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Why does Ashdown MAG 300 combo sound so bloody good?


Beedster

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I had an old MAG 300 head years ago that was excellent. Really loud for the rating, as well as warm and valvey sounding. 

On the strength of that I bought a newer ABM head but never dug it as much as the little MAG which I've stupidly sold in the intervening years. 

The MAG was crazily good for the price.

I've since moved on to Markbass tho and I prefer the sound overall, as well as being much smaller to carry around.

Edited by bassbiscuits
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There’s an Ashdown MAG 15combo at the jam night I used to go to. There’s nothing about it I like, nothing. It’s part of the reason I don’t go to that jam night anymore because I dislike using it that much. I used my own gear in the same pub and it simply reaffirmed my negativity towards that combo.

I had an Ashdown ABM500 a few years ago that had a fault. I didn’t find Ashdown very helpful when I contacted them tbh. They didn’t even point me in the direction of an authorised tech in my area.

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Precisions and ashdowns do sound good.

I played an R&B festival in 2015 and the amp supplied was an elderly looking Mag 300 and tatty 410. It looked underwhelming until I plugged my P bass into it and it sounded great. The year before, when I played the festival, they provided a valve ampeg and 8x10. The old ashdown sounded better.

I snapped up a, UK built, ABM 500 head on Ebay recently. I haven't had the chance to play it live yet but I'm pretty certain it will bring a smile to my face when I do.

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I had a Mag 300 head and matching 2x10 cab. I did really like the sound from it. Just straight in to the amp with no effects and it was easy enough to get a great sound.

However, both components were heavy, far from ideal when playing in city centre pubs where you are lucky to get a parking space within half a mile! Also, I found I had to really crank it on occasion - like when auditioning with a really loud band who played covers in social clubs (not metal!).

Anyway, I eventually replaced it with a TC Electronic rig. A BH550 head easily fits in the same bag as my cables and effects, and a single RS112 is enough to do the job pretty much everywhere I play. It’s about a third of the weight and at least as loud. However, I do miss ‘that’ tone, along with the Ashdown aesthetics. 

If I had a roadie, I’d definitely have a big Ashdown rig. While I’m shifting my own gear - the lighter the better.

Edited by geoham
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Ashdown head plus lightweight cab (Barefaced, in my case) is a big win. You get the tone you want without the back breaking weight. The heads aren’t that heavy (unless you opt for a massive valve beast) - in fact go for one of the wonderful Rootmaster EVO series and you are laughing. For reference I have an ABM EVO (from about 1999/2000), an RM500 EVO ii and a wonderful all valve Little Bastard :)

Edited by Merton
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Just now, Merton said:

Ashdown head plus lightweight cab (Barefaced, in my case) is a big win. You get the tone you want without the back breaking weight. The heads aren’t that heavy (unless you opt for a massive valve beast) - in fact go for one of the wonderfully Rootmaster EVO series and you are laughing. For reference I have an ABM EVO (from about 1999/2000), an RM500 EVO ii and a wonderful all valve Little Bastard :)

Spot on, I also use an ABM (600 in my case) and a Barefaced cab (Super Twin), and I have a Rootmaster 800 as back up amp. 

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On 11/10/2018 at 11:05, FinnDave said:

The problem is that one bassist's perfect tone is another bassist's terrible sound! Ashdown are very good amps for people who like amps that sound like Ashdown. Fortunately, I am one of them, but there isn'a a one size fits all bass amp as far as I am aware.

Totally agree with this. I personally can't get on with Ashdown amps, but that's down to me, my ears and my expectations. There are however plenty of people who love them to bits that probably wouldn't like the amps that I do favour.

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Two of my biggest gear-related regrets both involve Ashdown. There was an Ashdown ABM 500 1x15 combo just 15 minutes away from me for £125 that I dithered on for too long, and the other was an Ashdown MAG 414 (4 ohm 4x10) cab for £100. Annoyingly, I had the cash for both. I need to stop sleeping on the stuff that's mega-cheap and just buy it, because for those prices I could have easily got my money back if I didn't like them.

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On ‎21‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 16:24, Jono Bolton said:

Two of my biggest gear-related regrets both involve Ashdown. There was an Ashdown ABM 500 1x15 combo just 15 minutes away from me for £125 that I dithered on for too long, and the other was an Ashdown MAG 414 (4 ohm 4x10) cab for £100. Annoyingly, I had the cash for both. I need to stop sleeping on the stuff that's mega-cheap and just buy it, because for those prices I could have easily got my money back if I didn't like them.

I've only bloody done it again; less than a week since the above post, and I've let an ABM 410 for £160 pass me by.

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I used to stick a Mag 300 2x10 on top of a Hartke 4x10. It sounded nice as a 'sort of' 6x10.

Some of the push switch plastic buttons had split and Ashdown sent me a full set of replacements even though I told them I'd bought it secondhand. Top blokes.

Edited by skankdelvar
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8 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

I used to stick a Mag 300 2x10 on top of a Hartke 4x10. It sounded nice as a 'sort of' 6x10.

Some of the push switch plastic buttons had split and Ashdown sent me a full set of replacements even though I told them I'd bought it secondhand. Top blokes.

Can’t knock service like that, I had something similar with Zoom and it definitely encourages a bit of brand loyalty. Its good to see they recognise that the cost of doing the right thing is worth it. One customer publicly singing their praises on a forum like this is at least as effective as shiny advert.

Total contrast to Samsung for example,  who weren’t interested in at all when an 18 month old TV just stopped working.

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I have a ABM500 and love it especially for reggae ,soul ,rnb, etc. but in some ways i find the mag's even more usable'

set with flat eq the tone is just spot on generally without any messing about ,and as has been said they cut through the mix really well

...great amps.

   

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  • 2 years later...
On 29/10/2021 at 16:27, ChrisCanuck said:

Hi folks !  cheers from Canada !  was wondering what you folks thought of the Ashdown  MAG 300 210 combo amp..older version ?, 

going to check out a used one for a good price...good for small to medium sized gigs?

 

 

Assuming it's in working order and a reasonable price I'd snap it up. Totally fine for small gigs, works nicely with an extension cab if you find you need a little bit more oomph.

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2 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

 

Assuming it's in working order and a reasonable price I'd snap it up. Totally fine for small gigs, works nicely with an extension cab if you find you need a little bit more oomph.

Yep, I used one of these with a MAG115 ext cab as a provided rig and it was really good & powerful sounding .

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I used to use Mag 4x10 and 1x15 cabs when it was the thing to do.

Best thing I did when I fried the 15” driver ( Hartke H500 amp issue) was to replace it with a Celestion. I called the Ashdown customer service chap about their Blueline speakers. He coughed and said “Jensen” and  very candidly I thought, said Celestion, who were still in Ipswich at that time, would be a far better choice. He was dead right.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There are a few subtle differences in the MAG and Electric Blue combos made over the years. The earlier combos had the low mids swept around 220HZ whereas later units had low mids swept around 340HZ. Ashdown also varied the input gain level on the various incarnations of MAG pre-amp boards so some MAG's ( and EB's) appear punchier sounding that others because they have slightly higher input gain. The MAG combos with the ported cab also sound better in my experience. The sealed versions were slightly less thumpy at higher volume but still sound toneful.  I've owned EB's from 130/150/180/220 and MAG's from 200/250/300/600 and my favourite EB was the 150 combo 1x15 and favourite MAG was the 250 combo 1x15. Both had a very punchy and smooth delivery and sounded great in a band. Folks tend to hang on to the good examples when they come around.   

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