SeriesAshdown MAG

During my first two years of playing Bass i used a small practice amp that had roughly 15 watts of power. Now this may be fine for strumming along to your tunes in your bed room, but if you want tone and volume a combo is the way to go. i feel that a combo is the best of both worlds. It is good for home practicing/recording and it is good for small venues. I researched the best combos on the internet for a couple of weeks. And i was attracted to the look of the Ashdown Bass amps. I liked the blue speakers and retro head-unit. And yes i know you should not choose an amp solely on the looks but hey it happens. Because i had a budget of around £500 I looked at the 4 x 10" model which putts out a powerful 307 Watts RMS. Now for my purpose of practicing and small venue gigging it was perfect. However due to my location (North-England) i was struggling to find a store that would sell the amp. After emailing several guitar shops and bass specialists i found out that the super-chain Academy of sound stocked some Ashdown equipment. So with a pocket full of cash and a car to drive a set off to the nearest store which was in Leeds. And to my luck they had the exact model in and it was in my budget, it was a good day for all. I was obviously glad to find the amp i had spent the last couple of months researching...I got it for an amazing price of just over £500. The service was great and the kind people also delivered it to my doorstep the very same day. And to them i say thank you. After taking a while to get used to the controls i found a spectrum of sound that i had previousy been unable to aquire. I have a 5-string bass that requires some decent output to get the crunch i require. And the ashdown delivered it in bucket fulls. The 5-band EQ gives a good range aswell as letting the user control every aspect of their sound. One of my favourite features was the harmonic generator. At first it sounded like a weapon used in Star Wars, but after a bit of messing i found out that i could crack the foundations of my neighbours house (slight over-exxageration). The humming growl produced when the low-B of my bass is plucked made me stop and stare at the mesmorising blue speakers in amazment. Also the Harmonic generator can be turned down to create a warm buz over rock lines or a few funk lines. In a large room the amp comes alive. The floor shakes and the tone reaaly opens up. Therefore it is a regular on my gigs. Only a few ergonomic features were a bit disapointing. The do not have deep enough wells for a decent sized hand to fit in when the amp is being carried from A to B. Also the positioning can become uncomfortable after long periods of carrying. THe only other problem was the weight, although bass amps are notoriously heavy this one is deceptive. I would struggle myself to shift it, but even with a second pair of hands it can work up a sweat. I remedied this by fitting 4 super-heavy duty casters, so that i could roll the amp around instead. So far this has been back-saving, but it does compromise on the effect of the low-end when playing loud as the vibrations do not carry as well through the floor. This is dependand on the gig you are doing as each venues has its acoustic differences. The unit itself is biuld like a brick-out-house. The speakers are very well protected by the thick metal grill. The unit itself is sturdy and safe. The corners are rounded off to save your walls and furniture and the carpet cover is resiliant. The guys and Gal's at Ashdown know thier stuff.. Finally, the amp is the best i have tested in its range. It is biult well, it holds up under pressure and it sounds gooood! i would recommend one to any bassist who is starting to play small venues and does not want to shell uot for a practice amp and a gigging amp. It kicks some serious Ash! (sorry about the corny pun). This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

When I quit gigging with my old mates, I put my bass in it's case and sold my Hartke 350w head and 4-10 cab. Ouch. Recently, I've pushed the pocket rocket as far as it will go and decided to amplify again. I did alot of research, both locally and on the web and decided on the Ashdown 300w/210 combo (I had only read good reviews of all ashdown equipment). I got a smoking deal from Zzsounds.com ($450.00 with free shipping)and although backordered for four weeks, I forgot all percieved inconvenience once I plugged in (about 90 seconds from reciept). Wow, this unit packs lots of tone. The 5-band EQ is very effective and when the input and output knobs are optimally set (for your guitar and room) it provides plenty of volume without unwanted distortion. Sub-harmonic feature is cool, especially when you monkey around higher up the neck. I tripped on that for a couple of hours last night. The VU meter is cooler in person than in photos. My Fender Jazz special is super punchy and these speakers handle every bit of it. Not much.......oh, one of my effect settings makes something metallic sounding rattle inside the head (in the high E note), sounds like a washer or something, real faint, but I've heard it. I thought this product was British, but I keep seeing markings on the packaging denoting China. Ok, so I aspire to Wang Entwistle. This feels like a macho cabinet. Nice inset handles, weighs like 73 lbs, easy to move around and through doorways. The steel grill is not real stiff, but will protect against average contact. The knobs on the head are nice and smooth, knob heads are on-there, sturdy. 300 watts/2-10's for $450-, you just can't beat this! Go ahead and check. Honestly, this unit is powerful, compact, easy to set-up, attractive, versatile and beautiful sounding. I may in the future add a single 15 cabinet, but this right out of box will rock your socks off. Great product for a great price. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

