DaBu Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Hi all Some money saving advice needed!! I play through an Ashdown Little Bastard. I love the sound. However it's not quite loud enough for the band i'm in, or more specifically it can't compete against two mesa's and a drummer without becoming too gainy! I changed the preamp valves and it still doesn't cut it. My question then is can i use the ashdown for the tone/sound through another power amp? If so how could i do this? i.e would it be using the DI output? If so any recommendations on a power amp also? I'm a one amp guy usually, so keen to learn how to expand or get the best out of my sound! Cheers guys i don't want to shelve the ashdown and i can't justify another louder valve amp, although an Orange AD 200 would be just the ticket! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 What cabs are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBu Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 (edited) [quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1202358' date='Apr 17 2011, 08:15 AM']What cabs are you using?[/quote] Hi Pete I need to sort this for when we start gigging, which is soon and is dependent on whether i can do this. I'm using a 4ohm 4x10 at a the practice room and 4ohm 2x10 at home. If i can do this i'll be buying either a 4x10 or 2x12 with one eye on the ohmage. I suppose the other thing to think about is whether this is an expensive route overall. cheers Edited April 17, 2011 by DaBu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 I think your biggest issue is going to be the single 2x10 as I would imagine even if I put my 600Watt head into it you wont get much more volume out of it than your 30Watt head before it starts to fart. The other issue is unless you get a power amp that can handle a 2 ohm load you cant add any more cabs either. Whats it like with the 4x10 compared to the 2x10 at gig volume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBu Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 It's definately loud and louder. I can drop the bass and treble volume on my bass and turn the amp upto full and have very little gain coming through. However, this also drops the volume. I thnk generally for what we do it's just not loud enough. I play in a punk/rock covers band and have to compete against a 4x12 and mesa head and a 2x12 mesa combo and i'm struggling to be heard. Even if i can get the 6 stringers to turn down a little it just appears to struggle! I also changed to two more 82's to lose all the gain and it lost quite a bit of volume too. Cheers again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clauster Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 As the LB is an all valve head it shouldn't be run without a load attached. You could run the 2X10 from the speaker output of the LB (4ohm) and then take the DI out into one input on a power amp and drive the 4X10 from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 [quote name='clauster' post='1202425' date='Apr 17 2011, 10:33 AM']As the LB is an all valve head it shouldn't be run without a load attached. You could run the 2X10 from the speaker output of the LB (4ohm) and then take the DI out into one input on a power amp and drive the 4X10 from that.[/quote] I guess the OP will lose most of that all valve tone once he does that though? If the 4x10 off the slave amp becomes the main cab heard its a lot of faffing around and extra gear compared to one suitable amp. Setting up rigs with lots a variables at gigs with quick turnarounds between acts is a nightmare too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Have you tried running 2 8 ohm 4x10s off it? Pinch one from another room at rehersal for example just to try it for 15 mins to see if it works, If it does then you need to be looking for 2 4x10's @ 8 ohms each for yourself but with the storage and transportantion of that much gear even if Ashdown created you the perfect 200Watt version LB just for you would that be what you want? You can see why so many of us are are going for class D amps and NEO cabs of 2x12 or 2 2x10's and the develpoment from the bigand small companys is focussed on getting the tone you describe from these little practicle heads. Check out clips for a Genz-Benz Streamliner head on you tube to see exactly what I mean but be prepared to want one! In fact here you are [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-27szg61bw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-27szg61bw[/url] Im not a valve drive guy really so I prefer the Shuttle with just one valve for a bit of grind but I get why others do and why they have made this head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBu Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Hi Peter and Clauster Thanks for the heads up. I checked out those Genz Benz and they sound fine, particulary the shuttle. There's certainly something about them and their crisp, punchy tone! I guess i'm a valve man though. It's sounding like that for the LB to compete i got to get a lot of speaker. If i want to stay valve i need a bigger amp. I'll chack out playing through a couple of cabs to see if that makes a difference though. Cheers again chaps and back to drawing board! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 No worries mate keep us updated, Two 4x10's could be interesting with the LB head unless it struggles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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