Ashdown Acoustic Radiator 1

Handsome looking amp that I heard in the store and bought it. Reverb, two channels, balanced out. Features were exactly what I wanted in an acoustic amp. Power was just right and the size is compact and it has a cool carrying strap.

At first, the sound was outstanding. Many people would comment on the clarity and tone of the amp and how great it sounded through the PA. A few short months later, one of the channels quit working. Took it to the store I bought it and they sent it back for repair. It came back about a month later and this time something else was wrong. I did this three times in 6 months. Each time, the amp came back worse. Now, the amp doesn't work at all. Too bad as it really had a great sound when it worked.

Absolutely not a reliable amp. The amp was left on the stand at our church. NO travel or misuse. Reverb quit working, channels would stop working, the DI out quit working...in short, I guess I purchased a lemon. Sadly, the company didn't make it right.

This is the sad part. Repairs they did were terrible. They had the amp 3 times for "repair" and it came back worse each time. Now it doesn't work at all and they are doing nothing about it. I would never recommend this product even though it sounded great in the store. If something goes wrong you are on your own. Why but it new?????
Warranty is a joke.

Difficult to say as it was a great sounding amp at first. I might be a rarity but I have had a terrible experience with the amp and the company.
Would not purchase an ashdown product again and I tell others about my experience.

My amp is an early model. The date on the warranty card from the factory says 21/11/02. The difference (visually) is the knobs; this one has dots on the rim instead of a small line. There was also a very small George L type cable connecting the FX send and return that I highly doubt was put there by the original owner. The features of this amp are the exact same as the current ones made: two inputs, one being phantom powered, a notch filter, 4 reverbs with useful settings, a line out, and a post EQ d.i, and few other sound shaping buttons. Just enough to make it a very useful amp.

Somewhere I read that the rumor was that some of the Trace Elliot people went to Ashdown after Gibson bought them out. I used to own a Trace TA-100 and gigged on it for years until I fried it one day due to the phantom power being on when trying to attach a standard cable to that channel. Terrible placement for the switch on that amp. This amp sounds every bit as clear and full. No complaints here. Low noise, full rich sound that's about as acoustic as it's going to get. I use a nylon string Spanish made instrument with a Fishman Prefix Pro Blend pickup. For gigs that require more sound in another room, I link to a 100 watt powered Alto Pam5 with two 5 inch speakers. Great addition to have.

I would imagine this one is built for the 100 year plan, being an early one, although the second channel's input pot is a bit scratchy right now.

Been playing classical for 20 years. I have been gigging with classical guitar for 15. This amp is great for it's sound, size, and retro look. I bought a travel case on wheels (like you see at the airport) on Ebay for only $25. It fits perfectly and makes transport even easier. At the price I got this amp, I would definitely get another.

Ashdown Acoustic Radiator 1 100W 2005 model
2 channels - mic and jack
Phamtom power on the mic channel
Piezo/Active switch for the jack input
Loads of tone shaping knobs Bass, Treble, Phase, Shape
All inportant Reverb with several settings including hall or plate and long or short
DI output

The guitar I use is a Taylor 314-ce, with Fishman Preamp on board. I play in church and was fed up of the man behind the mixing desk not giving me enough volume through the foldback (spoil sport) so I brought this so I could hear my guitar better. It took me about 5 minutes to dial in my guitar into the amp and the sound I got was incredible very true to the guitar, I also plugged in my friends Lowden into it and he was sold in about a minute he couldn't believe the fullness of sound that came out. Then we plugged in an electric violin and that sounded amazing to, so the violin player is now going to buy one. The best thing about this amp though is the reverb I just love it.

Couldn't comment on reliability as I've only had it a week, but it looks to be pretty solid. One picky problem I had with is the grill was touching the tweeter and every time I hit a bottom E you could hear the grill buzz. Easy problem fixed took the grill of and added a small strip of foam round the side then attached the grill. The grill is raised slightly and not toughing the tweeter anymore. No buzz, problem solved.

Haven't ever had to deal with them, but I hear they are very good.

I first had a go with an Ashdown six years ago when I first brought my Taylor, but they were priced at #425. Six years on I picked my up from Coda Music in the UK for #191 including P+P. Bargain!!!! I have played with the Marshall acoustic and I thought this amp was very false sounding, where as the Ashdown is true to the tone of the guitar. The only thing that might be better than this is the AER amps but the bottom end model is only 40w and comes in at double the price. Use your head go for the Ashdown you won't be disappointed it.

The acoustic Radiator 1 I bought is the not-updated version of the acoustic radiator. It has only one channel. Features input selector (active or piezo low Z), shape (shapes up the bass, down the mid and up the treble), dual tone controls (bass and treble), notch filter and reverb (hall or plate, long or short and the effect level can be dialed in through a single pot). Master volume, of course.
It boasts 60 watts in a very very small cabinet: one 8" speaker and two microscopic (?) tweeters. All PA-stuff of very high quality.
It has effects loops, XLR-balanced DI-output.
It's supposed to be a very portable amp for the gigging musician playing acoustic instruments, but I dig it for my jazz-playing.
A very smart feature (mostly found on the back of amps, like on my Trace Acoustic) is the phase switch. Found on the front of the amp it can be used to eliminate feedback. It's VERY effective. On plugging in I had the guitar feedbacking like hell, just flicking the phase swith had me eliminate all of it.

