Ashdown MAG-210T-300 210 Combo

Bought this amp over 4 years ago, so this is NOT the EVOII version!
I play in a number of bands & play music varying from Blues to Heavy Metal with Classic Rock in the middle somewhere! The tones on offer with this amp really do cover most bases, although I have never been able to get a really nice wirey spanky slap tone from it. Even though the amp has a horn in it as well as the 2 x 10" blue line speakers, I would not call it really bright.

The effects loop is handy as is the DI output which gives a quiet clean feed to the FOH guys. The tone controls are a little different having knobs between the Low & Mid and the Mid & High giving effect of having a 5 band graphic. I don't know why they just did not put five sliders on the panel. I tend to run the mids flat, roll off the bass end & slightly boost the treble for my sound & generate any other changes in tone with my ME50b pedal board.

I have used this amp in small and larger gigs. It is quite noticeable that the speeakers really project the sound forward, so it is quiet standing close to it, but blowing their heads off in the front row. It means that good monitoring is needed at gigs to really hear yourself without beeing too prominent in the mix. On stage volume levels can get real loud real quick otherwise.

I always use this combo with an Ashdown 1x15" deep, which allows the amp to create maximum power at it's recommended minimum impedence of 4 Ohms.

Amp has been played with Bass Collection Speakeasy, a detuned ESP Viper, 5 String Shine (active) and a passive Fender Jazz. It copes will all quite well, including the low B on the 5 string, which can create almost a piano type tone. With the 1x15" added it really does flap trouser-legs!

As an all rounder, I cannot really fault the sound quality. It is a realiable friendly sound with no vices if you see what I mean. It does not have the wirey sound of some modern Solid State amps, and it is not as warm as a Valve Fender Bassman, but sits somewhere in the middle, a 'safe' bet for many kinds of music.

When pushed hard the 10" speakers tend to break up, but that is when it is going full chat with the 1x15 plugged in as well.. the 15" extension speaker does not flap, the 10's do giving a little buzzy distortion when really pushed.

I have never had any of the band asking for me to turn it up anyway!

This amp blew the mains transformer just a few weeks outside of it's warrenty date!

The transformer was replaced FOC by Ashdown at their UK workshop. Judging from the pile of transformers on the floor, mine was not the only one, indicating that there might have been a faulty batch.

The Combo has worked flawlessly since for another three years without a hiccough.

Ashdown were spot on when dealing with the transformer issue. It might have been an expensive repair otherwise. Warranty was for a year, but as mentioned before, Ashdown sorted it FOC even though the warranty had expired. They might not do that all the time though!

I chatted with the guys in the workshop while they sorted it for me while I waited.

One thing I was a little perturbed about was at a later date chatting to Mark Gooday (Ashdown's owner & designer) about the mag300 & he called it "a toy" compared to the ABM series which he was trying to push at the London Guitar Show. I was a little dissapointed that he had just called my 'pride & joy' a toy, but hey, I am just a dumb musician, what do I know?

I have been playing for abouyt 8 years now, and this amp is the one I have used most in that time & have come to thoroughly rely on it.

It has never let me down during a gig, it has always provided ample volume for the gigs I played & it is relatively easily transportable, with the combo fitting onto the boot (trunk) of most medium size cars & the 1x15 on the back seat along with my basses! The combo is a heavy lug & is much easier to carry with some help. If I were going to improve on it any, I would ditch the sub bass feature (never use it) and change the tonbe knobs to 5 band graphic. I would also fit removable casters to the bottom to wheel it around on.

Am I qualified to comment on the electronics & stuff? I used to be a an audio technician for and audio equipment manifacturer, so I know what to expect, what is good & what is bad.. Internal construction of the amp is spot on, with nothing looking like it would fall appart in a hurry.

What do I love about it? I switch it on & it works, sound is ok for what I want and it has more than enough features for me.

What do I hate? It is heavy & the adhesive for the carpet covering is not cat-proof.

The direct out on the front panel helps when there are fast band change overs when the lights are down. The mid-sweep is nice to have to dial in some bite depending on the different venues. It would have been nice to have a built in compression like the Hartke heads. I never used the sub-harmonic feature because this amp had plenty of low end without it. Passive and active inputs are nice, and the input volume was nice to have especially with the cool VU gauge.

