9/1/11

My bass amp history.

I know, real exciting stuff.

When I bought my first bass from Southpaw I picked up a cheezy Peavy combo amp to play it through. It was so crappy, but it was that "Peavy" crappy. You know, sounds kinda ok, but you can throw it down a flight of stairs and pour a six pack on it and it will work fine. I never even used it in public.

Soon after I picked up a GK 400. They were all the rage back then and for $350 it worked ok. I played it through a Dietz 15" I'd picked up for Ray Henning for $125. That combo worked well for a few years. I used it in all kind of clubs and for many nights until my neighbor lent me an SWR red head. The GK lived in a closet for the next year and a half and I used that SWR until it died. It was well used when I got it and I beat it in to the ground. So for four or five months I went back to the GK, I was not happy...

I picked up an Ampeg B-2 and at first I pared it with the Dietz, then I picked up an Aguilar 15" cab and I was swinging. That was one punchy combo. Eventually I found a deal on the Ashdown I've been using for the past couple of years. I'm not even sure why I bought it, but I really liked the combo of the Aguilar/Ashdown. Not only did I do the usual gigs all over Texas, but The Hickoids took it out west and it rocked all up and down the left coast.

Then I popped the driver in Houston (opening for Dash Rip Rock) Aguilar wanted $250 for the cheezy stamped metal replacement. I ordered a "generic" 15" driver and replaced it, then sold it with the Ampeg head.

I found a good deal (Bass Emporium) on an Ashdown 4 x 10" cab figuring it would be a perfect match. I have never been happy with the all Ashdown set up. It has never punched like a 15" cab and it has very little attack and mushy tone. None of that is good.

The cab is poorly built in many ways. It's front heavy and the handles don't counter balance that at all. The input plate sticks out too far and you could easily shear off the connectors in a van. The inset boxes behind the handles came off on the Hickoids last tour. When I  emailed Ashdown they confirmed they were held on with silicon caulk. No screws, just silicon. I had someone build a little frame around them and we silicon caulked/screwed them back on. I think it might stay this time...

I've used a TC Electronic 450 head with the Ashdown 4 x 10" in the past and I remember that sounding really nice. I'm borrowing one for the Hickoids ACL, I'll update after.