Head of Doom Publicly Announced by Geezer Butler Himself
Shipping globally end of November 2017
Ashdown supporters will know that there has been some speculation of a special new product in the making at Ashdown HQ for a couple of months. Thanks for the positive messages on Facebook, Bass Chat and Talk Bass, guys! A couple of you were spot on with your guessing!
With Ashdown’s relationship with Geezer Butler being public knowledge since early 2016, prior to Black Sabbath’s ‘The End’ tour, many Ashdown and GZR fans have been patiently waiting for a product to be announced.
That announcement happened late last week, when the man himself, Geezer Butler posted out to his Facebook page, commenting: “This amp is the closest I have found to emulate the old school sound I had in the 70s with its punch & clarity, it has the sound of DOOM I love.”
Both Geezer Butler and Ashdown are extremely excited to introduce the Ashdown ‘Head of Doom’, a 600 Watt Signature Bass Amp Head. Hand built in the UK and designed around Geezer Butler’s very requirements.
The Ashdown/Geezer relationship has been a huge high for Ashdown’s Founder and Managing Director, Mark Gooday.
“What a moment for me personally. Having grown up playing Sabbath with a band in school and learning all the bass lines with my mate Phil, who could play any guitar lick back after hearing it once (the b*****d!). Geezer’s sound and tone was part of my bass upbringing and has stayed with me until this very day.
Geezer has used our Drop Head 30 Valve combo for practice and home use for a number of years, so after discussion of building a gig-ready rig, we naturally began by building all valve amps… however we quickly learned that Geezer wanted to achieve a sound that was a little different to this.
Geezer uses a complex combination of amp and cabinet arrangements depending on the gig, so it was a nice challenge for our technical team to overcome, with the backing and support from Geezer’s tech Terry Welty.
My son, Dan spent a lot of time with Geezer and Terry to make the project a success and I’m thrilled with the outcome. That dark look and styling, great sound and twin VU meters - nice work, Dan! All designed and hand-built in the UK. This is what we can do as a small family business and sets us apart from others.”
The Head of Doom is for bass players who seek classic, driven bass tones with phenomenal power. The HOD will be shipping globally end of November 2017.