I was using a 1977 LB70 Carvin (p style) bass and this amp made it sound nice and beefy, still keeping the vintage tone. I ran a friends Ibanez S series bass through it, and it sounded even louder and very punchy. There is not a great deal of very high end coming from this amp, but that suited my blues/rock style perfectly. I had many compliments from other bass players on the live tone of the amp, and I must say it sounds very close to tube warmth for a solid state amp. The only negative thing is, if you were planning on recording with this amp with a mic instead of DI, the fan is probably way to noisy. On stage and practice, the noisy fan is not a problem at all.

This amp appears to be build very well. A couple of times I had to run at pretty much full volume, and never had a problem with the amp farting or sounding too stressed. I dropped it about a foot off the ground once, and it didn't effect the amp at all.

Never had a problem.

I have been playing close to 15 years, mainly just rock and some blues. My 2006 2x10 bass combo amp was exactly what I needed for playing in a Spanish Rock band in the local club scene in Austin. I am a sound engineer as well, and I can honestly say this amp has a great sound and is easy to dial in. I think if you are playing in bars and don't want to lug around a huge rig, this amp is perfect. Great sound, enough volume, compact, and reliable.

bought new in 2004.....easily enough power 4 gigging clubs etc etc....wish it had a front stand by switch though

suited to my playing...been playin 4 twenty odd years ...this is by far the best sounding amp i,ve owned

sadly it has let me down 3 times...with a cut out problem, been repaired each time without any fuss ...the third time i said i want a replacement ...which they did ...to there credit.....so i think i might have had a dud one....but these things happen.

gave me a new one when i had an intermitten fault.....cant praise them enough.

best amp to date ...and would recommend..no problem

Plenty of features as covered in other reviews.
I do wish it had a standby/mute switch on the front - however, turning the amp off doesn't seem to make any noise (popping, etc.). It's just inconveneint to have to find the switch in the back to do so. Also, it would be nice if an amp that weighed this much came with casters. I added pop-outs for about $25.
The amp looks cool (others have told me so) - is that a feature?

Very good array of sounds possible with the amp, though I usually just set it where I like it and use a processor to modify tone more quickly. I've heard a lot of comments about how good my sound is, so it must be working.
The amp is very quiet - noise is barely audible even when it is cranked.
I don't use the subharmonic processor like I thought I would - doesn't have any noticeable effect on low notes. Don't buy it for this feature alone.

No problems so far. The amp runs very cool (fan cooling), and the only thing that rattles is my house...

N/A

I would buy it again. A great value without sacrificing power or sound quality.

Bought in 2003.
Nice powerful combo,I can still be heard above two guitars,keyboards and drums.
Used for club and pub gigs,anything bigger I have put it through the PA.

I use a Fender Jazz bass and the combo copes well with the punchy J Bass sound.My old 73 Precision also sounds great through it.
Only gripe is the rather noisy fan

Very dependable unit.did have a cutting out problem recently.

Excellent support from Ashdown.
The shop did not want to know when I had an intermittent cutting out problem which started in January 2006.
Emailed Ashdown who responded straight away.Spoke to the workshop and they offered to repair it eventhough is was out of warrenty.
I live about 30 miles from Ashdown factory so I took it there myself (saved #30 courier fee)they serviced and fixed it while I waited.
Brilliant service considering it is 3 years old.

Been playing 30 years,would buy Ashdown again if stolen.

Bought this new in 2005. I'd had an old Peavey TKO 75 watt 1x15 combo for the previous 17 years - lots of gigs and never let me down - and thought I really needed a change! I play in a 4-piece "Adult Oriented Rock" band and this combo gives me everything I need. I don't use many fancy styles - just finger-style, pick and a little slap - but this manages all of them. Loads of headroom, easily handles larges halls (with just a little output via DI to the pa system, and all of the facilities I need. I like the look of it, and the build quality of the cabinet is very solid. There is nothing this doesn't have that I need.

I use a Musicman Stingray 4-string/3-eq bass through a Boss ME50B effects unit. Before I got the Boss, I was impressed with the Ashdown and wondered how I'd managed so long with the old Peavey. After I added the Boss I was even more impressed. I tend to leave the settings on the amp "flat", and use the effects and guitar settings for the sounds I want. I get all the sounds I need, clean and punchy, extra-deep, 60's overdrive and a little distortion when required. My first thought when buying the amp was that I might need the additional 1x15 cabinet to up the output to 300 watts and give me greater depth of sound - but so far I don't feel I need it.

