Free stuff

I love free stuff. I love thrifting things. It gives me great joy to pay a little for something that used to cost a lot, but even better when it's free.

A few weeks ago, someone posted a nice bass rig on Facebook. It was an Ashdown of some sort and I made a comment like, "nice." A day or so later, an old FB friend, Chris, reached out and said he'd give me his old, non-functioning Ashdown head if I wanted it. I said, "Why not, if it's free, let's see what happens?"

I headed to his house in Shoreline/Lake Forest Park area last week and picked it up. He treated me to an espresso (he works for a company that makes espresso machines) and chatted for a few minutes.

I got it home and plugged it in and confirmed that, yes, it does not work. It powers up and gives a super loud hum, like an unplugged instrument cable, only louder.

Last time I had an issue with my amp, it was my Trace Elliot and I gave it to Brian Roe to fix. He had it for a week or two and for about $150, it was fixed. For the Ashdown, I reached out to him and he said he'd take a look. I dropped it off with him last Monday, Labor Day, and now I'm waiting.

He said he needed schematics for the amp, which Chris had, and he got them to me, which I forwarded to Brian. I also posted that video on Facebook, which was then commented on by Mark Gooday, who was the founder of Ashdown. Though I've heard from TB that he's not the most technical dude. Which seemed to be true as he just told me to contact his service lead, Dave Green, who then advised me to take it to a tech.

I was hoping it could be something quick and easy to fix, but I have no clue when it comes to these things. Here's hoping Brian can fix it for cheap and then I'll have a killer new amp to work with.

I realized all my amps are British: The Trace, an Orange Terror Bass, and hopefully now, the Ashdown.

Stay tuned.