Ashdown mag 300

jarrydee · #1 10-30-2011, 11:28 AM

Hi everyone, I am new hear and would like to first thank everyone for all of the great information that is shared on here! I am a drummer by nature but around age 10 started to toy around with guitar because my dad has played my whole life....I have only played bass in my studio until now, my dads band needs a bass player and he asked me if I would like to do it...(I am 37 if that matters) I said yes...so i needed an amp to use for live gigs, I found a Ashdown MAG 300 for 300 bucks and bought it...What do you guys think of this amp? Not the sound, I know only I can decide if I like it or not, but for gigging will it be loud enough? I have not used it out on a gig yet and do not want to get there and not be able to be herd! Should I give it a try or go for a new amp? Remember I have never played bass live, so that is going to be nerve wracking enough, I do not need volume trouble on top of that...I am using a new Squire vintage modified P-bass...I know people look down on Squire but thats all I could afford right now, I have all my money tied up in my studio (I am an active member on gearslutz) so that tells you where all my money goes! SORRY for the long post, just wanted you all to know a little about me since I am new! Thank you all for your help and for reading this post!

Dustin Teel · #2 10-30-2011, 11:44 AM

The Mag 300 is a fine amp for the price. 300 watts is usually enough to gig with indoors and be heard fine in a 150ish person bar. I used one through a Kustom 2x15 cab and it sounded great. It's already a rather bassy head, so I would use it with the EQ relatively flat and you should be fine.

As far as being loud enough for gigs, that is going to depend on the cab you choose to pair it with. If you use the head with a 1x12 cab, it wouldn't be nearly as loud as if you used the head with an 8x10. 300 watts is plenty, it's about finding 1) a cab with enough drivers to be loud enough for what your doing and 2) a cab with drivers that aren't cheaply made and are efficient enough to handle gig volume without overdriving.

If I were you, I would buy two decent, used 2x10 cabs and stack them vertically. Carvin, Avatar, etc. comes to mind. This would put drivers at ear level for you to hear yourself, it would be portable and easier to transport than a refrigerator-style cab, and you would have the option of just using one of the cabs for practice.

Good luck!

BassBob1 · #3 10-30-2011, 11:51 AM

I used to have that head worked well, sounded good, never gave me any real problems except the push/push buttons used to fall out. It should be fine and I recommend at least 4 10's. The configuration is up to you, be it a 410 or 2 210's. Enjoy it.

NickLomango · #4 10-30-2011, 04:22 PM

You and I have pretty much the same gear. I also have a Squier VM amber and Ashdown Mag300. I play it with 2x 410 stack vertically. I just love the sound I get out of it. I also normally play a Roger Waters Sig through it, actually is my main bass. I first used only one 410 and obviously I couldn't get all the 300 watts I needed to play with my band. I have had no problems at all so far. I normally use only the EQ off the head. Also having bought 2 410 has been a good choice for me when carrying it around on my own.
As for live gigs I can't really tell you whether it could handle the job. Next Saturday I will gig with it for the first and I will let you know my impressions.
However as far as I know after so many researches on the net, it seems the Ashdown Mag300 should just do fine.
Peace

RickenBoogie · #5 10-30-2011, 04:35 PM

+1 to the responses thus far, the amp will do nicely, so long as you have enough speaker to handle it. Think 4x10 as a bare minimum, or 2x 212's, even better.

jarrydee · #6 10-31-2011, 06:03 AM

Sorry if I did not put the correct info...the front of the amp says MAG 300 but it is a combo, it has 2 10in blue speakers in it! Sorry I did not mention that...we practiced yesterday and this thing just sounded so bad...don't know what I am doing wrong, i am not a noob at sound, been mixing records for many years but I just cant get a grip on this amp....so what do you guys think now that you know it is the combo? Thank you very much for your answers, I really do appreciate your time and expertise!

