Ashdown ABM owners club

[Lozz196]

I had mine in a Roqsolid cover and did tours with it in the back of the van etc, never any issues. Most of the gigs were with it in the back of an estate car, again no issues.

[MichaelDean]

I recently got a Roqsolid one for my ABM600 with a free foamguard upgrade as a part of a promotion. Seems like a nice upgrade from the ampguard one I had on my Ampeg cab, which was also fine and held up to a lot of loading in/out over the years I had it.

[Pow_22]

Hot covers are very good, tend to be cheaper than roqsolid and their basic covers are more akin to roqsolids 'extra's' covers

[asingardenof]

Another vote here for Roqsolid covers

[Chaddy]

Cheers all!

[Pow_22]

So, after trying to get a deep growl without the tone being muddy at rehearsal last night i accidentally engaged the ‘shape’ button (by engage i mean button out, ive always used my abm with the button in to iver ride the shape)…..holy moly! There’s that sound, huge bottom, growl on tap and a nice top end but no mud! 

Edited November 7, 2023 by Pow_22

[BassAdder60]

50 minutes ago, Pow_22 said:

So, after trying to get a deep growl without the tone being muddy at rehearsal last night i accidentally engaged the ‘shape’ button (by engage i mean button out, ive always used my abm with the button in to iver ride the shape)…..holy moly! There’s that sound, huge bottom, growl on tap and a nice top end but no mud! 

I found that using the Shape On with a pick fantastic but finger style it pulled too many mids to be useable in a band 

 

I also found that not using shape but pulling out 340hz made it sound nicer and used to rotary mids boosted and 1.2khz boosted for clarity 

No mud just deep clear full bass 

[Pow_22]

To update after last nights rehearsal - i cant believe i didnt try the ABM's shape button engaged before!  Using my P bass, Elites groundwounds and fingers i got a nice even thumpy tone with incredible depth but no mud.  Only slight issue was when i changed to a pick the tone seemed to lose some of its 'booty'.  Definitely a happy boy with the ABm tho.  Still have the occasional GAS for a Spyder 550 but for now this old pre-ABM ABM will certainly keep my grin face on

[alexa3020]

I turned up to my rehearsal room last night and the ABM I normally use was being serviced & in its place was a Trace Elliot AH600. Man, they are bright sounding in comparison and super heavy too. Lovely amp & I quite enjoyed playing through it though. Given that Ashdown came from Trace, its quite interesting to see how different they are - seems like they are almost aimed at different markets. The trace is really bright and quite clinical sounding, bit of a throw back to the 80s maybe - I prefer the warmth of the ashdown. Both great amps though.

[uk_lefty]

On 17/11/2023 at 08:36, alexa3020 said:

I turned up to my rehearsal room last night and the ABM I normally use was being serviced & in its place was a Trace Elliot AH600. Man, they are bright sounding in comparison and super heavy too. Lovely amp & I quite enjoyed playing through it though. Given that Ashdown came from Trace, its quite interesting to see how different they are - seems like they are almost aimed at different markets. The trace is really bright and quite clinical sounding, bit of a throw back to the 80s maybe - I prefer the warmth of the ashdown. Both great amps though.

If only Ashdown did some kind of a Trace tribute amp.... They'd sell about fifty to those of us on Bass chat who long for those sounds!

[ardi100]

Potential ABM owner here.

 

I'm trying to replace a Mark Bass Little Mark 250 and an Eden 12 (4 ohm). I've read this entire thread and been seduced by all the tales of tones and customer service!

 

I have a very strict budget, it has to be paid for by the sales of my current gear. A couple of options present. Some Evo ii and iii combos are definitely within budget. Also an Evo iii head and a very cheap ABM 212 (4 ohm) or an 8 ohm 115 plus pick up a second cab later. The weights don't really bother me.

 

Any thoughts on which route is 'better'?

 

Thanks.

[JPJ]

25 minutes ago, ardi100 said:

Potential ABM owner here.

 

I'm trying to replace a Mark Bass Little Mark 250 and an Eden 12 (4 ohm). I've read this entire thread and been seduced by all the tales of tones and customer service!

 

I have a very strict budget, it has to be paid for by the sales of my current gear. A couple of options present. Some Evo ii and iii combos are definitely within budget. Also an Evo iii head and a very cheap ABM 212 (4 ohm) or an 8 ohm 115 plus pick up a second cab later. The weights don't really bother me.

 

Any thoughts on which route is 'better'?

 

Thanks.

I managed to pick up a 400W ABM Neo 1x15 combo, quite a rare beast by all accounts, which has turned me from being an Ashdown disliker to Ashdown lover. Paired with the matching Neo 1x15 cab on bigger gigs, I find this combo covers all my needs.

