Graham56 Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Hi guys, After a few years of pracing on a Korg Pandora and playing on college amps I finally had the cash to buy myself my first gigging rig - an Ashdown MAG 300 (solid state) and Ashdown 2 x 10 cab. A 1 x15 may follow when funds allow. The rig sounds great - just the warm sound I wanted (I play rock and blues with an old passive P-bass). But the manual isnt terribly informative. The head has two volume controls - one controlling the gain at the input, the other at the output. Reading earlier threads here (I've searched, honest!), it seems that the output is still upstream of the power stage and controls the output from the preamp. So presumably the input attenuates the input from the bass to the preamp? Why both? The head has a high and low impedance input sockets for the preamp, so is this control just to fine tune the levels to suit my particular bass? Different combinations of input gain and output volume setting end up with the same volume at the cab - so what else is happening? I notice when I play around with this input control, it seems to add some distortion and change the tone a little when turned up high. Is that what its for? Or is that really only relevant when playing DI? On this amp the DI is taken after the EQ stage so presuambly that will have more effect. Instinct says if I keep the gain down and volume high it wont pick up quite as much unintended clicks, scratches and finger sounds - but I havent really tested that yet. . I havent had much chance to play it at reasonable volume yet so I havent yet tweaked the set up to suit my bass and ears. But as I prefer to make decision based on information as well as my opinion, can anyone explain why the two controls are there? Supplementary question - The manual says almost nothing about caring for either head or cab. Apart from the obvious - dont kick them down stairs, dont spill drinks on it etc, is there anything that I should do to take care of the kit? I know I need to avoid clipping (and the amp has a nifty VU meter with red sector to help here), but what else? Is it best to switch on to let it warm up for a minute or two before kicking off? Should it be left switched on after a gig to let the fan run for a while? Should I let it cool down before moving it? Or do I just crank it up, thrash hell out of it for an hour, throw it into the car, crack open a bottle then go looking for groupies? Cheers Graham Edit: Oh...I see that some of this has already been covered in the Laney R2 thread. Sorry for the duplication! www.talkingstrawberries.com - for rocking' blues, raw and fresh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbn Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Let me see.... Quick and dirty answer: Your input volume is also referred to as "Gain". By cranking this you are pushing a hotter signal through the rest of the preamp and you can get a decent amount of overdrive (in good and bad ways). Too much gain will clip the preamp causing distortion. This is seperate from the high/low impedence input jacks. Also, if the DI is post-eq, then any adjustments to the gain will go to the board. This is NOT a DI level control though. You may or may not have a little level knob for your DI out. From your post, I think that you are seeing things fairly clearly. Now it is experimentation time!! As for maintenance, solid state amps are pretty much care free. I wouldn't thrown mine down a flight of stairs, but I will let a singer carry it. I would NEVER let a singer carry a tube amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham56 Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Thanks for that Nutt. As you say, I guess it's time to experiment... Cheers Graham www.talkingstrawberries.com - for rocking' blues, raw and fresh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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