Ashdown Mibass 2.0. Disappointing. Send it back?

[solo4652]

My main amp is a GKMB500. Feeling nervous about gigging without a backup, I've been looking for a reasonably powerful, cheap, small head. I bought a new Ashdown Mibass 2.0 from Andertons for £209 and it arrived yesterday. I've only tried it at home through a Tecamp Puma 12" cab and I'm not especially impressed. Mids and treble sounded OK but bass is thin and lacks depth. I found myself cranking up the gain and the bass to levels far above what I'd use with the GKMB500. I haven't tried it at rehearsal or at a gig yet but, right now, I'm not sure I even want to. Not sure whether to;

Accept I only bought it as a backup, put it in my cables bag and probably only use it once in a blue moon.

Wait till I've tried it at rehearsal with both Tecamp Puma amps to see what it sounds like, then decide whether to keep it as a backup.

Stop faffing about and send it back for a refund.

What do we reckon, folks?

Edited October 8, 2014 by solo4652

[Sonic_Groove]

I would send it back. I did -- The fan was louder than the amp to me.

Brendan

[Sonic_Groove]

Ooh BTW Andertons charged me £15 for the pleasure of sending it back!!

B

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='Sonic_Groove' timestamp='1412786651' post='2572065']
Ooh BTW Andertons charged me £15 for the pleasure of sending it back!!

B
[/quote]

If you are sending it back under the terms of the Consumer Contract Whatever law that has replaced the Distance Selling Regulations, then retailers are allowed to say that the consumer must pay the return postage. If the £15 was a postage fee, then it sounds extremely reasonable to me. Was it a postage cost, or was it some other sort of charge. Did you tell Andertons that you wanted to return the amp within seven working days of receiving it?

[gjones]

My old style MiBass has a seriously quiet fan and masses of bass.

[solo4652]

The fan is not the issue. Maybe I haven't given it enough of a chance yet. To my ears, the low-end tone is rather weak and insubstantial. Maybe I need to do some more experimenting with gain and EQ. Initial impressions leave me pretty underwhelmed, however.

[Phil Starr]

FWIW, I bought one for the same reason, initial impressions were OK, good clarity rather than the grungy sound of my old Mag600, but once I got playing with it I found the bass very light. I couldn't achieve a sound I'd be happy to gig with and I thought the tone controls really ill judged. I was about to try driving it with the post eq output from my Hartke and then thought 'why am I bothering' when what I wanted was a usable sound from a single lightweight box. It went back.

Incidentally I bought it after recommendations from people who had the old model so it looks like they've goofed with this one.

Andertons do say you pay for returns and were very helpful so I've no complaints over the £15. Actually thought their service was great as I've had a few things from them recently.

[solo4652]

Well now, that's interesting. Our experiences seem to match. I've been fiddling with the flaming thing for hours now and I just cannot get a rich low-end sound - and that's with a P bass strung with halfwounds. Since I've only really had experience of the GK MB500 head, I thought it was simply a matter of me getting used to a different amp's "voice". However, when I ended up with a [i]very[/i] different set of tone control settings on the Mibass to get something I was used to, I began to wonder about the amp itself.

I think I'll return it. Back to the search for the small, powerful, cheap, decent back-up amp then.

[M@23]

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1412799971' post='2572274']

I think I'll return it. Back to the search for the small, powerful, cheap, decent back-up amp then.
[/quote]

EBS Reidmar or Fender Rumble heads might be worthy a looky.

[kevvo66]

Yeap ,the ashdown stuff they are making now just doesn't cut it anymore it lacks power it's very muffled I found it to a one trick pony and I used ashdown for a long time but the new stuff just isn't very good IMHO ,I sold the lot at a loss and bought a mb head and purple chilli cab I would not entertain it ever again . Even my fender rumble 100 watt combo had more bite and left the ashdowns for dead ,they need to sort it out or they will lose a lot of custom .send it back matey

Edited October 11, 2014 by kevvo66

[Phil Starr]

Be nice to hear from Ashdown here, I've no idea if they follow Basschat, but we must represent a significant proportion of their home market and an even bigger proportion of opinion formers over here.

