Ashdown Fallen Angel series - are they any good?

[JohnnyGuitar]

I have a chance to try one.

I know they use E34 power tubes... do they sound anything like a Marshall? what do they sound like?:scratchch
The specs on the website don't talk about many things - like the type of speakers in the combos or cabinet wood... with the digital effect I suspect the amps might not be top quality - am I wrong?

 

[Uk Ant]

Re: Ashdown Fallen Angel series - are they any good?

They do not sound like a Marshall, well not a DSL or TSL. They are a lot smoother in the sound and a lot more versatile in operation.
Sound quality is great. build quality perhaps not.

If you're in the uk it's by far the best valve amp I've heard unless you want to spend twice as much.

edit to say

Reliability is a huge issue but ashdown are apprently very good on the old customer service.

The amps are also very big, I used to have the 40 watt 1x12 combo and it's almost as big as a 2x12.

Speakers are Ahsdown's own, they probably source them from another manufacturer but I don't know where.

The digi effects are ok, but as mine don't work (see reliability issues) I can't really comment that much.

 

[Animal]

Re: Ashdown Fallen Angel series - are they any good?

Good sounding amps but bad reliability. I almost bought a used FA-60 2x12 combo that was sitting in a shop a few years back but some other dude beat me to it. I tried to shrug off all the reliability warnings about the amp and concentrate on it's nice sound.

Good thing I missed out. The day after the other dude bought the amp he came back to the shop saying the amp had broken down after an hour of jammin' with his band and getting great tone.

 

[Uk Ant]

Re: Ashdown Fallen Angel series - are they any good?

Good thing I missed out. The day after the other dude bought the amp he came back to the shop saying the amp had broken down after an hour of jammin' with his band and getting great tone.

That sounds about right, I'm on my second, as the first started over heating after a week or so.

So far the only things wrong with the new one are no digi affects or reverb (which doesn't bother me much) and the boost switch is a bit iffy.

 

[Lu_B]

Re: Ashdown Fallen Angel series - are they any good?

I've a Peacemaker that's about 5 yrs old and have never had any problems with it but I think it was made in the UK and not somewhere overseas.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: Ashdown Fallen Angel series - are they any good?

Those Peacemakers are supposed to be really nice amps.

I tried a Fallen Angel combo in a guitar shop. I really liked the tone. But it's definitely not a Marshall tone. It has a distinctive nasty snarling sounding midrange that would sound great for heavier styles. It would be a great amp for nu metal. Its voicing definitely had more character than a lot of amps out there with their midrange control turned all the way down.

I just listened to one in the store. I wasn't aware of the reliability problems when using them day to day.

They could lose the digital effects as for as I'm concerned. I hope whenever Ashdown comes out with a new series of amps, they focus on great tone, which they seem to be good at, lose the digital bells & whistles, and make the amps reliable.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Ashdown Fallen Angel series - are they any good?

I think the Fallen Angel series was supposed to be their take on the Mesa tone, even the cheap 4 x 12's are voiced to be very bottom end sounding. But unfortunately there are reliability issues and build quality is suspect. The UK built handmade stuff is supposed to be very good though... probably why the peacemaker has been so good.

 

[Uk Ant]

Re: Ashdown Fallen Angel series - are they any good?

The two I had were both made in china, I'm hoping that the new Hayden stuff is better made.

And the Fallen Angel's are very heavy in the bass. I never thought I'd have to turn the bass down on an amp.

 

[Animal]

Re: Ashdown Fallen Angel series - are they any good?

BTW, the amp I almost bought was from the original Fallen Angel series that were manufactured in England without any DSP effects.

I could hardly coax a mesa tone out of that thing. It sounded more JCM800 hot-rod to me. Which is interesting because I've also heard clips of the same amp that display more of a mesa more. Maybe the tube setup of that particular FA amp I played was different.