Reviewed by:
pathfinder, on march 15, 2005
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 439.2
Purchased from: Speed Music
Features: As a basic 100W amp, the Ashdown was never going to win any features awards, but it lives up reasonably well to any demands. It has basic bass, mid, treble controls, as well as obvious input and output levels. Another couple of nice touches are the headphone jack and the CD line input. This makes it a tad easier to practice jamming with your favorite CD's, and generally is a useful tool. There is also an external speakr jack, which comes in handy if you need extra volume. The mysterious Deep button works Ok, but is nothing special. // 6
Sound: I have played several basses through this amp, the latest being a Yamaha BB404, and I am more than satisfied with it's performance. It produces a really warm tone with the mid setting high, but can get equally deep and throaty when the bass is turned up high. For an extra kick, pressing the deep effect button lowers the tone even further, and with the addition of flat tuning on the E string, can produce a genuinly effective metal sonud. As for other styles, including rock, blues, jazz and even counry the performance is admirable, but I believe metal or hard rock are this amp's main applications. // 8
Reliability & Durability: This amp defines quality. Over the two years I have owned it (and used it in the odd gig) nothing has gone wrong with it. I'm not sure if the people at Ashdown had intended this amp for the use of regular gigging, but I would gladly use it for such a purpose. With only a small amount of care and attention (a touch of electrical cleaning spray every so often) I am confident this amp will keep on rocking for many years to come. // 10
Impression: The key to this amp is simplicity. It has enough features to warrant intrest, but not so many as to be confusing. As I mainly play rock, this amp is damn near perfect for my needs. It is as solid as a rock, and the average buyer would find themselves hard pushed to find a better quality amp at this price. Buy one now, you won't regret it. // 8
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