New Ashdown MF-484H guitar amp head combines all-tube design with emulations of classic speaker cabinets.
Known around the world for its bass amps, UK-based Ashdown Engineering has also built a growing reputation for its guitar amps, typically blending vintage tube designs with modern performance and tone-shaping features. Ashdown’s new MF-484H 30-Watt all-tube head takes things a step further by adding Two notes Torpedo technology to provide emulations of 6 classic mic’d guitar cabinets for direct connection to the PA, a full-range on-stage cabinet, or a DAW or recording console. Like any desirable guitar amp, it all starts with great tone and in the MF-484H, this comes courtesy of 1 X ECC81, 1 X ECC82 and 2 X ECC83 tubes in the preamp, and a quartet of EL84s in the power section. There’s plenty of headroom for sparkling clean tones and a switchable Boost adds more gain for rockers, while Volume and Gain knobs bring the necessary control for setting the desired amount of break-up and overall volume. Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence controls follow a front panel format that will be instantly familiar to most guitarists. Plug in a conventional cab and the MF-484H is alive with a pleasing response and a wide range of tones from chiming and clean, through a pleasing crunch to a rich saturation. Use the Torpedo output and you suddenly have access to 6 classic Celestion-equipped cabinet configurations, mic’d with some legendary microphones in ideal acoustic spaces. On stage, or in the studio, it’s like bringing a van-load of cabinets and a world-class microphone selection to every gig or session. And you can even edit the mic selection and placement via a USB-C port on the back panel.