Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Petre on June 14, 2006, 01:06:38 AM
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Ok, the decision has almost been made. After extensive research it sounds liek the fallen angel is EXACTLY what im looking for. High gain, and an insane low end. (chime in now if you think its a bad amp). Plus reviews have told me customer service isnt true to all the ghost stories.
However, i notice the FA 60 watt head and combo are the same price. Now if im right in thinking the combo can connect straight into a cab too, surely the combo is better choice as id be able to play at both bedroom levels (without cab) and have a nice big sound for gigs (with cab)?
Cheers for any input on both wether the amp is a good choice, and whether i should go for combo or head.
Petre
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I would say a combo is more versatile so yes, go for that if it does have the option to use an extension cab later if you so wish.
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I've got a Fallen Angel 60 combo and it's a great (and surprisingly versatile) amp. The clean sounds from it are really great, and obviously the gain and bass available are insane.
The RRP and the "real" retail price for the head is somewhat less than the combo though :?
Unless you're playing to 2000 people plus though, the combo should be fine.
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It's an awesome amp, definetely go for it.
The combo should be fine, even for gigs you shouldn't really need an extension cab.
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Has anyone tried the 40w combo? How it is compared to the 60w combo?
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I'm guessing its pretty similar although I havent played either, theres not really a great difference between 40w and 60w valve amps, at least I dont think there is?
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Sweet, looks like i'll go for the combo then :wink: .
btw, the diff between 40watt and 60 watt, is 40 watt = 1 speaker, 60 watt = 2
and yea soz i got confused with prices across diff websites. looks like head is £50 cheaper than the combo.
Oh and one last question, what do i have to look for in the amp specs to find out if it will connect into an external speaker cab? Thx very much
Petre
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Sweet, looks like i'll go for the combo then :wink: .
btw, the diff between 40watt and 60 watt, is 40 watt = 1 speaker, 60 watt = 2
and yea soz i got confused with prices across diff websites. looks like head is £50 cheaper than the combo.
Oh and one last question, what do i have to look for in the amp specs to find out if it will connect into an external speaker cab? Thx very much
Petre
I was not thinking about wattage, i was thinking about the audial differences.
About your last question, the 40w combo, the 60w combo and the 60w head has all the same back panel, so thats no problem. check for yourself:
http://ashdownmusic.com/tech/manuals/FallenAngelManual05.pdf
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I'm guessing its pretty similar although I havent played either, theres not really a great difference between 40w and 60w valve amps, at least I dont think there is?
i think the 40 watter has el84 power tubes, while the 60 watter has el34's- so the power tube overdrive at higher volumes will be different, presumably.
I've only tried the 60 watt head, and at low volumes. Seemed pretty good (obviously no match for a recto, but then again, it's about 5 times the price!), and had a nice crunch on channel 1, with the gain cranked.
I have no idea about the reliability, obviously, I only tried it in sound control.
:drink:
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A mate of mine occasionally borrows my Ashdown for live work if his triple rectifier is in the shop, and he never has any complaints.
I just checked my back panel and there are in fact 2 speaker outputs, an 8ohm and a 16ohm, so you should be able to connect tp whatever you want.
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I had a FA 40w combo (without the DSP fx)
£230 it cost me, was mint but 'ex demo'
Clean sounds were ok.
Gain channel was ok and sounded great when boosted by my SD-1. Amp was VERY VERY bass heavy though...so watch the bass control (this was with a Jackson RR5 which is a pretty 'light' sounding axe)
It did get REALLY hot, mine was one of the newer ones with the cooling fans on the back.
Not a bad amp at all!
It was sold for a JCM800 though ;) (then i thought feck it and bought ENGL which is what i always REALLY wanted)
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Ok, turns out i can get an amp like, by end of this month by using up my early 18th bday money. so erm... Im seriously tempted by the 60 watt FA DSP. Just a little concerned the newer ones might not be so great. Ive heard some say the newer ones are cr@ppy :? . Ive heard alotta good things too tho, and my Jackson RR3 is bright as anything, as i even have my SD dimebucker in it. Need to really make sure this is a good purchase as this is basically my 18th bday present instead of driving lessons and i dont wanna make a bad decision :( . And before anyone suggests, i really cant try one out. I dont live anywhere near any shop that would even think about stocking these amps.
Only other real option i can think of for around 400 - 500 is an engl 50 watt head. But the FA just seems alot more based around what im into, and seems alot more versatile
By the way i currently use a marshall MG15 CDR (broken) so im kinda assuming anything is gonna be an upgrade. Just if this amp is gonna be shitety im gonna have to live with it !
Thanks for input
Petre
P.S, @ dave , ive checked and pretty much specs of both are identical.
