Ashdown & Behringer

[Jammin'John]

Are those Ashdown amps any good.
Are they reliable & easy to work on.
How about the Behringer. :?
Just wondering.......I only play bass PT
I have a Crate 150 at 4 ohm & 2 EV 15's.
I'm sick of havin' to carry both cabs to get enough headroom.The amp only puts out 100w at 8 ohms.

JJ

[4mal]

Ashdown amps seem to have a good reputation, except for smashed VU meters and from report, those don't disable the amp. There was a run of Ashdown amps a year or so ago that had some real QC problems. Something about moving the factory? From talking with a dealer it sounds like that has been sorted out.

I played through one of the 500 heads not sure if it was the EVO or the ABM and thought the tone was really, really good. The RPM-1 pre has my eye a the moment... that is the same pre as in the 500 head I played through.

The Behringer is really too new to have any history on it's side yet. I'd take a serious look at the construction and at the sound quality/noise floor though. None of the Behringer stuff that I have examined would pass muster for me.

If those EV's are 8 ohm, assuming they are in a properly sized/vented cabinet, to get them going to the point where 1 driver is going to sound full in a band setting you are going to need a bunch more power. If the EV's aren't in the right cab, then you'd need to get that corrected as well.

Just to be clear - the 100 watts of your Crate is the more serious limitation. That isn't enough power to drive 1 of those 15's let alone 2 ... I'd be thinking in the 250 watt in to 8 ohm range. Maybe an older GK800 ? Great amps and built like a tank. A Hartke 3500 is in about that range. Good sounding amp. I ran one of those into either 1 or 2 1x15 JBL's for a while. I dumped it when it ran out of gas for my current, less efficient cab setup.

[Tim Armstrong]

I've heard great things about the Behringers as far as tone, headroom and all, and decidedly mixed reviews about build quality and durabilty. But hey, they're really cheap!

The Behringer Ultrabass BX-3000T (300 watt head) into an Avatar 2x10 or 4x10 cab is the flavor of the month over at Rockabillybass.com. Decent power, very flat response, takes almost no tweaking to get a good tone.

FWIW, YMMV, etc...

Cheers, Tim

[patonbass]

i own a Behringer Ultrabass BX-3000T (300 watt head). i picked it up because i had no money at the time, but now that i have the cash from doing little bar gigs, im looking at buying a used hartke 3500, it just seems like a better amp. the price was great on the behringer but the tone is just not what im looking for, and it also has some volume issues, when i turn the master volume past 5, and the gain is at about 3 or 4, i constantly get my limit light and start to get some mushy tone from the low end. the volume problem might also be keeping up with two fender deluxe 40 tube watt amps being pushed by fulltones and tube screamers . i guess it all depends on how your gonna use it.

[Jammin'John]

Yea, 4mal........not enough power.. :( ...also I don't want to carry the big theile cabs... ....I was lookin' at the combos with 300w & 2x10's w/horn & an Avatar 1x12 w/horn. :)
Most times I could just bring the combo.
I'm guessin' that the combos probably put out 200w & that the 300w figure is with an xtra cab.
I think that it's a drag that they are made in china. :x

Also patonbass.......do you want to sell the bx - 3000t CHEAP.... :P ......it's not really the amps fault .......those 40w deluxe amps are very loud piercing amps........hope you have ear plugs.

Thanks, JJ

[patonbass]

i would sell it you if i had a backup. sorry :(

[4mal]

I'm not really high on combo bass amps. If I were headed that route, it would be a GK, probably the 700 2x10. Not exactly a light smallish combo ... but their gear is really well built. I have a head from the late 70's that still run's strong. That one was roaded for a long time and it amazes me that the power light goes on after what it went through...

In a bass rig, assuming that you are looking for room filling, clean and punchy sound, you need very large and efficient cab's OR you need a boat load of power. I gigged that ancient 200 watt GK head into a pair of 1x15 JBL scoops for quite a while. That setup got pretty loud. It easily handled the larger clubs in New England & New York where I was playing at the time. Those cabs were 2' square and 4' tall ...

