Ashdown Bass Guitars

The Ashdown Electric Blue 15-180 is a bass guitar combo amp suitable for uses of all types. I've only used this amplifier in the studio when the bass player of a band I was recording brought it in for the session. Ashdown is a cool company as they make some great bass amps for reasonable prices. The 15-180, somewhat obviously, boasts 180 watts of power through a single 15" speaker. It's a solid state amp and gives you a plethora of connections and routing options to work with including both an active and passive 1/4" input, 1/4" tuner output, 1/4" effects send and return, and also an XLR output for taking the amp direct out. UTILIZATION Using the Ashdown Electric Blue 15-180 isn't too hard and at the same time there is a lot of parameters and controls to work with. This includes built in compression, input and output levelers, and a three band EQ. It also has a bright switch and a sub harmonic knob that can produce some interesting full sounds. I haven't seen a manual for this and I don't think I ever will. SOUNDS The sound of the Ashdown Electric Blue 15-180 is pretty awesome. It's super full sounding and between all of the controls you can definitely get a wide array of tones. It's pretty big and should be loud enough to play shows with in a variety of venues. When recording it I took both a signal from XLR output and mic'd it up, both of which gave us some great sounds - especially the DI sound which was awesome coming straight from amp. OVERALL OPINION The Ashdown Electric Blue 15-180 is a superb choice for bass players on all levels who are looking for a great bass combo amp without spending too much money. I really like the sound of the amp and also love that you've got so much control - built in compression is a huge plus! I was surprised to find out how cheap these are. Those bass players out there looking for a top quality combo amp without the budget for one should definitely check out the Electric Blue 15-180 and the other amps Ashdown has to offer.

Ashdown has climbed their way on top of the bass amp heap. They have been able to grab a huge portion of the bass amp market in a relativity quick pace. Artist from U2 to System of the Down have used the Ashdown products on there stage and studio rooms. This bass amp is one of the best sounding and most versatile units on the market today. This head is a whopping 900 watts of extreme low end power. You get enough power to play and stage in any area or club in the world. This head can cover a ton of ground with the available tones in this head. UTILIZATION Specifications Power Output (RMS) 575W + 575W Power Requirement 230 / 115V Frequency Response -3dB at 17Hz and 30kHz Speaker Outputs Minimum impedance 4 Ohms High Instrument Input Impedance 3.9m Ohms, input range 150mV - 20mV p-p Low Instrument Input Impedance 10k Ohms, input range 300mV - 40V p-p Line Input Impedance 22k Ohms, input level 0dBu nominal Sub Output Impedance 1k Ohms, level 0dBu Nominal DI Output 600 Ohms balanced, level 0dBu nominal Tuner Output Impedance 22k Ohms, level 0dBu nominal EQ Bass +/-15dB @ 45Hz Middle +/-15dB @ 660Hz Treble +/-15dB @ 7kHz shelving Slider 1 +/-15dB @ 180Hz Slider 2 +/-15dB @ 340Hz Slider 3 +/-15dB @ 1.3kHz Slider 4 +/-15dB @ 2.6kHz Shape (Push Flat) +8dB @ 50Hz & 4kHz, -8dB @ 400Hz, filter slope - 6dB/octave Effects Send Impedance 22k Ohms, level 0dBu nominal Effects Return Impedance 22k Ohms, input level 0dBu Nominal H x W x D (mm) 158 x 610 x 355 Weight (kg) 28 SOUNDS Once I plugged into this head I immediately knew that i had a winner. The controls are a little confusing at first but after a few minutes you get the idea of how they constructed the unit. The sub control are a little tricky at first. These are the controls under the basic EQ up top. I am referring to the drive, compression, and sub harmonics. Using these sparingly and wide open will give you an assortment of optional tones and various control over how the bass EQ gets thick or thinner or more distorted. You can really dial in overall tone that will better match your bass guitar and or the pickups that you are using. OVERALL OPINION At new these units come in at around $1000. Not a bad price for the tone of this unit. This amp is much better that say a Gallien-Krueger or Hartke. This amp has a round tone that will fit in a metal band and a pop bubble gum band. The versatility is pretty much endless when it comes to fitting this amp in any band setting. I would recommend this amp to anyone searching for a great sounding bass amp that will fit any need you may have.