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The Ashdown is very good value for money, however you cut it.
There are a lot of fans for the Engl Screamer on this site, but from what I've been able to ascertain there is a reason that the Thunder is so much cheaper. Some people have raised questions about the built quality of the Thunder, so I shouldn't worry too much about the construction of the Ashdown , and I'm sure much of the criticism of the newer Ashdowns is simply perception (I mean even the Vox AC30 is made in China now!! And it's no cheaper!!!!!!).
To fit the Thunder into your price bracket I'm assuming you're looking at importing it from Germany, so I don't know what the shipping is, and remember it won't work without a cab, and if you buy the cab separately you're going to be up to £700.
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I must also agree with Dave here, channel 1 really driven hard gives an awesome rock tone, you might want to get something like a Digitech Bad Monkey (only about £35) to dirty up your clean channel at the touch of a button.
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Yea the engl head really would stretch my wallet, and i need to begin saving for my new guitar as soon as possible. ashdown seems way too tempting for me also. Versatility, bass-heavy, and great price.. plus they look pretty mean 8) .
And about driving the clean channel.. im not really into "rock" as such. Metal all the way for me. And ive heard even tho the ashdown is sposed to be metal, the gain just doesnt quite reach what it should, so i was thinkin of getting some sort of overdrive pedal to push it that extra.
Petre
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I tried the 60W head and there really wasn't that much gain even with it cranked up. I was a little disapointed. It's very thick sounding though.
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:? :? :? :? :?
Not much gain?????????????
WTF are you on?????????????????
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Well I was using a SD CoolRails with it... But I was expecting a high gain amp like this to have a lot more even with a low output pickup.
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I wouldn't say the ashdown is super high gain like, say, an engl powerball, but I'd say it had plenty of gain for most things, assuming (as my amp does) that it gets progressively heavier as you turn it up...
:drink:
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yea, i was planning on going for the FA60 combo and then sticking OD infront of it too. That would get me all the gain i needed right?
I remember somebody saying to overdrive a mildly overdriven amp is pretty darn sexy.
I was thinking for an OD to go Maxon OD808 (i think thats what they were). Like £100 but i heard amazing things. This a good move?
Cheers
Petre
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^ yes and no. It should get you all the gain you need. But if you were overdriving, say, a vintage amp, while you'd probably get most of the gain you'd need, it'd still not be voiced for metal- you'd probably need an eq pedal, and even then, it probably wouldn't sound totally modern.
I don't think there'd be any of these problems with the FA, since it's modern-voiced, but I doubt it even needs an OD, unless you want it for a solo boost, or just to have more tones available at your feet- I'd try the amp first, sans boost. If the amp isn't doing it for you, you might want to reconsider- an OD is there to put the icing on the cake (e.g. "my amp rocks, I just wish it had a smidgen more gain for solos!"), not make a cr@p amp great, lol.
At least in my view. Other people may (and probably will) disagree, and that's fine too.
:drink:
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Oh, no soz Dave thats what i meant. the FA60 should hopefully give me all the gain i need, just if its that few steps off and OD pedal could push it that bit more right? Im really dreading that it may not have enough gain. Still humming and harring over this. Might just reconsider all options :cry: EDIT - ...Again...
Petre
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honestly?
I thought my FA 40 didnt have enough without my SD-1 boosting it.
BUT it sounded great with the SD-1 (ebay for lke £30!)
You need to try the amp really... these kind of amps are strange in that they have their own unique sound, not Marshall, not Mesa or Laney, just 'Ashdown' (bit like ENGL's).
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I hear ya chrisola. Thats what gave me the idea to get a sexy OD pedal to really get the sound i want. Just a bit of a pain if i wanna switch between clean and distorted. Having to use the footswitch supplied as well as the OD lol.
My other option is to go all summer without a decent amp and save till birthday/christmas and just get something amazing like a ENGL powerball half stack, or peavey 5150 half stack. I need a damn amp now tho! :x
..... oh and id have to then delay my new guitar by a year too, as thats gonna be saved for straight after my amp.
So chrisola, what stuff do u actually play? And when u stick the Od in front of it do u have stupidly large amounts of gain? Coz my stuff ranges from slightly rugged sounding to full on chaos, so if overdriven its gained beyond what anyone wouldneed ill be happy. I dont NEED all that gain, but its nice to know i have breathing space with my gain :roll:
Cheers for persistance
Petre
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oh an something i thought about whilst in bed last night. Alot of people say the FA is real thick and bassy. But.. it does still have alot of clarity right? I play a hell of a lot of children of bodom and need pretty much every note to be heard throughout. Id hate to get an amp thats muddy/mushy or that is only that great for power chord chugging :(
Can anyone clarify this for me who has the amp or tried one?
