Tried an Ashdown - Hated it!

[molan]

Got saddled with someone else's rig at a gig recently - an Ashdown Evo 500 head with a 1x15 & 4x8.

Absolutely hated it, boomy, woolly, lacking in any kind of definition. I think it was the 15 that was causing the most problems but when I pulled it out of the rig the 4x8 wasn't really doing it for me either.

Shame as it was my first gig for ages & I could easily have bought my own gear but as we were one of three bands on the bill we all agreed to use the same rig to avoid hassle of swapping stuff out.

Nice of the Ashdown owner to let us all use his rig but I really didn't get on with it at all. Have a vague feeling it might have sounded a bit better out front but not 100% convinced!

[jacko]

Ashsown is a bit like marmite. Lots of people like them, lots of people don't. I fall into the latter camp too fr pretty much the same reasons you've given.

[Sibob]

Lol, thats almost the complete opposite sound to what i get out of my exact same rig!

Maybe it's your bass
Joke!

Si

[MB1]

[quote name='molan' post='198229' date='May 13 2008, 08:20 PM']Got saddled with someone else's rig at a gig recently - an Ashdown Evo 500 head with a 1x15 & 4x8.

Absolutely hated it, boomy, woolly, lacking in any kind of definition. I think it was the 15 that was causing the most problems but when I pulled it out of the rig the 4x8 wasn't really doing it for me either.

Shame as it was my first gig for ages & I could easily have bought my own gear but as we were one of three bands on the bill we all agreed to use the same rig to avoid hassle of swapping stuff out.

Nice of the Ashdown owner to let us all use his rig but I really didn't get on with it at all. Have a vague feeling it might have sounded a bit better out front but not 100% convinced![/quote]

MB1.
Mini 4x8 and 1x15? they sounded great out front, trust me, i had this problem with mine(rear ported,but lacked definition when i was playing in front of them) thats why i sold them .I still use Ashdown but 2x10s instead.

[Muppet]

Maybe it's not the best situation? I mean, a borrowed rig, unsure of what to expect, little time to experiment with the sound etc.... I'm not trying to stick up for Ashdown but in those circumstances it's often not possible to make an objective assessment.

[Machines]

How did you set the EQ ?

[molan]

Ok - so I'm hoping the owner of the rig isn't a regular here!

Three different basses and we all played a little with the EQ and I listened closely to both of the other guys and they had very different basses from me and yet both had a similar boomy sound and lacked definition.

One of them used a Jazz and the other a Precision whilst I had my trusty Zon. The poor guy with the P bass was really lost in the mix.

I tried to set everything as flat as possible as the Zon usually sounds fine with little EQ. In the end I was dialing in a lot of top end striaght from the bass itself and trying a pre-set on the head to try and get rid of the wallowing bottom end.

We were playing on a suspended wooden stage which probably wasn't helping much. Could have been that the PA was boosting the bottom end too much but having listened to both of the other guys out front sound compared to my stage sound I'm guessing there wasn't that much bass in the PA.

I think I could probably have got something more to my liking if I'd more time with just the 4x8 cab but there really wasn't enough time to check this.

I'm definitely buying a radio mic for sound checking in the future!

[gilmour]

[quote name='molan' post='198229' date='May 13 2008, 08:20 PM']Absolutely hated it, boomy, woolly, lacking in any kind of definition....[/quote]

Yup that's definatley 'the Asdown sound'

[Machines]

Strange - my 'Asdown' always sounds how I want it to, that being bright and punchy. A few people tried it at the bash and commented that it sounded great, and no - they weren't other Ashdown users .

[molan]

[quote name='Machines' post='198468' date='May 14 2008, 08:22 AM']Strange - my 'Asdown' always sounds how I want it to, that being bright and punchy. A few people tried it at the bash and commented that it sounded great, and no - they weren't other Ashdown users .[/quote]

Was that with your 2x10 cab?

Could be the 1x15 I used that was causing the worst of the problems.

[Machines]

Yeah it was. I've only used an EB combo with a 15" at a studio and that WAS muddy.

[johnnylager]

[quote name='molan' post='198477' date='May 14 2008, 08:34 AM']Could be the 1x15 I used that was causing the worst of the problems.[/quote]
FWIW, I A/B'd 1x15 & 2x10 ABM cabs and found the 2x10 much clearer & punchier. 'specially with another 2x10.

[BTGAndy]

I must say I've always found them to be a bit boomy and woolly. I am a fan of bright hi-fi sounding amps. I used an Ashdown rig for quite a while and it served my purposes at the time but it just didn't have the definition and I moved on to SWR. I'm sure that with the right set up and bass they sound great, it's just not my kind of sound.

