My first head and cab

[benjo09]

Firstly which of these would be best as a first amp head:

Ashdown ABM 300 Evo II (Used)
Ashdown MAG 600 (Used)
Ashdown Little Giant 350 (New)

They are all around the same price so that doesn't come into it.

I'll have about £350 left for cabs then. So would the Ashdown MAG 210T and MAG115 be good choices.

I really like the Ashdown stuff (demoed a MAG 300 combo) but if anyones got any better ideas then go ahead.

I'll be using this for small to medium sized gigs, with and without PA. I'm looking at 2 seperate cabs instaed of a 410 as I'm off to uni in September so will need something that can be broken down.

Thanks in advance.

[bass_ferret]

You will find that ashdown are a bit marmite - and have previously had an iffy rep for reliability. The little giants are brand new and the only opinions expressed so far are based on looks, and there is a thread dedicated to them so have a look [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=13645&hl="]there[/url].

Other than that most rate the ABM above the MAG.

The speaker nerds say you should not mix driver sizes so 2x2x10 is better than 2x10/1x15.

Edited February 24, 2008 by bass_ferret

[umph]

whats wrong with a 2X10 and a 1X15?

[bass_ferret]

Im not a nerd. They also recon that vertically aligned speakers are better than horizontal as that causes comb filtering, so not only should you use 2x2x10 but if the speakers are side by side they should be stood on end.

From personal experience the idea that 1x15 always have more low end than 10 loaded cabs is a myth. I went from 1x15/2x10 to 2x2x10 because the Peavey 2x10s I was using had more bottom end than the 1x15BW.

[Bassmouseman]

[quote name='benjo09' post='145820' date='Feb 24 2008, 04:44 AM']Firstly which of these would be best as a first amp head:

Ashdown ABM 300 Evo II (Used)
Ashdown MAG 600 (Used)
Ashdown Little Giant 350 (New)

They are all around the same price so that doesn't come into it.

I'll have about £350 left for cabs then. So would the Ashdown MAG 210T and MAG115 be good choices.

I really like the Ashdown stuff (demoed a MAG 300 combo) but if anyones got any better ideas then go ahead.

I'll be using this for small to medium sized gigs, with and without PA. I'm looking at 2 seperate cabs instaed of a 410 as I'm off to uni in September so will need something that can be broken down.

Thanks in advance.[/quote]

I've got a MAG600 with the 210 and 115 cabs, not a bad setup plenty of power and a good sound. The MAG cabs can be a bit boomy and need a compressor to help tighten things up IMO.
Also (as i'm sure you know) the head will output more than the cabs can take, so be careful with the volume knob!

[benjo09]

[quote name='Bassmouseman' post='145922' date='Feb 24 2008, 11:29 AM']I've got a MAG600 with the 210 and 115 cabs, not a bad setup plenty of power and a good sound. The MAG cabs can be a bit boomy and need a compressor to help tighten things up IMO.
Also (as i'm sure you know) the head will output more than the cabs can take, so be careful with the volume knob! [/quote]

Ye I'll definately watch the volume. Does it still put out enough volume for gigs with a drummer though?

[Bassmouseman]

[quote name='benjo09' post='145956' date='Feb 24 2008, 12:20 PM']Ye I'll definately watch the volume. Does it still put out enough volume for gigs with a drummer though?[/quote]

I play with Drummer (that hits HARD) and 2 guitarists both using half stacks and it holds its own! I am going to be upgrading my cabs at some point tho, not for volume more that i'm missing the 4x10 punch.

[richy316]

how much you got to spend in total?

im sure you could get something better than Ashdown MAG, i mean no offence to those people that own MAG stuff already but when you've got £350 to spend on cabs after you've bought a head you must have around £600/700 to spend?

Consider Peavey, Hartke, Warwick.

Edited February 25, 2008 by richy316

[WithoutRisk_BassPlayer]

[quote]Other than that most rate the ABM above the MAG.[/quote]

IMO the Mag heads are better than the ABM range but the ABM cabs are of better quality to the MAG cabs...I just bought a Mag600H and Mag 410T Deep, what an amp seriously! I don't know much about the 210 and 115 Mag cabs but if theyre anything like the 410 then you won't be disappointed. As pointed out by someone earlier they do require some compression as they are a bit boomy but its not absolutely vital.

The Mag600 head is pretty cheap over at Soundslive, I got mine from Thomann.de for about the same price although I think its gone up on thomann now due to exchange rates or summat.


Will

Edited February 25, 2008 by WithoutRisk_BassPlayer

[benjo09]

[quote name='richy316' post='146905' date='Feb 25 2008, 08:50 PM']how much you got to spend in total?

im sure you could get something better than Ashdown MAG, i mean no offence to those people that own MAG stuff already but when you've got £350 to spend on cabs after you've bought a head you must have around £600/700 to spend?

