and two Acme Low B2 series II cabs. I play a Steinberger XL2 (all graphite boat-oar shape), a Kubicki Ex-Factor, and an NS Design US5 EUB.

I am very impressed with the versatility of this preamp. It can produce from very clean tones to very grindy sounds. With the vacume tube taken out of the circuit entirely, and the e.q. shape engaged, it sounds very much like a Trace Elliot amp (the designer left TE to start Ashdown), but with the e.q. flat and the tube set to about half-way, it has a nice warm sound, even making my graphite steinberger sound more organic. With the tube engaged fully, it sounds much like an overdriven all tube head, making an overdrive pedal redundant for all but the most distorted sound. In all of these settings, the tone remains very punchy and focused on all of my basses. The sub-harmonizer, a relatively subtle octaver, is perhaps the coolest feature, producing a nice sounding and wheel-tracking tone an octave lower. It sounds especially cool on my fretless EUB, but I use it frequently on all of my basses as the music determines.

The controls are nicely laid out and easy to use--it's a simple matter to get a good sound, despite the versatility the tone-shaping controls yield. Many of the features are also footswitch controllable and several have led lights to indicate that they are engaged, making it a very good preamp for live use.

The construction is very sturdy and it is really cool looking. The input level is measured by an old-fashioned needle guage that lights up and it has a large metal push-in button on/off switch. All of the knobs and slides are very sturdy and smooth feeling.

Additional features: variable crossover with separte 1/4" high and low outputs effects loop active and passive inputs

Complaints: only a mono effect loop no balanced (XLR) outputs only one full-range output relatively uninformative documentation included

To sum up: While this pre-amp has some limitations (listed above), it is a very nice sounding, versatile, well-built, and cool looking pre-amp. I don't like that I have to use a y-cord to interface with a power-amp by the same manufacturer, and can't use the stereo capabilities of the latter fully, or the latter's balanced inputs. On the whole, however, I am very pleased with it. Sound is for me the bottom line, and it sounds very good. If you play a variety of musical styles, from rock to jazz, this pre-amp would be a very good choice. For the price I paid ($395 on sale from Bass Northwest--good guys), I doubt it could be matched, let alone beat.

Construction	98%
(The rack ears are a bit thin.)
Clarity	100%
(Offers a very clean and tight tone if desired.)
Versatility	100%
(This has to be the most versatile pre-amp on the market.)
Customer Service	75%
(The documentation is weak, but they did respond to my emailed questions.)
Value	100%
(Can't be beat for the price.)
Overall	95%
(A couple of curious missing features (full range stereo outputs and stereo ef
fects loop, most notably), but a very good sounding and versatile pre-amp.)