve amps in house, because of the exchange rate, and to give them more control over costs and quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 July 2010 BGM Mark Gooday 'All Ashdown valve amps are built from start to finishat the companys valve centre located just down the road from the companys head office.We can make valve amps here at the same price we can make them in China. ................... So when you really go down to it, with the shipping, the duty, and the way the exchange rate is fluctuating, not to mention having to unpack everything and retest everything, we made the decision not to send any of the valve amps offshore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskit_case Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 [quote name='bumnote' post='1094938' date='Jan 19 2011, 11:28 AM']July 2010 BGM Mark Gooday 'All Ashdown valve amps are built from start to finishat the companys valve centre located just down the road from the companys head office.We can make valve amps here at the same price we can make them in China. ................... So when you really go down to it, with the shipping, the duty, and the way the exchange rate is fluctuating, not to mention having to unpack everything and retest everything, we made the decision not to send any of the valve amps offshore.[/quote] Interesting, thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan670844 Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 [quote name='basskit_case' post='1094918' date='Jan 19 2011, 11:09 AM']I am interested in purchasing a Ashdown Little Bastard Amp Head and was wondering if those with experience of the unit felt the Limited Edition was worth the extra money over the mass produced version? Apologies if this has been raised elsewhere, searched through and couldnt find anything. Thanks[/quote] So what we are going to pay for i.e. the extra £100 quid for the ltd edition is a number, a bit of paper a signature, sorry two signatures. I guess If I bought I would be using it till it until it was worn out, I am no collector, er well I am.... well the Missues thinks so.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskit_case Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 Checked this out with Mark at Ashdown, he has confirmed that the LE is British built and the standard edition is built in China. Mark said: [i]"The British one is the LE... with a majority of UK parts, Chassis, Transformers, PCBS, box, etc and built here , tested here, packed and shipped. The others are CHINESE built. "[/i] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 [quote name='basskit_case' post='1095136' date='Jan 19 2011, 01:45 PM']Checked this out with Mark at Ashdown, he has confirmed that the LE is British built and the standard edition is built in China. Mark said: [i]"The British one is the LE... with a majority of UK parts, Chassis, Transformers, PCBS, box, etc and built here , tested here, packed and shipped. The others are CHINESE built. "[/i][/quote] Then I apologise, however my previous post was more or less a word for word copy from his interview with BGM I can only assume he was referring to the other items in the valve range Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan670844 Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 [quote name='basskit_case' post='1095136' date='Jan 19 2011, 01:45 PM']Checked this out with Mark at Ashdown, he has confirmed that the LE is British built and the standard edition is built in China. Mark said: [i]"The British one is the LE... with a majority of UK parts, Chassis, Transformers, PCBS, box, etc and built here , tested here, packed and shipped. The others are CHINESE built. "[/i][/quote] In that case they should have continued making the UK one as there was only a difference of £100 or so, it probably had Danbury transformers in it, they are much better that any import stuff, even there bog std stuff is brilliant. I have had enough of overseas made bass amps, I had had some bad times with a Chinese ABM. I will certainly never buy any bass amps that are chinese made after that, they are not that much cheaper than US, UK made stuff anymore, at least for the equivalent quality. The only opportunity they have is to use locally sourced components............... look at what has happened to Ampeg, they used to be good amps the US ones still are but not at the inflated price a hand made unit is cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatbass787 Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I think its great they're doing both. If like you someone wants to pay a premium for a UK made product they can, however an extra £100 means some people may not be able to afford one so they can buy a chinese one makes sense to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan670844 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 [quote name='phatbass787' post='1095294' date='Jan 19 2011, 03:55 PM']I think its great they're doing both. If like you someone wants to pay a premium for a UK made product they can, however an extra £100 means some people may not be able to afford one so they can buy a chinese one makes sense to me[/quote] Yes I understand that, but one thing the UK, Wales and England in particular is good at doing is building transformers, Safe to say that we are probably the best in the world. Everyone goes on about Hammond and Heyboer transformers in the States for guitar bass etc. But a cheap Danbury output transformer from Essex for example, very nearly matches a Hammond UL transformer (their expensive top) Danbury UL transformers are the muts and deliver full power from about 10hz all the way up to 10Khz with NF they are that good. I can imagine there is a big difference in performance of a UK LB and a Chinese because of this, I know what I would rather have..... the extra 100 squid will be worth it as it will sound better and probably last for life. Look at all the old Marshall, Orange, Selmer, Wem stuff kicking about, some of it is pushing 50! