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My carefully thought out rationalisation plan rolls forward. In no way am I selling a bunch of stuff I bought last year just to buy a whole pile of new shiny stuff this year. 

😬

I have become the proud owner of an Ashdown RM500. And its blooming lovely.

Bought from @Chris1127 of this parish, the idea is to pair it with the Ashdown 12" cab I bought last month. Giving me a modular system suitable for rehearsals, smaller gigs and with the flexibility to handle bigger stuff too. 

Essentially a 2x12 with a 500w head. 

First impressions. Does it replace my ABM? Kind of. It's similar but different  The drive control is way dirtier than it's counterpart on the ABM, the tone controls slightly less flexible. But it has a shape button which Trace Elliot lovers will warm to and some others won't like at all, needless to say I love it.

A variable compressor which feels pretty aggressive, a good thing to my ears, reminds me of the TC Electronic spectracomp toneprint I put on my BG250. 

Main volume is a nice tactile dial; let's you feel each increment as you turn it. It's a comfortable one hand lift, rather than an easy one, the handle on the top is well sited for balance. 

Oh and it's loud. Really loud. I've not had the needle close to the red and kept the master at the first click! 

What else? The cab and combo are not a perfect match as the feet are on the side which puts the horn at the bottom on one, top on the other. A bit of an ocd challenge, but the speakers not quite lining up may be for some physics or other so I'll live with it. 

15898257916754939140957517778500.jpg

Edited by stewblack
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15 minutes ago, stewblack said:

My carefully thought out rationalisation plan rolls forward. In no way am I selling a bunch of stuff I bought last year just to buy a whole pile of new shiny stuff this year. 

😬

I have become the proud owner of an Ashdown RM500. And its blooming lovely.

Bought from @Chris1127 of this parish, the idea is to pair it with the Ashdown 12" cab I bought last month. Giving me a modular system suitable for rehearsals, smaller gigs and with the flexibility to handle bigger stuff too. 

Essentially a 2x12 with a 500w head. 

First impressions. Does it replace my ABM? Kind of. It's similar but different  The drive control is way dirtier than it's counterpart on the ABM, the tone controls slightly less flexible. But it has a shape button which Trace Elliot lovers will warm to and some others won't like at all, needless to say I love it.

A variable compressor which feels pretty aggressive, a good thing to my ears, reminds me of the TC Electronic spectracomp toneprint I put on my BG250. 

Main volume is a nice tactile dial; let's you feel each increment as you turn it. It's a comfortable one hand lift, rather than an easy one, the handle on the top is well sited for balance. 

Oh and it's loud. Really loud. I've not had the needle close to the red and kept the master at the first click! 

What else? The cab and combo are not a perfect match as the feet are on the side which puts the horn at the bottom on one, top on the other. A bit of an ocd challenge, but the speakers not quite lining up may be for some physics or other so I'll live with it. 

15898257916754939140957517778500.jpg

Nice looking rig Stew

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Just now, danbanbass said:

Nice looking rig Stew

Thanks mate. Its not the huge bass wardrobe I always loved to stand in front of, but those days are over. I'm planning for my 60s and 70s, needed to down size! 

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1 minute ago, stewblack said:

Thanks mate. Its not the huge bass wardrobe I always loved to stand in front of, but those days are over. I'm planning for my 60s and 70s, needed to down size! 

No worries I know exactly what you mean, I'd love to be able to cart an 8x10 about but when we recorded at the studio, we loaned an Ampeg 8x10 and just to lift it through the doorway resulted in my hand breaking out in blood blisters earlier this year plus is was mega heavy.

I can quite happily lift and manouver the Ashdown Rm610 on my own quite comfortably but I'm sure given another 10 years I'll be looking for something lighter again.

I'm only in my mid 30s but years of poor manual handling and giving it the 'big' I am, lifting things that were way too heavy have taken their toll on my lower back and shoulders. 

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24 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Thanks mate. Its not the huge bass wardrobe I always loved to stand in front of, but those days are over. I'm planning for my 60s and 70s, needed to down size! 

