Ashdown ABM500

575watts into 4 ohms.Tube preamp that is blendable.Cool vu meter.Parametric eq-bass,mid,treble and 4 graphic sliders for high and low mids.Sub harmonic octave.Very sharply mounted in its own rack.I think this is a 2003.I power a Peavey TVX 8x10 with this head.
Many features and more than enough versatile.

Sound is really great.Here is a list of the bass heads I have owned-bought-borrowed-stole since the 80's---Acoustic 220,Peavey MK VII,
Gallien Krueger 800RB,Sunn 300T,Ashdown Mag 400.I would say with no hesitation that the ABM is the best.I admit that the Sunn 300T was an
all tube tone monster but it was also a super heavy back breaking monster and cost nearly a fortune for anual re-tubing.I love the Ashdown ABM.It is only a little warmer in tone than the Ashdown Mag 400 but it has a really nice crunchy overdrive and the mid sliders make it alot more versatile.Eventhough I really love this amp I sometimes can't describe the way it sounds.I can't seem to tell if it is more modern or more classic but it sure sounds awesome with what I am playing now.I play a Brian Moore I5 5-string and a Fender
Japanese P bass with flatwound strings.I can get real modern twang with the active Brian Moore bass but I can also get a deep bassy thud with the Fender.

Solid.I mostly like amp heads that come already mounted in their own rack.It is still young but it shows nothing but promise.It comes with a 5 year warranty so the manufacturer must know something.If anything happens I will submit another review.

I really don't know yet but again,they have a good warranty.

So far this is the best bass head I have yet to own.I have only one complaint and that is I think it is a little pricey.I wish Ashdown could provide this head for just under a thousand dollars.The only way I was able to afford the ABM at $1100 plus tax was I had to sell my Ashdown Mag 400 and some of my stomp boxes and pay the differ.I am really glad I did.I am giving a 9 only because of the high price.

Early 2002 Model first of the Evo models. Has a tube pre which is blendable, a sub harmoniser, series effects loop, tuner out, 7 band eq and output mute switch.

Cool looking input variable gain stage with VU meter looks very retro.

Output only goes to 4 ohm at 575 watts making this amp a little on the pricey side.

FAT!
Has the Ampeg warmth and growl with the tube pre mixed in so is greal for Blues & Rock. Very flexible EQ so you can dial in Funk / Punk / Whatever.

The only thing it strugles with is that thin sounding SWR scooped sound that the Slappers love. Ashdown are aparently getting Mark King of Level 42 to trial out a new head specially for those Slappers and Tappers.

Has been back to Ashdown once.

Basicaly when Ashdown were growing their Guitar business in 2002 / early 2003 the quality of their bass stuff took a dive and customer service was non existent.

Things are getting better but still not brilliant. Make sure you get a late 2003 model - evo 2 or later as Ashdown appear to be getting their act together.

Asked me a year ago and I would have given this a zero.

At least they answer e-mails now even if the answer implies you must become an Ashdown zealot and never look at another makers piece of equipment again.

Good but reliability and poor customer service has left me feeling a little bruised.

If it were stolen I would buy the pre-amp with a seperate power amp as this amp only goes to 4 ohm, which for the price isnt good enough.

2002 head
great Subharmonic system great EQ and plenty of power
Tonally its great

using a musicman sterling and a p bass in a rock set up
problems with my unit are that there is excessive noise on both speaker outputs and DI outputs regardless of what bass / speaker / or room Im in

not to sure how reliable this is going to be, Ive already had to have work done on it so Im a little scared

zero customer support
very forgetful and very little call back effort or help
UK support is better but be careful if you are getting an Ashdown in the USA....support isnt good!

love the tone
love the look
love the power
but crummy customer support is where this unit scares me.......
buyer beware

2003 ashdown abm500. markII babay!

lovely, basicaly. you can get fat, bass-heavy dub sounds, mildly overdriven rock sounds, colder scooped sounds for clean funk. the eq is really powerful, i've been disapointed by eq's in the past, this thing works! the tube pre section adds warmth at lower levels, but not that much distortion when dimed. i was hoping for more distortion really. the octaver is ok, i've never used an octaver before so i can't judge really - it is good at filling out the sound at lower levels. at higher levels it sounds like a double stop, not so nice to have on all the time. but one thing about this amp's sound - it is loud! it can easily keep up with two 100w marshall halfstacks.

seems really solid after a month of pretty hard use, still doesn't buzz, still seems fresh. some of the other reviewer's amps have broken down, i'm hoping those were all markI problems!

the abm500 that the shop had on hold for me got sold to the bassist from some shitty indie band, so they gave me the abm300 till the 500 got delivered. it took 3 weeks, but i think that was just because of the mark II changeover thing. they did give me a free t-shirt when my 500 came in, so i shall give them a 10!

i enjoy using this amp, it beats my old peavey firebass hands down, and somehow manages to sound better than the svt-3 i'd been drooling over. if it were stolen i'd probably get an all-tube svt, this amp is great, but the svt-cl is better! i give it a 9, it's not quite perfection but it's close enough for funk!