That doesn't help much if you think the theil cab's are big. As I recall TL's for EV 15's are actually pretty compact... maybe 3 to 4 cu feet (20x20x18 or thereabouts, it's been a while since I've seen one of those ... nice sounding cabs as I recall though!)

I have a friend that plays in clubs around the Portland area. He owns a Pro audio company (Brownell Sound) so he has access to a lot of gear. His rig ? 1 JBL K145 in a 4 cu ft cabinet, an ART Tube EQ used as a pre-amp and around 500 watts of Hafler power. He plays a Yammy Nathan East 5 string and his tone punch and ability to fill a room are suprising for such a compact setup. I switch to ART Tube Pre's after hearing his setup.

Bottom line for me is that you ought to give those EV's a shot using a real powerful head or pre& pwr amp setup and see if just one cab would float your boat. One issue you aren't dealing with yet, is the difference between 15's and 10's or 12's. You get used to standing in front of 15's and 10's (unless we are talking 8 of them in a sealed box) just don't seem like the same thing. They can get loud, they just don't have the same impact.

Well- good luck in the hunt.

[Jammin'John]

Yea, 4mal. I have an old Carvin PA head that I have hooked up to the EV's. It is 400w @2 ohm
300w @4 ohm
200w @8 ohm
Or at least that's what they claim.
I'm scared of usin' it.
When I hook it up to one EV it seems to move A LOT.
I worry about blowin' it.
It has no compressor.
Also, in a lot of rooms I think 10's sound better.. 8) .less boomy.....crisper, quicker attack, easier to hear the note.
I don't really want to carry a 4x10.
A 1x15 with a 2x10 w/horn and 350 - 500w seems like a perfect rig. :D
Which brings me back to the original topic.
Both Ashdown & Behringer make 2x10 w/horn 300w combo's.
If I got one of those I could bring a 1x15 when needed.
The rest of the time it wouldn't matter.
I think that the Ashdown is the better product.
I guess that they are both made in China. (BOO)

What do you guys think ?
Are these throwaway items or solid giggin' tools ?

[Tim Armstrong]

I've said this before and I'll repeat myself:

Let the PA system do the heavy lifting!

I make most of my scant living as a bassist, and right now I'm gigging with a 200-watt SWR Workingman 2004 head into a 2x10 Steel Sound cab. It provides plenty of onstage volume, which is all I ask of it. I run a line-out to the PA system, and the large power amp and big speakers do the rest.

We do the same thing with our guitarist's rig, and with a mic on the bass drum and snare.

Three big benefits:

1. We don't have to play at deafening volume onstage to cover the whole room.

2. Front-of-the-house mix is soooo much easier to get right!

3. I can fit my rig in my Saturn (along with an upright bass!), and carrying it into the gig is a whole lot easier!

Big amp rigs are a holdover from the bad old days when PA systems could only handle vocals. Mercifully, those days are over!

Cheers, Tim

[Dennis_UK]

...except when they're not...
We still have to use a small PA for most stuff (300/300 watts), however, even the Ashdown EB15-150 will cope with it. And I do intend to add another 115 Mag Deep cab as well, to ensure some headroom. But the PA systems are certainly bigger'n'better than when I last played, that's for sure.

[patonbass]

hey Jammin'John,
im using your ideal rig! i made a cabnit with 2 carvin 10s and one carvin 15, and i use my behringer for power. it is a really good gig rig (would be nicer of cours with a hartke 3500 :? )

[patonbass]

hey Jammin'John,
im using your ideal rig! i made a cabnit with 2 carvin 10s and one carvin 15, and i use my behringer for power. it is a really good gig rig (would be nicer of course with a hartke 3500 :? )

[Jammin'John]

Tim Armstrong..."Let the PA system do the heavy lifting "

That would be nice but is not possible.
It won't hold the bass. :?
We ONLY mic the kick........just a little.