-307 Watts (RMS) -Puts out around 150 Watts (RMS) without extension cabinet -Controls: Input gain, Bass, Lo-mid, Mid, Hi-mid, Treble, Bright switch, Deep switch, EQ bypass switch, Sub-octave switch, Sub-octave level and Ouput gain. -DI output -Effects loop -Tuner/line output -High and low impedance inputs -Input gain VU meter -4x10" speakers UTILIZATION Nice easy to use amp, well laid out controls makes it simple to dial in a good tone. The labels on the controls make it very user friendly and I found it very easy to use despite it being my first amplifier. SOUNDS I use this amplifier with my Hohner B2A, Fender Mexican standard jazz bass and Squier Vintage Modifed fretless jazz bass and it's a great sounding amp. My main bass is the Mexican jazz bass and it sounds good even if the EQ is bypassed and the Bright and Deep switches are off. The tone stack on this amplifier I find is really nice and easy to use and used in conjunction with the Bright and Deep switches there's a lot of versatility. My favorite setting is achieved by adding a little to the Mid and Hi-mid knobs and cutting slightly on the Lo-mid while leaving the Bass and Treble fairly flat, this produced a clear tone which cuts through in a band situation and has a slight grinding edge to it using my jazz bass. This amp is vintage voiced amplifier and some people complain of a wooly characteristic to the sound of it, with my set up I don't find this amp to be wooly at all. This is probably not the amplifier you want if you're looking for a modern tone though. OVERALL OPINION I really like this amp and I'm glad that I chose it, there are lots of useful features on it which have been useful during gigging situations such as the tuner and DI outputs. My favorite thing about this amp is the EQ, it's really simple to use and can be used to create a versatile range of sounds. My least favorite thing about this amp is the weight, I really regret choosing the 4x10 combo rather than the head and 4x10 cabinet. This amp is hard work to carry up and down stairs which I've had to do for gigs and to get it in and out of my bedroom. It's really impractical for one person to carry it and even when there are two people the handles can be quite uncomfortable. If you're going to be moving this amp I'd recommend the head and cab combination rather than a combo and you're more open to cabinet options too.

(Originally written by seb_c_bien/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Solid-state amp. Passive / active input. Octaver effect (it's only a toy) Bright and deep controls, EQ. UTILIZATION Very easy to use SOUNDS My setup: Ibanez ATK-300, the amplifier head and one 15" Fender Bassman speaker cabinet. I was surprised: the sound is very warm. I find the output power could be higher but you'll have enough sound for rehearsals and live gigs. Typical classic rock sound (one might even say vintage). You get distortion pretty fast (I like that). But given that the EQ is not what I would call effective, the amp is not very versatile so you'll have to test it before buying it. The sound is always round and I like its growling low-end and the low mids. It could have more brilliance and more attack to satisfy me. I find the Deep control very effective and powerful. It produces an impressively round and wide sound. On the contrary, the Bright control is rather ineffective but it allows you to add a bit more precision to the sound. The integrated octaver effect is really bad! The comprehensive connections give you a lot of versatility, which isn't the case with the sound. You can't really compare it to an Ampeg, it's two different worlds altogether. I find the sound fatter and rounder than with an Ampeg, but an Ampeg has much more punch and power. It depends on your budget and taste. As soon as I can I'll add a 2x10" speaker cabinet to have more dynamics. I think this amp is not conceived for slapping! It sounds too round, warm and growling. OVERALL OPINION EXCELLENT VALUE FOR MONEY!