Ashdown Fallen angel 50 dsp combo User manual

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

Fallen Angel 50 DSP Combo

Fallen Angel 100 DSP Combo & Head

BASIC PRECAUTIONS

WARNING --When using electrical products,

basic precautions should be followed,

including the following:

1. Read all the instructions before using the

product.

2. Do not use this product near water – for

example, near a bathtub, washbowl,

kitchen sink, in a wet basement or near a

swimming pool.

3. This product may cause permanent

hearing loss. Do not operate for long

periods of time at a high volume level or

at any level that is uncomfortable. If you

experience any hearing loss or ringing in

the ears, you should consult an

audiologist.

4. Make sure nothing interferes with the

ventilation of the product when in use.

5. The product should be located away

from heat sources such as radiators, heat

registers, or other products that produce

heat.

6. The product should be connected to a

power supply of the type described in

the operating instructions or as marked

on the product.

7. The power supply cord of the product

should be unplugged from the outlet

when left unused for a long period of

time.

8. Care should be taken so that objects do

not fall and liquids are not spilled into

the enclosure through openings.

9. The product should be serviced by

qualified personnel when:

a. The power supply cord or the plug

has been damaged; or

b. Objects have fallen, or liquid has been

spilled into the

product: or

c. The product has been exposed to rain

or moisture: or

d. The product does not appear to

operate normally or exhibits marked

change in performance: or

e. The product has been dropped, or the

enclosure damaged.

10. Do not attempt to service the product.

All servicing should be referred to

qualified service personnel.

11. For continued protection against the risk

of fire, replace fuses only with those of

the same type and rating as indicated on

the back of the product.

WARNINGS USED ON THE EQUIPMENT

The lightning flash with the

arrow head symbol within an

equilateral triangle is intended

to alert the user to the presence

of uninsulated ‘dangerous voltage’ within this

product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient

magnitude to constitute a risk of electric

shock.

The exclamation point within an

equilateral triangle is intended

to alert the user to the presence

of important operating and

maintenance (servicing) instructions in the

literature accompanying this product.

GROUNDING INSTRUCTIONS

This product must be grounded (earthed). If

it should malfunction or break down,

grounding provides a path of least resistance

for electric current to reduce the risk of

electric shock. This product is equipped with

a supply cord having an equipment

grounding conductor and a grounding plug.

The plug must be plugged into an

appropriate outlet that is properly installed

and grounded in accordance with the local

codes and ordinances.

DANGER --Improper connection of the

equipment grounding conductor can result

in a risk of electric shock. Check with a

qualified electrician or serviceman if you are

in doubt as to whether the product is

properly grounded. Do not modify the plug

provided with the product – if it will not fit

the outlet, have a suitable outlet fitted.

The wires in this mains cord are coloured in

accordance with the following code:

GGrreeeenn&&YYeellllooww--EEaarrtthh

BBlluuee--NNeeuuttrraall

BBrroowwnn--LLiivvee

CE MARK FOR EUROPEAN

HARMONISED STANDARDS

The CE mark which is attached to these

products means it conforms to EMC

Directive (89/69/EEC), CE mark Directive

(93/68/EEC) and Low Voltage Directive

(72/23/EEC).

Important Safety Instructions

General Information:

These guitar amplifiers have been designed

to fulfil the requirements of the modern

professional live gigging guitarist in being

able to provide a saturated and singing

soloing voice that still retains the big bottom

end punch required by so many of today's

guitar and music styles. This fat bottom end

requires a very dynamic output stage to

deliver the punch needed for muted notes

and chords in a live playing situation. This is

the reason why we have created our own

very special 'High Dynamic' solid state

output stages.

With many tube amplifiers you only get the

best solo voice when the output stage is

close to working flat out and it is then very

often too loud, so some kind of power soak

device is used to get this sound at lower

volumes, you then lose the power you

require for chords. With these amplifiers the

solo voice character comes from the carefully

designed 'all tube' pre-amp so you do not

have to be flat out for the best tone.

