Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

BTW Jared

The VBA head weighs more than a 410 cab! Thats what roadies are for!

Well I'm 44 and heavy gear is not my forte. This Ashdown combo is as heavy as I want to get.

That's why I have a Walter Woods! Only 7 lbs. 12" x 8 1/2" x 3" and 650 watts rms into 4 Ohms.

Here it is in my rack:

how's about a lot of little heads;

Do the girls like that?

Do the girls like that?

only if it goes to 20,

"that's 10 more innit?"

I now have an addition to my bass amp - an Ashdown 115 Compact extension cabinet. I ordered it Monday from zZounds and it arrived tonight. I like the depth it gives my notes. However, I think zZounds made an error because I ordered an "old" style cabinet and it looks like I got a newer style with the metal grille and Blue Line speaker. I think the old style had a cloth grille and regular speakers and would match up with my combo. Not only that, but the newer model is $150 more and I paid for the older model. I'll have to call and make sure they didn't make a mistake.

$150 more?

The new model is $550 and the old style is $400. I took another look at Ashdown's site and the "new " model does look different than what I have, so maybe I did get the older style. I won't complain; they sound good together, even if I lose style points by not having my combo and cabinet not look the same .

Well, so much for the Ashdown. I had it in the house for a couple of weeks and started finding things I didn't like about the combo. Fortunately, the store allowed me to return it and I wound up getting an Ampeg SVT 3-Pro head with an SVT410HLF cabinet. I think it gets a bit warmer than the Ashdown and can still be dialed in for a brighter or modern sound with all the extra pushbuttons. Plus, the equalizer is a nice feature that may come in handy one day.

I had an Avatar 210 Delta cabinet sitting around that I was going to sell, but I 'm going to hold onto it now for rehearsals or really small rooms where I don't feel like lugging a 110 lb. cabinet around. My kids are still too young to do roadie work for me.

Ron, what was it you didn't like about the combo?

no matter what amp I play through I have to have a line 6 bass pod ... then a bad amp sounds good and a good amp sounds great ...

I went to an open jam last night and the guy with the house band finally got a bass pod ... so I just plugged into his pod and used his patches ... nice warm woody patches ... I usually make patches that have more bite and distortion ... but his were good too ...

The combo is a nice amp, I just noticed that it was a bit bright for my tastes after I played it for a few weeks. There's no way to turn back the tweeter on it. Also, I didn't think the combo gave me enough depth. I tried out an Ashdown 115 extension cabinet, but then it got too boomy for my tastes. I tried the Ampeg again and thought that it had a more tonal flexibility so I could dial in a darker sound or go much brighter if I wanted. And by using a head and 2x10 cabinet, I can carry everything easier and that will get me through most jams, rehearsals, etc.

What really sold me on the Ampeg was the combination of the SVT410HLF cabinet with the head. It went as deep as I wanted without getting boomy. It's much heavier than I wanted to get in a cabinet, but that was the price I paid for the tone. I'll save it for big gigs when I can get band members to help me haul it. The cabinet has casters and a good handbar to help wheel it around. That helps because the Ashdown extension cab was a two-man carry.

By all means, I would still recommend an Ashdown audition. It was a nice amp; I just thought I came closer to my ideal sound with the Ampeg.