Members PurpleStain Posted November 11, 2007 Members Share Posted November 11, 2007 I bought a brand new Ashdown 300 head. I played with it a couple of times practicing by myself. Well, i bring it band practice over the weekend, crank it up to band practice levels, and it sounds great at first. We start playing, i'm really digging the sound then suddenly the output completely stops. Backlit meter is still on, still responding to my plucking the strings, just absolutely no output. I'm returning it, and not getting another ashdown. I believe moving their manufacture to china was a bad move. just thought i'd give a heads up to anyone considering one of these in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GRANKOR Posted November 11, 2007 Members Share Posted November 11, 2007 I've had mine for over a year and it has worked trouble free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted November 11, 2007 Members Share Posted November 11, 2007 I've heard of some problems with the fans on MAG's causing them to overheat, but that was years ago. That would have been before production moved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Optimus Prime Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Someone here told me Ashdowns don't break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Who told you that? I blew up an Ashdown After Eight before! Granted, I was using a Big Muff and a Bass with EMG's wired at 18v at the time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flatcat Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 I've had an ABM combo for the past couple of years. One of the pots snapped off a week after I got it; the master volume pot also isn't functioning correctly. It's incredibly scuffed, one corner protector came off, a wood plug came out. It's Brit-made. And it's not like I'm in a balls-out super energy band either, you know, I'm not rough on my gear. I play in a Beatles cover band and a wedding band, maybe 20-30 gigs a year, tops. I love how it sounds, but my 20-y.o. GK head has taken much worse abuse and works perfectly. Jiminy crickets, the GK head went down a long metal flight of stairs into a concrete parking lot and worked fine. The only thing that's gone wrong with the GK is one of the rubber feet came off. Ashdown amps are a little precious for regular working musicians, in my opinion. If you have roadies and hard cases for them, you're all set. If you don't...well, I don't know. It certainly has not been my most reliable or trouble-free gear purchase. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurpleStain Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Someone here told me Ashdowns don't break. I don't know about anyone else's experiences, just what happened to me. Pretty disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurpleStain Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 I've had an ABM combo for the past couple of years. One of the pots snapped off a week after I got it; the master volume pot also isn't functioning correctly. It's incredibly scuffed, one corner protector came off, a wood plug came out. It's Brit-made. And it's not like I'm in a balls-out super energy band either, you know, I'm not rough on my gear. I play in a Beatles cover band and a wedding band, maybe 20-30 gigs a year, tops.I love how it sounds, but my 20-y.o. GK head has taken much worse abuse and works perfectly. Jiminy crickets, the GK head went down a long metal flight of stairs into a concrete parking lot and worked fine. The only thing that's gone wrong with the GK is one of the rubber feet came off.Ashdown amps are a little precious for regular working musicians, in my opinion. If you have roadies and hard cases for them, you're all set. If you don't...well, I don't know. It certainly has not been my most reliable or trouble-free gear purchase.YMMV. gallien krueger is actually probably what i'm going to look into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurpleStain Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 I've had mine for over a year and it has worked trouble free I'm happy for you. Perhaps the electric blue line is different, or perhaps I just had a fluke piece of crap. I still think it HAS to say something about my particular amps quality control. i dont' think i've ever had something break on me so fast before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crescent Seven Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 It's the fuses. I promise. I'm like 10 for 10 on this issue. My MAG300 had the same symptom and it was fixed with a 49 cent fuse from Radio Shack, and several people have made the same complaint here and I was able to resolve the issue, because I'm brilliant. Unplug the amp, take the bolts out of the top of the box, and slide the amp forward out of the case. Don't touch any of the components inside it. On the side with the meter you'll see a little circuit board, and on top of it will be 2 little fuses. They're both blown because Ashdown uses cheap fuses, or so says Martin with Ashdown. Slide them out carefully, with one hand in your back pocket. I'm not kidding, this will save your life if you touch an output capacitor accidentally, which you shouldn't if you're not dicking around. Replace the fuses and enjoy. C7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members justinbass Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 It's the fuses. I promise. I'm like 10 for 10 on this issue. My MAG300 had the same symptom and it was fixed with a 49 cent fuse from Radio Shack, and several people have made the same complaint here and I was able to resolve the issue, because I'm brilliant. Unplug the amp, take the bolts out of the top of the box, and slide the amp forward out of the case. Don't touch any of the components inside it. On the side with the meter you'll see a little circuit board, and on top of it will be 2 little fuses. They're both blown because Ashdown uses cheap fuses, or so says Martin with Ashdown. Slide them out carefully, with one hand in your back pocket. I'm not kidding, this will save your life if you touch an output capacitor accidentally, which you shouldn't if you're not dicking around. Replace the fuses and enjoy. C7 He's right. That REALLY sounds like a blown fuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurpleStain Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 It's the fuses. I promise. I'm like 10 for 10 on this issue. My MAG300 had the same symptom and it was fixed with a 49 cent fuse from Radio Shack, and several people have made the same complaint here and I was able to resolve the issue, because I'm brilliant. Unplug the amp, take the bolts out of the top of the box, and slide the amp forward out of the case. Don't touch any of the components inside it. On the side with the meter you'll see a little circuit board, and on top of it will be 2 little fuses. They're both blown because Ashdown uses cheap fuses, or so says Martin with Ashdown. Slide them out carefully, with one hand in your back pocket. I'm not kidding, this will save your life if you touch an output capacitor accidentally, which you shouldn't if you're not dicking around. Replace the fuses and enjoy. C7 so the amplifier will stay on, even with the fuses blown? