This amp is this greatist amp that has ever been made i ordered mine of dolphin not so long ago at 9pm and it came the next day although it says that they only do next day after 3pm, the tone on this amp is amazing and the cd/line input is great because my pc speakers are not that loud to compete, cant wait till i start doing gigs with it from practising in my garage i turned it up full for a second and was way too loud for the neibours so i think it will handle good for most gigs. BUY THIS AMP!!!

Fantastic Amp, I would give this 10/10 even if it was twice the price. Looks great, nice nd portable and lots of bass for such a little thing, superb volume tone and clarity plus you can plug headphones in if you want to be quiet. All this for under £90?!? Madness, buy one now!

All I have to say is wow, this is my first 'proper' amp and its just changed everything about bass for me. I had a not so good little Fender bass amp before which sounded crappy but I didnt know any better. I got this as it wasnt too expensive but had lots of power and wow, it has totally blown me away. My bass sounds so big and fat but clear aswell. Loud too, i jammed with my friends the other night and I had no problems cutting through even with a clumsy drummer. I am so happy that I am already saving for an ABM Ashdown!

Ok, just got my J Lo pedal yesterday so thought I would share my thoughts. Gotta say in 20 years of playing and experimenting with gear this is without a doubt the best overdrive pedal i have encountered. It's very solidly built like a little tank and just begs to be stomped on! The variety of sounds is fantastic, setting the mix fairly low with drive up it just makes your bass sound warmer, more full and just generally more harmonic, everythings a little sweeter, great for blues. If you get a bit more aggressive with the controls you can make your bass just sound huge and absolutely filthy but bottom and top end clarity are retained whereas most pedals just turn things to mush. With some more tweaking i managed to get that ever sustaining cello sound which is just amazing. All this and I have only had it for a couple of days. I use a P bass through an Ashdown ABM 2x10 combo in case you were wondering. Best bit of all though is the price! I would happily pay double the asking price for this it really is that good.

Ok, got my J Lo pedal s few days ago so thought I would share my thoughts. Gotta say in 15 years of playing bass and experimenting with gear this is without a doubt the best overdrive pedal i have encountered. It's very solidly built like a little tank and just begs to be stomped on! The variety of sounds is fantastic, setting the mix fairly low with drive up a little it just makes your bass sound warmer, more full and just generally more harmonic, everythings a little sweeter, great for blues. If you get a bit more aggressive with the controls you can make your bass just sound huge and absolutely filthy but bottom and top end clarity are retained whereas most pedals I have had just turn things to mush. With some more tweaking i managed to get that ever sustaining cello sound which is just amazing. True bypass too. All this and I have only had it for a couple of days. I use a P bass through an Ashdown Classic rig in case you were wondering. Best bit of all though is the price! I would happily pay double the asking price for this it really is that good. Think i may have to buy a couple more to have them all set differently!

I have an Ashdown ABM rig that I use live with my band but needed something small for jamming around and practicing so after looking at all the options pulled the trigger on the baby of the Ashdown family the After 8.

Had it for a few weeks now and all I can say is that it is awesome. Obviously it doesnt really compete with my big rig, but for £65 this is a fantastic little amp. Nice and punchy with a great EQ and that deep switch really works. I can also plug my ipod into it and play along which is very handy when learning new tunes plus I can use headphones with it which is great for when your girlfriend is asleep and doesnt want to hear any more Rage Aginst The Machine Basslines.

All in all does what it says on the tin, superb value for money, great tone, very portable and a great way to Ashdown ownership.

This is an awesome head and after owning one for a month or so I can totally understand why so many pro's use the Ashdown ABM gear. The head is very simple to use and is very plug and play usually I just tweak the eq a bit depending on the room and I am away, the sound is warm and fat but with lots of definition that really cuts through with my band I also love valve grind as it really does give that old school valve grit to the tone, the compressor also works well and is handy for leveling out my dodgy fingerstyle when neccessary! All the main features are footswitchable too which is very cool.

All in all this is an easy to use, versatile and most importantly awesome sounding head, plus it looks very sexy with the illuminated VU! Will be holding onto mine for many years to come.

This is the one... got it all from deep solid bass sound to light popping picks. even with my passive guitars it plays some terific sounds that will complement any bass players practice session...even impressed the lead guitarist in our band...what more could one wish.

This head is stupendous for the money and its just so simple and easy to use. The EQ is really powerful and there is lots of great tones in there not just the phat rock sound that Ashdown is known for, the sub harmonic feature is really neat and great for thickening up those high up the neck moments combine that with the on board compression and youve got an awesome piece of kit for the price of a budget head, lots of power too! Anyone making the jump from bedroom to jamming and gigs cannot go wrong with this head.

Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying my Ashdown 515, the 15 inch speaker produces and nice deep defined sound and there is lots of poke from the 100 watt amp, controls are simple and easy to use and there are lots of different tones to be had if you sit and experiment. This has to be the ultimate first jamming amp for sure, and best bit of all is it costs less than £150! Cant reccomend this amp enough.

The Ashdown Freebass is awesome, well worth all the wait. I have owned serveral wireless systems this is the 1st one that I couldnt hear the difference between wired & wireless!!!, easy to set up. The Freebass is well made, very high quality finish & packaging. A lot of thought has been put into making this system, the modeller switch gives 16 great new sounds, no gimicks. Bin your existing wireless box & buy this one, it's that good! Well done Ashdown

This is one seriously cool little amp and I can't believe the price! I had a little 20 watt practice amp before this and the difference is astounding. Really loud lots of punch from the 12 inch speaker and really good eq that gives you access to lots of different tones plus a DI, Dual Band Compressor and Sub Harmonics! Really cant stress how great this amp is for the money, I wont be selling mine unless I need more power for bigger gigs and I would then probably just trade up to a bigger Ashdown!

This amp totally rocks! If you like that vintagey phat bass sound BUT with definition then you have to get an Ashdown, nice and full and loud but as I said lots of definition which means you can actually hear what you are playing which is nice! Well done Ashdown

Features :
New model MK500, 575 Watts at 4 ohms, very sensitive 12-band graphic EQ, VU Meter, xlr and 1/4 inch inputs, line out, sickeningly cool "harmonic emphasis" knob, allegedly no integrated circuits and pure all-analog. This is a fairly simple head, all things considered: plug in, adjust your eq, and go. I play in a three-piece alt-rock Police meets Radiohead type of thing, and this thing hangs in there like crazy. At first glance, I was a little concerned that there was so little stuff on the head...i.e., no subharmonic generator, no eq shift, etc...but after awhile the pure simplicity of the operation was almost zenlike. If you know what I mean...Ha!

Sound Quality :
Sound quality on this thing is nothing short of superb. I\'m running a Yamaha BB614 active bass into it (another not well known axe, but one of the best basses I\'ve ever owned tonally), and the thing just sounds unbelievable. In combination, literally the best bass tone I\'ve ever had, period. For years I ran Musicman stingrays through high-end Trace Elliot gear, and could never tweak in the tone I got with this setup in 5 minutes. You can basically dial in whatever you want because of the tone-shaping qualities of the head: scooped mids? Got it. Big rock sound? Sure. I usually dial in a fair amount of low-mid and bass, and then top it off with the harmonic generator, which gives your tone this brilliant \"sheen\" to it. Not an EQ, as the literature says: this doesn\'t boost a particular freq, but bounces new harmonics off that frequency. Which means that you don\'t get that \"Klangy\" sound, but a smooth, bassy but snappy tone, if you know what I mean. I also paired this head with an ABM410t, which is the 8ohm 410 that Ashdown makes...great sound quality, even at high volumes. I play with a very loud drummer and guitarist, and this thing maintains sound quality. Good headroom.

Overall, a phenomenally cool looking, great sounding, simple but powerful head. In the rack case, the thing looks really badass, and when paired up with the right speaker cab -- in this case Ashdown -- has an awesome tone. Interesting that Mark King decided to go with this head over his usual Trace Rig, as there are some similarities between the two heads. Probably because he gets a crapload of these free for putting his name on them. HA! As I noted, however, this seems to give you a better tone quicker than Trace ever did, and is easier to \"dial in the room\" with. Certainly more balls than Trace had, that\'s for sure. I\'m not a huge Mark King/Level 42 fan anymore, but was really into it back in the day during my \"slap/pop chops\" phase. In any event, Ashdown Labs is doing some cool stuff. Highly recommended.

Features :

5 band EQ, Deep Switch, Bright Switch, Active/Passive Inputs, Dual Band Compressor, Sub Harmonics, DI.

Goes from crisp and punchy to very deep.

This amp has plenty of power. I just use it for practicing and jamming in a smaller space with friends. It works great, has plenty of power.

Sound Quality :

I play rock music mostly, some funk. Works well in both situations. Took me a while to set the EQ just right, but there\\\'s plenty of different sounds you can squeeze out of this amp.

I\\\'ve only used this amp with passive pickups through a Fender J-Bass but it has separate inputs for active and passive electroncs.

