Amp advice wanted | ninehertz

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Amp advice wanted

- basstard
- My bass amp died in a puff of smoke and dead transistor last week.
  In a perfect world I'd grab an early 70s Ampeg SVT but with my meagre resources that's not going to happen.
  However, I need a good loud bass amp (preferably valve) and stumbled across this, anyone had any experiences (good/ bad/ indifferent) of the Ashton (Australia) BV300 head?
  I only know that Ashton make cheapo guitars. The name put me off a bit but the amp is 300 watts (6 x KT88s) of valves for £300! I'm very tempted but would appreciate any info.
- [14:16 on 23/09/11]
- Gareth
- No idea but I re-posted it on basschat.co.uk. If anyone will know, they will.
- [16:05 on 23/09/11]
- Gareth
- Doesn't look great by all accounts.
- [11:27 on 26/09/11]
- basstard
- Cheers for that. Like I suspected, it sounds a bit cheap and nasty rather than a £1000 beast in £300 sheep's clothing.
  Think I'll pass on it and trawl the usual ebay and music shop avenues for second hand gear.
- [17:38 on 26/09/11]
- Gareth
- basstard says:
  Cheers for that. Like I suspected, it sounds a bit cheap and nasty rather than a £1000 beast in £300 sheep's clothing.
  Think I'll pass on it and trawl the usual ebay and music shop avenues for second hand gear.
  
  Check the for sale section on there, there's usually some good stuff for reasonable money.
- [17:55 on 26/09/11]
- Ollie
- Our bassist was using an Ampeg SVT for years until it started playing up. It's fixed now but in the meantime he bought an Orange Bass terror brand new for about £450. The thing is incredible. It sounds better than the Ampeg, is the size of a toaster so very portable, cheap, reliable and overall awesome. It isn't fully valve but does have a valve in the pre-amp. He runs it through the Ampeg 8x10 cab and we've found it has a ton of tasty bottom end on tap but has a punchier, tighter sound than the Ampeg. I can't really recommend it enough. Phil doesn't even bother with the Ampeg now.
- [09:09 on 27/09/11]
- Gareth
- I've read a lot of good things about the Oranges, they don't really do low gain sounds though. It depends if you use pedal distortion and need clean sounds. There's a Markbass Little Mark 2 head on Basschat for £350 if you need something portable with a bit more versatility.
  Amp for sale here.
  
  Reviews on talkbass here.
- [09:50 on 27/09/11]
- basstard
- Yeah, I'd been looking at the Orange Bass Terror. Had heard mixed reactions though- some were a bit dismissive of the build quality (Chinese?). Heard one in action a few weeks back which sounded nice but a bit clean for my tastes.
  Is the one in Grifter a 500W or 1000W? Does it have much dirt/ grit /overdrive when it's cranked up?
  Not so urgent any more as I've picked up an old Laney PB400 for peanuts to tide me over/ keep as back-up. Still looking for a more permanent set up though.
- [10:20 on 27/09/11]
- Jack
- I might get a Tiny Terror to use for practice, getting bored of hauling my Thor head around, but still going to use that live. Also makes a perfect tour backup
- [11:06 on 27/09/11]
- Ollie
- basstard says:
  Yeah, I'd been looking at the Orange Bass Terror. Had heard mixed reactions though- some were a bit dismissive of the build quality (Chinese?). Heard one in action a few weeks back which sounded nice but a bit clean for my tastes.
  Is the one in Grifter a 500W or 1000W? Does it have much dirt/ grit /overdrive when it's cranked up?
  Not so urgent any more as I've picked up an old Laney PB400 for peanuts to tide me over/ keep as back-up. Still looking for a more permanent set up though.
  
  It seems to be pretty sturdy, it's a fully metal chassis with a metal casing. Phil's been using it for over a year now without a hitch and it's been all over the place with us. As for the gain, not really sure...it's that fucking loud Phil never seems to get to wind it up beyond about 3-4 on the volume scale and it's deafening...and it's only the 500w version. He occasionally sticks a Bass Muff in front of it...but that's usually a short lived thing til he realises the amp sounds better without it. All the bass tones on the album are done with that set up so have a little listen to that.
  
