As a bass legend for the past 30 years JJ Burnel is no ordinary bass player and his bass amp of choice is just as special as the man himself. The AL-JJ500 was developed in conjunction with The Stranglers bass icon with the objective of creating a versatile, rack-mounting bass amp head with a thrilling dynamic range and an ultra-clean fast-response 575 Watts RMS output section. The resulting JJ-500 head has been JJs’ weapon of choice for the past decade.

Suitably equipped instruments can be plugged in via a balanced, low impedance XLR input for the ultimate low-noise connection, with a conventional jack provided to accommodate standard instruments. The optimum input level is set by an input gain control, operated in conjunction with a classic, illuminated Ashdown VU meter. Precision tone shaping comes courtesy of a 12-band graphic equalizer, which can be switched in and out from the front panel. Unique to Ashdown Labs is a revolutionary Harmonic Emphasis circuit that actually synthesizes new harmonics which combine with the originals under variable level control to create a stunning extra top-end ‘zing’ – like permanently playing with new strings. The balanced DI output on the front panel can be switched pre and post EQ, and a tuner output with mute switch is provided for silent tuning.

The massive, shielded toroidal transformer is custom designed for the Ashdown JJ-500 and ensures a continuous, regulated supply to power huge transients across a wide frequency response.

Preamplifier features include low impedance and conventional instrument inputs, illuminated VU meter, Harmonic Emphasis, 12-band graphic EQ, switchable pre and post EQ balanced DI output, tuner output with mute switch, line output, effects loop and speaker outputs on jack and Speakon connectors.

Specification