The only thing to look out for is the input level. If that\\\'s set too high then striking the strings too hard will result in some distortion even at low volume. But easily corrected.

Overall:

For my purposes, this amp is perfect. If you want a cheap, high powered combo for jamming/practice this one is excellent. If this amp was lost (how could it get lost? it\\\'s huge)stolen i\\\'d be pissed off, then i\\\'d replace it, then i\\\'d hunt down whoever stole it.

The tone and power are great, so\\\'s the price. Has all the features and more than i could wish for.

Had one of these for a couple of months now so thought I would share my thoughts. The AAR-3 is very compact and light and easy to throw in the boot of the car with the PA speaker style handles. It feels and looks very solid and all the controls are firm and smooth.

I sing and play acoustic guitar in a rock band and used to just DI into the PA but was never really happy with my sound as well as struggling to hear myself onstage -so i decided to buy an amp and this one seemed great value for money and I know Ashdown amps are highly regarded.

Basically this thing kicks arse, it has two channels, one designed for the acoustic guitar and the other for a mic - you can use an XLR mic input jack and the amp also has phantom power if your mic needs it. The reverbs are very good and non intrusive. The amp reproduces your guitar very authentically and projects very clearly with real crisp warm sound. There is also a notch filter for helping cancel out feedback when youre playing loudly - and you can play loudly! I now have a great sound and can hear myself on stage above the rest of the band and I also DI into the PA from the amps DI for front of house.

Overall this is a great sounding, well designed and made piece of kit and best of all its about half the price of an AER with half the power.

This is the second Ashdown pedal that I have bought, the first being the Hyperdrive pedal which I love and having been so impressed by that I decided to splash out on the compressor. The pedal is housed in a very durable metal casing and all the knobs feel very solid and smooth. The VU meter lights up when you plug your lead in which is a nice touch and is protected by a pair of metal roll bars so all in all a well made pedal.

In use the pedal is nice and simple to use and after you have set your input level you can set the compression level for the low and high ranges and you can then use the eq knob to fine tune things and set your output for how loud you want things. The sound is great and its cool to be able to set the low and high ranges seperately and it smooths and adds punch really nicely, it can get a little noisy on extreme settings but in normal use and bearing in mind the great price of this pedal I am giving it full marks and will be looking into the other Ashdown pedals as soon as GAS strikes again - will be probably be soon!

Im just starting out on bass and had a crafter amp before this but wanted something of a bit better quality and tone so bought an After 8 as a friend recommended them to me and I know Ashdown has a good name. Overall I am very impressed the amp is very solidly built and the eq is very versatile with a great ranges of tones to be had with a nice smooth bottom end for such a small thing, its also got an MP3 input which is cool as I run my ipod in and play along. All in all a great little amp and superb value for money

Great demo and explanation of the pedal here on Bass Player TV by the man himself;

http://bassplayer.tv/index.html?req=1&station=bplomenzo&video=bptv/artists/bptv_g08_lomenzo3pedal

I totally agree with everything said above this pedal is totally amazing, in makes my boring solid state peavey come to life !

The amount of gain on tap is not a lot, but that it is not really the point of this pedal. The Hyperdrive is certainly the best bass effect I have ever encountered.

The 515 is one of the sweetest sounding best value amps ive ever played through in my life

The Ashdown tone which you can find in the more expensive MAG and ABM series can be found even in this their cheapest performance level amp

This amp is so well built i think you could drop a bomb on it and it would still work the thick mesh on the front protects the incredibly powerfull 15" driver, in fact i think a word of warning is in order to anyone who buys this upgrading from a 10W practice amp with an 8" speaker; THIS THING WILL SHAKE THE WALLS!, the original 515 was only 65W and used a generic 15" driver the new model is rated at 100W (and trust me its louder ive used both!) and one of the award winning Ashdown Blueline drivers found in the MAG combos and cabs

The Volume of the amp is more than sufficient to play medium-large size pub and club gigs and if you are DI'd to the PA it is more than powerfull enough to give on stage monitoring in very large venues

The input is designed with Passive basses in mind but Ashdown have allowed enough headroom for it to cope with active basses plus the inclusion of an input gain control allows you to set it up depending on the output of your bass
The controls are simple and well laid out, Ashdown market this amp to younger/newer players who are starting out gigging and want something that gives reliable good tone without too much hassle (not to say someone like me who has been playing for 4 years doesnt still aprecciate the sheer simplicity and funtionallity of the design)
The standard 3 way EQ works brilliantly and with vitrually no hassle, the addition of the deep button which gives a boost to the low end whilst cutting out some of the mid
The other great thing about the top of this amp is the headphone socket allowing this to be your only amp whether praciticing alone at home without annoying the neighbours or playing a gig and needing to hear yourself over the damn drummer! this little powerhouse has all bases covered
The last thing on top of this amp is the speaker out, this uses a 3/4" jack and will connect to an 8ohm cab this allows the amp to run a 4x10 cab if you want, it does cut the internal speaker though so i personally never found much use for it but its a nice extra to have