The sound was really nice. very deep and warm bass tone. the tube sound was ok. The subharmonizer was also ok, but in my opnion useless.
The only thing is that it lacks on power. rated 520 watts @ 4 ohm. It wasn't good enough for me, mayby because i've got some speakers that need al lot of power to get loud. I't just dissapointed me compared to my old dynacord reference 4000 amp, wich has 420 watts @ 8 ohm.

Here it comes...
my first amp (brand new) made a slightly rinkling sound at certain tones, very irritating!. also the volume and tone pots were noisy. Also when the VU-meter peaked it stays all the way up to the right.
So i returned the amp and get it fixed by the ashdown dealer in The Netherlands. After 2 weeks it returned, the Vu-meter was fixed but the other problems where still there. So i returned it again...
The dutch dealer was very dissapointed, he'd send me a new one... but it wasn't on stock! (probably because it was the rackmount version). I would get as soon as possible a abm500. until mine was available again in The Netherlands.

Bad luck All those people of asdown holland where at the frankfurter musik messe! it took a month when i got the replacement amp!
so i called to pick it up, but my dealer said to forget it because the amp has also got the same problems!

then I dicided to buy something else. it's just not reliable.

I've bought an aguilar 19" pre-amp hooked-up to my old dynacord's poweramp. sounds much better! and way more power!

In the beginning very good and fast. but i had to wait way too long for the replacement amp.

I think the sound of the ashdowns is very cool. the eq section is really nice. It lacks power and reliability. the construction isn't very strong build for the price. D.i. sounded good.

2002 i've had it for 6 months now and it has definately grown on me, its the first serious bass amp i've bought and it kicks arse, its simple to use, got a real old look a real rock n roll amp.

i play with picks always and i play garage rock n roll its suits because of the grunt this thing puts out, i play through an ashdown quad and 15 and it is just rad. it handle high and low at high volume and you can get some hot sounds if you fiddle around, the clean and grind switch seems to cut the bass a little leaving less low end when its on high but in the middle is a nice mix

yeah id use on a gig without back up, why ..... cos i only have one amp this one. nothin has broken but the thing that does shit me is that the fuses are so hard to get to and because i rid this baby hard i'm worried something is gonna blow but hey nothins perfect it has worked good so far and still seems too.

they're good no complaints always answering emails very promptly with detailed ansqwers that clear anything up.

this and my two basses is it, my only point is that play it through a decent bass or at least some crisp pickups it can sound a little muddy if you have a shite bass. a little overpriced but i can thank my country and its weak arse dollar for that one

Made in England in 2000, ABM-500 EVO. Enough features for me, tube pre-amp (or valve as the Brits would say), three band eq with sliders in between, series fx loop. I wish it had an effects mix control, I don't use effects too much, but it should be present on an amp of this price. 575 watts into 4 ohms. I wish it drove a 2 ohm load, for versatility's sake. There is a sub-octave circuit and a low-pass output jack @ 130hz to drive the hungry lows thru a separate power amp and sub.

What I like most about this amp is that it is easy to get a great tone. The EQ is voiced well, and the power section has plenty of headroom for bass. Oh yeah, about the bass part, its HUGE. More lows and low mids than you'll ever need, then you click on the sub-octave and look out! A real spleen shaker. OK, the tones are pretty versatile but more on the SVT or Trace side of the spectrum. Thick and out front. SWR/EBS guys may not like the basic tones, but the clarity is there, it just isn't hi-fi sounding. IMHO the only thing that comes close in this price range is Aguilar, but this thing can nail those tones, too. I use it with a Music Man Sterling and the Ashdown sounds great with it.

OK, here's where it get's interesting. The first one that was shipped turned on but made no sound. I got the usual "this doesn't happen with these things" routine but they shipped another one. Cool. Now I've had it for 18 months and it started making my tweeters buzz. The pre-amp's pre-shape has lost all the high end, and it is wreaking havoc on my tweeters. HHB, the US distributor, tells me to ship it for warranty repair. The repair shop said the problem was "a bunch of bad solder joints and a capacitor that was rattling around in the chassis." Now this thing has been gigging around town but has NEVER been handled roughly or dropped, so attribute it to poor construction and quality control. I realize that I have had a different experience with these amps than others, but the lesson is: Have a backup plan no matter how solid you think your rig is. If I didn't like the sound of this machine I would have shit-canned it and bought another, but I'm sort of addicted to all that warm solid bass.

5 year warranty and thank God! HHB is quite responsive and ready to honor the warranty. Ashdown is in England so I wasn't gonna call over there and bitch, but the HHB guy said that he would pass along the quality control issues to Mark Gooday, the owner of the company. Shipped it on my dime.

