Ashdown AGM User Manual
THANK YOU!
FOR PURCHASING
YOUR NEW GUITAR AMP
PLEASE BE SURE TO REGISTER YOUR PURCHASE
ONLINE @
WWW.ASHDOWNMUSIC.COM
ASHDOWN ENGINEERING - AGM
PAGE
4-5 AGM-484H
6-7 AGM-30-OFFSET
8-9 AGM-684C
10-11 AGM-284C
12-13 AGM-5C
USER GUIDE
ASHDOWN ENGINEERING - AGM
IMPORTANT SAFTEY INFORMATION
USER GUIDE
This product has been manufactured according to strict specications and voltage
requirements that are applicable in the country for which it is intended that this product
should be used. If you have purchased this product via the internet, through mail order or via a
telephone sale you must verify that this product is intended to be used in the country in which
you reside. The intended country of use is stated via a label afxed to the REAR panel of the
The use of this product in any other country other than that for which it has been designed
could be dangerous and invalidate the manufactures or distributors WARRANTY.
Please also retain your receipt as proof of purchase otherwise your product may be
PLEASE READ BEFORE USING THE AMPLIFIER
amplier.
WARNING
disqualied from the manufactures or distributors warranty.
INTRODUCTION
GENERAL NOTES
Valve ampliers require care and attention to get best results and reliable operation, follow these
• Take care when setting the amplier up, especially the routing of the signal leads
(ie instrument FX leads etc) try to keep these away from the speaker to avoid unwanted noise
• At high gain and volume levels you will need to stand further away from the amplier to avoid
• With single coil type picks hum can be a problem, either from being stood to close to the
amplier or from the room itself, typical sources of hum are power supplies, computers, low
• Crackling noise can result from central heating and refrigerators, worth remembering if you get
• Moblie phones can cause some interesting noises and interference especially if placed on top of
• Keep the amplier dry and don’t stand drinks or other containers of liquids on it.
• When using the amplier don’t cover the ventilation holes or use it next to a radiator etc.
• Always use good quality leads for connecting the instrument and speaker to the amplier.
• Have the amplier serviced at least once a year especially if you gig on a regular basis, Valves are
fragile and usually fail due to rough handling and vibration, combos use more valves than heads
as a rule due to the valves being in the same cabinet as the speaker. Many crackling noises are a
The Full set of Safety instructions can be found in the back of this user manual together with
simple rules and you should get years of faithfull service.
unwanted noise and feed back
voltage halogen and uorescent lighting, energy saving bulbs etc.
annoying pops etc. when you are trying to record at home.
the amplier or in your pocket.
BE SAFE:
• Store the amplier somewhere dry, away from condensation etc.
• Check the mains cables from time to time replace if damaged in any way.
direct result of a failing valve.
warranty information and a warranty registration card.
ASHDOWN ENGINEERING - AGM
INPUTS
The AGM range features 1/4” jack sockets which are be used to connect the output from your
guitar to the amplier Always use a high quality guitar lead to ensure a reliable connection, the
integrity of your signal, and the minimising of noise.
On some models there are two inputs , where tted these have different tunings to
give either a bright classic brit crunch as the base tone or a heavy thick American tone Single
inputs are voiced to accommodate all tones .
AUX INPUT
Where tted the Aux input is accessed through either a 3.5mm Mini jack or ¼” socket and is
designed to be driven by the output from a signal source such as an MP3 or Phone the level can
be mixed with the guitar signal from the
Pre amp and the overall volume controlled with the Master control.
BOOST
Where tted The Boost control is used add an extra gain boost and is controlled by the “Boost”
control on the front panel. The function is placed ahead of the preamplier so works in a similar
way to a boost pedal.
GAIN CONTROLS
The Gain control or controls are used to vary the amount of signal passing through the pre amp.
With the control set low you will be able to get clean tones (used in conjunction with the Master
as described later). Increasing the gain allows more signal to pass through the preamp, causing
the amplier to overdrive and distort.
MUTE CONTROL
Where tted the mute switch simply mutes the output of the amplier so instrument changing can
be accomplished
in silence.
USER GUIDE
FRONT PANEL CONTROLS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE FUNCTIONS:
BASS, MIDDLE, TREBLE, PRESENCE (WHERE FITTED)
This is the equalisation part of the amplier, and these controls shape the overall response of the
amplier. Balancing these controls can provide you with a large range of tones from which to
work. All the controls are interactive (moving one will alter the way the others function) and you
should spend some time experimenting to nd out what’s available.
On some models there is an EQ button tted, this changes the values in the equalisation circuit
from a typical British style EQ to a typical American style EQ.
REVERB
Where tted the Reverb control allows the user to vary the amount of reverberation applied to the
signal before being fed to the power amplier. Reverb is used to add “space “ around the sound
and enhances the tone of the amplier.
MASTERS
The Master Volume controls the nal amount of signal that is fed to the power amp and therefore
the overall volume of the amplier. The Master works in conjunction with the Gain control as
follows. For clean tones the Master needs to be fully up, controlling the overall volume with the
Gain control. For distortion tones at controllable levels, turn the Master down and the Gain up.
Varying the Gain will control the amount of distortion and the Master will control the overall level
of the sound. Some models have dual master volumes that work in conjunction with the gain
controls it therefore follows that master 1 will be used with gain 1 and so on
EFFECTS LOOP (WHERE FITTED)
The FX sockets on the front or rear panel are 1/4” jack connectors which accommodate both the
Signal send to the effects pedal or rack, and the Return back from the effects unit to the amplier.
It is therefore necessary to use either a stereo cable terminated in two mono 1/4” jack plugs at one
end (which connects to the FX sockets on the amplier) and a pair of mono 1/4” jack plugs at the
other (which connect to the input and output of the effects unit Or alternatively two mono jack to
jack leads.
STEALTH SWITCH (WHERE FITTED)
The Stealth switch is located on the front the amplier. When switched into Stealth mode,
the output of the amplier is reduced , enabling the full range of tones to be achieved at lower
overall volume levels in recording applications.
ASHDOWN ENGINEERING - AGM
CHANNEL/BOOST SWITCHING (WHERE FITTED)
The Channel and Boost manual switches are tted either to the rear panel or front panel of the
amplier These functions are designed to be used and accessed via the connected footswitch, the
manual switches are present mainly as a backup . note switches must be in the off position for the
footswitch to function.
RECORDING OUT (WHERE FITTED)
The recording out jack where tted has an electronically tailored frequency response designed
to approximately replicate the response of a Celestion Alnico speaker tted into an open back
cabinet. This lter is all analogue and no digital electronics are used. The signal for this is derived
from the output of the amplier proper and therefore will contain all distortions and Equalisation
dialled in by the user. This output can be used with the speaker connected or with the amplier
switched into headphone mode (see below)
PHONES OUT (WHERE FITTED)
The phones out is activated from the front panel with the speaker switch, in headphone mode the
speaker is replaced with a resistive load for silent operation.
Volume is controlled with the Master volume in the usual way .
REAR PANEL SOCKETS
On ALL models there is the Mains inlet this is a IEC connector which Must have a Mains lead
plugged into it, - this must be of an approved type and it MUST be the 3 WIRE GROUNDED type
(see safety notes elsewhere in this manual).
Mains switch is also situated on the rear , this is used to turn the unit on and off between playing
sessions, (disconnect from the mains supply if it is intended not to use the unit for several hours or
days ).
SPEAKER OUTPUTS
Speaker outputs are ¼” jack connectors either 8 Ohms or 16 Ohms ( note that it is imperative you
do not operate the unit without a speaker plugged in !)
USER GUIDE
Loading...