The big fat bottom end tone also comes from

the pre-amp but has our High Dynamic

output stage to deliver the power to the

speaker stack. You can see the power

required for different styles if you watch the

VU meter while playing. This monitors the

output power being used and you will notice

on muted chords with a fat chunky bottom

end whack that it will be peaking quite high

showing that large amounts of power are

required for this type of sound. With the

same settings try a screaming solo line and

you will see the power drop right back. This

demonstrates exactly what we are saying,

that old style amps are great for screaming

solo lines but give upon modern 7 string fat

chords.

Our CLEAN channel is also very clean

allowing you to go instantly from huge body

crunching chords and screaming solo leads

to crisp and sparkling arpeggio chords that

ring out with an unbelievable clarity.

Also supplied with these amplifiers is (bit of

high tech here) a dedicated 4 way footswitch

on a single jack lead (so no more fiddling

with multiway connectors). LED indication on

the footswitch itself is provided so you

always know the current status without

having to look at the amplifier. Footswitch

provides control for Channel I/Channel 2,

Channel 2 Boost, Master I/Master 2 and DSP

Effects In/Out.

For extended low end and maximum 'Punch'

it is recommended that these amplifiers be

used with a 4x12 closed back cabinet.

Fallen Angel Design Philosophy

Front Panel Facilities

INPUT - The single jack input socket perfectly

matches passive guitars with its very high

impedance but still retains sufficient

headroom to cope with the output from

modern active instruments.

CHANNEL 1

Channel 1 is intended to be used mainly as a

CLEAN channel.

GAIN - The setting of the GAIN control will

depend very much on the output level of the

guitar being used. For single coil pickups the

sound will be clean for most of the range of

the control with a slight edge only on the

maximum setting. For humbueking pickups

the sound will be clean up to about 12

O'clock with a slight edge being added

beyond this and a definite crunch on

maximum.

TREBLE, MIDDLE, BASS - The Treble, Middle

and Bass controls are a traditional passive

guitar tone network and as such are

somewhat interactive in their function. This

type of tone network provides the best

overall character for the guitar, giving a

classic, vintage, full-bodied guitar tone. The

values of components used in the channel 1

tone control network have been chosen to

best suit a Clean and Sparkling guitar tone.

VOLUME - Channel 1 has its own Volume

control to allow channel I and channel 2 to

be easily balanced in level against one and

other. It is best in terms of background noise

and overall tone to use this control set as

high as possible and the Master control set as

low as possible for the required playing

volume.

CHANNEL SELECT AND CHANNEL 2 BOOST

- Between Channel 1 and Channel 2 there is a

single push button used for selecting

'Channel 1 / Channel 2' from the front panel.

If the footswitch is to be used this push

button must be left in its OUT position for the

footswitch to operate. Channel 1 or Channel

2 activity is indicated by LEDs either side of

this push button. Channel 2 Boost can only

be selected from the footswitch and an LED

to the right of the Channel 2 Gain control

indicates Channel 2 Boost.

CHANNEL 2

Channel 2 is a very versatile channel and can

be used for fluent solo playing as well as

power chords, big fat bottom end muted

notes and chords as well as screaming and

soaring over the top lead lines. Because of

the dynamics available on this channel the

use of the guitars own volume control can

open up a whole range of other uses. For

instance by winding the guitar volume back

and playing lightly it can be clean, hit the

string a bit harder and it has and edge to it,

use the guitar volume control to wind into a

singing soloing voice. Muted notes and

chords retain a solid fat bottom end whilst

solo lines can be full and singing with a

saturated, smooth distortion that still retains

a degree of dynamics.

GAIN/CHANNEL 2 BOOST - Channel 2 Gain

control has a vast range available (especially

when used with the Channel 2 Boost facility).

