setekh Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 I spotted one of these on my latest trip to a local music shop...with an attractive price tag its supposed to be 100W RMS (even though wattage and loudness are two different things), got the usual controls (bass/mid/treble/gain/volume), a headphone output and an external speaker output aswell (not that I think it would be any good...). it doesnt have line in, however...but hey - for under €250 it is (in paper) a great little practice amp..and probably could be used for small gigs too.. had never heard of it, so it was time for a background check turns out some people round the web sing it praises..and other folks curse the day they heard of it. anyone ever tried one of these? what did you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 They're OK - decent for acoustic rehearsals but avoid small gigs unless you want to reduce it to a pile of smouldering components. FWIW, I used a Sansamp with mine as the tone is a bit flat without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setekh Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='44201' date='Aug 11 2007, 02:49 PM']They're OK - decent for acoustic rehearsals but avoid small gigs unless you want to reduce it to a pile of smouldering components. FWIW, I used a Sansamp with mine as the tone is a bit flat without.[/quote] thanks for the input yeah my fear is that it isnt reliable..Ashdown amps seem to be a bit dodgy - its hit or miss.. i havent exactly heard good things about them either, but would a fender rumble be a better choice maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmandan Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 I bought one on behalf of a school I teach in about 2 years ago and it's worked like a dream ever since. If any amp's able to survive a few years in a school it's got to be doing well! Regularly used in concerts in a very large hall also, Wateroftyne's right about the tone but I find it's more than bearable given the price....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwild16 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 HI I had a Five Fifteen before I got a Fender Bassman100 and the difference in tone quality is vast... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 [quote name='setekh' post='44461' date='Aug 12 2007, 03:28 PM']yeah my fear is that it isnt reliable..Ashdown amps seem to be a bit dodgy - its hit or miss..[/quote] i'd be wary of the smaller ashdowns..i had an after eight and it crapped out [i]very[/i] quickly. luckily i fell on my feet - i manged to snag a 15w session rockette bass amp for cheap, took the amplifier section out of the awful speaker and slotted it into the ashdown's chassis and speaker !! sounds fab sorry for the digression Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon1964 Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 I've got one of these which I use for practice at home. I found the tone OK, but its nowhere near loud enough for even small gigs. Its quiet for the 100w rating, and I think it would struggle to cope with our drummer even at rehearsal volumes! Also, as a word of caution, they're quite heavy and bulky for a practice amp, which I guess defeats the point a bit. Despite comments above and elsewhere, I've never personally had a problem with reliability with Ashdown - either with the five fifteen or with my 300w MAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swaff Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Im really interested in buying of these amps at the end of the month. At £119 i thought it would be well worth the price, but you guys have put some doubt into my mind lol Whats your opinion? Should I go for it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 yes ashdown did have some "issues" regarding reliability but they all seem to be sorted now (this was over a year ago) i have had my mag for just over a year with no issues at all and have herd very little in the way of troubles so the same should apply across their range. £119 is a good price for a 100w combo, i would imagine though you only get the 100w when you attach the extension speaker so as it stands you are probably getting around 70w from the combo alone. if i had the spare cash then i would get one as i have been thinking of a small home amp and would definately stick with ashdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Ok I had one of these too.. . Sounded good, only things that let it down are it's weight and fairly simple EQ. It has a cab extension socket but when pumping out 100w I don't think there's much point. I've used one of these at a studio to jam with a band and it coped fairly well without me maxing it out. If you want to gig with it then I think you should look at saving a bit more cash and getting either an EB or MAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fudge Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 I have a 300w MAG with the tuned cabinet and it has done a good job for the money. I am however seriously thinking of stepping into higher end bass amp market. I have looked at some markbass stuff. Would getting a new head for the Ashdown cab first be good or vice versa. Sorry I don't wish to highjack a thread and I may post a seperate thread. Just wondered if anyone had any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swaff Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Thanks guys I think she's a defo now, just wanted to run it by you first 13 days left yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftySteve Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 I had one of these a couple of years ago and as others have also said, I found it to be woefully lacking in volume even for use at home. I would never have contemplated using it for even small rehearsals. I replaced it with a Line 6 Lowdown Studio 110 - 70w which has more than enough volume for even loud rehearsals, very useable in the studio with some nice sounding pre-set amp models built in plus a nice compressor. Lightweight, 12 inch cube sized.... excellent for £160 new. Just don't go anywhere near the larger Lowdown amps though, I was very disappointed with the 300 Pro I bought. Cheers Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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