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Ashdown Mag 600 or something else?

ComesATime

ComesATime

Dec 12, 2012
284
453
#1
I have $300 and I'm looking to get a good bass head so I can stop borrowing my drummer's 100 watt combo with mediocre tone.

I saw an Ashdown MAG 600 head for $300, but I also read some really sub-par reviews on them, so I was hesitant.

I've had my heart set on an Ashdown for a while now, as I'm a fan of the bass tones of Gordon Moakes of Bloc Party and James Johnston of Biffy Clyro, and both use Ashdown. The tone would fit the type of music I'm working on (p-bass, kind of garage blues-rock).

I also wanted something versatile, because I do like to roll my tone knob on certain songs for a deeper, smoother sound.

Is that Ashdown head for $300 a good deal, or should I look elsewhere?

We're playing small to medium-sized gigs at the moment, bars, medium-sized halls, college shows, things like that. The 600 watts might be far too much, but I'd rather have the head room since my drummer is loud and my guitarist likes to crank his amp, plus I'd rather not crank my amp to max every night.

Thanks for any advice you guys can offer.
 
#5
I'll second AdamR's comment on the quality. I've had my Mag 300 combo for almost 7 years now and it's never let me down. Great flexible EQ, lots of power. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.

I don't think $300 is a bad price depending on it's condition. The new Mag 300 sell for $400 IIRC, so you'd be saving $100 and doubling your power. Not bad IMO

I will say though, the 300 has good enough power if your running decent cabs, so I'd say you could even do the 300 if you wanted.
 
#9
Just put in an offer of $180 for an Ashdown MAG 300. If I get it for that, I'll be happy as I'll have about $100 left to put towards a cab. If the offer gets declined, I might just buy the MAG 600 for $300, cut my losses, and be happy with the extra wattage. I was in Best Buy to check out their used gear, but they only had 2 amps there, a Line 6 400 watt for $280, and a Hartke something or other for $280, which I believe was 250 watts. I had a Line 6 amp a few years ago for guitar and I wasn't a fan of the digital sounds. Hartke...the amp didn't look very good and was a rack-mount version, so I passed.
 
#12
I'm a huge fan of Ashdown equipment and the Mag series are excellent. You got a great deal. A lot of people whinge about the 300 lacking headroom and not possessing enough volume but I honestly think it's a perfect rig for anyone who plays in a band who can rehearse at a sensible volume.

Depending on your objectives I'd suggest getting a pair of cabs in order to use all your watts. a pair of MAG 115s or a pair of the 210s. Don't mix your driver sizes unless you have a good reason. If it were me I'd get 2 of the 115 deep cabs but that's just a size preference because they're quite a bit smaller in size, for the same rating.

If your band don't know how to play at a chilled volume I'd get a 410 now and add another one on later if your backbone can handle it. A MAG300 pushing 8 drivers is still insanely loud regardless of the fairly modest wattage rating.

Good luck with it. I'm sure you'll enjoy your new amp. Ashdown often get regarded poorly online because they're cheap and a stigma comes with that. I've personally only had great experiences with them.
 
#13
Well, considering my drummer's "bass amp" is a 100 watt solid state keyboard amp, and I've never had to crack that, I think I'll have plenty of volume. I was looking at the MAG 600, but it just seemed like total over-kill.

As I mentioned, I'm on a budget, so I don't have a ton to spend on cabs. I'm going to look around, but do you guys have any experience with the Acoustic cabs?

Invalid Link Removed

The idea of a 4x10 seems great, but my only concern is what will happen if I'm under-powering the cab. The only other speakers I have at the moment are, I believe, 50 watts each, so I'd blow those up pretty quickly.
 
#17
ComesATime said:
So it would be safe to run a 400 watt cab with a 300 watt head? I've seen a few discussions about the consequences of underpowering a cab, but I've always thought it was safe to do.
Click to expand...

yes, your better off with a cab rate higher the head. you want to work the drivers but not blow them out of the cab.

IPYF said:
Underpowering is a myth. It's as real as the Easter Bunny or Bigfoot.
Click to expand...

agreed
 
#18
I was looking into that Acoustic cab, but then GC wanted to charge me $70 for shipping it to the store. I've never heard of a company charging the customer to ship to store. I called the store to confirm that it's the case, but I got ping-ponged between workers before being told I'd be transferred to a manager since he wasn't sure. After about 30 seconds, click.

On the hunt for a cab now.
 
#19
Check the electronic bay or your local 2nd hand emporiums. I've heard that there's a listing site that belongs to some guy called Craig that's big in the US.

You've got many many options in the 410 market.
 

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