Ashdown ABM-500, Ok or Not?

ROOG

I've been offered an Ashdown ABM-500 bass amp, I wondered if they were worth going for or whether its best to steer clear?

I have got the impression that Ashdown amps can be a bit frail?

I would appreciate your thoughts.

exocet

My mate has 2 early 90's models (UK Manufactured) They are rock solid and kick out fat sound. They have a sort of hybrid preamp featuring an ECC83 valve that allows you to dial in a bit of snot. He gigs with his on a weekly basis and has had no issues.

How much is it going for? £200 - £250 for the head is around the going rate.

ICBM

No Ashdowns are rock solid.

They are poorly designed and built in my opinion. I have three dead ones of various series in my workshop at the moment - the fourth went back to its owner today, estimate refused - which is a bit higher than normal but it's fairly rare for more than a month to go by without getting one.

They do sound quite good when they are working, but I would still steer clear.

Something quite telling is that when you see professional endorsees using theirs, there are almost always two heads on top of each cabinet, one turned off but sitting there ready to go... there is a reason for that.

ROOG

Thanks chaps, I had a feeling that they might have a reputation. Can I impose a little more @icbm , what sort of output stage does it have? Is it discrete bi polar / power fets? And does it have a particular weakness? I am still quite tempted! But need to agree a price

exocet

Early ABM 500 is MOSFET, later ones are Bipolar (both are discrete devices). All I'll say is that my mate has had one of his 2 units for 4 years and he gigs around 30 times a year. This amp is a 1992 model - UK Made. I've looked inside and it looked pretty well built to me. Can't comment on the Chinese made units .

He bought the 2nd amp to drive a separate cab so now uses both at the same time.

ROOG

exocet said:

Early ABM 500 is MOSFET, later ones are Bipolar. All I'll say is that my mate has had one of his 2 units for 4 years and he gigs around 30 times a year. This amp is a 1992 model - UK Made. I've looked inside and it looked pretty well built to me.

Cheers @exocet it's good to hear that your mate has done ok by them. I am keen to know if they are repairable using simple discrete components rather than specialist ICs, so thank you for your help.

fretmeister

I had an early uk built MAG400H and it was ace. Reliable and sounded great.

Then they had their "Crashdown" phase.

I was under the impression that the latest ones were better?

exocet

The power amp is on its own PCB. It has 6 or 8 output devices (can't remember exactly now) As for repairability - I'll let you into a secret that almost undermines my earlier position. My mate blew both amps up, I was playing in his band at Christmas and he was using both amps. One is a 4 X 10 combo, the other is a head. He had the head driving a separate 1 X 15 cab. Halfway through the gig, he looses the bottom end. So he rejigs the EQ and carries on. At the end of the gig, he's wondering what happened to the bottom end - did the amp blow or was it the speaker? Hed had a few shandys and in his haste he reached behind the "stack" and proceeded to plug the outputs of both amps together. Needless to say there was a crackling and a burning smell and 2 dead amps. I pulled them both apart to inspect the damage - yes, you could replace the discrete devices but I opted to take them to Ashdown in Maldon as I live not too far away. Bottom line was that they sell complete replacement output boards - fully populated for £56 each. They charged £10 per unit to fit so for £135 I had 2 working amps. I could have saved the £20 if I'd fitted the boards myself but quite frankly it wasn't worth it. I reckon that replacing the discrete devices would have taken 3 hours because of the de soldering involved.

I forgot to say, it was the speaker that had blown. We discovered that the following day.

ICBM

The fundamental problem is the design of the power board - the heatsinks are supported only by the PCB, and are heavy enough to vibrate and crack joints on it. The fans are not properly ducted onto the heatsinks but just blow at them - and worse, due to the way the fan supply is derived, the fans actually slow down when the amp is under heavy load, which is the exact opposite of what you want. They're all like this, including the UK ones - I don't see any real evidence they're more reliable.

The speakers are crap too, especially the blue ones - just not capable of taking the claimed power, even though the power outputs of the amps are also exaggerated. And although it's a trivial fault really, the use of filament bulbs which almost always blow sooner or later in the VU meters is poor.

Like I said before, just look at any pro band using Ashdown and you will almost always see spares ready to go but not in use - even in rigs which already have two sets of amps and cabs - and think about why this is so. Yes, I'm sure that some people will have ones that don't appear to have gone faulty… yet. I know people like that too, and some of them had several years of good service before the amps eventually died.

Personally I'd rather use a Behringer, and no I am not joking.

exocet

Not wishing to be contrary and I'm not questioning your opinion ICBM because you'll have seen far more evidence than I have - I've only seen the 2 amp. Before my mate bought his 2nd Ashdown amp, he had the Behringer look a like version. He used it for a year before the mains transformer blew. It was a custom toroid that wasn't easily obtainable so he junked the amp. Mind you, they are cheap..

ICBM

Yes, I junked the only dead Behringer bass amp I've seen as well, because it wasn't economical to fix it - or at least its owner didn't think so. I also suspect they aren't as common as Ashdowns - they haven't been around as long for a start. But I've also junked three or four Ashdowns as well as fixing at least a few dozen of them (not counting replaced speakers either), so I would say the Ashdowns are probably less reliable.

Ashdowns are just badly designed and not particularly well-built - the Behringer "copy" is actually far superior in that respect, although built in a way that makes repairing the power section difficult and hence uneconomical, even if less likely to fail in the first place.

I just have so much bad experience with working on Ashdown gear I can't recommend it to anyone. I'm sure not all of it fails, but I wouldn't want to own one and rely on it for gigs simply because I see them far too regularly. I could be wrong (it might be modern Marshalls) but I think I see more dead Ashdowns than any other amp brand.

ROOG

Its really helpful to have your insight into these units guys. TBH, I'm not going to push it hard at all, a colleague of mine doesn't need it anymore and I'd like a bass amp, I want to make a sensible offer.

If it breaks I will be the one fixing it, so the time involved in the labour element isn't a concern provided that it is possible to obtain the parts. It sounds to me, from what you have said that they are made from standard obtainable bits.

I've even been know to rewind a transformer or two before now, not that I particularly want to do that again!

I will also take a look at the Behringer too. Thanks

mike257

I've not owned an Ashdown but two guys I regularly play with have owned and gigged ABM rigs (a 500 and a 900, both evoIII models) for the best part of a decade with no issues. I borrowed the 900 with matching ABM810 for a few gigs when my rig was unavailable and it was without doubt the best live bass sound I've ever had. Backed the bass off a bit, pushed the low mids and it just punched you in the guts. Sounded beautiful. I've run into my fair share a battered ones and it had previously put me off the brand but they'd generally been house rigs at venues and rehearsal studios so were carelessly abused by whichever thoughtless oiks walked in the door!

strtdv

I almost bought an Ashdown last year but ended up getting a Markbass Combo Head II for the same price (the Markbass was a bargain).

If you want something pretty cheap and a bit dirty sounding, get an old Trace Elliot. They weigh a ton though