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My New Ashdown ABM-500 RC EVO II blew up!!!


bj_rocke
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Just bought a brand new Ashdown ABM-500 RC EVO II and i used it today in practise for the first time. It was fine for about 15mins, then there was a really strong burning smell and the amp just shut down and won't turn on again!!!!

Very weird! does anyone know why this might of happened? I wasn't driving the amp that hard.... the input was at about 9 o'clock and the VU meter was no where near the red, and the output volume was at 12 o'clock......

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[quote name='paul, the' post='19408' date='Jun 18 2007, 12:13 AM']If I ever purchase Ashdown equipment; it'll be s/h, tried and tested on ebay or Basschat.[/quote]If I ever purchase Ashdown gear, it'll be a very cold day in a very hot place. Tried a rig with ABM head and 4x8 + 1x15 cabs the other night, and the sound reminded me why I dislike Ashdown stuff so much. Bleucchh. Still, horses for courses innit? :)
I have to agree with Waldo though, 15 minutes has gotta be some sort of record... I think we need a thread along the lines of "What's the shortest you've had a piece of gear before it failed/blew up/broke?"..!

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[quote name='bj_rocke' post='19359' date='Jun 17 2007, 10:47 PM']Very weird! does anyone know why this might of happened?[/quote]

I bet you half a mars bar it's a fried output transformer - a weak spot on Ashdown amps.

Hamster

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[quote name='Hamster' post='19589' date='Jun 18 2007, 01:11 PM']I bet you half a mars bar it's a fried output transformer - a weak spot on Ashdown amps.

Hamster[/quote]
That would be a miracle, Mr H. Being solid state amps, they don't have output transformers.

Or wuz it 'transistors' you meant?

Either way, half mars bar to the following address, please.... :)

BJ, that's appalling. Ashdown seems to have really lost its way of late. I wonder if this is one of the new Made In C**na ABMs?

Edited by Oxblood
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can i have the other half please?
Little consolation I know, but my ABM EVO 300 has never been a problem - apart from the one I was going to buy, which didn't work and then the first one I bought the pretty light up but completely useless VU meter didn't work - I suppose that should have told me something at the time, but I love the sound of it and a second cab would make it sound even better I reckon. Plus, PMT were doing 10 months 0% which made sense and they didn't stock anything else I really fancy, like the MB traveler size stuff

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[quote name='Oxblood' post='19649' date='Jun 18 2007, 02:47 PM']That would be a miracle, Mr H. Being solid state amps, they don't have output transformers.

Or wuz it 'transistors' you meant?

Either way, half mars bar to the following address, please.... :huh:

BJ, that's appalling. Ashdown seems to have really lost its way of late. I wonder if this is one of the new Made In C**na ABMs?[/quote]

Ha ha ha - what a doofus :) I meant the MAINS transformer.

Gimme the address for the mars bar - it's melting a bit.... :huh:

Hamster

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yeah it was brand new. the shop has agreed to straight swap it and pay for all the courier costs!

also Ashdown themselves have been rather helpful, so i can't complain about customer service!

fingers crossed that the replacement amp don't blow either......

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[quote name='Oxblood' post='19649' date='Jun 18 2007, 02:47 PM']BJ, that's appalling. Ashdown seems to have really lost its way of late. I wonder if this is one of the new Made In C**na ABMs?[/quote]

Just packed the amp in its box ready for collection tomorrow, it doesn't say it anywhere on the amp itself, but on the box written in huge print are the words "MADE IN CHINA".......

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hi there..

bad luck dude!

if I were you I'd change it right now for an American made svt 3pro, must be roughly the same price? you'd be much happier! I paid £720 new for mine from sound control - they price matched thomann!!!

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In product reliability study there's a thing called a 'bath tub' curve, shaped a bit like, er, a bathtub :) It has probability of failure on the vertical axis and time on t'other.

What this means, broadly speaking is that when something is new it's likelyhood of failure is relatively high. When it settles in it generally gets more reliable and when it reaches it's planned obsolescence it again becomes more and more unreliable as time progresses.

Of course some gear is 'badly designed' and lasts forever, which is no good for the manufacturer if they run out of customers.

My Little Mark II was an immediate failure as an example although I appreciate that Mark Bass failure is rare.

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[quote name='GreeneKing' post='19943' date='Jun 18 2007, 10:31 PM']Of course some gear is 'badly designed' and lasts forever, which is no good for the manufacturer if they run out of customers.[/quote]

Remember the company that made milkfloats

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that sucks, but ashdown are very willing to just repolace it.

i had similar concerns when i bought my ashdown but i just loved the sound and price, and it's been though several loud practices and gigged now and all is fine, in fact it just seems to sound better the more i use it, and verything works fine on it so go figure.
but to be honest every amp manufacturer is going to ship a dud and from the great reduction in complaints on forums (that i have seen) about ashdown i think they are getting things sorted.