NickLomango · #7 10-31-2011, 06:08 AM

If I am not mistaken you can add another cab to your combo(double check with the specs). It is like a head and a 8ohms cab but combo style + another 8ohms cab you should have no problems. As I said double check it first and don't be afraid in adding the extra cab. I am truly happy with my rig and with the Ashdown brand. Good luck, peace.

sevenyearsdown · #8 10-31-2011, 06:38 AM

I used a MAG300 for my practice rig for about two years. You should be able to coax good tone of it with the Squier (I also had a VM p-bass I used as a beater for house parties and such). What you have there is decent inexpensive gear that should sound good enough, and get loud enough to get you by.

Providing there is nothing wrong with your gear, I see no reason for that rig to sound like crap. Maybe post a pic of your EQ settings for people to comment on.

The only thing off the top of my head I recall sucking on that amp was the sub-harmonic switch. I didn't care for that effect at all so I always left it off.

jarrydee · #9 10-31-2011, 07:04 AM

Thank you very much guys, YES it does have another output for another cab! I am beginning to think it is this room, one of the speakers actually sounded blown but I checked and it is not! I will mess with it for a while today? what cab would you recommend pairing it with?

AdamR · #10 10-31-2011, 07:54 AM

I use one with a 8ohm 4-10 SWR cab. Sounds pretty good and its been loud enough for my band, 2 guitarist and a fairly loud drummer.

NickLomango · #11 10-31-2011, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarrydee

Thank you very much guys, YES it does have another output for another cab! I am beginning to think it is this room, one of the speakers actually sounded blown but I checked and it is not! I will mess with it for a while today? what cab would you recommend pairing it with?

It completely about personal preference but I would recommend a 410. At least this is what I have and I love it. I remember when I bought my rig and then only 3 months later I needed the extra cab. I wasn't sure whether to buy a 410 or 115. Went to the shop and asked to try a 410 + 410 and then a 410 + 115. No need to say which one I brought home and look that I love punchy round sounds (a la James Jamerson). I found the 410s a lot clearer and consistent altogether. Again, try your options out and pick the YOU feel is best for your sound.
Peace

Dustin Teel · #12 10-31-2011, 09:14 AM

I would pair it with another 8 ohm 210 cab. This would give equal power distribution to all of the drivers.

RickenBoogie · #13 10-31-2011, 10:33 AM

+1 since we're talking about the 210 combo, a matching 8 ohm 2x10 would be the most bestest choice of anything, being the only choice guaranteed to work well and sound betterer. Any other choice is a gamble, may be great, may completely suck.

jarrydee · #14 10-31-2011, 12:21 PM

Thanks guys, I will try a 2-10 wiht it....I dis engaged the Eq and it sounds better already!

VisualShock · #15 10-31-2011, 02:09 PM

Check the amps FAQ for info about EQing it. Also, I believe that if it has a sub-harmonic switch that pushed in turns it off, and left out turns it on (I could be wrong).

open.eadg · #16 10-31-2011, 02:25 PM

I'm using a MAG300-15 combo in our rehearsal room, and to make it sound acceptable I EQ it something like this: bass at 12 o'clock, lo-mid at 9-10, mids almost cut completely, hi-mid at 11-1 o'clock, treble at 9-13. Sub-harmonics, bright/deep switches are off. Too much mids seem to make this amp sound boomy.

gmarcus · #17 10-31-2011, 02:30 PM

What kind of music are you playing?
What it the instrumentation?
How Loud do they play?

You might get away with the combo if it is a softer acoustic group with a reasonable drummer. Make sure you set up the controls on your amp right. A P-bass should cut through well. Try this method:

1) plug into the passive input
2) set all eq controls to 12:00
3) Bright and Deep switches off
4) shut off the sub harmonic generator (it will just make it muddy and eat all of your power)
5)Play your open e string hard and adjust the input gain so it goes a little into the red on the loudest notes
6) turn up the master volume to get to the volume that you need.
7) if it is still too soft roll off some bass and increase the gain and the master volume.

