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OFFICIAL ASHDOWN CLUB

#1,301
I just picked up another used Ashdown amp. It's a MAG300H EVO II. It came in a nice Grundorf road case.

Just a quick playthrough my two 1X10" 150 watt cabs (Eminence S2010s) and it sounded fantastic. Still that great Ashdown sound! It's sitting on the 2X12" cab that, when I finish it, will be the primary cab for the time being.

This should be more than enough for my uses, as the most I've needed is my AAA Five 15 FF125, which was overkill. If the demand gets high enough, I could see an ABM 210 cab and an ABM 115 cab.

P1030537 (2).JPG
 
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#1,302
MadJack said:
I just picked up another used Ashdown amp. It's a MAG300H EVO II. It came in a nice Grundorf road case.

Just a quick playthrough my two 1X10" 150 watt cabs (Eminence S2010s) and it sounded fantastic. Still that great Ashdown sound! It's sitting on the 2X12" cab that, when I finish it, will be the primary cab for the time being.

This should be more than enough for my uses, as the most I've needed is my AAA Five 15 FF125, which was overkill. If the demand gets high enough, I could see an ABM 210 cab and an ABM 115 cab.

View attachment 5153835
Click to expand...

Those are very underrated amps! Always loved their clean look too
 
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#1,303
Here's a shot of the amp with the completed cab. The grill still needs to be pained, after I removed the Seismic emblem. The cab is built after the @joe vegas 2X12 cab.

P1030547.JPG


I don't recommend buying and building one now, as the pricing has gone up since he built the original one, but I had one and part of the rat fur was peeling off. I removed the rest of the rat fur (Big PITA!) and coated it with aerosol undercoating. I might add a coat of texturized roll on for a little thicker protection.

I added a set of corner casters and a flip up handle and I can roll the cab around with little stress or strain.

Sound wise, it's big, full and loud. What I wanted from it.
 
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#1,305
MadJack said:
I just picked up another used Ashdown amp. It's a MAG300H EVO II. It came in a nice Grundorf road case.

Just a quick playthrough my two 1X10" 150 watt cabs (Eminence S2010s) and it sounded fantastic. Still that great Ashdown sound! It's sitting on the 2X12" cab that, when I finish it, will be the primary cab for the time being.

This should be more than enough for my uses, as the most I've needed is my AAA Five 15 FF125, which was overkill. If the demand gets high enough, I could see an ABM 210 cab and an ABM 115 cab.

View attachment 5153835
Click to expand...

Looks killer, especially with the red! I'd tend to agree on the power front. I've learned that speaker count and/or efficiency really means something vs just getting more watts. Hell, I noticed a huge volume difference going from an ampeg 610 to 810.
 
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#1,306
I mean, define “small”… it’s smaller than a Fender or Ampeg 100w tube amp… accidents happen…


South Mad Sab said:
So, I was looking for a battered bass playing husbands support chat... But, this will have to do.
I told my wife I needed a small reasonable amp for at home practice. She told me that's fine, as long as it is small. So by accident, I bought a Ashdown Geezer Butler Head of Doom. I only use it on Saturday afternoons when she is at her daughter-in-laws house. I keep the casters on my AK410 cabs, in order to quickly push it into the closet of my office, when I see her pulling into the driveway. I'm thinking of purchasing a helmet and eye protection.
View attachment 5092362View attachment 5092364
Click to expand...
 
#1,308
Hello Ashdown nerds! I have long admired Ashdown and came close several times to picking up an amp. I currently do have an Ashdown 15 cabinet that anchors a 210 when I play out and about. I have an opportunity to get an early UK ABM300 for an amazing price ($0.00 USD), but it does have some issues. The person offering is the original owner and despite the problems, I'm thinking of getting it to see what can be done. Here's what he said:

It has a loud buzz going to the speaker that is not influenced by the volume or input knobs, and the preamp is not registering signal. The volume knob is ineffectual. I suspect a simple preamp issue but someone with better solid state schematic knowledge than I will need to get in there. The preamp tube wasn’t lighting so I replaced it with a known good 12ax7 (a JJ), and while it lights up, there’s still no signal. I imagine it’s something simple, and you can probably get it serviced for less than you could buy one for, and it is an early UK built amp.
​
I have rolled with a Trace Elliot GP12 Series 6 since the mid-90s. It had an issue about 2 years ago and I had a buddy fix it up, has worked great ever since. I've reached out to him about this Ashdown but have yet to hear back. Curious what you guys might think and if you had any suggestions.

Thanks!!
 
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#1,309
lildrgn said:
Hello Ashdown nerds! I have long admired Ashdown and came close several times to picking up an amp. I currently do have an Ashdown 15 cabinet that anchors a 210 when I play out and about. I have an opportunity to get an early UK ABM300 for an amazing price ($0.00 USD), but it does have some issues. The person offering is the original owner and despite the problems, I'm thinking of getting it to see what can be done. Here's what he said:

It has a loud buzz going to the speaker that is not influenced by the volume or input knobs, and the preamp is not registering signal. The volume knob is ineffectual. I suspect a simple preamp issue but someone with better solid state schematic knowledge than I will need to get in there. The preamp tube wasn’t lighting so I replaced it with a known good 12ax7 (a JJ), and while it lights up, there’s still no signal. I imagine it’s something simple, and you can probably get it serviced for less than you could buy one for, and it is an early UK built amp.
​
I have rolled with a Trace Elliot GP12 Series 6 since the mid-90s. It had an issue about 2 years ago and I had a buddy fix it up, has worked great ever since. I've reached out to him about this Ashdown but have yet to hear back. Curious what you guys might think and if you had any suggestions.