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskit_case Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Looks like the price of these has just gone through the roof, UK made version now £700, bog standard now £500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 [quote name='basskit_case' post='1098360' date='Jan 22 2011, 08:52 AM']Looks like the price of these has just gone through the roof, UK made version now £700, bog standard now £500. [/quote] What! That's hard to believe, there's nothing else to compare though Mine was the first out the factory door (apart from 2 prototypes I believe) it's been great from day one - 11 months on in daily use. I haven't seen or heard any Chinese built little bastards, do they exist? Cheerz, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voxpop Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 [quote name='basskit_case' post='1098360' date='Jan 22 2011, 08:52 AM']Looks like the price of these has just gone through the roof, UK made version now £700, bog standard now £500. [/quote] WOW ......I,ve just sold my UK built one for £300. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Gosh, last week Sounds Live were selling em for £320 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskit_case Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 [quote name='voxpop' post='1098407' date='Jan 22 2011, 10:00 AM']WOW ......I,ve just sold my UK built one for £300.[/quote] I know, that will teach me for talking too much and not just saying "Ill take it straight" away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I would pay a couple of hundred quid over and above to get an amp made with better quality components by people paid a living wage in a democratic country - that's asides from the environmental issues of having heavy, delicate shipped half way across the world. Most markets are flooded with Chinese made stuff and it's heartening to see a company like Ashdown bringing it back home. Good on 'em and I hope we see more of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskit_case Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 Managed to acquire the standard edition head and the LB112 cabinet for £530, seemingly still deals to be had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 [quote name='basskit_case' post='1100515' date='Jan 24 2011, 10:29 AM']Managed to acquire the standard edition head and the LB112 cabinet for £530, seemingly still deals to be had.[/quote] Good price be sure to let us know how you like it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 [quote name='basskit_case' post='1100515' date='Jan 24 2011, 10:29 AM']Managed to acquire the standard edition head and the LB112 cabinet for £530, seemingly still deals to be had.[/quote] Thats a great deal, would be interested to know how it copes in a live situation if you use it that way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bozzie Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 [quote name='bumnote' post='1100553' date='Jan 24 2011, 10:58 AM']Thats a great deal, would be interested to know how it copes in a live situation if you use it that way[/quote] That's good, The new ones being shipped out now have gone up about £150. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskit_case Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 [quote name='bozzie' post='1101219' date='Jan 24 2011, 07:14 PM']That's good, The new ones being shipped out now have gone up about £150.[/quote] For those interested, goto www.soundsliveshop.com. They have the head for £320 and the LB112 for £269. I also found a 10% off voucher code for all Ashdown products, bring the price down to £530. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskit_case Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 What can I say, received the head and cab tonight, both look great, but then the realisation hits me that having used combo's exclusively, I dont own speaker cable to connect head to cab. I dont want to risk using ordinary 1/4 jack instrument cable, is there a brand of speaker cable that you would recommend? What a fool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 (edited) If you can wait for mail order go to Bassic Bits If you are wanting to try it out as I would as soon as possible, go down to your local store and just buy a lead thats just long enough but not too long, with reasonable quality plugs on the end. PersonallyI am not a beleiver of the solid silver made with virgins blood cables, particulalrly on a speaker. You just need a decent quality plug on each end, and a reasonable size conductor in the cable. Edited January 25, 2011 by bumnote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskit_case Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 [quote name='bumnote' post='1102774' date='Jan 25 2011, 09:18 PM']If you can wait for mail order go to Bassic Bits If you are wanting to try it out as I would as soon as possible, go down to your local store and just buy a lead thats just long enough but not too long, with reasonable quality plugs on the end. PersonallyI am not a beleiver of the solid silver made with virgins blood cables, particulalrly on a speaker. You just need a decent quality plug on each end, and a reasonable size conductor in the cable.[/quote] Thanks for your help, went to the Bassic Bits ebay store and bought a cable from there. Will also have a look round the local shops, see if there is anything available to tide me over til OBBM's gets here. Still looking for the virgins blood cables Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 [quote name='basskit_case' post='1103153' date='Jan 26 2011, 08:12 AM']Thanks for your help, went to the Bassic Bits ebay store and bought a cable from there. Will also have a look round the local shops, see if there is anything available to tide me over til OBBM's gets here. Still looking for the virgins blood cables [/quote] [url="http://www.highendcable.co.uk/Nordost%20VALHALLA%20Power.htm"]http://www.highendcable.co.uk/Nordost%20VALHALLA%20Power.htm[/url] Virgins Blood Mains cable for the ashdown Only £2200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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