Ashdown MAG heads

[indiegrungesound]

Further to my previous posts about getting new cabs, I now think I might be better just getting a back amp to my Hartke that puts out less than 250 watts @ 8 ohms, meaning I can just use 1 of my Warwick cabs for practice purposes.

I'm thinking about one of the newer Ashdown MAG 300 heads, having previously owned a MAG 15" combo that I had to part with. On the minus side, I was told to avoid any non British made Ashdown amps by Manc amp fixer Dave Lunt, who cited their unreliablity. On the plus side, my old one never broke down, the new ones have compressors AND I've heard them used to great effect live by bands like Warpaint & The Joy Formdable.

Any thoughts from you good people would be greatly appreciated. Ta!

[flyfisher]

I've got a Mag300 head, one of the new ones, that I bought about a year ago. I've gigged it about half-a-dozen times plus loads of rehearsals and it hasn't missed a beat so far.

[indiegrungesound]

Thanks flyfisher! What's the compressor like on it?

[geoffbyrne]

I have an original UK-built MAG 400 (485 Watt redface job - the white MAG 400's are Chinese built & are 400W) which I've gigged for the last 4 years & it's never missed a beat.

I've recently gone to a GB Shuttle 6. After an initial problem caused by a bad valve, it's sounding great. As soon as I've proved the Shuttle by gigging it, the MAG may be up for sale - no compressor, though - I use a pedal on the board instead.

G.

Edited November 8, 2010 by geoffbyrne

[indiegrungesound]

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='1015731' date='Nov 7 2010, 09:14 PM']I have an original UK-built MAG 400 (485 Watt redface job - the white MAG 400's are Chinese built & are 400W) which I've gigged for the last 4 years & it's never missed a beat.

I've recently gone to a GB Shuttle 6. After an initial problem caused by a bad valve, it's sounding great. As soon as I've proved the Shuttle by gigging it, the MAG may be up for sale - no compressor, though - I use a pedal on the board instead.

G.[/quote]
Thanks for the offer Geoff, but'll have to politely decline I'm afraid. Think I may have to hang fire until after Christmas before I shell out for anything.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='indiegrungesound' post='1014725' date='Nov 6 2010, 08:22 PM']Thanks flyfisher! What's the compressor like on it?[/quote]
Well, it seems to work OK.

I'm afraid I'm probably not the best person to advise on the detailed features as I'm not a particularly finicky about tone. That's not to say I don't care at all about it, more that I've been able to get a sound I like out of a variety of rigs (my Ashdown separates, my Ampeg combo, a friend's Laney and a rehearsal studio Trace Elliot).

I really replied regarding the reliability question. I've heard the stories about Ashdown gear but my 18 month experience has revealed no problems. But then, I tend to look after my gear.

FWIW, reliability is a difficult thing to judge by word of mouth without knowing the characteristics of the user. I'm constantly amazed when watching people who seem to have almost no idea about their gear. I regularly watch one of our guitarists plug his spare speaker output into the mixer - the approach seems to be just plug anything anywhere until something works. His fairly new electro-acoustic was terribly distorted during a soundcheck to one gig, which I eventually tracked down to a very low battery in the guitar. He didn't realise it even had a battery!

I mentioned before another guitarist who didn't bother tightening the loose jack socket on his strat for many weeks until the inevitable happened and an internal wire broke - fortuntately during a rehearsal, but it illustrates the point I'm trying to make.

I've also seen people switch off their expensive valve amp at the end of a rehearsal and immediately plonk it hard onto the floor. And don't even start me on how some people wind their cables up!

[TheRockinRoadie]

I had an Ashdown EB12-180 combo thats of non-UK origin, and like many people, i didnt have a single problem with it!
I really regret selling it, and am currently looking at upgrading to the MAG range. Every ashdown i have tried so far has been great!

[Ian Savage]

As far as I know/have heard, the ones to not touch with a bargepole are are original black-fronted MAGs (I THINK only designated as MAG250s). I had one of those, which broke down and went in for repair twice - after the third time the retailer wouldn't repair or replace it and insisted that I move up to the MAG300 (grey-faced), at extra cost to me.

Apparently, from what I've been able to ascertain (as I wasn't very happy with Ashdown at the time!) the idea was that the highly conductive magnesium alloy chassis (hence MAG) was supposed to do away with the need for cooling fans on the heatsinks, hence making the units smaller and cheaper. Surprise surprise, the MAG300 replacement I got for my (broken!) MAG250 +some money had cooling fans. Methinks someone at Ashdown dropped a major bollock with the initial series of these; although the replacement MAG I had broke down eventually too (after a couple of years' gigging), and kind of put me off the MAGs entirely.

[indiegrungesound]

[quote name='Ian Savage' post='1017107' date='Nov 9 2010, 01:40 AM']As far as I know/have heard, the ones to not touch with a bargepole are are original black-fronted MAGs (I THINK only designated as MAG250s). I had one of those, which broke down and went in for repair twice - after the third time the retailer wouldn't repair or replace it and insisted that I move up to the MAG300 (grey-faced), at extra cost to me.