Thanks!!
Click to expand...
If you have FaceBook, try here: Ashdown Engineering. The who's who of Ashdown (Mark Gooday, Owner, Dave Green, Chief Engineer and more) can be found on there on a regular basis and they do respond.
 
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#1,311
lildrgn said:
Me again. Thanks @MadJack for the link above. I posted this video there but figured I'd do the same here. I picked up the amp today and I think it's worth it to at least try to get it up and running, considering I paid a whole $0 for it. :D

https://youtube.com/shorts/LjsQh09X60I?si=J7l9syn-rpq0n8pb
Click to expand...
And Mark Gooday just answered you just as I was watching your video on FB. (That would be like 6am! He's starting early!)

BTW, you link is set to private, but I saw it on FB.
 
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#1,313
lildrgn said:
Me again. Thanks @MadJack for the link above. I posted this video there but figured I'd do the same here. I picked up the amp today and I think it's worth it to at least try to get it up and running, considering I paid a whole $0 for it. :D

https://youtube.com/shorts/LjsQh09X60I?si=J7l9syn-rpq0n8pb
Click to expand...

@agedhorse and any other amp wizards, can you offer advice? Mark Gooday replied to my video on FB and mentioned something about rotating the toroidal transformer to see if that got rid of the hum.

First off, I had to look up what "toroidal" meant. Second, I know an amp can kill me, so rather than poking around and dying today, I figured I'd ask my favorite internet strangers and friends for guidance.

Could it be as simple as rotating the transformer and testing? And magically the bass will then play through it?

Thanks for your time!
 
#1,314
lildrgn said:
@agedhorse and any other amp wizards, can you offer advice? Mark Gooday replied to my video on FB and mentioned something about rotating the toroidal transformer to see if that got rid of the hum.

First off, I had to look up what "toroidal" meant. Second, I know an amp can kill me, so rather than poking around and dying today, I figured I'd ask my favorite internet strangers and friends for guidance.

Could it be as simple as rotating the transformer and testing? And magically the bass will then play through it?

Thanks for your time!
Click to expand...

AFAIK Mr Gooday is not a technical person.

Rotating a toroidal slightly can reduce hum in an amp that functions normally. If the amp is not passing signal, rotating the transformer is of no help. My understanding is the amp is not passing signal. If that is true, IMHO send the amp to a technician.

The person you need to correspond with is Dave Green. There are other people in Ashdown's technical support department, but Mr Green is their lead engineer.
 
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#1,316
lildrgn said:
Email sent to D Green as recommended by you and Mark. :)
Click to expand...


IMHO the best course is probably to go through Ashdown's service portal. It adds a step but gets you through the SPAM filters.

If you have never emailed Mr Green, or it's been a long time, chances are the message will not get through to him.

This is my experience anyway...YMMV.
 
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#1,317
I agree with @Wasnex, until I happened to have had some back and forth conversations initiated on their end via email (which both Mark and Dave will do), the responses were typically either non existent to months without anything.

An amp tech, especially one that knows Ashdowns would be a good place to start. It could be something wicked simple.

I recall the issue with the earlier ABMs when they first shifted to China manufacturing were some PCB issues, grounding specifically, IIRC. Not saying you have a similar issue, but it's possible it could have been design faults that were exacerbated by a slightly different process (in China vs GB) leading to more frequent failures/shorter life cycles.

Anyway, in a nutshell, reaching out to them and getting a tech to look at it would be the safe route, in my humble, not so amp knowledgeable opinion.
 
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#1,319
Novarocker said:
I agree with @Wasnex, until I happened to have had some back and forth conversations initiated on their end via email (which both Mark and Dave will do), the responses were typically either non existent to months without anything.

An amp tech, especially one that knows Ashdowns would be a good place to start. It could be something wicked simple.

I recall the issue with the earlier ABMs when they first shifted to China manufacturing were some PCB issues, grounding specifically, IIRC. Not saying you have a similar issue, but it's possible it could have been design faults that were exacerbated by a slightly different process (in China vs GB) leading to more frequent failures/shorter life cycles.

Anyway, in a nutshell, reaching out to them and getting a tech to look at it would be the safe route, in my humble, not so amp knowledgeable opinion.
Click to expand...

Yup, I got responses from Mark and Dave and both said to bring it to someone. I gave it to a guy who does amps, and who fixed my Trace before. Whether or not he has Ashdown experience, I know not. However, I got the amp for free and I'm willing to throw a couple bucks at it to see if he can resurrect it. I will keep you posted. Thanks!
 
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