Ashdown C110 300 Combo

This amp is new with Blue Line speaker. One of the finest features is the mix control between solid-state and tube preamp. I usually have it all the way to tube, as that is why I bought it, but you can get a huge variety of sounds with this. Another great feature is the switchable "subharmoniser" or octaver to you and me. Well, it's not quite an octaver, more a deep thickener, as it doesn't give such a separated tone below, more like a seamless deepening of the played note down. Excellent to fatten the tone a little or give full-on stomach turning lows. The only feature I miss is the headphone socket but there are quite a few workarounds (line out/tuner out/speaker out).

I play a USA Fender Jazz (gospel/funk) which fits right in with the warmth and balls of the Ashdown sound. Usual fan noise from the tube preamp. Fantastic sound - I haven't heard anything like it from any combo let alone a 1x10. OK, you can't drive huge volumes through it and it gets stressed if you turn it way up with octaver in and bass boosted, but you'd have to be pretty stupid to expect it to! You can get a lovely sweet distortion by wapping up the Input, although I need a preamp boost to get enough signal for this from my passive Js. My QTron and Carl Martin compressor do this just fine. Honestly, you wouldn't believe the fullness of the sound from such a tiny amp, or the volume and punch it can pack. And then if you want expandability, rig up a 1x15 or 2x10 and you're away!!

Haven't had any problems. Comes with a 5 year guarantee, and I've heard nothing but good comments on this score. It's obviously extremely well put together and solid in the extreme.

See above.

OK - it's not cheap, but it takes you up into the top league sound-wise. I bought it for the convenience of practicing at home and carting off for small events every week, and having the option of adding on an extra cab for bigger gigs. I played all sorts of other combos - Gallien Kruger, SWR, Hartke, Ashdown, Trace Elliot, and the Ashdown wiped the floor with them. Plus it's by far the best looking of the bunch (not that that influenced me - much!).

It couldn't be easier to get a great sound out of an Ashdown amp. Just plug in and switch on - and that's it! I've yet to use the 7 band eq at all, which is a new experience for me...as other reviewers have said you tend to fiddle with the tube blend knob and sub-harmoniser more than anything else.

I'm playing Wal and Goodfellow 4 strings at the minute, both excellent basses in their own right, but they now sound better than ever! The 1x10 speaker is the older type (the newer version combo has a new blue speaker which is much better, apparently) and I can't see how it could ever handle the full 300 watts this amp can put out - but who would expect it to? I bought this as a home practise amp that I could take out gigging with an extension cab, not as a gigging amp I could take home to practise with. I traded my 300w Laney head, Peavey 8x10 cab and SWR 1x15 (all very well used) for this little amp and have no regrets at all.

This amp has never given me any trouble at all - I would have no problem using it without a backup.

I haven't had any problems with the amp - but I did try to order some merchandise from the Asdown website - all sold out...

Recently my musical messings have varied greatly - from a 3 piece playing originals and Tool covers, to a 5 piece blues outfit. I have previously played everything from funk to death metal, and this amp sounds better for them all than anything I've ever owned. I hope to add an extension cab from ashdown soon (currently using a borrowed one)....but what one? I have heard that their 2x10 extension would turn the combo into a very nifty/portable mini stack - can't wait!!!