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Hi,
Have picked up a non working Ashwood AAA 30 bass amp. Roughly £80 to fix at a local specialist. I could get a second hand fender rumble 15 for around that. Being second hand I could just be buying another load of problems. Amp is for son to use at home and possibly dad might be teaching himself a bit of ratm.
Happy to fix the Ashwood but would value some input from people that know about these things.
I'd go with the fix, if nothing else, saves it going in the landfill.
Can you repair it yourself from the diagrams?
do you mean ashdown?
...dad might be teaching himself a bit of ratm.
That's what I've been doing for a year now. Very fun.
Sorry can't advise on the amp I'm a noob and just bought a used Orange Crush because I always liked the way they look. Luckily it sounds mint.
I'm not a big fan of the Ashdown tone, but if you do, then it might be OK. If it is only the 30 and not the 300 it does sound overpriced though.
If you are in Scotland, I can probably point you at some options on Gumtree and Facebay that might be better VFM.
What’s wrong with it?
Ashdown are a UK company and are supposed to have excellent customer service so it might be worth dropping them an email.
Yes sorry ashdown amp, that's me clicking on auto fill. Got a couple of other places to contact about costs. As has been said would rather fix, won't be going in landfill thoug will be turned into a fancy lamp. Just like on those TV shows.
£80 to fix sounds like either 2hrs labour plus some small parts or 1hrs labour plus a major component such as a speaker or transformer. If it's the little 30W one, then it wasn't an expensive amp to start with - around £120 or so - so £80 to repair isn't really economic, but good on you for at least looking into it rather than just chucking it in the trash and buying new. What does it do or not? No signs of life when you power it up? Powers up but no noise? Powers up, makes noise but sounds farty?
It's the 30w version. Powers on ok you can hear the speaker pop when turning on and off. With the amp on the speaker hums slightly so sounds like it's getting power from the amp. No sound when playing though either through the amp or headphone jack. No buzz or clunk from the cable, tried a different bass and cable. Checked the fuses on the board and they're fine.
£80 was for 2hrs labour and small bits as needed. Amp cost me £20 off eBay as a fixable gamble. It will get turned into something but would prefer an amp over a lamp.
I've got the EB12-180. It was £35, just needed some contact cleaner on the gain and volume pots and a couple of knobs missing (yeah yeah, except for the one playing). For your potential £100 layout, I'd be looking for a working 100W+ amp.
Son has a second hand Fender Rumble, and I was rather impressed - it's plenty loud enough and has decent sounds. His only complaint is the lack of a decent distortion sound like Muse / Motorhead, but a pedal sorts that easily enough.
It’s the 30w version. Powers on ok you can hear the speaker pop when turning on and off. With the amp on the speaker hums slightly so sounds like it’s getting power from the amp. No sound when playing though either through the amp or headphone jack. No buzz or clunk from the cable, tried a different bass and cable. Checked the fuses on the board and they’re fine.
£80 was for 2hrs labour and small bits as needed. Amp cost me £20 off eBay as a fixable gamble. It will get turned into something but would prefer an amp over a lamp.
That could potentially be the input jack, which would be a very easy fix. I can see it has a line in input - try playing some music through that to see if the amp and speaker are ok. If that works then likely to be the input jack, or less likely the pre-amp stage for the bass.
Decided the prudent approach was to cut my losses. Picked up a fender rumble 15 with delivery for £88. Comes with the benefit of a warranty.
Will look to create a fancy lamp from the Ashdown.