For such a powerfull amp it really is rather small! the sealed box literally just fits the 15" speaker inside giving the whole amp a punchy tight sound as well as cutting down on weight and making it easier to transport

The only real weakness there is with the 515 is the lack of side handles to keep down space they only included a top handle this is really a hard way to carry it and i reccomend cradleing it in your arms to move it (it will help your back trust me!)

I have played a Fender Jazz and Fender P-Bass plus a washburn and my Warwick Active Streamer through this amp and it always comes out trumps on stage im now using a Laney R3 head and cab for the simple fact i needed something louder as our drummer really is one of the loudest ive ever heard otherwise id still be using this little beasty!

It really is the best logical step for any bass player wanting something to start gigging with or even for someone who simply is fed up with lugging around a huge cab and head but doesnt like the idea of shelling out hundreds for an Ampeg etc.

Holy Sh*t! This thing kills but has clarity, most pedals ive tried just make everything mushy and my bass disappears from the mix this thing just punches through. Awesome pedal. Well done Mr Lomenzo!

Just wanted to say what a fantastic head this is, i have had mine for a couple of months now and am stilly being blown away by how great it sounds and how easy to use it is. Ive got mine partnered with an Ashdown MAG 410 deep cab and the sound is ballsy but warm at the same time but good clarity too and my sound really sits in with the band now but most importantly i still cut through and can hear what I am doing.

Think this is a fantastic head for the money and I will only sell mine when I can afford to get an Ashdown ABM head!

I tried one of these in a store and was blown away. It kills any of the marshall AS or AER at the same price. I think its the dual tweeter - the kind that you usually see in high end car speakers?? Anyway - the best feature seems to be the EQ, coupled with the phase can really add punch to my acoustics tone - i use an APX900 which has a great pre-amp already, i can't fault the sound and the build quality is amazing, not to mention the look!

Upon opening the box, the first letdown was how it had been packed, the mains lead had been placed so the plug had rubbed on the amp front panel making a few small but annoying scratches. Second moan; the amp/speaker cable, a 10' lead coiled up so tight it will be forever curly! Anyway - who needs 10' to go from amp to cab? Minor niggles I know but it's the truth!
Using my Fender '51 ri P bass & starting with all controls set at midway, the Ashdown gave me a surprise! I thought "HOW CAN THAT BE 100 WATTS?" After a bit of knob twiddling though I was very happy with the sound & volume level. In fact I can't fault the tonal range, no problems using both active & passive bass's, plenty of adjustment on the gain & EQ, with loads of punch & the 'Deep' button does exactly what you'd expect, extending the lower frequencies nicely. I think most bassists will find the tones they're looking for with a little twiddling, plenty of range on all the pots.
The 'Line in & Headphone out' are both right there on the front, so - for a practice amp - it's got everything you need!
The amp head is surprisingly heavy which gives it a solid, well made feel & actually the speaker cabinet is the same. I wondered if the drivers would be a compromise at the price, so I gently eased the grille off to find - no, they seem good quality 10" units with big voice coils & decent diaphragms. Again heavy 'for the money', makes it feel well made, solid & both units are fitted with substantial rubber feet + good strong carrying handles.

I've been playing bass guitars for 45 or so years, from building my own at 14 (with help from good old Dad), through many bands & many, many gigs!
I know what I want from a practice rig & this ticks all the boxes! My 9 star evaluation is based on Sound, Build quality, Functions + Ashdown's reputation, I can't envisage any problems with this for years to come, used as intended, I think this will knock spots off almost any other practice amp/combo & it's easy to carry as separates, amp & cab. I'm pretty sure this will cope with small venues as a gigging setup, having said that - my gigging days are long gone - I'll leave that to the youngsters!

In my book - the Five Fifteen Mini Rig = money well spent, & I recommend it highly.

PS: I always withhold one star, just in case something better comes along - but I won't hold my breath!

