Ashdown EB12-150

This is an older version of this combo. 150W on one 12' speaker, manufactured in England in 2003. 5 band, swithable EQ. Low and High Boost. Subharmonics is sometimes useful when you play high notes and want to add some space to your sound. However, it would be nice to be able to turn it off instantly with a foot switch, otherwise its hard to incorporate it into your bass line if it changes later on. It also has an effects loop (which I have never used) and a D.I. output which will save you life if you want to record or play a gig and you don't want to take the sound from an original speaker through a mic.

I play Japanese Fender Jazz Bass Special (Precision and Jazz pickups), no effects. The styles I play are mostly hard rock, blues rock etc.

At low volumes you can get almost any sound you want from it, but when you turn it up to play a loud rehearsal it gets a very nasty distortion and starts farting really quick. Also the EQ seems to be less effective when the amp is turned up. It definitely doesn't have a modern, hi-fi sound. Its rather warm and muddy and you really have to spend some time to find settings that would work.

Recently I have bought a 4x10 Marshall Silver Jubilee cabinet as an extension cab and discovered that the muddy sound is the fault of the original speaker. Without it the amp has a much more selective sound, is WAY louder and response to EQ changes is way better.

I actually play it in a band with two guitar players who use all tube 100W stacks and manage to get through easily.

I would rate it 8 or even 9 with an additional or different speaker.

I have had it for over 4 years. I dragged it around to rehearsals, played gigs on it and it never broke on me.

Never had to deal with them.

EB12-150 is a small, cheap, powerful and dependable amp cursed with a poor speaker.

I have been playing for about 8 years. Through that time I have tried many amps (Marshall, Ampeg, Warwick, Peavey, higher Ashdown models and more). There are better things out there for sure but this one has a great potential for its money and I don't regret buying it. If you play a softer kind of music or you just need an amp to practice or jam with your friends at home you might decide that you don't need anything else. If you play heavier kinds of rock you will definitely need an extension cab to use it effectively.

Regards from Poland.

I don't know what year the amp was made in. I play mainly rock and it works perfect for me. I haven't played gigs with (that's where i use my ampeg) but it works perfectly in rehearsel. I combine the top with a Peavey cabinet. I expect that with a better cabinet i will try it out in a gig. Now the standard 12" speaker is a little too small.
Another thing I really like about the amp is it's simple setup. Seven main knobs (of good quality i must say): Input, bass, 220Hz, Middle, 1.6KHz, Treble, Output. Further more it has a D.I., In/Out Deep, In/Out Bright, In/Out EQ and a sub harmonics knob (wich I don't use).
For use in home as a rehearsel combo I don't think there's better amp, It's not too big and it's certainly loud enough.

I play a Vester Clipper-1 5 string. Without the extra cabinet the 12" speaker doesn't really cut the low B-string. The amp is certainly not noisy. It has a good sound for rock (that's what I play). But i think in the end I will try to combine the amp wit a different cabinet. The amp is hold back by the speaker. But for practice it's good enough. And as said before, with a different cabinet I think it's really good.

I think it's very reliable. I use it for 4 month's now and I carry it around (It's not very large. There's no problem at all. Al the knobs look and feel very solid.

I sent an e-mail twice to the ashdown help desk with questions about my amp. I told them it was not a new one (I bought a used combo). They responded very quick. The answer was very clear and friendly. I think they have a very good support desk.

I play for over seventeen years. My main amp is an Ampeg SVT-3Pro with a 15" and a 2x10" cabinet.
When my Ashdown gets lost or stolen I will probably buy another one. Perhaps with a 15" speaker.
Overall I think it's a combo with a good amp and a speaker that's a little too small. But the amp has two speaker outputs so you can use the top with two different cabinets.

Mine is a 2004, now superceded by the 12-180. I play basically contemporary Christian Praise & Worship, which is like ballads and soft rock. I won't bother repeating the specs from the other reviewer. My use is primarily practice and church performance. For features, the DI out and input meter are the two best. Least useable is the octave divider (since I play 6 strings). Would be so nice if it had 9 band graphic eq, and also if the lowest tone knob went to 29 hZ like my low B string, but it is close enough.

For Basses, I have a custom fretless six made primarily of walnut and lacewood, for a sweet warm tone, with a bartolini quad coil pickup, and also an Ibanez six with a wenge/walnut neck, mahogany body and two humbuckers and active electronics. I have played the first bass through an Ampeg B2R and Eden and Acme cabinets, then through a Nemesis 1-12 for smaller venues, and now this amp. This amp really shines for having a sweet, musical tone. I even sold my tube bass preamp for this doing it so well. I can also say I have played my Ibanez through a Crate, and it did not sound as good as this Ashdown, which was a real eye (?) opener. I also played my wind synth through this and the Nemesis. Comparison? The Nemesis was good, but this is even more musical. The tone just seems complete

No break-downs, but I am easy on it in every way. So far, no problems, and I can't afford a back up so it had better not break.

No need for support, which is probably a good thing

I have been playing for over 30 years, and I have had numerous Peavey amps (rather go without).Trace Elliot, Ampeg, SWR workingman, Nemesis, Polytone, and used a GK. This is my favorite, but a full Eden rig might be my more favorite. It is most like the Trace Elliot because I understand it is the same designer, only with more reliability.It is also no too removed from Eden equipment. Love the great tone, responsive controls, and a not too colored 12" speaker. I did not bother to compare with brands like Mesa Boogie or the rock and roll, heavy metal etc. brands because they don't have my kind of tone. I don't really think this is for a Pantera or Staind bassist, but for all the country, new age, , top 40...all the other styles, pretty good. It would shine in a quartet with piano, flute, acoustic guitar. Last word: such a warm colorful tone, so musical

Made on June 2003, It's very versatile, I play mostly Jazz, Blues and Hard Rock and the tones I get out of this tiny amp are quite good. It has one channel, a effects loop, a bright and a deep switches, eq on/off switch, sub-harmonizer Volume control with on/off switch, Input gain Rotary control, Input meter leds, 5 band eq with rotary controls, Master volume, XLR DI out and 2 speaker outputs

I use it with a Curbow XT-33 5 strings and a Fender Marcus Miller Jazz Bass, with a Boss GT-6B processor. I just got it, it sounds ok for it size, very warm. The only complaint I have is the 12" speaker, somtimes it can't hold the synth tones from the Boss, and the low tones are not so tight, at first I thought it was due to the fact that is a cheap amp($349), but then I conected to it a Hartke 4x10 TP cabinet and whoa the sound change completely. It sounded amazing, I had a gig that night I used this amp with the hartke cab, no complaints from my bandmates. I'm givin' it a 8 because the speaker, sounds really good for a 12" but it could be better and it would be great to have a tweeter installed also

I have use it on 5 Gigs and I love the tone, no freaky sounds no buzzing and it holds quite good a low B string on a 5 or 6 string bass. It looks that the little amp could handle a lot of abuse, really well built.

They responded quickly to some questions I send them by email. For a quick response on a non-sale matter, it tells me a lot.

I'm playin since 1986, I have had any kind of bass amps, from tiny lunch boxes to monolith rigs. The same applies to basses, from really pieces of shit to holy grails. I can compare this amp's sound to the SWR Redhead 210 combo, just $1000 cheaper and about 150 watts less powerful, very focused sound specially on the mid tones, very tasty for a jazz bassist. If it get stolen a would buy another one, but this time with a 15" speaker.