Ashdown Amps / Marshall

[Phil Bennett]

I must be the unluckiest guy in all the world.

Saturday Afternoon, I bought a brand new spanking Ashdown Peacemaker 40 valve amp.

Sunday Morning, not working.

Monday afternoon, took it back to the shop.

Two minutes later, tried a new Ashdown Peacemaker 40 delivered that day, not working.

What shall I do now ?, i'll try a Marshall 401 Valve amp, plugged in, what do you think happened ? Didn't work.

Asked for my money and old amp that I put in part-ex, left the shop.

The guy liked my PRS though.

Regards

Phil

[THLH]

This may sound dumb, but if you used the same guitar on all three amps, it may be the guitar. The odds of three seperate amps not working is astronomical. You may have a short in your jack or your switch. My brand new CU22 soapbar had a short in the switch and I freaked out trying to figure out what was wrong with my amp until I moved the switch and the sound came on. you may want to double check.

Is your house/apartment wiring screwy? Maybe you have seriously variable voltage (brownouts, surges) that are killing amps. Did you plug through a surge suppressor?

[Phil Bennett]

Guys

The second and third times was actually in the shop, first and second time using my PRS, third time with a Telecaster.

Anyway took my old amp home, everything okay again.

Spooky or what.

Regards

Phil

[John Phillips]

Not spooky in the slightest - both those amp models are well known for reliability problems.

Of course, not every one fails, and you have been more than usually unlucky. But you have at least had fair warning not to own either of them...

I haven't looked inside an Ashdown personally, but I can say that modern Marshalls aren't built well at all (except the reissues).

[mbratch]

It may not be a reliability problem at all. Certainly not bad enough to expect 2 consecutive amps to fail.

Did you think of checking the tubes to make sure they were securely in their sockets? I own an Ashdown Peacemaker 40 and all but one of the tubes has a retainer. I put retainers on the other three 12AX7s and got rid of having to make sure they were seated each time I transported the amp.

[Old Fuzzface]

I've heard enough (admittedly second-hand) reliability horror stories about the smaller Peacemakers to put me off even auditioning them.

I think going a little further up-market can pay big dividends in the reliability and build-quality stakes.

[Phil Bennett]

Guys

I have bought a Mesa DC5 and all is well.

Regards

[Old Fuzzface]

Wow, that's weird.

I had a premonition that there was a Boogie in your future.

[Phil Bennett]

Originally posted by Old Fuzzface
Wow, that's weird.

I had a premonition that there was a Boogie in your future.

Any chance of the lottery numbers ?

Regards

hmmm I've got an ashdown peacemaker 20 watt that I've had for almost a year with no issues. Most of my friends love the amp but I'm looking for a mesa now so i can get a better clean channel with more headroom and more high gain sounds. No reliablility issues here

[HillbillySims]

no problems with mine at all... and it sounds better than any of the typical mid-priced amps in guitar center (between 400-700 bucks) I usually use a Shiva or a 3rd Power amp... but my ashdown sounds good enough that I wouldnt hesitate to take it to a gig at all