At its lowest setting Channel 2 can be clean

whilst at its maximum setting it provides a

fully saturated, very high gain, over the top

lead tone. We have been very careful to

ensure that the fat bottom end is retained

throughout the entire range of this Gain

control. Channel 2 has been designed to

allow you to set the GAIN control somewhere

in the middle of its range for chords and

general playing and then use the BOOST to

add that extra gain for soloing or OTT fat

muted chords or muted note lines. Adding

the BOOST also makes this channel ideal for

tapping styles. If you want no holds barred,

balls out, over the top guitar then Channel 2

can be used with maximum GAIN and BOOST

but be warned you will have such a massive

degree of gain that it may be somewhat

uncontrollable.

TREBLE, MIDDLE, BASS - The Treble, Middle

and Bass controls are based on a traditional

passive guitar tone network and as such are

somewhat interactive in their function. This

type of tone network provides the best

overall character for the guitar, giving a

classic, full-bodied guitar tone. The values of

components

used in the channel 2 tone control network

have been chosen to best suit a modern,

high gain, saturated guitar sound (with big

bottom end). It is recommended to use the

Treble and Middle controls set between

minimum and 12 o'clock. The bass control

can be used set on maximum if desired.

The tone and saturation in this channel

comes mainly from the carefully designed all

tube pre-amp so you do not need to use the

amp on 11 to get a decent sound.

VOLUME - Channel 2 has its own Volume

control to allow channel 1 and channel 2 to

be easily balanced in level against one and

other. It is best in terms of background noise

and overall tone to use this control set as

high as possible and the Master control set as

low as possible for the required playing

volume.

INTERNAL DSP EFFECTS - The FA50 and FA

100 Watt amplifiers have I 6 built in Digital

Signal Processor (DSP) effects. These can be

selected from the front panel I 6 way rotary

switch. The 16 Effects available are: 4 x

Chorus, 4 x Flanger & 8 x Delay, all have been

specially created specifically for guitar use.

The DSP Effects can be switched IN/OUT with

the front panel push switch. Effects IN is

indicated with the LED next to this push

button switch. If you are using the foot

switch then leave this front panel push

button in its OUT position.

INTERNAL DSP REVERB - The level of the

DSP reverb is set using the Reverb Level

control next to the I 6 way rotary switch. The

actual type of REVERB has been specially

created for guitar use and to be a big

improvement over traditional Spring Reverb.

MASTER 1/MASTER 2 - Two selectable

Master Level controls are provided for even

more flexibility. The push button to the side

of these can be used to switch between

Master I and Master 2. If you are using the

foot switch then leave this front panel push

button in its OUT position. This is a very

useful facility as it allows for instant switching

between 2 pre-set volume levels on either

channel. LEDs to the right of each control

indicate which is active.

VU METER - The VU meter indicates output

power level.

Front Panel Facilities

Fallen Angel 50 DSP Combo

Fallen Angel 100 DSP Combo and Head

FALLEN ANGEL 50 AND 100 DSP COMBOS, AND 100 DSP HEAD

Rear Panel Facilities

FALLEN ANGEL 50 AND 100 DSP COMBOS, AND 100 DSP HEAD

Fallen Angel 50 DSP Combo

Fallen Angel 100 DSP Combo and Head

Rear Panel Facilities

FUSED MAINS INLET SOCKET - This is for

connection to your countries mains supply

using the appropriate mains cable supplied.

Always use a mains outlet that has an earth

or ground connection for safety. Never

remove or replace the plug on the supplied

cable. Always replace the fuse with the same

type and rating as stipulated on the rear

panel adjacent to the mains inlet socket.

FOOTSWITCH SOCKETS - There are 3

footswitch sockets provided on this amplifier.