My first amp was an Ashdown, they were great on after sales and as a UK company even thought the stuff is made overseas I'd like them to succeed. I've a bit of a soft spot for them but not enough to buy an amp that sounds bad. Barefaced, Baer, TKS, BFM all come on, and I hope benefit from Basschat.

Come on Ashdown, we want you to get it right.

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1412799971' post='2572274']

I think I'll return it. Back to the search for the small, powerful, cheap, decent back-up amp then.
[/quote]

If you like GK, then the MB200 in the sales forum should be ideal for your needs

[solo4652]

Yes - I've been considering the MB200 but was concerned that it might not be powerful enough in a gig setting. For gigs, I use two 8 ohm Puma 12" cabs, each rated at 300w. At rehearsal, I only use one of the cabs. Would the MB200 have enough guts?

[Ashdown Engineering]

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1412786351' post='2572060']
My main amp is a GKMB500. Feeling nervous about gigging without a backup, I've been looking for a reasonably powerful, cheap, small head. I bought a new Ashdown Mibass 2.0 from Andertons for £209 and it arrived yesterday. I've only tried it at home through a Tecamp Puma 12" cab and I'm not especially impressed. Mids and treble sounded OK but bass is thin and lacks depth. I found myself cranking up the gain and the bass to levels far above what I'd use with the GKMB500. I haven't tried it at rehearsal or at a gig yet but, right now, I'm not sure I even want to. Not sure whether to;

Accept I only bought it as a backup, put it in my cables bag and probably only use it once in a blue moon.

Wait till I've tried it at rehearsal with both Tecamp Puma amps to see what it sounds like, then decide whether to keep it as a backup.

Stop faffing about and send it back for a refund.

What do we reckon, folks?
[/quote]

Sounds strange... How are you setting the EQ?

[Ashdown Engineering]

[quote name='kevvo66' timestamp='1412837398' post='2572456']
Yeap ,the ashdown stuff they are making now just doesn't cut it anymore it lacks power it's very muffled I found it to a one trip pony and I used ashdown for a long time but the new stuff just isn't very good IMHO ,I sold the lot at a loss and bought a mb head and purple chilli cab I would not entertain it ever again . Even my fender rumble 100 watt combo had more bite and left the ashdowns for dead ,they need to sort it out or they will lose a lot of custom .send it back matey
[/quote]

Seems a bit of a sweeping statement? We feel and general feedback we have from end users and artists is that we are making the best products we have ever made across all price points. Sorry if you've had a bad experience but to say all our products don't cut it any more seems a bizarre statement and is upsetting to read for sure

[solo4652]

Hi,

Thanks for your post. I've returned the Mibass to Andertons for a full refund. From memory, the EQ settings I ended up with were;

Gain; 3/4
Bass; 3/4
Mids; 1/2
Treble; 1/2
Vol; 2/3 (bearing in mind this was playing at home, trying not to disturb my other half who works in an upstairs office)

This still gave a thin-sounding tone, especially in the lower register. Rig: One Tecamp Puma XS 112 (8ohm) tweeter set to "half", Fender MIJ Precision with fresh halfwound strings, tone just rolled back from full on. I didn't try the amp with my full gig rig which would be two Tecamp Puma XS 112 cabs.

In comparison, my GK MB500 would be set at something like;

Gain; 1/4
Bass; 1/3
Mids; 2/3
Treble; 1/2
Contour, just a smidge
No bass boost
Vol; 1/4 (Bearing in mind blah blah...)

