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3Leaf Audio Club - Episode 2
- Thread starter fivestringgecko
- Start date
I absolutely love my PF50T! It is a fantastic recording amp and can also work in some live situations.
Just wanted to ditto Dave's comments, I have the Red in a NYBW and it is fantastic, seemingly infinite tonal options. It replaced an Aggie pre and the bass came alive. I do understand everyone's frustration with the terms of the offering though. But if you need a pre, swallow hard and go for it, you won't be sorry.
It is fine to disagree
And indeed I disagree that your previous post has all the context it needs to be a persuasive.1. I'm not saying flippers don't bear any responsibility. (I think my posts have been quite critical of that behavior.) I am saying that Spencer also does. That's the context your argument is missing. If Spencer doesn't want to or cannot increase production, that's fine by me--I've said as much many times in this thread and elsewhere on TalkBass--because it's his company and he is under no obligation to build more pedals and ski/hike less. I'd certainly pick skiing and hiking over building pedals. They're way more fun. My criticism is that in his latest communication, he claims he is requiring purchase of the preamp to slow down the sales. His solution is disingenuous because it moves more of his own product--product that, most tellingly, hasn't been flying off the shelves. People can choose not to buy at all, but that just sucks when someone actually wants to buy an Octabvre MKIII. (I already have one so I was sitting this one out either way.) As I wrote previously, this is not an effective means of addressing the demand or the curtailing the flippers so he shouldn't pretend it is. Oh sure, it might have an effect on this half-batch (we'll find out), but that doesn't excuse how messed up this "bundle" is. And it certainly is no substitute for removing the uncertainty over future production that has enshrouded 3 Leaf Audio for years.
100% agree.
Technically, this is "tying"and skirts up against antitrust issues. But the volume is way too low for anyone to bother with and nobody "needs" an octave pedal. But there are reasons why this doesn't sit well with the customer. It really looks like more of a way to clear out some excess inventory of Anima preamps and you don't need to run a sale. Beanie Babies were a hit with the consumer until Ty decided to start playing games and everyone's interest went to zero overnight. The flippers, as much as you might not like them, are helping to fuel the hype for 3Leaf.
Ultimately, the outcome remains pretty much the same. There are going to be 50 happy customers, 45 or so will be looking to unload a preamp they neither wanted nor needed, but the hype to them is worth $200-$300, and a couple hundred people will be disappointed regardless. After consideration, i am left with the thought that the guy is trolling his consumer base, thumbing his nose at us, if you will, and that is troubling. He has thought this out- he isn’t stupid, he is manipulative. That, to me is insulting. I vote with my feet.
I would consider buying a "used" Anima blue module for the right price, if anyone ends up with one for some reason (haha) and wants to offload it, hit me up.
I wonder what Spencer would think if the companies he buys high-value pedal components from suddenly started insisting that he'd only get his order fulfilled if he also buys a bunch of overstocked components that he has no use for...
"Don't worry, Spencer - these capacitors you didn't want are the best. You're going to love them!"
"Don't worry, Spencer - these capacitors you didn't want are the best. You're going to love them!"
Soliciting thoughts on the Anima might be difficult... I can't find a single review or even demo of the preamp anywhere. It doesn't seem like anyone has one, which seems odd for "the best onboard bass preamplifier on the market." You can't even find a review of any New York Bass Works from less than 2 years ago (at least as far as youtube is concerned).
I think if his suppliers had the issue where their stock would immediately sell out that they would raise prices until demand met the supply.
3 Leaf pedals are currently both expensive and underpriced. I think Spencer is trying to address being underpriced while still giving the same value for money (by giving you something instead of nothing for the increased price). It may not be received how he would like, but it is objectively better than a simple price increase.
A price increase, along with a direct and transparent statement about it, is far more genuine and honest. He's hiding behind the claim that this is for the benefit of his customers. And he's doubling down by claiming the goal is to slow the sale process a bit. Just man-up and say you want more money for your product - people would at least respect that.
I say this as someone who bought my first 3Leaf pedal 7-8 years ago, I've owned the entire line of 3leaf and Pike pedals, and I've exchanged multiple emails directly with Spencer dating back to the time when he frequented the forum. I love his pedals and am not in the market for this run. So I have no skin in the game. It just lacks transparency when you pretend you're doing someone a favor instead of just being up front about what you want as a business owner.
Edited to Add: It's also a very inconvenient thing to bundle. A preamp isn't plug & play like a pedal, and it requires a bass that has a cavity large enough for the components/battery. Then people need to have soldering skills or pay for installation, only to find out if they like the thing. If not, they then have to spend time/money reinstalling the old preamp. Plus, they'll lose money trying to offload the used preamp (with now shortened leads) in a market that will likely have an influx of them. He's also potentially undercutting his own ability to sell any remaining Anima stock in the future if there end up being a few dozen on the used market with no takers.
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I recently tried both modules in a Fender American Deluxe and settled on the red module. The improvement is marked. Everything is more articulate and it sounds huge. It was essentially a drop in and replace job, but I know that won’t be the case for many. The preamp kits were out of stock for an age but I jumped on a kit that was just sat in a store and then bought the other module direct.
It's materially better, but that doesn't mean it's objectively better. @Grahams Groove has already unpacked why: it damages relationships with customers and hurts the future sale potential of the preamps.
I (who delegates my tech to able hands) looked at the Ultra Jazz and the UJB pre seems like its controls have for the most part the same functionality on my NYBW. Though the NYBW has 3 separate tone pots for active mode and neck vol/bridge vol/passive tone pots with switches for on/off and active/passive. The UJB has the latter but not the former so you'd hope On is default if leaving it out. The Anima kit comes with 3 pots but it's hard to tell if they're dual concentric as is the UJB pre. Now that the frenzy is over you might get an answer to your query, but not in time to bundle of course.
Agreeing with @AdmiralChew, the Red sound is articulate and YUGE.
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