Edited November 19, 2023 by JPJ

[ardi100]

34 minutes ago, JPJ said:

I managed to pick up a 400W ABM Neo 1x15 combo, quite a rare beast by all accounts, which has turned me from being an Ashdown disliker to Ashdown lover. Paired with the matching Neo 1x15 cab on bigger gigs, I find this combo covers all my needs.

That looks great. 

 

There is a neo combo available not far from me. It's just about within budget, but it would have to do duty on its own.

 

How does it go by itself?

[alexa3020]

1 hour ago, ardi100 said:

Potential ABM owner here.

 

I'm trying to replace a Mark Bass Little Mark 250 and an Eden 12 (4 ohm). I've read this entire thread and been seduced by all the tales of tones and customer service!

 

I have a very strict budget, it has to be paid for by the sales of my current gear. A couple of options present. Some Evo ii and iii combos are definitely within budget. Also an Evo iii head and a very cheap ABM 212 (4 ohm) or an 8 ohm 115 plus pick up a second cab later. The weights don't really bother me.

 

Any thoughts on which route is 'better'?

 

Thanks.

I think any of those options would be good. If weight isn't an issue, I'd personally go for head and the 4ohm 212 - I reckon that would cover any gig.

But it depends if you want 1 very heavy (presumably) cab to move as opposed to 2 heavy cabs.

With 2 cabs -a 15 and maybe another 15 or 210,  you would end up with more volume

[JPJ]

58 minutes ago, ardi100 said:

That looks great. 

 

There is a neo combo available not far from me. It's just about within budget, but it would have to do duty on its own.

 

How does it go by itself?

The majority of gigs I play these days are with a country/Americana band and I use the combo on its own, albeit with PA support. 

[DaleASmith]

I'd definitely go ABM EVO 2 or 3. Look out for a 2x10 combo which can be found cheap, then get an ABM115 to add.

 

My rig consists of an ABM EVO2 500 Head with a 210 and 115 ABM cabs ( Both 500w versions ). This is more than enough for most venues. 

 

I also have a pair of ABM410s but rarely use them,..

[Jono Bolton]

On 16/11/2021 at 03:53, DGBass said:

I've used various ABM's for five or six years now and recently had a bit of a clear out as my old Trace Elliot stuff has been creeping back into action. My favourite ABM was an old mosfet ABM 500 EVO. My last remaining ABM is a big box ABM 500 EVOIII bought as a spares/repair project and its now fully rebuilt/restored with an EVO IV pre-amp shoe-horned into it. It was originally a 2010 model and now sounds like brand new and is immensely powerful.  Currently used with either a 1980 Musicman RH115 or a 1990 TE 1518T both with Faital Pro 15-PR400's. I can't recall ever using anything else that can move so much air.     

What's the story with the wide ABM heads? Are they combo units that Ashdown repurposed into heads? I'm only asking as I'm going to pick up an EVO III head tonight and it's the wide, vented version rather than the standard one.

[alexa3020]

9 minutes ago, Jono Bolton said:

What's the story with the wide ABM heads? Are they combo units that Ashdown repurposed into heads? I'm only asking as I'm going to pick up an EVO III head tonight and it's the wide, vented version rather than the standard one.

With the Evo iv range the wide heads are 1200w (2x600w power sections). Not sure about Evo 3

[asingardenof]

3 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

With the Evo iv range the wide heads are 1200w (2x600w power sections). Not sure about Evo 3

 

I believe the 900W heads are wide as well with the EVO IVs

[alexa3020]

9 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

 

I believe the 900W heads are wide as well with the EVO IVs

I didn't think the evo iv had a 900w version. Theres an Evo 3 900w version (2 power sections again)

[asingardenof]

5 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

I didn't think the evo iv had a 900w version. Theres an Evo 3 900w version (2 power sections again)

 

I stand corrected!

[Jono Bolton]

20 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

With the Evo iv range the wide heads are 1200w (2x600w power sections). Not sure about Evo 3

The EVO III I'm looking at is 500W. I remember seeing wide versions of the EVO II 500 as well.

[alexa3020]

9 minutes ago, Jono Bolton said:

The EVO III I'm looking at is 500W. I remember seeing wide versions of the EVO II 500 as well.

Interesting a quick search online only shows me non wide evo 3 heads. Perhaps it is a repurposed combo head - they were wide with extra vents

[Jono Bolton]

8 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

Interesting a quick search online only shows me non wide evo 3 heads. Perhaps it is a repurposed combo head - they were wide with extra vents

The post I originally quoted above shows a wide version, same as the one I'm off to collect later. I'll maybe drop Ashdown an email about it just to satisfy my own curiosity. Unless @Ashdown Engineering can elaborate?

[BassAdder60]

I don’t think Ashdown come on here these days !  
 

Im fairly sure if it’s wider then it would have been an amp pulled out of a combo.