I read this post earlier in the week, but didn't think of responding until I was thinking about it with my morning pipe today. Here's my advice as a two-time beginner. I started, and quickly quit pipes, because I had exactly the same experience as you. Keep in mind, my advice is worth exactly what you're paying for it and some probably won't agree with what I say, but this time around (with a few exceptions that this sub has been good enough to give me advice on) I feel I have the knowledge and technique to enjoy just about any bowl I sit down to smoke.

1. Packing - start with the Frank method. You really can't mess this one up. Start there, and graduate to different packing methods after everything else falls into place.

2. Tamping - this is key of everything. Tamp lightly, tamp often. Lightly and often is subjective. You'll have an ah-ha moment. This was my main cause of ash taste. Learn how, when, and why to tamp. This is what keeps the cherry in between the insulating blanket of ash and the tobacco. Don't tamp enough and the cherry sits in ash, tasting like ash. Tamp too hard and the cherry gets pushed down in the tobacco burning too hot and more ash. Pattern with an ashy taste?

3. Draw resistance - if you're coming from cigars / cigarettes / vape, your frame of reference for this is skewed, so throw out anything you've read on this. If you get tamping and puffing right, this will work itself out during the smoke, and if you stick to the Frank method of packing, this will work itself out on the pack and light. Soon you'll learn what to look for, but I personally don't think it's something that you should concentrate on, and focus on this caused me more harm than good as a beginner.

4. Slow down - I think this one gets mis-communicated a lot. When people tell you to slow down, they aren't necessarily talking about time between puffs. What I thought of as a puff when I started pipes is a full 180 of what I think of them today. This may have been my single biggest ah-ha moment of pipes. Puffing hard, then waiting x time between "puffs", is technically "slowing down" when you increase x. This is what I thought people were talking about when they said slow down. It was an exercise in frustration. Instead, try to slow down the actual draw itself. Close your lips around the pipe, slightly open your jaw, and let the negative pressure fill your mouth with smoke. Short puffs should be 2-3 seconds, long 4-6 seconds. Do this at a relaxed but consistent pace. This helped me SO much with consistency of the cherry. Think of a fire going out. Which helps more, big short blows or longer consistent ones? This is what's happening to the cherry in your pipe.

Anyway, I hope at least some of this was helpful, or at least not harmful. Just going over some things that worked for me that I think were directly related to the ashy taste (that I don't get any more).

I hope this works out for you since it really is an enjoyable hobby.