Ashdown Mag 300 any good?

[DarkHeart]

I recently had the pleasure of plugging my amp in and it not working so im looking at buying the above, its the 2x10 model not the 115 but thats all i know about it until i see it, its priced at £190 or reasonable offer, is it worth it or should i not bother, apparently its in good nick and ill health is forcing the sale. any comments more than welcome.

[jezzaboy]

I have used a Mag300 head that used to be part of a combo, since about 2005. It`s a British made one and I like it but amps are very personal. I seem to remember the 2x10 is about 30kg in weight? It is Ashdowns biggest seller.

If it is good nick, the price is ok. Plug in your bass and find out if the sound suits you.

[phatbass787]

Would say £190 is great value. Very solid and good sounding combos whenever ive used one

[DarkHeart]

so if i can get it cheaper alls good, cheers guys!

[W11ATO]

I used one with a mag 4 x10 and couldn't fault it

[Bassmec]

I have a very old ABM EVO 115 lead slead combo that I use for practice, a very solid sound for a transistor amp, I find the MAG 300's that turn up in the rehearsal studio from time to time, to be surprisingly powerful for the spec and very reliable, if you don't go silly on the minimum ohms.
Of course the more efficient speakers you run within 4 ohms the louder the little amp gets.

[BassTractor]

My noob view is that it's very OK if not great. One needs to dial relatively much to change the sound, which starts out as somewhat traditional, warmly filtered. In my world that means that on my Bongo (very powerful pre with 4-band EQ) I rather dial on the bass itself. When I do, the MAG does show the Bongo's power, but probably far from all of it.

You should relate the price to its EVO-generation as well, as the newest ones have more functions than the old ones.
I have one from last year, meaning it's an EVO II. The new ones are EVO III. On my evo II, the compressor works after my liking, but the sub-octave is very slow to pick up the frequency - so much so that it gets to be an effect on its own on long notes - a quite nice effect I hasten to add.

I like that the layout is such that it's easy to learn which knob does what, and so it's easy to change something in a darker room. The switch buttons are small, so you may need to remember whether they're on or off, or use a little light.

Mine is 44 kg with built-in 410. The 210 may weigh some 10 kg less.

YM WILL V


best,
bert

Edited November 4, 2012 by BassTractor

[Mr Fretbuzz]

I love my Evo iii and noticed the difference plugging in my P to a Roland Cube 10w or something at my Grade 3 exam today...it sounded completely sh*te and it put me off completely :-(. Mucked up my pieces.... I must have been in shock or something :-(

[BassTractor]

Yup, IMHO a Roland Cube was the bollocks 30 odd years ago, but now you can get better stuff for less money.

best,
bert

[Mr Fretbuzz]

I think it was just underpowered and a guitar amp as well ... I've heard some of the more powerful bass amps and they seem ok

[chrismuzz]

I used one on a gig once and it sounded fine but the low end was a bit weedy. Wouldn't gig without an extension cab!

[Pinball]

After advice on this forum I got a Mag Evo2 and a separate 115T cab and am happy with it. They are solid and yet not to heavy to move around and they give a nice sound. I also like the amp adjustments. Simple and effective EQ control.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Pinball

[Mr Fretbuzz]

Nice, a 115 T is my next purchase :-)

[Pinball]

RE: On my evo II, the compressor works after my liking, but the sub-octave is very slow to pick up the frequency - so much so that it gets to be an effect on its own on long notes - a quite nice effect I hasten to add.

Yes I like that effect, makes a nice "fat" sound.

I would prefer a Mark Bass but my use doesn't justify the expense.
I suspect I would like Hartke amps as my favorite pedal is their "Bass Attack", which borrows from their amp modelling technology-not sure about their speakers for my bluesy sound.

The only other that I fancy in the Ashdown price range is the Ampeg stuff because I like the sound.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 16, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[HADGE]

[i]Iv got a 2x10 and its a great combo a bit to heavey for me but the sound is ok well worth 190 iv used it for giiggin and no probs dont think youl get anything better for the price they fetch 250 + on ebay so you wont lose if you want to sell it.Only reason i dont use mine so much now is i bought a markbass which is much lighter but im a 5 foot weaklin .[/i]

[geoham]

I have the Mag 300 Evo II head and 2x10 cab, and think it's great. The rehearsal room I use has a ABM 300 through an Ampeg 8x10. I took my head along and honestly noticed little difference between the mag and ABM. The 2x10 cab is a bit on the heavy side though.

[dave_bass5]

I gigged a non EVO MAG307 C-115 for a couple of years. It was always loud enough for our gigs but then one day it decided to distort a lot (not the speaker). I still have it and it actually seems ok now, although i dont use it. I preferred the MAG tone over the ABM300 i replaced it with (in to the same speaker)