Steve

Edited October 10, 2014 by solo4652

[kevvo66]

Dear ashdown enigneering people ,I'm very sorry if this is a very critical statements off average joe public .but as a lot of us are gigging musicians be fulltime or partime we need good dependable rigs which gives us what we need sound wise ,you made some great stuff back the in day ,I know your pro gear stuff is good I am told ,but we need someone to say ,hey I'm off to buy one them new ashdowns they are awsome even if it ment pushing the prices up a bit .balls in your court. Prove us wrong and restore our faith. regards kev

Edited October 10, 2014 by kevvo66

[Ashdown Engineering]

[quote name='kevvo66' timestamp='1412948855' post='2573567']
Dear ashdown enigneering people ,I'm very sorry if this is a very critical statements off average joe public .but as a lot of us are gigging musicians be fulltime or partime we need good dependable rigs which gives us what we need sound wise ,you made some great stuff back the in day ,I know your pro gear stuff is good I am told ,but we need someone to say ,hey I'm off to buy one them new ashdowns they are awsome even if it ment pushing the prices up a bit .balls in your court. Prove us wrong and restore our faith. regards kev
[/quote]

Thanks Kev, we always want feedback from the guys on the front line like yourself so it's good to hear your views. So what I am asking is what of our current products have you found to be unreliable or lacking tonally? Ie have you used the new Rootmaster range? As for being dependable we pride ourselves on it... All our products have a 5 year warranty and yet we have one guy in service who works 2/3 days a week so confused to how Ashdown is not dependable? Look forward to hearing your thoughts

[Ashdown Engineering]

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1412936095' post='2573412']
Hi,

Thanks for your post. I've returned the Mibass to Andertons for a full refund. From memory, the EQ settings I ended up with were;

Gain; 3/4
Bass; 3/4
Mids; 1/2
Treble; 1/2
Vol; 2/3 (bearing in mind this was playing at home, trying not to disturb my other half who works in an upstairs office)

This still gave a thin-sounding tone, especially in the lower register. Rig: One Tecamp Puma XS 112 (8ohm) tweeter set to "half", Fender MIJ Precision with fresh halfwound strings, tone just rolled back from full on. I didn't try the amp with my full gig rig which would be two Tecamp Puma XS 112 cabs.

In comparison, my GK MB500 would be set at something like;

Gain; 1/4
Bass; 1/3
Mids; 2/3
Treble; 1/2
Contour, just a smidge
No bass boost
Vol; 1/4 (Bearing in mind blah blah...)

Steve
[/quote]

Hey Steve,

Very strange as I said and sorry the MiBass didn't pan out. It's difficult to give an opinion without seeing and hearing things as maybe there was a fault on the amp but hard to say. Haven't had any other complaints about them being bass shy but hey we are all different eh...

[CamdenRob]

Whilst I am not a huge fan of Ashdown products, just personal preference, it's obviously well made professional end gear - This feedback from the horses mouth (so to speak) is excellent and to be commended.

Only good things can come from a company engaging with end users of it's products.

Edited October 10, 2014 by CamdenRob

[solo4652]

@Ashdown Engineering. This is the first Ashdown product I've owned and I'm still scratching my head about what happened. If it would help you, I'm happy to give you the details of my Anderton order, in case you want to contact them and get your hands on the amp. It should be back with them on Monday (13th). PM me if you want order number etc.

Back to more practical concerns; gigging tonight with no back up for my GK MB500. Probably be absolutely fine. Probably.

Steve

[Ashdown Engineering]

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1412952566' post='2573622']
@Ashdown Engineering. This is the first Ashdown product I've owned and I'm still scratching my head about what happened. If it would help you, I'm happy to give you the details of my Anderton order, in case you want to contact them and get your hands on the amp. It should be back with them on Monday (13th). PM me if you want order number etc.

Back to more practical concerns; gigging tonight with no back up for my GK MB500. Probably be absolutely fine. Probably.

Steve
[/quote]

Hey Steve, yes I am going to speak to Andertons and get your unit back and give it a check over as doesn't seem right. Good luck with the gig tonight!

[neepheid]

This is how it should be, companies working with their customers to mutual benefit. Well done Ashdown. Other companies (*cough* Gibson *cough*) - take note!

[paul_5]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1412953764' post='2573642']
This is how it should be, companies working with their customers to mutual benefit. Well done Ashdown. Other companies (*cough* Gibson *cough*) - take note!
[/quote]

This. Good to see a manufacturer who takes their customers' needs and issues seriously. Kudos.

[Sibob]

Ashdown have always been spot-on with regards to customer care!
Good lads & lasses for sure

Si