I use a lowden S-25J (for Jazz) nylon string guitar. The ashdown sounds terrific. Deep bass and clear treble. The choice of the frequency for the bass and treble is just great: adding a little bass, substracting some subtle treble and you get a huge sound. If you like more string sound, it's all there...
On the other hand I use a Heritage Eagle (no frills, just a great sounding archtop, built 1991, no gold hardware, no mother of toiletseat...). With this guitar the ashdown comes to live or the heritage comes to live, I don't really know. The sound is in your face: very percussive, clear attack, along with all the warmth of this instrument comes the clarity of each note. Complex chords all sound very detailed, even with the treble turned slightly down. I can't say how much I love the sound of this guitar on this amp. My Gretsch 6118 is lovely too and so are my laminated Yamaha-jazz-guitars. The sound is just wonderful.
You just have to toy around with the reverb and the bass and treble and you can dial in the sweetest or the hottest, the funkiest or the gentlest (wes montgomery) sound you'd wish.

Can't really say how reliable it is, I've had it for some months, gigging steadily, but always taking care of my stuff. But I'd like to make another comment.
It is very very small and very very down to earth (only bass and treble haha). But that's just the reason I bought it. You can easily put it near you on a chair or on top of a flight case.
Dialing in a good sound is easily done (no 5-band eq's!!!) and very effective.
It's really loud enough for club dates. I even played it in a big tent and it held marvellously... Even with a jazz-drummer it stands tall without a hint of overkill. I always use my trace acoustic (100 watts) in open air and dare not use the ashdown, wouldn't bet my money on it. Don't know what you would do with a heavier drummer, I like silent drumming ;))

The warranty is a 5 year Lifetime Limited Warranty. (Do I only have 5 more years to live, how do they know?) You have to register within 10 days after purchasing and it can be easily done on their website.

I have been playing for a long time. Jazz for some 12 years now. I love this amp big time! I leave my Trace Acoustic (TA-100R) home even though it is a wonderful amp also, but heavier, less portable and frankly too loud for small gigs.
I dig the portability, the definition of the sound (chords especially), I dig the compactness and the ease of dialing in sounds... I like the reverb, but the reverb on the Trace Acoustic suits me better (more choice), even though (i think) it is both the Alesis Midiverb.
I dig!

Mine was made in 2003, a upgraded version from previously 60W model - now 100W model with 2 channels (one for low impedance input i.e. microphone and one for high impedance input i.e. guitar)
Input impedance can be finetuned to allow for different impedance of signals coming out of the guitar or pre-amp.
In my view, a good Acoustic amp don't need to be versatile but has to honestly reflect the tonal color of your acoustic guitar. So a wide frequency range is required to do this job. Some effects(reverb)to add ambience to your sound can amke yoiur sound even more lively and interesting.
It has a effect loop & direct out socket to PA or mixing board but there is no headphone jack. But who would need headphone to play a true hollowbody acoustic?
Basically, AR1 has put together all necessary features into one combo package, it is yet portable (abouit 20+ lbs) and can provide effective tone shaping, feedback control, digital effects (based on Alesis Nanoverb).
I use this to play at home and may be to use it for recording. So I donlt need any big volume. IF I need to perform at public, I will use this as a monitor but route the amplified signal to PA. It is solid state amp but acoustic amp don't need tubes to deliver the warmth and airy tone, the guitar and pickup plays a much more critical role here.

I use a number of guitars but I love to use it to amplify my maton EBG808. THe sound through this is very very good, lively and airy.
It meets my requirements for a good acoustic amp - dynamic in responses and transparent in tones.
It has minor level of noises but very acceptable to me.
One thing good about this amp as compared to other makes are: its ability to give clear, undistorted signals when playing at very high level to me. Feekback will be a greater threat if you play at high vcolume levels but don't use any soundhole cover!

A little problem with this amp popped up 6 months after I first bought this brandnew. It uses a external power cord but the connection is faulty so that I have to send back for repairs. I don't think it is a probelm with the design but this is quality problem with the assembly.

In my opinion, you rarely need much support with an amp unless it is very complicated to use it. Certainly this is not the case with AR1. But I think I have no answer to this question.

I have been playing guitars for more than 20 years but I recently reactivated my interest in acoustic music. If it is stolen, I think there is no other choices for me currently since in the counrty where I live, I dont't have access to other amps like AER or Ultrasound which I heard are very good even if I can afford them. Unless I change my mind to use pre-amp plus PA, otherwise, for a small combo, AR1 is still attractive choice for me. I would consider it again.