A nice full beautiful sound at home will get lost with the band. You actually need it to sound kind of rough and ugly solo for it to cut in a rock band. A little distortion goes a long way. The other instruments will mask out the rough edges if they are there, but will bury a nice pretty tone.

The gain control will give you more saturation as you turn it up so you will sound louder in the mix (more mid frequencies) This knob could be your best friend, you might want to push it way into the red if you want some over drive, or just touching the red if you want a cleaner sound. P-basses sound good with some over drive. Turning up the mids a little bit will also make it easier to hear what note you are playing. Bass is kind of funny. It takes your mind a little while to figure out how to hear the pitch when you first start playing. This gets better with time.

Another thing that is important is damping the strings. If you use a pick place the palm of your picking hand over the strings at the bridge to keep them quiet other wise you get a lot of unwanted rumbling. Vary the pressure on the strings until you like how it sounds. Do a search on damping here and you will find a lot of good tips.

Being a drummer first should help. Think of the bass as a drum with pitch. Rhythm is so important for the bass player and you should have an advantage there.

Good Luck

jarrydee · #18 11-01-2011, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by open.eadg

I'm using a MAG300-15 combo in our rehearsal room, and to make it sound acceptable I EQ it something like this: bass at 12 o'clock, lo-mid at 9-10, mids almost cut completely, hi-mid at 11-1 o'clock, treble at 9-13. Sub-harmonics, bright/deep switches are off. Too much mids seem to make this amp sound boomy.

Thanks man, I will mess with those settings!

jarrydee · #19 11-01-2011, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmarcus

What kind of music are you playing?
What it the instrumentation?
How Loud do they play?

You might get away with the combo if it is a softer acoustic group with a reasonable drummer. Make sure you set up the controls on your amp right. A P-bass should cut through well. Try this method:

1) plug into the passive input
2) set all eq controls to 12:00
3) Bright and Deep switches off
4) shut off the sub harmonic generator (it will just make it muddy and eat all of your power)
5)Play your open e string hard and adjust the input gain so it goes a little into the red on the loudest notes
6) turn up the master volume to get to the volume that you need.
7) if it is still too soft roll off some bass and increase the gain and the master volume.

A nice full beautiful sound at home will get lost with the band. You actually need it to sound kind of rough and ugly solo for it to cut in a rock band. A little distortion goes a long way. The other instruments will mask out the rough edges if they are there, but will bury a nice pretty tone.

The gain control will give you more saturation as you turn it up so you will sound louder in the mix (more mid frequencies) This knob could be your best friend, you might want to push it way into the red if you want some over drive, or just touching the red if you want a cleaner sound. P-basses sound good with some over drive. Turning up the mids a little bit will also make it easier to hear what note you are playing. Bass is kind of funny. It takes your mind a little while to figure out how to hear the pitch when you first start playing. This gets better with time.

Another thing that is important is damping the strings. If you use a pick place the palm of your picking hand over the strings at the bridge to keep them quiet other wise you get a lot of unwanted rumbling. Vary the pressure on the strings until you like how it sounds. Do a search on damping here and you will find a lot of good tips.

Being a drummer first should help. Think of the bass as a drum with pitch. Rhythm is so important for the bass player and you should have an advantage there.

Good Luck

We are playing classic rock, from Zepplin to Grand Funk to Linda Ronstadt! We have a drummer that sings, a female lead singer, guitar player that sings..then ME...we are working on a keyboard player right now but it is just us 3..I play with my index and middle finger..I just made it through "fret board fitness "...I will try everything you have said!! And thank you for your time and your expertise. I really do appreciate it very much!

rodl2005 · #20 11-01-2011, 05:37 AM

Don't be afraid to push those mid eq's to help you to get more volume either. Experiment as much as possible.
& welcome to the wonderful world of bassing!