For any of these footswitch sockets to

operate it is essential that the corresponding

front panel push buttons be in the OUT

position. The first of these sockets is a mono

jack for connection of the supplied, special 4

way footswitch. Always connect this prior to

turning on the power to the amplifier as this

derives its power from the amplifier and

sends a serial data stream to the amplifier to

operate the various functions. The next 2 x

footswitch sockets are both stereo sockets

and use a standard 2 way, push on push off

type footswitch for their operation. These

may be used as an alternative to the

dedicated 4 way footswitch supplied.

EFFECTS LOOP - The EFFECTS LOOP on these

amplifiers is a Serial loop. This has jack

sockets for Effects Send & Effects Return

signals; the Effects return socket also has an

Effects Return Level control associated with it

for adjusting the level of the returned signal.

SPEAKER EMULATED LINE OUTPUT - The

FA50 & FA 100 amplifiers have a special

Speaker Emulated Line Output jack socket

that can be used for direct recording the

guitar sound. This has a special Equalisation

circuit that Emulates the characteristics of the

loudspeaker/Output stage combination.

SPEAKER OUTPUT SOCKETS

INTERNAL SPEAKER 8 OHMS - This is the

socket for connection to the internal 8 Ohm

speaker for a combo amplifier.

EXTERNAL SPEAKER 8 OHMS - This is an

external speaker socket for connecting to an

8 Ohm speaker such as a 2 x 12 cabinet

(normally 8 Ohms). This socket is in parallel

with the internal speaker socket, so if an

external 8 Ohm speaker is used with the

internal speaker still connected then the

combined impedance will be 4 Ohms.

FA50 DSP COMBO & FA100 DSP COMBO

INPUTS

Instrument Input Impedance 1M Ohm Level 100mV to 1V

Effects Return Impedance 50k Ohms Level 0dBu adjustable

OUTPUTS

Effects Send Impedance 4.7k Ohms Level Nominal 0dBu

Speaker Emulated

Line Output Impedance 4.7k Ohms Level Nominal 0dBu

EQUALISATION

Treble Traditional passive, interactive

Middle tone control network providing

Bass classic guitar tonal adjustment

TUBES

Pre-Amp 4 x 12AX7 with DC heaters for low noise

Output 50 Solid State High Dynamic Output Stage

Output power 50 Watts RMS into 4 Ohms

Output 100 Solid State High Dynamic Output Stage

Output power 100 Watts RMS into 4 Ohms

POWER REQUIREMENT

Fallen Angel 50 = 80 Watts at rated supply voltage

Fallen Angel 100 = 180 Watts at rated supply voltage

Specifications

Thank you for purchasing your Ashdown Engineering Amplifier. If you live in the UK, please register your

purchase by completing this form and return it to the following address:

Ashdown Engineering, The Old Maltings, Hall Road, Heybridge, Maldon, Essex CM9 4NJ, England

(Alternatively you can register online at http://www.ashdownmusic.com)

If you live outside the UK, the local Ashdown distributor may have included a specific registration form

for your country.

Your Ashdown Engineering product details:

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1 YEAR WARRANTY

Your Ashdown Engineering amplifier has been manufactured to the highest standards, using the best-

selected materials. To ensure its optimum performance, please ensure your amplifier is regularly

serviced. This product carries a one year warranty, against defects in materials and workmanship, for the

original purchaser. Ashdown Engineering will, at their discretion, replace or repair any product or part

thereof, which is found by Ashdown Engineering to be defective. This warranty shall not apply to the

damage of covering, fittings or finishes when affected by carelessness, accident or extreme climate

changes. Nor does it apply to normal wear and tear of parts such as valves, fuses, light bulbs, speakers,

controls etc.

Please complete the lower section of this warranty and return it within 10 days of purchase to Ashdown

Engineering Ltd. at the above address. In the unlikely event of any defect, please contact an authorised

Ashdown Engineering dealer. All transport charges are to be pre-paid by the Owner. Unless the

registration card is returned normal country warranty laws apply.

Please complete and return this warranty within 10 days of purchase. Include any comments if possible.

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