Ashdown Rig for 4003

delberthot · Post by **delberthot** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 1:58 pm

I#ve jusr gone for a full Ashdown rig that I should be getting in the next day or 2. 2x 1x15" cabs and an EVO ABM 500 RC amp. I've never much gone for 4x10"a and the 15" should be right up my alley.

2x10s have always been a waste and since I have always been with the 15"s, I shouldn't have a problem. And besides, John Illey hasn't been a problem playimg there through the past 15 years

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:47 pm

Welcome to the Ashdown club! I use the ABM500 EVO II head with an ABM 410T cabinet. I picked up an ABM 115 cabinet from Ebay last night. I like the flexibility of the Ashdown gear.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 3:41 pm

The issue with 15's is they don't work in all settings. I can't use a 15 in my church setting as all I get is flab at the bottom. 4x10's kick in my environment. You have to have enough room in the venue for the 15 to "throw" the air out there and not come back. And this is from a guy who learned his chops with a 2x15 Plush cab hooked to a Sunn back in the seventies!

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:16 pm

Has any of you Ashdown owners had issues with noise and buzzing from the amp? The MK500 I bought was way too noisy and I ended up returning it. For a $1600.00 amp I expect it to behave in a professional manner!

bob_atherton · Post by **bob_atherton** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:55 am

Jeff, my first Ashdown amp, an ABM EVO500 mk 1 was very noisy. I sent it back and it was quite a bit quieter when it came back to me. I now use an ABM EVO MK II and there is almost no noise at all. I really like them. Not as much mojo as my old Hiwatt custom 100 head from 1973, but not far off.

What cab/s are you using with the head?

12stringbassist · Post by **12stringbassist** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:17 am

I use an Ashdown 4x10 with a Hartke 2x10 and a Hartke HA3500 amp. It does the business for me, though I wouldn't part with my two Trace Elliot 715 combos.

henny · Post by **henny** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:33 am

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:13 am

Ian - ever seen a BLUE trace 715 combo? i have one

12stringbassist · Post by **12stringbassist** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:55 am

These are my two TE 715's

http://www.crazeeworld.plus.com/images/guitars/ian_e/rig000.jpg

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:46 am

Mine is a later one from just before Trace shut down. Its royal blue with light blue grill and even the control panel lights up blue. never heard of another one!

jps · Post by **jps** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:09 pm

"What cab/s are you using with the head?"

I was using my two Traynor YS-15 cabs with Delta Pros in them. I really wanted to keep the MK500, the tone was amazing, but the noise and buzzing, especially when I kicked the EQ in was just unacceptable. The buzzing increased about 10dB when the EQ was in but it was still too buzzy with the EQ switched out. Not only that I needed the input gain maxed out and the meter still only read around -10 to -7 dB on average with peaks barely reading -5 dB. On all the other amps I have with input peak LEDs I have to generally keep the input around 12:00, which leads me to believe the MK500 prefers really hot active basses, something I am lacking in. I do have a lead on an older ABM 500 EVO, not the II version, that perhaps is better, but I haven't yet spoken with the owner of it.

Another issue with it was that when I put the amp in my SKB rack with the Korg DTR-1 tuner, I could not rid myself of the additional buzzing, most likely ground loop related, no matter what I did with cable routing and/or lifting of the grounds on either or both power cords.