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MB1. :)

I own a lot of Ashdown gear, and to be honest ,i havent had any trouble with it(touches wooden table firmly).However they do seem to be having a few problems with the gear assembled in china.The only Ashdown gear i own .that is made in china is the perfect ten mini rig and a Ashdown chorus pedal,and i have had no problems with either.I have spoken to Ashdown previously and they do go out of there way to help, should there be any problem ,and they are in the uk which is a plus should you need to speak to them.So i wouldnt be so quick to slag them off.

MB1.

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[quote name='MB1' post='22118' date='Jun 22 2007, 08:37 PM']MB1. :)

I own a lot of Ashdown gear, and to be honest ,i havent had any trouble with it(touches wooden table firmly).However they do seem to be having a few problems with the gear assembled in china.The only Ashdown gear i own .that is made in china is the perfect ten mini rig and a Ashdown chorus pedal,and i have had no problems with either.I have spoken to Ashdown previously and they do go out of there way to help, should there be any problem ,and they are in the uk which is a plus should you need to speak to them.So i wouldnt be so quick to slag them off.

MB1.[/quote]

I hope a thread dedicated to Eastern production starts up at some point. If anything, I would have thought the Chinese made stuff would be better quality as I would have thunked they'd be less complacent and appreciate/need the work more. Perhaps I'm just stirring up horrible prejudices? Anyway, is it inferior materials or the requirement to meet demand targets?

If we weren't dealing with something that wasn't as emotive as tone, I would instantly recommend boycotting Ashdown - they've built up an excellent reputation and like many companies are greedily squandering it. Many companies have a better (Western, generally) made range available at a higher cost to consumer but with promised reliability. I thought this was ABM to Ashdown, but am sadly mistaken.

It is a great economic dilemma when a company has the reputation induced demand to make (a lot) more money, but lacks the ability to successfully manage quality control on such a large scale while still selling their products at a competitive price.

It's like a three pronged paradox of diseconomies of scale. And until they make enough money to adequately train their labour, the light-weighted wallet will still be buying bad quality.

And there's probably too much competition to ever gain enough market share to be able to do this. I think we'll have to wait until R&D creates new technologies to vastly improve making bass gear at cheaper prices. Until then, it's about making do with Peavey and s/h TE gear.

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I don't think its the skill of the workforce but the quality of the parts,I know a OEM factory in China that was making the older Behringer desks a few years ago and Behringer moved all production to there own factory to control quality issues and guess who moved into the old factory with the original workforce? Yamaha making there MG series desks now which has the precieved better name? :)

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I owned Ashdown gear before it went East and I have to say that I had a mute button that didn't, a VU meter that meant 'virtually useless' and tolex covering that came off quicker than a fat lasses knickers down the Bigg Market (Newcastle) on a Saturday night!

Saying that... you get good-uns and bad-uns from any manufacturer.

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  • 1 month later...

ABM500 RC II - sh*te

Am I allowed to say that?

the worst amp I have ever owned bar none - fart city

Trace elliot were fantastic at producing vague sounding "our bass sound is identical to everyone elses" amps and cabs - even the mighty 1048H but the follow up - Ashdown are hellish at best

Oooohhhhhhhh Matron

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[quote name='bj_rocke' post='19359' date='Jun 17 2007, 10:47 PM']Just bought a brand new Ashdown ABM-500 RC EVO II and i used it today in practise for the first time. It was fine for about 15mins, then there was a really strong burning smell and the amp just shut down and won't turn on again!!!!

Very weird! does anyone know why this might of happened? I wasn't driving the amp that hard.... the input was at about 9 o'clock and the VU meter was no where near the red, and the output volume was at 12 o'clock......[/quote]


If you talk to any amp tech they'll all tell you the same story - they get loads of business from repairing Ashdown gear because it keeps breaking.
And that can only happen because they're poorly designed, or use cheap sh*t components, or both.
That tells me all I need to know...

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[quote name='99ster' post='37632' date='Jul 27 2007, 02:50 AM']If you talk to any amp tech they'll all tell you the same story - they get loads of business from repairing Ashdown gear because it keeps breaking.
And that can only happen because they're poorly designed, or use cheap sh*t components, or both.
That tells me all I need to know...[/quote]
I'm convinced that it's all down to poor Quality Control in the far eastern production facility. It certainly isn't the design: that was done by Clive Button, no less: he who designed all the really good Trace Elliot stuff. I doubt, too, that they're cutting corners on component quality - at least not on purpose. I mean, after all, no company with any sense would willingly to make themselves hostages to fate by deliberately using crap components. The real variable in the mix, though - and the one over which they have the least hands-on control - is HOW the things are assembled. The unavoidable fact is that if your HQ is in the UK and you've outsourced your production to an emerging economy on the other side of the planet in order to save money, then however well-intentioned you may be as a company, you have removed yourself from what's actually happening on the factory floor and made yourself reliant on the reports/promises you're being given by the managers of that facility.

It's all very sad, isn't it? If you really want an ABM (and a proper, British-built one is a marvellous piece of kit), I'd go hunting for a real early one, with the white push buttons and black sliders. Nothing later than an EVO, anyway.

BTW: I always wondered what "RC" stood for in the name of these current products. Does it stand for "Republic of China", by any chance?

Edited by Oxblood
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