Ashdown RPM-1 Preamp

Made July 2004, this pre amp has selectable Valve stage, sub harmonic generator, 7-band EG with 3 rotary controls and 4 sliders, effect send and return, two-way crossover with frequency selection. I gig frequently with a 60's/70's/80's cover band and I also do a few jam nights (playing just about anything!) with this equipment - it's flexible enough to cope with anything I do it.

I play through this with a G&L L-2500 bass. The G&L has active pickups and the RPM-1 copes well with the hot input. As i said above, I play quite a variety of different styles and the RPM-1 absolutely copes with anything you can throw at it.

The valve grunt sounds fantastic full out with rich overtones, thick bass and a warm distortion. The clean sounds rings out brilliantly with clear mid and treble that manages to cut through shredding guitarists at jam nights without any problems! I've also played an Electric 6-string guitar, and electro-acoustic guitar and a couple of other instruments through this. They all sounded fantastic.

I've never heard a better amp than this.

I'm quite happy to depend on this preamp. Sadly, it was broken upon delivery, although this certainly was not Ashdown's fault. It seems the unit was delivered by a rugby team instead of a courier. The only change I would asked them to make is to package the pre-amp better during delivery, which they did.

As it was damaged upon delivery, I've dealt with Ashdown a few times. The staff were very helpful and were able to fix the unit with a rapid turnaround (less than a week). The repair was done under warranty with no questions asked. I've also bought strings and a cover for a speaker from Ashdown and they've always been very helpful when answering my queries

I've been playing for roughly 10 years now. I also own an Ashdown APM-1000, Ashdown C410-T cabinet, Squier P-Bass, Squier Strat and a G&L L-2500.

If it were stolen or lost I'd be straight on the phone to get a replacement!

There really isn't anything I don't like about this preamp, it's fantastic. I compared this to a number of amps when buying, including an Ampeg SVT amp and I prefered this by a long way... plus it's British :)

2001 model preamp. One tube for the overdrive. 7 band EQ, EQ in/out switch, EQ flat/shape switch, drive knob, Octave control, effects loop, crossover, sub out, balanced and unbalanced out. Very flexible tone controls!

Sounds great with everything set flat. With the EQ options and the drive control, I was able to get a nice Hi-Fi clean, a decent simulation of my Mesa Boogie 400+, and a classic Steve Harris Iron Maiden sound. Many controls are footswitchable. Unfortunately, it's output seems a little low, I had to crank the 1000 watt power amp I was running it through and max out the volumes on the RPM. It may be better with Ashdown's power amp.

No problems other than somewhat low output, I wouldn't call that a reliability issue.

Never used

I really liked this unit, other than not being as loud as I might have liked. Ultimately decided the pre/power setup was too complicated to deal with, but it was hard to part with.

I bought my RPM-1 about 2 months ago, 8/02. What initially impressed me most is the handbuilt look and feel of the unit. Rotary knobs, sliders, and switches are all obviously very high quality. What first attracted me to this pre-amp was the sub harmonic octave generator. This produces a note an octave below the note being played, with a rotary pot to control the amount of sub harmonic gain. I've used a Hartke 3500 for the last 10 yrs or so, and this feature seemed pretty cool as a way to move some air under my overall sound. It also has a rotary control to balance between tube and solid state circutry, an interesting mix of rotary and slider eq adjustments, on/off push switches for about every feature, and a "flat" push switch to remove any tone coloration from the output. There are 1/4" outputs for a line out/tuner, and a passive sub out Xed over @ 160 hz. The feature with the highest cool factor has to be the VU metered input level. In back, there are high & low pass outputs with rotary frequency control and gain pots on the low pass output, as well as a full range output. Also, an XLR direct out, and 4db gain push switch I run the Ashdown bi-amped through a Carver PM 1.5 into Hartke 2X15 for the low pass, and 4X10, and 4X5 cabinets for the high pass. It thumps pretty good. My high rating for this catagory is because that on paper, this is a wonderfully versatile pre-amp.