Congrats, that’s why I went the Ashdown RM as well, Stew. As you say it’s near enough in sound to the ABM, but in a set up that can be carried about by those not in their prime shall we say. My RM500 plus two of the 210s (with upgraded Eminence speakers) is going to stay with me now, don’t need anything else for what I’ll be doing moving forwards.

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Decent amps! There are more functionally rich amps out there but these do everything you could ever call essential and some more! Great for a gigging player. Hope the 2x12s sound good. I like mine with 2x15s myself, but I think that's just me being fussy! 

I got the Ashdown 2x button footswitch for mine so on cramped stages where I can't take my effects pedal I have access to the drive and sub (yes, I am the one person who actually uses it!). 

15898809022313700148157366086066.jpg

Edited by uk_lefty
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1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

Decent amps! There are more functionally rich amps out there but these do everything you could ever call essential and some more! Great for a gigging player. Hope the 2x12s sound good. I like mine with 2x15s myself, but I think that's just me being fussy! 

I got the Ashdown 2x button footswitch for mine so on cramped stages where I can't take my effects pedal I have access to the drive and sub (yes, I am the one person who actually uses it!). 

15898809022313700148157366086066.jpg

That's a tasty set up. I might have to run the rm through a BF 15 or two, see how it goes. 

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10 minutes ago, stewblack said:

That's a tasty set up. I might have to run the rm through a BF 15 or two, see how it goes. 

Do it - it will be bloody lovely. I used to run my RM800 through one or two BF Super Compacts (the 1x12 cabs) and it was thunderous.

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9 minutes ago, JottoSW1 said:

Rationale / Rationalisation seems to be an elastic concept Mr Black. !!! Then again I suspect that I'm starting to get silly myself 😂🤣

Yeah, I hear you, I wonder if justification might be a better word. 

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Unfortunately I'm hearing something untoward from the extension cab. Could be something vibrating somewhere, but sounds horribly like the speaker not handling bottom end very well. 

Not going to despair yet. I've played it with the Elf and I don't recall any issues. Might just be something in the room. I'll move it when I get a chance and try it again. 

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If it’s just on the lows it could be the tweeter. I had this on the RM112 that I had, took it to Ashdown and they sorted it. Can’t remember what the exact fault was but def worth giving them a call.

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2 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

If it’s just on the lows it could be the tweeter. I had this on the RM112 that I had, took it to Ashdown and they sorted it. Can’t remember what the exact fault was but def worth giving them a call.

Awesome thanks mate. Don't know what yours was like but this is a kind of pressure cooker shhhh in time with the bottom notes. 

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30 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Awesome thanks mate. Don't know what yours was like but this is a kind of pressure cooker shhhh in time with the bottom notes. 

That`s about it. Rather embarrassingly I hadn`t noticed it as my sound is trebly/twangy/driven, it was only when I went to sell it - and delivered it personally - that the prospective buyer tried it out and noticed it. His sound had some good lows so it made the same sound you describe. Ashdown put a new tweeter in it for me and all was then good.

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30 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

That`s about it. Rather embarrassingly I hadn`t noticed it as my sound is trebly/twangy/driven, it was only when I went to sell it - and delivered it personally - that the prospective buyer tried it out and noticed it. His sound had some good lows so it made the same sound you describe. Ashdown put a new tweeter in it for me and all was then good.

I think I can turn the horn off, I'll take a look. Thanks Lozz

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Come here @Lozz196 I want give you big kiss 😘

Problemo solvo as Del Boy might say. 

There's a horn in the other cab which is fine so until I decide to get it sorted (which I probably won't unless I sell it) it is fine, and I am a happy camper. Not being the world's biggest fan of a tweeter in the first place I won't miss it. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 19/05/2020 at 15:55, Lozz196 said:

If it’s just on the lows it could be the tweeter. I had this on the RM112 that I had, took it to Ashdown and they sorted it. Can’t remember what the exact fault was but def worth giving them a call.

The tweeter is/was the weak point on these cabs. I bought a 210 and the tweeter was dead on arrival. The shop ended up sending the cab back to Ashdown and rather than replace the stock part Ashdown fitted an Eminence APT instead.

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