  I'd like to try out a Tiny Terror but to be honest, Phil is so fucking loud at practice...an so is Foz for that matter, I don't think 15 watts would cut through enough. Could be tasty for recording though
- [11:17 on 27/09/11]
- WickedWesticle
- Jack says:
  I might get a Tiny Terror to use for practice, getting bored of hauling my Thor head around, but still going to use that live. Also makes a perfect tour backup
  
  Pete had one for a while and it was cool but only one channel - I guess you use pedals for distortion though so should be cool.
- [11:58 on 27/09/11]
- Jack
- Yeah my amp is only one channel, well unless I was to use two leads and a switcher. I like the pedals into the amp. Still working out if I could get to a practice on a motorbike haha
  Sissy bar on the back to strap the guitar on I think!
- [12:13 on 27/09/11]
- Ollie
- Jack says:
  Yeah my amp is only one channel, well unless I was to use two leads and a switcher. I like the pedals into the amp. Still working out if I could get to a practice on a motorbike haha
  Sissy bar on the back to strap the guitar on I think!
  
  Oooh risky!!!
- [12:59 on 27/09/11]
- Gareth
- Ollie says:
  
  I'd like to try out a Tiny Terror but to be honest, Phil is so fucking loud at practice...an so is Foz for that matter, I don't think 15 watts would cut through enough. Could be tasty for recording though
  
  I don't think 15 watts would be enough. If you're after a cheap recording valve amp and you don't mind soldering, have a look at the Harley Benton GA5 head. It's the same as the Epiphone Valve Jnr head and is really easy to modify.
  [Edited by Ben at 17:07 on 27/09/11]
- [13:01 on 27/09/11]
- basstard
- Jack says:
  I might get a Tiny Terror to use for practice, getting bored of hauling my Thor head around, but still going to use that live. Also makes a perfect tour backup
  
  Cool, you got a Thor. They are pretty badass. I have fond memories of being deafened by John from Master Charger playing through his cranked way up...
  But yeah, lugging big old valve heads gets pretty tiresome- and don't get me started on bass cabs!
- [18:00 on 27/09/11]
- basstard
- Ollie says:
  
  basstard says:
  Yeah, I'd been looking at the Orange Bass Terror. Had heard mixed reactions though- some were a bit dismissive of the build quality (Chinese?). Heard one in action a few weeks back which sounded nice but a bit clean for my tastes.
  Is the one in Grifter a 500W or 1000W? Does it have much dirt/ grit /overdrive when it's cranked up?
  Not so urgent any more as I've picked up an old Laney PB400 for peanuts to tide me over/ keep as back-up. Still looking for a more permanent set up though.
  
  It seems to be pretty sturdy, it's a fully metal chassis with a metal casing. Phil's been using it for over a year now without a hitch and it's been all over the place with us. As for the gain, not really sure...it's that fucking loud Phil never seems to get to wind it up beyond about 3-4 on the volume scale and it's deafening...and it's only the 500w version. He occasionally sticks a Bass Muff in front of it...but that's usually a short lived thing til he realises the amp sounds better without it. All the bass tones on the album are done with that set up so have a little listen to that.
  
  I'd like to try out a Tiny Terror but to be honest, Phil is so fucking loud at practice...an so is Foz for that matter, I don't think 15 watts would cut through enough. Could be tasty for recording though
  
  Well, the Grifter album's had plenty of play and the bass sounds pretty sweet.
  I passed up the chance of a nearly-new 500W Bass Terror recently for £300 and now I'm feeling pretty dumb.
- [18:04 on 27/09/11]
- Podge
- if you are in / around Sheffield or Nottingham you are welcome to try out my hiwatt I'm looking to get rid of
- [05:42 on 30/09/11]

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