Private company

Ashdown Engineering

Logo: ashdownmusic.com3

British amplifier manufacturer

Ashdown Engineering is a British manufacturer of instrument amplifiers, particularly for bass and acoustic guitars.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1997Founded1
Ashdown ABM-300 Bass Amplifier - input level meter angled (2007-02-24 by Andrew Plumb)
Photo: Andrew Plumb from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Ashdown Engineering is a British manufacturer of instrument amplifiers, particularly for bass and acoustic guitars.2

Corporate structure

Ashdown Engineering sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Ashdown Engineering Chelmsford
    • Hayden Subsidiary · Heybridge

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

The company was founded in 1997 by Mark Gooday, a chief engineer and managing director at Trace Elliot. When Gooday was let go by Trace Elliot's then parent company, Kaman, and prior to Kaman closing the doors to the UK distribution and factory facilities, he had been planning to start his own company. The company was named 'Ashdown' after Gooday's wife's family name, and the logo was constructed from this, his passion for cars and the Austin-Healey motor badge.

Besides bass amplifiers and cabinets, the company makes effect pedals for bass players.

Initially focusing on bass guitarists, in 2001 the company introduced a line of guitar amplifiers (50W and 100W stacks and combos) called Peacemaker. Later, more affordable models in 20W and 40W were added, with cheaper PCB technology.

Ashdown have gone on to produce hand-wired amplifiers, and set up a separate company for this, called Hayden.

From Wikipedia’s article on Ashdown Engineering, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

  • guitar amplifier

Listed on Wikidata.1

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1997Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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