After a lot of boring research on the net I went into my local music shop knowing exactly what I wanted, an Ashdown Mag 300 H head and 4x10" cab. 'No probs' they said but a month later it still not had arrived. In the end I bought it from the net, saved over £100 on the rrp. Ashdown are notoriously slow at providing gear, but blimmy, it was well worth the wait. This gear rocks! The head is easy to use and it is obvious what each knob does. It takes no time at all to get a great sound, then using the switches it is possible to create a different sound, using the bass or treble bottons, that are just as good as the first! The cab gives a great clear sound and doesn'e break your back. Also the glowing voltmeter looks very sexy on stage. The quality is obviously not as good as the ABM range, but it is still very solidly made. For some reason I can not fathom the fx loop is on the front, which does make it look a bit messy. But I am nit picking now. The build quality is very high. You feel you could throw the gear around for years and it would still be working. My gear is fairly new, but no complaints so far I spent a long time reading reviews of gear and I am very pleased with my final descision. This amp does not disappoint! For a first amp for the semi pro player it is affordable, portable and best of all the sound quality is worth far more than you would pay for it. If in doubt, buy it! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased my combo from www.soundslive.co.uk for about £380, which is damn good! Also got a MAG 210T cab from the same place as an extension, which is also very nice indeed... The C115-250 model is not made anymore I don't think, but you can still buy it. Ashdown now do a more powerful one - the MAG C115-300. The Ashdown web site (www.ashdownmusic.co.uk) has details of the newer model, and my C115-250 looks exactly the same apart from a black grille (which I prefer). This combo is excellent, I've had no complaints about it being too quiet, and it sounds clean and wonderful. As everyone seems to be saying, the Ashdown stuff is full of tone, it's not just bass, it's what ever you want it to be. The Eq is excellent at shaping the frequency response, from warm fat sound to attacking, bitting bass. Yummy... I'm a bit of a power junkie and it would be nice to have some more power (the old MAG 400 would be nice), but money is the deciding factor. It does an English 250W RMS into 4 Ohms, and I have had complaints I'm too loud over drums and a Marshall 100W stack. Good!! And it's got the soon to be classic Sub-Harmonics as will most Ashdown bass stuff. It produces a clean bass note one octave below which that you play. It sometimes get 'confused' when you play more than one note, and seems patchy, but that's only while played quietly. Really low notes are harder to hear, which you'd expect in such a small enclosure - an octave below low B is low! There are no real dislikes I have with this amp at all. The usual complaint is that the cooling fan is noisy, you can hear it when you are playing very quietly or not at all, but that's it. When you play at moderate levels then the fan can't be heard at all - no worries. It'd be nice if it had the same "two fans but half as loud" as the ABM range, but that's the point with a cheaper range. There is nothing else to complain about, nada. Construction and general quality of the product is very good. It's well built, seems sturdy and has solid controls. While moving it about I have taken chunks out of walls and doors, and it doesn't show it. The rotary pots on the front are just nice to play with, 'cos they feel nice, sort of fluid... Sad, I know. I've made speaker cabinets before and I mainly use screwed, glued 18mm MDF. That stuff is nails, and the stuff I made is over engineered, it isn't going to break. When I first got it through the post (I didn't even have to leave the house!) it seemed a bit light at 28kgs, and compared to other combos it often is. Compared to my monstrosities, its svelt. But that's good - it's easy to move (I move it and the extension cab twice a week), it doesn't sound small! This combo by Ashdown is brilliant, I love it. If I had much more money I would of course go for the ABM range, but you can't go wrong with MAG. If I had a little more money I might have bought things the other way around: the MAG C210-250 and a MAG 115 cabinet... but I didn't. Other than that of always wanting something more, you cannot go wrong with it. It's excellent! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

(Originally written by seb_c_bien/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Solid-state amp. Passive / active input. Octaver effect (more like a toy) Bright and deep controls, EQ. UTILIZATION Very easy to use SOUNDS Now that I play Gallien-krueger I don't like this amp head anymore but that doesn't mean it's not a quality tool. It has a rather special sound. it's warm, round, raw and growling! The integrated octaver effect is really bad! This head provides best results with high gain and volume settings, otherwise it doesn't really show all its value. The sound is pleasant and nice but it doesn't match my needs anymore because it's not punchy enough. The Deep control gives impressive results and the Bright control adds a bit more clarity. The sound has a wooden vintage character and it isn't good for slapping Very good value for money but very colored sound (which might be and advantage for some...??). I don't recommend it for heavy metal or punk rock, but it's perfect for British rock, soft rock and pop. This amp has a very unique sound! OVERALL OPINION EXCELLENT VALUE FOR MONEY!