I gig with a '92 Yamaha RBX 1000 with Bartolini P/J pickups and onboard active electronics, and a box stock '87 G&L SB1 fretless. Pretty much both ends of the bass sound spectrum. The Ashdown performs well with both basses BUT - The sub harmonic generator sounds more like a doubling effect rather than the smooth lower end I expected. I have to dial it out almost totally to get rid of the distinct "two bass" effect. I like the rotary/slider eq section, it's versatile and performs very smoothly with excellent tone quality. The rotary control tube/solid state control seems to use the tube to create overdrive distortion rather than the warm tube sound I expected. The tube side of the control is called "grind" for a reason, I suppose. It sounds like the SVT I played in the 70's straining to keep up with a couple of Marshall stacks. Cool sound, but rather limited range for the versatility I expected in a tube amp. I was looking for a nice fat tube warmth to go with the mwah of my G&L, and I can't seem to get it - even using the way cool VU metered input control to back off any induced overdrive from the bass itself. The solid state circut sounds very clean but still rich and deep. I play it with the rotary turned almost all the way clean. I also will probably need an outboard eq to control the transient frequencies this unit produces. Some of the lows are astounding, inaudible stuff I would imagine at around 35 - 50 hz, that rattle glasses a block away. Again like the "grind" sound it's cool, but almost nauseating to audiences, and dangerous for speakers. I can't really fault the preamp, but I don't like the idea of needing an additional eq to make my rig sound good. Perhaps a switchable low filter at about 45hz incorporated into the circutry?

I would never play without a backup and I think anybody that gigs without a backup deserves the anger of their bandmates when - NOT IF, something breaks. I've only gigged with the Ashdown a few times, and no problems yet. I'ts really too early to tell, but it's 100% so far.

No reason to deal with customer support. I don't remember the Warranty duration. If it breaks, I'll look up my warranty info and hope for the best.

I've been playing bass for about 30 years, everything from double bass to a short scale Mosrite. I've owned and used Gretsch, Kustom, Ampeg, Acoustic, and Hartke rigs - still have some of them, and judging by Ebay, wish I still had all of them! If the Asdown and I part company, I would get another one. Even though doesn't have the tube virtuosity I'd hoped for, I do love the modern/retro look and sound. Again, I am very impressed with the quality of components and manufacture. Once I get all the kinks out of my setup, and get more familiar with the unit, I'm sure I will grow to like it more over time.

I purchased my rpm1 in March of 2001. It contains a rotary knob to blend solid state and tube sound, A flat switch so that you can get the sound of your bass only or coloration from the amp, and EQ on and off where you can activate the onboard tone controls, and a switch that allows you to activate a sub harmonic effect. You can also run this amp in standard or biamp mod and it also has a seperate out where you can run a power cabinet under 130hz. It and contains the standard pre-post direct out.

To give you an idea of the sound of this amp when I first fired it up the other members of my band as well as my jaw hit the floor. This is the amp I have been looking for. I own peavey, ampeg, hartke, roland, alembic and although I love my alembic the ashdown is by far the most impressive amp I have ever played. This amp has so much clean bottom and the mids and highs have great presence. I play classic rock, soul, blues, and some country and I am never at a lose for the right sound. I run the preamp through a mackie 1400i and a variety of cabinets depending on the job. My basses are a G&L 2000 and a SD Curlee with emg active p-bass pick ups and active emg preamp.

My first unit arrived with a hum, read the customer support section and yes it's true. My second unit has performed flawlessly. Would I perform with out a back up? No, I feel that anyone who goes anywhere with out a back up is an idiot.

My story here isn't the greatest but I'll give you a brief synopsis. My amp arrived with a 180 cycle hum, I called Bass northwest and they said that they had no more units in stock but I can return it for a full refund or have it serviced. I was so impressed with the sound I decided to have it serviced.I then sent I to the factory service rep, NXT Generation. Between Ashdown and HHB who is their US distributor I was given the old shell game{3 months worth}. I can not express in words how helpful and professional Bass North West and NXT Generation were. Use these guys whenever you can. So you my ask how did this all end? I e-mailed John Entwistle's company and the made some calls for me and with in two days I was being shipped a new head. Those guys are absolutely awesome. I feel my story is the exception and not the norm, I would buy Ashdown products again. I also feel that Ashdown and HHB could have given me much better customer service or at least a ashdown jacket for my inconvience. {instead I got a slightly nasty letter from Ashdown for some employee who didn't have the balls to sign the E-mail} One again God Bless John Entwistle, Bass North West and NXT Generation, these guys are true professionals and they are the best I have found in my 37 years of playing. PS buy John's albums.