These are small clubs for small $$$$$$$$$$

JJ

[Aaron Schiff]

I've been using an Ashdown Mag 200 1x15 combo for the past couple years, so it was built in the UK. 38 pounds, fits easily in the back seat of a car and provides all I need for 100 to 300 people. I've had no problems with the amp since I purchased it and I really like the fact that small variations in the knobs and switches actually make a significant difference in the tone. I've got a friend with a 300 watt Sunn and 2x15 cab that she has been using since the 1970's and the tone is fantastic, but I can go to a gig in my Camry and she has to use her Dodge Cummins and a dolly.

[Tim Armstrong]

Originally Posted by Jammin'John

That would be nice but is not possible.
It won't hold the bass. :?
We ONLY mic the kick........just a little.

These are small clubs for small $$$$$$$$$$

JJ

I feel your pain, John! My gigs are generally in smallish places, and while I'm fortunate in living in a resort area where my take home is usually over a hundred bucks, I'm certainly not getting rich!

One of my regular gigs is with a zydeco band, and the bandleader has a 15-year-old Fender powered mixer run through a pair of JBL cabs with 15s and horns, nothing earthshattering. I use my 200-watt 2x10 rig, and we run a lineout to the PA, and we ROCK! Full dance floor, all out for three or four hours.

My amp alone probably wouldn't get it done, and my signal through the PA probably wouldn't, either, but between the two, no problem...

Cheers, Tim

[Jammin'John]

My mixer has enough power but I'm using EV SX100's for the front............... they are 1x12 & horn.....
great for vocals (I prefer 12's for vocals) but NOT up to handling bass.
I would like a good 2x10 w/horn 300+ watt combo.
I would like to replace my 1x15 cabs with 1x12's.

[4mal]

put that way ... I'd be comparing Ashdown and GK. The 700 2x10 combo from GK is a very strong piece.

A note on the 15's. In a proper cab, a quality 15 like your EV should have great definition and not be boomy at all. One thouht, are you raising the cab off the floor ? If not, you need to give that a shot.

Once you get your amp sorted out, maybe a re-cab for one of the 15's would be an idea. 15's are pretty much out of fashion. The good news is that means there are lot's of 15 cabs floating around for low dough. I picked up an old, but decent condition Music Man 115RH yesterday, unloaded $100. It will get a D140 mounted over the weekend. My plan is for a sealed 2x10 to top it with and then dump my current Music Man 2x12. The 2x12 is a great cab but it's real 'modern' sounding and seeing as my taste seems to be 'rev-locked' in the late 50's and 60's, we aren't a good match ... it does make an awsome cab for my synth though...

[Tim Armstrong]

...I have a spare single 15 cab that I've been thinking about selling. It's a Guild, from around 1966, presently with a 16-ohm Sun Magna speaker in it. Relatively portable, very retro. Sounds great. Might be available cheap!

Cheers, Tim

[Jammin'John]

That doesn't help much if you think the theil cab's are big. As I recall TL's for EV 15's are actually pretty compact... maybe 3 to 4 cu feet (20x20x18 or thereabouts, it's been a while since I've seen one of those ... nice sounding cabs as I recall though!)

I measured my EV cabs 20"x24"x16".
I don't know ... ...they seem big to me when I have to move 'em.
I guess a 2x10 w/horn isn't that much smaller but would be louder & cleaner & tighter. 8)
I could add a 1x15 to the rig if I had to.

JJ

[4mal]

There was a lot of Guild stuff around when I was in my teens. I had a 2x15 cab from them as one of my forst cabs. Really well built cab. Tim's 1x15 might be just the ticket if you guys are at all close.

I mounted up the MM cab and the D140 sounds just fabulous in there. I need to find another one of those!