Which Ampeg 810's to avoid??

[ledyard]

I have had a few myself. 2 from the early 70's and 2 from the 90's. Obviously theres no issues there.
But from 2000-2011 whats what? From the normal classic series and the VR ones ect...whats the differences, what years were made overseas ect....basically i'm looking at getting another one tonight or tomorrow. theres a bunch on Craigslist close by. What years or models or speakers are to be avoided?

[Cb4rabid]

Why does it matter if it was made overseas or not? Half the stuff you own was probably made in China or anywhere overseas for that matter.

[Alex1984]

Originally Posted by ledyard

I have had a few myself. 2 from the early 70's and 2 from the 90's. Obviously theres no issues there.
But from 2000-2011 whats what? From the normal classic series and the VR ones ect...whats the differences, what years were made overseas ect....basically i'm looking at getting another one tonight or tomorrow. theres a bunch on Craigslist close by. What years or models or speakers are to be avoided?

Avoid the US ones with particle board from '98~'06 or '07. The speakers are better on the newer ones made in Asia.

[MK1]

I've just done a ton of searching on this exact topic. If you search "SLM" or "OSB" you'll find a lot of good info. There are a couple really good threads in there one is titled "Need Official Year Ampeg Switched To The Better Speakers in 810e Cabinet" and the other is "So What Year Did Ampeg Start Making 'Good' 8X10 Cabinets Again?". Basically from '98 to '05/06 they were using OSB for the cabs instead of plywood and they changed the paper used in the cones so there is considerable rolloff on the high end. The overseas cabs are actually much better that the SLM US made cabs. They have new drivers that are much brighter and they stated using plywood again.

Alex1984 beat me to it.

[lowendgenerator]

+1 to particle board. Yucky. I have one from the mid 2000s that's fairly boomy and dark sounding. The Asian ones aren't as bad as everyone first thought.

[ledyard]

From 98-06' gotcha. Thanks guys. Particle board makes me angry.

[ledyard]

So I decided on a mint 810AV With a padded cover for like $550. Its supposed to be somewhere between 2-4 yrs old. Which would put it in the ok zone as far as not being made from particle board and having good speakers right?

From what I gather the 5th digit in the serial is a "T" which would make it 2007 and the 4th digit is a "d" which mean its Domestic (usa) made.... according to this thread:

Ampeg Serial Number Date Code

Sound correct?

[ledyard]

Originally Posted by Cb4rabid

Why does it matter if it was made overseas or not? Half the stuff you own was probably made in China or anywhere overseas for that matter.

I dunno....maybe materials used, manufacturing process...different speakers, speaker paper, ect ect ect....I didnt say it was good or bad if it was made there did I? I might like to know what I'm buying when I buy it though.

[MK1]

From the thread you linked (originally quoted by rbonner)

"Negative on the D... That means it was made for the US market. Not country of origin."

I'm guessing it's probably made in Vietnam. I have an '08 810e and it's made by Loud in Vietnam.

[ledyard]

Originally Posted by MK1

From the thread you linked (originally quoted by rbonner)

"Negative on the D... That means it was made for the US market. Not country of origin."

I'm guessing it's probably made in Vietnam. I have an '08 810e and it's made by Loud in Vietnam.

I was just rereading the part about the "d" and realized i was incorrect about the usa thing.

The # is EDBDTA0165 So It would put it at 2007. So this "should" be non particle board, better speakers, loud manufactured no?

[ledyard]

Ok, I'm all good now. Thank you JimmyM for the exact info!!

[MK1]

Just curious what was the exact info?

[ledyard]

Per JimmyM, 2007-2008 were some screwed up years for ampeg overseas but the cabs were still built right every time.
SLM switched back to plywood before selling out to Loud but still used the crappy drivers. This cab in question was made Nov. 07' . So its plywood construction and has the upgraded drivers. Made by Loud.
The gentleman I am buying it from bought it new in oct 09'. But the way gear stores are I assumed it was likely older. 98-2006 being crappy years for cabs i didnt want to take a chance. This one being 07' was right on the borderline so I wanted to be safer than sorry.

[MK1]

Sweet, looks like mine was made in march of '08, so it's worth keeping.

[ledyard]

Originally Posted by MK1

Sweet, looks like mine was made in march of '08, so it's worth keeping.

Yep

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by ledyard

Per JimmyM, 2007-2008 were some screwed up years for ampeg overseas but the cabs were still built right every time.
SLM switched back to plywood before selling out to Loud but still used the crappy drivers. This cab in question was made Nov. 07' . So its plywood construction and has the upgraded drivers. Made by Loud.
The gentleman I am buying it from bought it new in oct 09'. But the way gear stores are I assumed it was likely older. 98-2006 being crappy years for cabs i didnt want to take a chance. This one being 07' was right on the borderline so I wanted to be safer than sorry.

Just to clarify one small bit, LOUD has gotten a new board of directors since late 2008 and fired the head idiots who were responsible for dragging the great Ampeg name through the mud.

[ledyard]

Going to give the new cab its first pounding tonight at rehearsal. If its g2g i'll take it to the Nascar gig this weekend.

[ledyard]

Nice and vintage-ish sounding as it should be. The cab is much more appropriate in my band visually and sonically then my Mesa PH1000 is.