neo cabs going away?

[feelinlow]

I heard a rumour that the Bergantino AE series are being discontinued so I emailed Jim and he confirmed that due to the rising costs of the neo drivers that he in fact is discontinuing the AE line of cabs. He also said that he feels that we will not be seeing anymore neo cabs in the music industry once the existing stock of neo drivers are used up. I can't believe this since just about all of the manufactures offer neo cabs.

Has anyone else heard anything like this from any other manufactures? If so you better get your neo cab now because you may not have the option in the near future.

[michaelgilleran]

Just cause one company cant afford the drivers, no one can?

Seems like as long as there are people willing to pay, there will be people willing to sell.

[greenboy]

Neo cabs going away? Mine left a note on the pillow and rifled my CD collection and made off with my best luggage.

[feelinlow]

Thats exactly how I feel. I guess Ill be keeping my ul410's forever cause I am not lifting a 100lb cab anymore. It sounds ridiculous to me but thats what he said. Probably grab a AE212 while I can get one though.

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by greenboy

Neo cabs going away? Mine left a note on the pillow and rifled my CD collection and made off with my best luggage.

Yep... They moved in to my spare room and ate all the Count Chocula while I was at work.

[KramerBassFan]

Anybody remember the new Flavor of coke that came out back in the day?

Afterwards, Coke Classic was an instant success....

[Zonked]

Originally Posted by feelinlow

Thats exactly how I feel. I guess Ill be keeping my ul410's forever cause I am not lifting a 100lb cab anymore. It sounds ridiculous to me but thats what he said. Probably grab a AE212 while I can get one though.

I am on the fence about purchasing a UL410 or if I can still get new one, a AE410. I keep going back and forth on this because at the moment I would have to use a credit to get one, but I know I will be sorry if neos are discontinued or become out of reach money wise. Feelinlow, what are your impressions of the UL410, and how do you use it? Thanks.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by michaelgilleran

Just cause one company cant afford the drivers, no one can?

Neo prices just went up again this week, so driver manufacturers have cut production until prices come back down to affordable. Domestic neo sources are about a year away, so don't count on more than limited driver production until then.

[willsellout]

GK seems to be doing alright with Neo cabs, right?

[TinIndian]

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

Neo prices just went up again this week, so driver manufacturers have cut production until prices come back down to affordable. Domestic neo sources are about a year away, so don't count on more than limited driver production until then.

Is that the general consensus? Once domestic production comes back online production will ramp back up?

[BurningSkies]

Until then people who have neo cabs will not be allowed to use them in public.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by TinIndian

Is that the general consensus? Once domestic production comes back online production will ramp back up?

There's no reason to expect otherwise. Smart money is already heavily investing in rare earth futures.

[Road Bull]

Well, neo-drivers use a Rare Earth Metal. Many new industries compete to consume their share of this precious commodity. Amplification is near the end of a long list of heavy weight contenders in this market. Everything from electric cars to wind power turbines gobble up these materials. China is home to one of the largest neodymium mining projects in the world. And they are not going to be giving it away for free. Furthermore, it is not just a “price” issue, but a “supply issue”. Many companies don’t feel like they want to be held ransom to expensive materials that are unpredictable in supply and subject to the whim of the few countries that possess such materials to random price hikes.

The writing is on the wall. I was looking at a neo cab a few months ago and did some research on neodymium. For me, I decided to go traditional and grab a good old Eden 410XLT. I figured that should I need to replace a neo-cab driver in the future, that it might become an issue. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. I love the idea of a lightweight cab and gear, but it sounds like the industry will have to figure out another substitute for this particular Rare Earth.

You might speculate about the remaining stock of neo-cabs as well. There might be a short run on the remaining neo-cabs on the market if many companies, as I suspect, plan to discontinue the neodymium lines. A sort of get em while you can sort of thing. I am sort of glad I didn’t go the neo route, because I am a bit compulsive and would be fighting the urge to buy multiple back-up cabs for future use. Must… pay… bills…

One thing is for sure. The want is there for lightweight gear. Now its up to the engineers and industry to figure out a way around this new problem.

[Windreaper]

Originally Posted by willsellout

GK seems to be doing alright with Neo cabs, right?

Because they are manufacturing the drivers in China, as far as I know. China prefers to export manufactured goods so there is a heavy tax on raw material exports.

[TinIndian]

My understanding is that these so called rare earth metals aren't really all that rare. The reason china has the largest Neo mines in the world is by undercutting everyone on price they drove most other mines out of the market. Once they had the market cornered they simply shut the spigot down. Now all of the other mines and processing facilities that were not economically viable are scrambling to reopen.

I imagine that once the supply levels out again prices will be much more palatable though not quite what they once were. Of course China could open the flood gates again too.

[Windreaper]

Yup, it is not a matter of global long-term supply, really. More like China taking advantage of the temporary production monopoly.

[fdeck]

Originally Posted by TinIndian

My understanding is that these so called rare earth metals aren't really all that rare. The reason china has the largest Neo mines in the world is by undercutting everyone on price they drove most other mines out of the market. Once they had the market cornered they simply shut the spigot down. Now all of the other mines and processing facilities that were not economically viable are scrambling to reopen.

I imagine that once the supply levels out again prices will be much more palatable though not quite what they once were. Of course China could open the flood gates again too.

What probably drove rare earth mining out of the US was environmental regulation. AFAIK the mining and refinement of rare earths is pretty nasty.

A second factor is that it makes economic sense to produce the metal in the country where it will be incorporated into products -- China.

These two factors led to the monopoly. Demand is what has driven the price up. From what I have read, the export restrictions being imposed by China are that they are only allowing rare earths to be exported in the form of finished goods rather than as the raw metals. This is actually a smart move for any country. Even compared to China, countries whose economies are based on direct export of minerals have some of the worst poverty and most corrupt and repressive governments.

[rodl2005]

Originally Posted by BurningSkies

Until then people who have neo cabs will not be allowed to use them in public.

I've put bricks inside mine, in case some other bassist has any thoughts that they may BE neo.

Soon, after my Neo drivers leave, I'll replace them with ceramics

[5port]

Paid $145 for a 3015 at US Speaker a year ago and now it is $297...crazy.

[feelinlow]

@greenboy, burningskies, you should go in to stand up. lol