Playing for 16 years. Had Trace, Fender, Supro, Yamaha, Ampeg, Peavey, and SWR amps. If it were stolen I MIGHT get another one or maybe an Aguilar, or take out a second mortgage for a Glockenklang, the world's most perfect bass amp. I love the sound, I hate the problems it has had.

What the last guy said for features. Mine's a 2002 model- the ABM 500 EVO. It's got everything a bass player needs--great eq section, effects loop, plenty of switching capabilities, and solid power.

Fender P and J basses playing rock, blues, soul, country, and anything else. It sounds perfectly natural in all situations thus far, which is more than I can say for most amps out there. There's plenty of one trick ponys around- the ABM 500 EVO can seemingly do it all with authority. And that subharmonizer...amazing.

So far, so good.

I've not had reason to contact customer support for anything so...

I've been playing professionally (gigging, touring, recording) for 16 years and I've owned scads of other amplifiers. I compared it to Eden, Ampeg, GK, SWR, Trace Elliot, as well as a variety of rack preamp/poweramp rigs...Ashdown won. Will this be the last bass amp I'll ever own? No. I'll eventually start saving up for an ABM 900 EVO.

576 watt bass head essentially with tube preamp, tube level knob, VU meter, gain, master, 7-band eq, xlr out, subharmonizer knob. it's simple and elegant and rugged. and it's light blue.

enough power? for most people, but i could use a little extra. through an 8-ohm 4x10 it can be at 10 and not kill me. but through my 4-ohm 2x12 and my fulltone bassdrive pedal, it does kill, but i'd like to get to that level without the pedal. that's the only reason it gets a 9.

through this thing i've used Fender basses (70s Mustang and Pbass) and a few guitars -- nonreverse Gibson Firebird and a 70s Ibanez guitar-and-bass doubleneck. this amp is great for SVT-like classic and stoner rock. with the Fulltone Bassdrive pedal at about 80%, and the ABM500s EQ at around 9:00Bass, 12:00Mid, 3:00High, i can play bass or guitar through it and it sounds like a jet taking off.

i've tried this kinda thing with my old SWRs and with stuff at rehearsal studios: Aguilar, Ampeg SVT, Demeter (sp?), old giant Fender Bassmans, Marshall halfstacks. the Ashdown is really has the best balance for punchy overdrive. it took me a while to understand that i needed to turn the "bass" knob down below 12:00. this thing has so much bass response even WITHOUT the subharmonizer on that i essentially had to sit down and tell myself over and over again, "it's o.k. turn down the bass knob. you're gonna be fine." and once i did it, i was astonished at the clarity and the punch and the force and 70s-ishness.

other amazing things:

1. it's light as hell. i wanted an SVT, but i'm not that much man.
2. 2 cooling fans keep it from getting too hot, despite several consecutive hours playing with the preamp at 2:00 and the master at 3:00 and 4:00.
3. hasn't failed me, ever, not even once.
4. guitar sounds amazing through it. doesn't cut through like a Marshall, but sounds thick. maybe even skullcrushing? anything at that volume sounds skullcrushing. gotta use a pedal on this one, though.

it hasn't failed me once in the year that i've owned it. i never even think of bringing a backup. my speakers are what i gotta worry about! i've seen that needle pegged at full-throttle volume, regularly, and it hasn't flinched.

i don't think they have much of a customer service network in the US. i don't remember how long the warranty is. i vaguely remember that it was for a few years and that the service center for my area is in Jersey (i'm in NYC). since they're just getting their act together in the US, i figure this'll develop in the next few years and i won't have to worry. that is, if i ever have trouble with it.

i've been playing for 18 years. the cab i use with it is an SWR 4-ohm 2x12 cab with new replacement Eminence speakers rated at 400w each. i used to have an SM900 -- it was nice, but too trebly or sterile for the 70s sounds i'm going for. the Ampeg all-tube SVT is the Cadillac of bass amps, but this Ashdown sounds so similar and is SO much lighter and SO much more reliable that i wouldn't dream of switching to Ampeg unless i had a roadie. it really sounds great. it's rich, full-bodied, with sweet highs and giant lows and can pound out big, distorted sounds like Bootsy and Stanley and Entwistle, and if you're feeing adventurous try plugging in a guitar. i love it. Ashdown, endorse my ass!

This amp is extremely easy to use. The knobs are machined well and everything works absolutely the way it should.

This amp has the best sounding solid state I've ever heard. I used to play with an all Hartke rig but the Ashdown blows it away.

Never had a problem, but I've only been using it for about three months. I would like to know if someone does have problems with it.

Never had to deal with them.

I tried a lot of bass amps when looking for my new set up. I played Aguilar, Mesa-Boogie, Ampeg...all their top of the line. I loved the sound the Ashdown had with just a basic, flat setting. This amp was designed and made extremely well. It helps that their designers came from Trace Elliot.