Thanks again
Petre
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^ i thought it got a bit muddy with the gain too high on channel 2.
also, I wouldn't fork out too much for a great od- if you're spending like £200 or something daft on a boutique pedal, you could nearly have afforded a better amp!
but listen to chris, he owned one- if the sd1 will do it, it's pretty cheap (I've seen it for £30, new!), so that'd be fine.
As always, this is only the way I do things- it may not be the correct philosophy, lol.
:drink:
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i play everything rock and metal..
Children Of Bodom, Iron Maiden, In Flames, Death, Mayhem, Primal Fear, Metallica, Emperor etc etc etc i know bits and riffs for loads of stuff..if i hear something cool i'll try and make a half assed attempt at learning my fav bit ;)
When i had the FA i was using a Jackson RR5 (then a Gibson LP) and it sounded 'ok' with the FA, but really good if i used the gain on the FA boosted by my SD-1 (gain channel, gain boost off though, otherwise it was INSANE and just noise).
If i remember correctly, the FA is aimed at 'nu metal' fans, just like the HK Warp 7 is. Hence is very bass\low end heavy and chunky.
Its a nice amp...perhaps too niche? Its one you need to try with your guitar.
The alternatives... well ENGLs are awesome, my Fireball nailed the CoB tone! But they cost £££.
A good old solid state Marshall Valvestate 8080 series like Death and other metal bands back in the day used will get you a killer sound at a good price aswell... either head\cab or 2x12 combo perhaps.
I'm not too good at describing tones really...
100% with Dave aswell, £200 on a pedal? £30 SD-1 will do you or maybe £100 on a Keeley modded SD-1 or TS9 will REALLY be good... hell even the Digitech Bad Monkey has a good rep and thats cheap.
I always remember: not all metal\rock bands have alot of money to start.. but by spending it wisely and tweaking they created some awesome tones..and alot of bands still swear by things like Boss pedals and the such now they are bigger!
Dont need boutique amps and pedals..of course, they wont hinder you.. if you are prepared to front the £££ ;)
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^ just to point out, I didn't mean boutique pedals suck- I meant it was a false economy to try to save on the amp and then to have to spend on the boutique pedal to compensate.
If you have a boutique amp as well, THEN go for the boutique pedal, lol.
In my opinion.
:drink:
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oooh, the maxon i saw i could get for 100, but yea i am stupid :P coz thats 100 that could get me a better amp lol. Clearly unnecessary too to just drive the amp a little more. The SD-1 sounds fine :).
But yea, like i said before i got no way of trying one, let alone trying it with my guitar. But Chrisola, you said you really liked it, and i dig all bodom, in flames, tallica, Opeth etc. so could be a real good option.
I think im gonna have to bite some sort of bullet sooner or later :(
Cheers
Petre
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While Ashdown do seem to make an ok budget amp, I gotta say they're not good people to deal with at all if anything goes wrong, and on a cheaper amp made in China this is a distinct possibility, as their reputation shows. They even set up a whole new brand called Hayden to escape this reputation.
When I purchased one of their "pre Hayden" Haydens, they were using a design that they'd supposedly purchased (but not qutie paid for yet) from Matamp. However, the Essex Blonde combo did not work as it should have, so it was sent back. Ashdown denied anything was wrong in my dealings with them and flat out refused to look into it further for me, suffice to say I took a refund. The clincher? When I was at the Matamp factory I heard about them having sent that amp over to them so Matamp could tell them where they'd chuffed up... they obviously didn't know where but didn't fancy telling me, who had paid good money for this amp about that little obstacle in their providing customer service.
And while this might not be an across the board thing, it's certainly assured that I will never purchase an Ashdown product as long as I live, and I will make anyone thinking of purchasing one aware of my experiences with this dubiously run company. If you have one I wish you the best of luck with it though.
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Oh right... well i read loadsa reviews where people had great customer service. Plus i think the ashdown place is based near me too... ive heard both extremes lol. some say amazing, some say terrible.
Petre
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People always harp on about customer service from manufacturers, but they're not really set up for it. Most problems that you'll have a serious need to moan about (ie related to construction) will occur in the first year, in which case your relationship should be with the retailer, not the manufacturer.
As for muddy bass, I think Ashdown know a thing or 2 about tight low end.
On the gain issue, if you are using medium to hot output pickups, then I can't see you'll have a problem. There is a volume boost on channel 2 anyway, and you could use an overdrive pedal set fairly clean to get extra volume boost (a la Zakk Wylde) if you want (which would also allow you to get those great rock tones should your musical spectrum broaden).