[bassmansky]

[quote name='molan' post='198229' date='May 13 2008, 08:20 PM']Got saddled with someone else's rig at a gig recently - an Ashdown Evo 500 head with a 1x15 & 4x8.

Absolutely hated it, boomy, woolly, lacking in any kind of definition. I think it was the 15 that was causing the most problems but when I pulled it out of the rig the 4x8 wasn't really doing it for me either.

Shame as it was my first gig for ages & I could easily have bought my own gear but as we were one of three bands on the bill we all agreed to use the same rig to avoid hassle of swapping stuff out.

Nice of the Ashdown owner to let us all use his rig but I really didn't get on with it at all. Have a vague feeling it might have sounded a bit better out front but not 100% convinced![/quote]
had the same situation but with a behringer 450 combo,no time to set it up properly sounded terrible infact probably one of the worst sounds ive ever heard.sound man wasnt much better!

[Exile252]

mhm, reading this topic has made me glad I bought a Trace over the Ashdown.
I thought Ashdowns, were meant to be one of the tops, though I haven't myself used one before now.

[MB1]

[quote name='Exile252' post='198958' date='May 14 2008, 06:35 PM']mhm, reading this topic has made me glad I bought a Trace over the Ashdown.
I thought Ashdowns, were meant to be one of the tops, though I haven't myself used one before now.[/quote]

MB1.
It really does ,depend on what speaker configuration you want to use,I, like Mr Machines use Ashdown 10s with a Status bass and theyre far from wooly and undefined.

[Sibob]

I use my EVO II 500 pretty much flat with my passive USA Jazz bass through my 4x8 & 1x15 and i get a bright but full, growly sound. The only slight EQ I use on the amp is to compensate for the room/stage, but its never anything extreme.

Si

[DirkThrust]

[quote name='MB1' post='198964' date='May 14 2008, 06:50 PM']MB1.
It really does ,depend on what speaker configuration you want to use,I, like Mr Machines use Ashdown 10s with a Status bass and theyre far from wooly and undefined.[/quote]

+1. Speaker type makes an enormous difference. I used mine through Schroeder cabs and it sounded awesome. No boom or wooliness. Just warm, fat and incredibly punchy. OTOH using it with just a 1x15 it was pretty underwhelming to my ears, but to someone who likes the vintage sound it could be just right.

[Welshbassist]

[quote name='Sibob' post='198999' date='May 14 2008, 07:38 PM']I use my EVO II 500 pretty much flat with my passive USA Jazz bass through my 4x8 & 1x15 and i get a bright but full, growly sound. The only slight EQ I use on the amp is to compensate for the room/stage, but its never anything extreme.

Si[/quote]
Do you "push flat" or not? You've got great tone on the recent FSOF record!

[Machines]

I always 'push flat' . Except if i'm playing some rock/metal.. in which case it's great if using a pick. It does however give somewhat of a mid lacking sound..

For my funk band it's flat EQ, with a boost on the top 2 sliders and knob.

[johnnylager]

Shape in - for 50 & 4k boost (shame 400 goes), add some 340 & 660 to get through the guitards and maybe a bit of 7k if the strings are old, valve drive at 12:00 and get the preamp clipping nicely. Bosh, job done. Never sounds so beefy w/o the Shape. 2x10's all the way.

[lowhand_mike]

the raised wooden stage certainly wouldn't have helped, particularly for your on stage sound. i have had similar experience when we did a gig a while back where the stage was made out of pallets. it did get a bit boomy (not overly mind) and that was with 2x10s but when i put the amp on the floor it all tightened back up.
Also not having alot of time to mess about with the EQ just for you wouldnt help either.
but as it sounded nice out front, which is where it matters, i wouldn't knock it so quick.

[JakeBrownBass]

I can't stand ashdown for this very reason :)

I don't understand how so many bassist use them.

I've sat and played with one for atleast 2 hours and just couldn't do anything with them. Not tried the heads with different cabs & vice versa so don't know whether ones the problem or both!


Jake :)

Edited May 15, 2008 by jake_tenfloors

[phatbass787]

Weird, been using Ashdown for years and never stuggled to get a great sound out of any of my gear. Always big and warm but with definition certainly not muddy.

[Jono Bolton]

I find that Ashdown can be a bit muddy but that's why I use a 4X10 to balance it out. It's definitely a more 'vintage' sound than other makes, but I saw Cancer Bats, Johnny Truant and Hexes last night at the Barfly in Glasgow, and all 3 bassists had ABM 500 heads mounted in a single rack through an 8X10. They're some heavy bands and there was some great sounding bass last night, pretty growly.