Although I feel they could improve their customer support Ashdown makes one tremendous amplifier. I would not play anywhere with out this unit.There is another review who claims the amp isn't effective with its foot pedal switching, he's right. But for my application this amp is the perfect amp for me. The rating is lower than it should be because of the factory customer service. Thanks once again to Bass Northwest and NXT Generation.

BASS PRE-AMP. Made in 2000, tube and ss pre-amp with blend control (see www.ashdownmusic.co.uk)

It has switchable EQ, pre-shape, sub-harmonic, and mute.

I'd better go into detail about the features I've had problems with:

The main problem has been whilst using the foot switching options, the fault being a signal drop out when changing the status of the EQ and Pre-shape. This means that the foot switch option is reduced to merely "saving a journey" to the amp rather than providing greater freedom creatively as these settings cannot be changed satisfactorily whilst playing. Smaller problems regarding the foot switching have also occurred, for example when the sub-harmonic is used via a switch, the option is bypassed when the switch is on/closed! This is a very distracting visual reference as the switch is illuminated when the function it serves is bypassed. The same is true of the pre-shape switch, when the function is at its default setting (off, flat shape) the switch status is on. Muting and EQ options however are fine; this is quite annoying as I would think that there would be an overall operating standard which applies to every option. These irregularities in operation, although small, can be most annoying.
Lack of clear labelling (on the unit itself, the manual is not enough), is another problem, for example selecting the status of the DI ? no indication on the front panel of the status of the switch to select pre or post EQ. This would be most annoying to sound engineers, although good for bassists who are tired of having FX loops bypassed alongside EQ for the front of house sound. Perhaps you could have a separate switch to decide whether or not the sub-harmonic and FX loop are included in the DI or not regardless of whether the EQ is in or out ? engineers always want to bypass amp EQ and have control front-of-house, but they are not opposed to FX use). Unfortunately this applies to some of the other switches too ? some small graphic by each switch would not upset the aesthetics too much and would prove very useful. Another example of lacking uniformity of controls and features is apparent on the back panel too, why are the footswitch options accessed by two mono jacks and then one stereo??!

The amp is versatile enough for the music I play - alternative/metal/wierd, only the things above restrict it's versatility.

On the plus side - it has a backlit VU meter to measure input gain, this looks ace.

I use this with a Warwick Thumb 5 BO, it does sound very good - really warm and plenty of room for adjustment. Ask anyone who has an Ashdown, they will tell you - they just sound good. I didn't think much of the full on tube gain - but then it has only 1 preamp tube - a 12AX7 I think, althought it sounds great to give your sound a bit of grit. The clean ss is really nice and punchy too.

I've only had it a few months but it seems really solid in construction and I can't imagine any problems arising with it.

Now then - I got in touch with them to highlight some of the faults I was unhappy with. I got an e-mail back pretty quickly.... but here it is.


Thank you , everything is possible much of it costs money and most of it is
the norm with other products. This does not mean that we will not do this
some day but not at the moment.
Thank you for your feedback


I cannot believe they mention money costs - those switching problems is just bad design!!! It worked on my peavey and my Trace Elliot - hardly boutique amps!!! To make matters worse they say in their brochure that no expense is spared - they use all qualitly components etc.

I can't believe John Entwhistle is endorsing these things.

I like how this pre-amps sounds - don't get me wrong, this does sound good but I simply hate the fact that there are so many flaws which render it useless to me - it's not flexible.

I am replacing it very soon - I'm sure there are plenty of tone freaks out there who would love it, provided they just want to stick to their one sound and not want to switch anything on the pre-amp.

I hope that they took my comments on board and make some serious changes for any updated/ new model they choose to release.