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sunburstbasser Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 so the amplifier will stay on, even with the fuses blown? Its only cutting signal to part of the amp. If a fuse replacement doesn't fix it, then its more major. And the MAGs are known for going through fuses. If it is just the fuse, don't be hatin' just yet. Even a Phil Jones or Trace Elliot isn't gonna work if a fuse blows. And I bet your wallet will be happier spending $.20 on a fuse than paying the difference for a GK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurpleStain Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Its only cutting signal to part of the amp. If a fuse replacement doesn't fix it, then its more major. And the MAGs are known for going through fuses.If it is just the fuse, don't be hatin' just yet. Even a Phil Jones or Trace Elliot isn't gonna work if a fuse blows. And I bet your wallet will be happier spending $.20 on a fuse than paying the difference for a GK. I'd still rather have a GK, i think. I'd rather not have something prone to blowing fuses, when i can just get my refund for this and buy a used gallien. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crescent Seven Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Its only cutting signal to part of the amp. If a fuse replacement doesn't fix it, then its more major. And the MAGs are known for going through fuses. Mine only blew out the factory fuses, I've had the replacements in there for 2+ years with no problems. Even so, I put 2 extras in a little baggie and taped them inside the amp (they come in packs of 4), just in case. Basically, P-stain, when those fuses blow, it simply cuts the signal that goes from the preamp circuit to the power amp. The whole amp was still on, your bass' signal just wasn't getting to the amplifier portion of it. Change those fuses and post back. C7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crescent Seven Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 I'd still rather have a GK, i think. I'd rather not have something prone to blowing fuses, when i can just get my refund for this and buy a used gallien. They aren't "prone" to blowing fuses. I will admit that I upgraded from my MAG to a GK1001rbII, but I kept the Ashdown because I really like it. It's been dependable, and I've done some weird {censored} with it: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sunburstbasser Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 OK, they go through the factory ones. Mine hasn't, yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurpleStain Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 cool. thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CCTV Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 I think which maded in china is not too bad to use ^-^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurpleStain Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 I think which maded in china is not too bad to use ^-^ hmmmm? I don't understand your english. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CCTV Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 hmmmm? I don't understand your english. Hmmmm.....~ My english is not good,I mean I've had a Ashdown amp manufactured in china for several years and thinking mine have a good quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurpleStain Posted November 13, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 13, 2007 what size fuses does this thing take? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poltergeist Posted November 13, 2007 Members Share Posted November 13, 2007 I've heard of some problems with the fans on MAG's causing them to overheat, but that was years ago. That would have been before production moved. yeah, they tend to over-heat... especially if you crank it... i'd get something better if you are wanting to be loud as hell... its unreliable when it comes to that point... i heard so many complaints about it... not about any other Ashdown head, but those ones, so there must be an issue with it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mahatma Posted November 14, 2007 Members Share Posted November 14, 2007 I have the MAG300 head and have no problems, except for a non-problem: I am the only user of the amp and I only have one bass and I plug it into the left input and I set the input level ( with the VU meter ) at about half-way over a year ago. A couple weeks ago i started to have a problem with the bass sound being weak and starting to cut out. I wondered WTF. After checking around and playing with the pots I figured the pots must have got dirty or something, so i turned each knob back and forth a hundred or so times to clean them up and have had no problems ever since. I had a similaR problem with a guitar amp that I hadn't played for years- it was scratchy until I turned all the pots a bunch of times and that fixed it. TURN YOUR POTS YOU FARGING BASTAGES OR YOU WILL SOUND LIKE THE SCRATCHY {censored}E AND YOUR BANDMATES WILL TEAR OFF YOUR ARMS AND SHOVE THEM UP YOUR ICEHOLE- JEEZUS I CAN'T BELEIVE PEOPLE ARE SO FARGING STOOPID TO HAVE THE SCRATCHY POTS !!! Roman Maronie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phaeton Posted November 14, 2007 Members Share Posted November 14, 2007 Who told you that? I blew up an Ashdown After Eight before! Granted, I was using a Big Muff and a Bass with EMG's wired at 18v at the time.... That shouldn't matter. First off, most amps could take 35v at the input (don't try it though). Second off, if your preamp is 18V, the output won't be 18V (rail to rail). Probably more like 2V peak to peak tops. Third off, your 9V Big Muff would limit everything down even further in the process of making distortion. Probably closer to 1V-ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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