I needed a portable little bass amplifier and liking the look of this one plus its weight... a little under 10 pounds or 4.5kgs, I decided to take a chance on this amp. Basically it sounds fine and produces a good bass sound for practise or even home recording if you don't want to record direct. It's very well constructed with a closed back. Just a bass, treble and volume control with an input for mp3 player to play along with. Also a headphone input onboard. I use a Yamaha budget bass and it sounds fine especially on the neck pickup. Bass and treble controls work well. On the floor the amplifier is set up to angle back slightly which gives it a real good studio style look. The real surprise with this amp though came when I plugged in my Fender Strat... it produces a cracking sweet tone of real quality and coupled with a good digital delay it's just magic. I then tried my Les Paul and once more brilliant sounds and with an overdrive pedal Digitech Bad Monkey it sounds superb. Then I tried my Peavey set up for slide and once more terrific sounds! So unwittingly I have found a brilliant lead guitar amplifier that I love to play through... I shall be using it to record too it's that good a sound. This amp just simply produces a quality sound for bass and especially for lead guitar coupled with a delay and/or overdrive... is it a distant relative of the Fender Bassman!?

Wow, what a great little amp. Superb value for money, nice and loud for such a small thing and perfect for practising and quietish jams. Also had a headphone input for when you need to be quiet but mainly it just has a solid warm tone that simply sounds great. 10 out 0f 10 for the Perfect 10.

For a practice or jam session amp the Perfect Ten is fantastic. It's very loud for practising on your own, and has plenty of volume for a small jam with others.

Although I don't have much experience of bass amps, the sound seems great - especially for a practice amp.

The CD/Line input and headphone socket are useful features for playing along to a track and/or silent practice.

The only bad point is that the amp is very heavy; but at least it is very(!) solidly built.

A great bass practice amp!

I have a heavy Ampeg classic 4/10 cab, also a Hartke stack. I recently purchased a Ashdown mini 15. For small rooms IT IS GREAT. Great sound, It's LIGHT, takes up no room in the van, I dont believe how good it sounds and did i mention LIGHT! It's lighter than my Ampeg head. I am really surprised of the quality of the sound. (i play classic rock - Jbass) I am looking for a mini 4-8 to stack for larger rooms instead of bringing the Ampeg. I'm SOLD!

I ordered this as I was looking for something to practice through at home, and didn't take up too much space.

The Ashdown After Eight was pleasingly surprising package - I wasn't expecting much from a practice amp, but it actually has a nice variety of sounds, and while the output won't make your trousers flap, it provides a range of sounds that's perfectly acceptable for home practice.

I also used it for demoing at home with a condenser mic pitched between the Ashdown and a Fender Twin, and was quite pleased with the noise we got.

It is a hefty little beast, so while not being the most portable practice amp in the world, the range of tones make it perfect for bedroom practice and home demos. After I'd place my order I noticed the Orange practice combo and had pangs I could have ordered something swankier, but those pangs have long since evaporated, and I recommend this happily.

I previously had the 4x10 combo version of this amp so i knew what i was buying. Excellent head. Good range of tones and easy to set up and use. Some amps can be a bit overwhelming with the front panel littered with knobs and buttons. Most players will never need or use that stuff. The Ashdown is simple yet powerfull and punchy. Love it!!

After some web research I decided to go for the Ashdown Dual Band Compression. I own a Ashdowm (ABM EVO 500 + ABM 410T Box) Bass System and wanted to thicken up the sound a little.
In general I am satisfied with the Compressor. It does the job and is quite easy to handle. Yet there is one MAJOR problem:
It is terribly noisy. Especially when I use an acitve bass, I have to turn up the input poti very high and I get a noise almost as loud as the bass signal. The noise starts to get annoying as soon as you exceed about a third of the whole range for input and output.
Ashdown definetly needs to work on that. Right now I am not sure whether to use it live or not.
It can't be used without a noise gate, which will probably be the next item I will need to spend money on.

Not impressed with the quality of the item on arrival, the box must have been heavily dropped during shipment, 2 of the 5 knobs were loose in the box and rattled against the casing causing scratches on the surface. I fitted the knobs back into place and tested the unit, it worked but the chorus and flanger effects were nothing to write home about, or even here for that matter. I am honest and to the point about my reviews and I would say from this pedal you could get an approximate Palladino chorus but that's about it, any other settings were just nonsense BS sounds, totally unusable in a real recording or live performance. So I sold it on, ebay, where else? Some other poor sod is having it now.
Me buy from Dolphin Music again? Not likely. Lousy delivery couriers droppign gear and Ashdown was a let down too.

If this amp gives out 100 watts i will eat my hat, I found it to be gutless although it does sound nice. it would be o.k for practice in the bedroom and it would not upset your neighbours even at full volume. I was extremely unimpressed.