Comments wanted on Ashdown Effect Pedals

[senmen]

Hi All,
I just had purchased three effects pedals directly from Ashdown for use with Tears for John.
The manual is saying that they are also now working with active basses and that for best result you have to adjust the input following the VU meter.
With TFJ I have now another experience. I thought that I maybe couldn?t rise the input that much but with all three pedals the same: even when the input is completely open the needle of the VU is only moving slightly. When I try a passive bass the VU movement is normal.  
Does anyone have experience with those pedals?
Is the input signal possibly put down some db when an active bass is used?
If not and if I can?t bring the signal up to normal range, will the effect not run at it?s best performance?
Many thanks for your comments.
 
Oliver (Spyderman)

[tbrannon]

Oliver,
 
I can't help you with your pedal question, but I do have an Ashdown amp and find that my Rogue doesn't even move the needle on the amp. There was a recent thread on Talkbass that discussed this issue and it seems as though the VU meter response is widely variable from amp to amp with Ashdown.

[senmen]

Toby,
yes I have the same with my Ashdown Bentley rig.
I can run my Dragon in the passive bass loop without overdriving it and while running it right in the active bass loop I get a rather low signal.
 
Thanks mate
Oliver (senmen)

[freefuzz]

my ashdown abm500 amp has the vu meter post eq. it is not really an input gain meter. try turning up the bass knob on the amp and you'll see the needle max out.
as for ashdown pedals, i don't know. but really the vu is a gimmick and a trademark which sold them a bunch of amps. don't worry about it if you get good tonal results.

[senmen]

Guys,
well I must say I sent the pedals back to Ashdown. No producing in China they are not recommendable.
You can?t get a good sound out of them and they are squeaking strongly when used with an Alembic. With a passive one it?s ok.
oliver (spyderman)