Consider Peavey, Hartke, Warwick.[/quote]

Took the plunge on an ex-display ABM 300 head on Soundslive yesterday for £239. It was showing in stock but now my status is backordered and seeing as it was a one off I guess someone got in before me and so I won't be getting it

But ye roughly £600. I'm looking to stay away from Peavey as I've heard they weigh quite a bit, but if I can find a good deal then why not. I'll wait to see what happens with the ABM first though

[bass_ferret]

Old Peavey gear is heavy but thats why it is so cheap. You wont get much new lightweight neo stuff foy your budget unless you buy really cheap. The Ashdown Little Giant is real cheap but have you seen what they want for the neo cabs?

[gilmour]

Have you considered second hand - you could pick up a bloody good Trace Elliot rig for way less than £600 - that will blow an Ashdown rig out of the water. Ferrets right, you are gonna struggle to get a Neo rig with that money, even second hand Neo Cabs fetch a premium.

[benjo09]

I know I won't get a neo rig, I just want something semi-portable. For when I'm at uni.

Is the best place for secondhand ebay and these forums?

[bass_ferret]

There are a lot of 4x10's for sale on here at the moment but not a lot smaller - a couple of odd 2x10's.

[rhymes]

Benjo,

The best advice I would give is to shop around and don't buy the first thing you see. I have just bought a new rig and my budget was about the same as yours.

I took a while deciding on a head - shortlisted it to a few - Warwick ProFet 5.1, Ashdown Mag600 and Peavey Tour 700 (or possible 450).

All in the same-ish price range all roughly the same spec. In the end, I went for the Warwick - heard nothing but good things about their customer service, good reliability and osund (for the price).
I had heard about some reliability with Ashdown heads (and mine WILL get punished on tour) and have never been totally convinced by them - lookswise and soundwise on lower range ones.
Also, my last rig was Peavey and wasn't really fantastic sound wise. It was more of just a "noise generator" really - no noticeable tone to it. BUT - if you want something to be LOUD, solid and long-living, then I can't see them being beaten.

Anyway, mini review over - I managed to get an ex-demo Warwick Profet 5.1 head for £199. Only a couple of small scratches on the top of the case, but I have rack mounted it anyway, so I doubt I will see them again...

I have also got on order a Warwick 6x10 cab. Probably a bit too big for your needs, but at £385 brand new and with the spec on it, it will be great for me.

For what you say you need, something around this size will probably be more than enough.

(Finally - a quick heads up. If you do fancy Warwick gear, I got the head from www.soundunlimited.co.uk. The guy said they are going to stop stocking Warwick gear, so will be having a sale on it all pretty soon - may be worth keeping an eye on. Or give them a ring...)

And by the way, I don't work for them, I just got a real good bargain and there might be something there to help you out.

Sorry to ramble, but I hope this helps.

Rhymes

[gilmour]

The Warwick stuff is decent, and IMHO much much beter than the Asdown kit. The Peavey stuff is fine, but as mentioned above tone of the heads isn't great, but I won;t have a bad word said about the cabs, in terms of value there is no better and there are always bargains to be had on second hand Peavey Cabs, I've had (and gigged regularly) a Peavey BW115 for 13 years now, and I bought it second hand I'll probably be selling it soon, but don't know if I can bear to part with it!

EDIT:
There's a peavey 4x10 here... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=12211"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=12211[/url]

Or a BFM O10 here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=12211"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=12211[/url] Paul is giving this away at this price, and you won;t get a better sounding or lighter cab for that money, not to mention how much louder it is than other 2x10's (much louder)

Edited February 26, 2008 by gilmour

[thinman]

[quote name='gilmour' post='147404' date='Feb 26 2008, 08:04 PM']The Warwick stuff is decent, and IMHO much much beter than the Asdown kit. The Peavey stuff is fine, but as mentioned above tone of the heads isn't great, but I won;t have a bad word said about the cabs, in terms of value there is no better and there are always bargains to be had on second hand Peavey Cabs, I've had (and gigged regularly) a Peavey BW115 for 13 years now, and I bought it second hand I'll probably be selling it soon, but don't know if I can bear to part with it!

EDIT:
There's a peavey 4x10 here... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=12211"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=12211[/url]

Or a BFM O10 here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=12211"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=12211[/url] Paul is giving this away at this price, and you won;t get a better sounding or lighter cab for that money, not to mention how much louder it is than other 2x10's (much louder)[/quote]

I've got a 13 month old Ashdown MAG 300 C115 and its been in for repair for the last 5 weeks! Blown transformer and Ashdown have no spares in the country so mine has lived up to the reports of poor reliability.

I didn't mind the sound and it is (was?) loud enough.

But, having borrowed both a Warwick 150 combo (1 x15 + tweeter) and a Trace Elliot 300w GP7 combo (1 x15) I think you did the right thing avoiding the MAG.

The Warwick took a little bit of getting used to but I really like it now. It's a good few years old and has never gone wrong. I really liked the Trace too.

Gilmour's built a BFM Omni15 and was really impressed. I've just started an Omni 10 build myself and reckon that will be about £220 on parts (but with the more expensive driver options) so I agree with Gilmour that the Omni 10 for sale here at £250 when I last looked is a real giveaway - with the given drivers it must have cost about £180 to build. They're very portable (630mm high, 400mm deep and about 500mm wide depending upon the variant) and by all accounts very efficient, i.e. loud without requiring too much power.