Only had this around 8 months. Always took a little Roland combo to gigs for backup, but recently I've decided to trust the Ashdown and not bother with backup. It seems solidly built and I'm hoping it will prove reliable. No problems so far.

Amp came with a 1 year warranty and have had no occasion to contact customer support (fingers crossed)

I've given this all 9's (10 = perfection and I'm not sure that would be correct). However, I'm extremely happy with this purchase, and wish I'd changed amps sooner. I've played on and off for 40 years (yes, I'm an old git!!)and this suits me perfectly. Not too expensive, not too heavy, not too big, not too complicated. A really decent everyday combo for small to medium size gigs. I'd replace it if stolen. If I had to air one gripe (and I should in the interests of fairness) I do wish a little bit more had been spent on the quality and fit of the front panel switches - they all work fine but just seem a little flimsy in build quality and slapdash in fitting quality. Nevertheles, I recommend this amplifier.

This combo worked fine with pop, rock and some jazz. Since I'm not an experienced bass player I mostly used "classic" fingers, some slap and not much tap/thumb/pick. Has all the things already mentioned by others and yes, a mute switch would be useful. Headphone output is another thing I wish it had, however "bigger" combos often don't have it so it's not much of a problem. Old-school VU meter is not something i'd call very useful (it IS useful, but no more than a single 'clip' LED)... It does look good though.

Good noise level. 2 x 10" lacks some juicy low end and may sound a bit "hollow" when turned down to 30% or lower on the "volume". The deep switch can compensate for that. On higher volumes "it sings". The "4-string" range sounds full and defined. Never heard a low B on it. I suspect it may require reinforcement. It is suprisingly powerful! And tweeter makes slap & pop sounds very clear.

Never dealt with the company. I bought it 7 months ago. Got one year warranty.

If it was stolen or lost, I'd probably go for the same thing (at the moment). It isn't perfect, but the overall score is 10/10 because I believe it is the best value/money currently available. That's why I bought it and that's why I recommend it. The 2x10"'s are punchy and earthshaking, and although playing on it without a P.A. is possible, I recommend "plugging or miking in" because they don't "shoot" that far. From a 10m distance you can hear it, but that's simply not "it" anymore.

The amp was made in 2003. The amp is very versitile for all styles of music running from light jazz to heavy metal. Its got two inputs (active and passive), a deep switch, a bright switch, an EQ engage, 5-band rotary eq, a sub harmonics switch with level knob, balanced DI out, effects send, effects return and tuner out/line along with input and output level knobs. One problem i have found is the lack of a mute switch because it is an ass turning the input knob down(changing your levels) just to change bass in the middle of a gig. That is the only problem with the amp that i have found. The amp is packed with power and very controllable, i have used it in medium sized halls and pubs to theatres and you don't need to DI it because there is plenty of power, good news for the sound engineer!

I have two basses currently, one using a P-style pick-up with passive electronics and the other using the combination of P-style and J-style pick-ups in active electronics. They both work superbly with this amp. When using either passive or active inputs (with appropriate basses) the sound is strong and clear with no lack of signal which I have experienced in others amps. The style of music I play is prominantly rock. I would love to say it exceeds other styles but this amp is so versatile. You name it, it will do it. I would only say, it would be a very good idea to purchase a limiter and compressor if you are playing slap. I have put every effect you can think of through this amp and i has never distorted making it, for me, perfect for rock. I would only say don't leave you mobile phone in front of this amp because the last time i did it took me 6 tries to turn my phone back on!!

I would definitely gig with this amp without a back-up. I did turn up to a gig once and it was making funny noises but that is because one of the speaker leads had been pulled-out slightly whilst tranportation.

I've never dealt with the company as i have had no need to but i presume they are very good.

I have been playing for three years but deeply involved in music for about ten. In the way of effects i own a Behringer Bass V-amp (which is amazing), a boss bass overdrive, a boss tuner pedal, a boss bass chorus, a boss bass EQ and a boss noise suppressor (for the ovwerdrive, not the amp!). If it were lost or stolen i would definitely get it again without hesitation. I love this amp as i can get my own sound with it, its extremely loud for a 307 watt amp and it has every function i need. I did compare this product with others but it was a long time back now so i cant remeber what with. Like a say i do wish it had a mute switch but then there is the mute function on my tuner, v-amp or noise suppressor so it can cope. All i wil say is if your looking for a powerful, high quality, reliable bass amp without setting your pockets on fire then you definitely want this amp!!!