Apparently, from what I've been able to ascertain (as I wasn't very happy with Ashdown at the time!) the idea was that the highly conductive magnesium alloy chassis (hence MAG) was supposed to do away with the need for cooling fans on the heatsinks, hence making the units smaller and cheaper. Surprise surprise, the MAG300 replacement I got for my (broken!) MAG250 +some money had cooling fans. Methinks someone at Ashdown dropped a major bollock with the initial series of these; although the replacement MAG I had broke down eventually too (after a couple of years' gigging), and kind of put me off the MAGs entirely.[/quote]
I always thought they were called the "MAG" range because the "ABM" ones were known as bass MAGNIFIERS. Probably me being dense mind! ;-)

Ta to everyone for the info and anecdotes! Always appreciated!

[lowhand_mike]

[quote name='indiegrungesound' post='1018962' date='Nov 10 2010, 04:34 PM']I always thought they were called the "MAG" range because the "ABM" ones were known as bass MAGNIFIERS. Probably me being dense mind! ;-)

Ta to everyone for the info and anecdotes! Always appreciated![/quote]
had a mag 300 210 combo for a few years, never a single problem with it, gigged etc, even had some fogger fluid poured nto the back of it (dont ask) and it still kept going strong till i had to sell it, now have picked up a newer mag 300 head and 410 cab.
compressor is pretty good, you dont need much of it mind as its quite punchy but suits my needs. the newer heads "seem" to have more cut on the active input than on the previous version as i have to turn the gain higher than i remember. but its purely based on memory.

As for reliability, when i was researching mine (the 210 combo so at least 3 years ago) there was alot of stories flying about, these were from the previous batches to the one i got and since there seems to have been alot less issues (think this i due to them changing quality control processes, supplies etc) so the evo2's should be fine.

[thinman]

I had a MAG300 C115 Combo and the mains transformer went pop in it. No abuse or misuse involved - only ever played into its 8 ohm cab.

I'm led to believe there was a dodgy batch of transformers and I got one of them. It also took Ashdown 6 weeks to get a replacement - all stuck on a container ship between here and China apparently. I think that's no longer an issue.

I've since sleeved it and use it as a backup head. Don't rate the sound much compared with my Hughes & Kettner head but then that's got a valve pre-amp.

[BluRay]

Just to add to the positive stories - I owned a mag 210 combo for about 18 months - and it was totally reliable. I'm fairly sure it was a non-evo non-british built one. The only problem was I got GAS for the amb range, so ended up spending more on upgrading. I've told the Mrs that I've learned my lesson, and its better for me to spend more upfront on bass stuff, which went down well.

[JTUK]

I have used the MAG EVO type a variety of times and they seem ok.
Not knocked out with them but saying that I always used to specify the Mag 15" combo from a local studio when I had to hire.

[Big Mick]

I regularly play through a MAG 300 evo2 at our jam night, it always works and the guy who owns it rates it as good value for money. The thing I'm not keen on is that it seems to get a bit growly/clanky if you crank the gain up, which may be ok if you're playing metal, but not if it's blues/classic rock/reggae/dub etc.
Is this a common trait of this model or just this particular example?

Cheers, Mick. (possibly in the market for a cheapish but good sounding head)

[thinman]

[quote name='Big Mick' post='1020404' date='Nov 11 2010, 05:07 PM']I regularly play through a MAG 300 evo2 at our jam night, it always works and the guy who owns it rates it as good value for money. The thing I'm not keen on is that it seems to get a bit growly/clanky if you crank the gain up, which may be ok if you're playing metal, but not if it's blues/classic rock/reggae/dub etc.
Is this a common trait of this model or just this particular example?

Cheers, Mick. (possibly in the market for a cheapish but good sounding head) [/quote]

Mick - probably the combination of the amp and cab - when I had the MAG 300 head (not the Evo) through the Ashdown C115 combo it was a bit woolly as a lot of people have found with SOME (but not all before someone jumps down my throat) Ashdown cabs. However, through the BFM Omnis it sounds more like what you describe - slightly unpleasant to my ears (although I do wonder if it suffered some other damage when the transformer went pop). It's not the cabs - they sound great with other heads.

[Big Mick]

[quote name='thinman' post='1020561' date='Nov 11 2010, 07:13 PM']Mick - probably the combination of the amp and cab - when I had the MAG 300 head (not the Evo) through the Ashdown C115 combo it was a bit woolly as a lot of people have found with SOME (but not all before someone jumps down my throat) Ashdown cabs. However, through the BFM Omnis it sounds more like what you describe - slightly unpleasant to my ears (although I do wonder if it suffered some other damage when the transformer went pop). It's not the cabs - they sound great with other heads.[/quote]


That's what I'd thought, it's played through a Laney 210 cab and also DI'd to the house PA and sounds ok at low volume but not when cranked up. It also sounds growly through the PA.
I'm contemplating an BFM OMNI TB15 build and would like to find a head that does a full, warm, rounded tone to go with it (at a sensible price).

Cheers, Mick.