Ashdown MAG-250 Head

2003 ashdown mag 250head 250 watts into 4 ohms with 500 watts headroom (peak). One channel, all solid state amp, effect loop send and recieve, tuner out. Bass and Bright puts, Defeatable 5 band rotary EQ, a front DI output, a cool VU meter and an incerdible sub harmonizer effect with a level control that i never use(but sounds cool) Built in the UK.

Sounds great with the mag 410 and 115 cabs. I play mostly rock and blues and dance music 50s 60s 70s beatles stones motown etc. the subharmonizer is fun to play with but i never use it live. Play mostly passive fender jazz and p basses but do plug in my surine and DP custom active basses(just make sure you put it in the right jack!

Bass head went down after 16 months. emailed ashdown who responded quickly with an email and a phone call to tell me the warrenty had expired I guess when the amps went from UK assembly to china the price came way down and so did the warrenty time. from 2 years to 1 even though mine was built in the UK. So bad luck on my part and a lost customer on theirs. I bought a new Genz Benz head. I took the head to my amp teck who opened it up told me it needed a relay he thinks but the problem was intermittent(sp)also said he was not impressed with the build(but he's a tube amp guy so he might be prejudice). But i won't buy another ashdown.

They're on it but if the old stuff is junk the new stuff buit in china can't be any better can it?

Over 30 yrs of playing and i've blown up 4 amps but the other 3 were at least 5 or more yrs old and giggeg hard. this amp was in a rotation with my ampeg combo, swr combo and trace elliot combo. I used this amp for bigger rooms so it didn't get out that much. I was really dissapointed with this amp. My trace is 9 yrs old ang still going. I think ashdown fell short. Maybe I should have gone ABM.

Just got this. Made in 2002. 250 watts into 4 ohms with 500 watts headroom (peak). One channel, all solid state amp, effect loop send and recieve, tuner out. Bass and Bright puts, Defeatable 5 bad rotary EQ, a front DI output, a cool VU meter and an incerdible sub harmonizer effect with a level control.

I have an upright, a passive fender jazz style clone with lane poor pickups and a beefed up old precision type kramer fretless with bartolini active pickups and preamp. For my styles, some jazz( straight ahead and free form), quasi latin and reggae and your garden variety jam music (think grateful dead - phish) and some modern blue grass, this is good amp. Not as good as the ABM I suppose but I like it clean with good volume and headroom. This guy has headroom. I think the 250 watt rating is true. I have a GK(Gallien Kruegger) and owned an Eden CXC Combo. This thing is warmer than both although the EQ on the Eden has more range. I ABed this aginst the mighty SVT 3 Pro and this guy was puchier and warm. I think the SVT is a rockers bass with its ability to distort. This guy is not as hifi as the SWR's or Eden. Of course SWRs and Edens can be made to dub, but the Ashdown is more like your modern Acoustic brand(Jaco's amp) amps and SUNN of the 70's but sweeter. Drives my friends Eden 210 and Mesa 15 nicely. I also have an 4 ohm avatar 210 and this guy and the avatar are a good match. The only thing that is irritating is that the fan is a continous type fan. This is definitely a giging head for medium to samll venues and might need to be distanced or isolated from the cab if you are recording. The sub harmoniser is da bomb. I only had a bass wah and chorus for effects. I dig this feature a lot and make solos more interesting. I tried a friends six string bass. I was amazed and makes me want to get a six string soon. Bow the the upright and you've got a very full solo lines. Dont go below the low c or c# on the 4 string (depnds on the bass instrument) as the effect becomes useless. In fairness to SWR and Eden - jou have to tweak the tone controls - just a bit for a full sound. Eden and SWR and especially Eden, they sound huge with the settings flat. Its the enhancer thing that they both have that seems to be the magic. For the Ashdown MAG you have to have the bass boost pushed in and depending on the bass either cut or boost the low bass tone control to get a full sound for the electric basses. With the upright not a good idea to have bass boost in otherwise it is too boomy. I've heard a guy play the ABM and his EQ settings looked flat to me -- that's the ABM and not what I am reviewing. My avatar 210 cab is rated at 750 watts - 2 350 emminence at 4 ohms plus the tweeter. Granted those are peak and we halved this to 350 RMS, I am still cautious to go past 7 master on this amp- because I feel the speakers are pushed hard already/Compare that to the 300 watt Eden CXC - this thing is louder. With the pair of Eden 210(CXC - stamped frame, co-ax -lower cost Eden) at 200 watts plus the David Series 115 at 200 watts, the 210s fart at 6 master volume. May not if I used a 210 XLT. Definitely louder than any 250 watter including the GK and Trace I've played. There is some distortion when you push the gain, but this is not tube. I am giving it a 9 because if I had the resources, I would have gotten the ABM instead which I could easily rate as a 10.

This is new. Some people say some Ashdown had reliability problems and some swear by them and had no problems even if they spilt liquids inside the chassis. I'll take my chances. As far as I can see, because everything is rotary and no soft buttons or sliders and they chicken knobs vs small plastic ones, this amp is more solidly built than SWR GK, Trace, Hartke or Eden. Mesas, EBS and some boutique amps may be the only better ones in my opinion. I know that Trace Elliots are reliable and the guy who started Ashdown was from Trace. I'll put an 8 since I just got it and review it later if it dies

Just got the amp. It has a five year warranty. They are responsive with questions before I got it. The owner replies most of the time. BAsed on my initial contatc and the swifthness of a reply - versus my GK and Eden experiences - this guys are definitely better.

Playing bass since 1988. I've owned Fender,Peavey, GK and Eden bass amps. Borrowed for a year an SWR. I have the same instinctive feel of the quality of this amp as those other amps. If I had the money, I would get the Ashdown ABM series - but I might buy a Mag as well who knows just like I feel I will get a GK as well. The owner of mostly Solid State amps - I am accustomed to their sound and forsee no probelems. At any rate I am sold on the Ashdown sound. I would give this an 8 since I just have it