Ampeg Heritage Line

[coreyfyfe]

a price increase would have gone over better than 3 years of subpar amps.

IMO a price increase probably would have hurt business more than moving the amps to lower cost manufacturing. Further to this, moving the manufacturing probably involved a large start up cost and logistics increases, which they needed to recoup, hence the flat pricing.

they can't. but it seems they saw no need to give us a break on the price when they moved, so pfft to them.

See above. There is a lot more that goes into this than you're giving them credit for.

that's their problem, not mine. from what jerrold said, ampeg was doing fine as it was...all they had to do is keep everything the same. they wanted it to make way more money.

That's not necessarily the case, although greed does funny things to people. Ampeg may have been floating, but with little capital to enact major improvements, competition increasing/market share decreasing on all fronts, and costs of materials increasing, the asia move was more likely than not, even had SLM not sold out to LOUD.

don't know, but it looks like it'll be made in washington, eh?

LOUD is centered in Washington already, so they probably have facilities there for the production of amplifiers.

 

[Volume4]

[QUOTE

I think this is what you should expect for over $2G.

[/QUOTE]

I agree %100

 

[edbass]

What if:
* Ampeg kept the price the same when moving to overseas production because they were losing money on US made amps?

a price increase would have gone over better than 3 years of subpar amps.

I'd say so... Actually it seems just about anything would have gone over better; Their stock is at $0.13 a share.

* How could they possibly keep pricing the same from years ago as labor, material, and transportation costs continue to rise as sales volumes fall (mostly due to much better competiton these days)

they can't. but it seems they saw no need to give us a break on the price when they moved, so pfft to them.

It doesn't look like they are in a position to give anyone a "break on the price"! Did I mention that their stock is trading at $0.13 a share?

* They have probably created an overhead structure that is so costly and slow to change that they couldn't possibly start making something here in the US without huge start up costs.

that's their problem, not mine. from what jerrold said, ampeg was doing fine as it was...all they had to do is keep everything the same. they wanted it to make way more money.

Well that plan didn't seem to work out too well, did it?
Of course, you realize that the ambiguous "they/their" you refer to is actually the stockholders... And, you too can be one of them for the low, low, price of only $0.13 per share!

* Wonder who they will hire to undertake this venture; can't imagine it good business to try to start a manufacturing facility when there are so many existing integrators that are under utilized

don't know, but it looks like it'll be made in washington, eh?

I don't have a smart ass comment for that one. Sorry!

 

[Korladis]

@edbass

I wonder if Ampeg shares would be a good investment, long-term. Obviously not right now, but who knows what the future holds?

 

[fdeck]

@edbass

I wonder if Ampeg shares would be a good investment, long-term. Obviously not right now, but who knows what the future holds?

I doubt they are publicly traded. Aren't they held by a private equity firm?

But in general, I doubt that musical instruments are a growth industry, and the overall music business is either in decline or switching to revenue streams other than live performance.

My comment here: It is quite possible that when Ampeg made the move overseas, they were getting squeezed by their retailers to cut costs. They may have been between a rock and a hard place. Also, did the move happen at roughly the same time the US Supreme Court decision on minimum pricing? That might be a factor as well.

 

[Jim C]

I just finished practicing through a SVP CL preamp through a SVP1500 power amp; God I like this sound; I want to buy stock as I love the ampeg amps I own (all 7 of them), but it doesn't seem like they have a business plan that is viable; can't believe that there is much proft to be made building botique SVT's. Quite frankly, now is the time to buy SLM and NJ amps as far as investment goes as used pricing is low (IMO).

I would think that designing something with the characteristic sound with a digital power amp would be a good plan for the bass side, and, a simple, channel switching 1x12 tube combo for guitars with the matching head and 4x12 would be a reasonable start for guitarists; if it were me, I'd copy a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe as closely as possible without copyright infringements.

They've got the meat and potatoes SVT (and its' variants) that keeps the doors open; they need something new that sounds decent at their normal, mid price point; stay the same and die in this market just like the dinosaurs.

Just occured to me that this has worked well for Fender, and now they have developed the Custom Shop into a real business; it was originaly little more than a way to gain attention.

 

[JimmyM]

well they did come out with the micro vr, which is imho brilliant and priced reasonably for what it does. honestly, i want to like this new loud. i hate to see ampeg hit the skids.

anyway, i wonder where the transformers will be made. the previous us company isn't making them anymore.

 

[stiles72]

Has anyone heard if the proposed B15 will be a blue check B15, or a 70's Thiele style B15? Given the trend of the '70's era "blue/silver" SVT-VR and Micro VR, I'm wondering if a wider line of '70's era cosmetics is on the horizon.

 

[JimmyM]

64 b-15nc reissue.

 

[D.M.N.]

Well, I will remain skeptical of the new line and its quality/pricing ratio, and I still disapprove of LOUD and all that it is. However, being a Washington resident, I'm glad to see that the business come here. w00t! Can't wait to actually see this stuff.

 

[MIJ-VI]

We have some copies of the new Bass Player mag here at work. I was thumbing my way through the issue(The Bass Players of Michael Jackson) and came across a small article saying that Ampeg is relaunching U.S. manufacturing of a "new series of ultra-high -end SVT products designed and assembled in the U.S.A."...and it was done in direct response to customer feedback.

The Hertiage Line:

SVT-Classic head(with specially-selected JJ preamp and "Winged C" power amp tubes) MSRP of $3,299

SVT-810(MSRP $1,799) and SVT-410(MSRP $1,249) cabs, all made in Woodinville, WA.

"They'll run concurrently with the offshore line's very-similar-but-not-identical models, so vintage purists can put their money where their mouths are and choose accordingly."

C'mon VT Bass 2.0!

 

[MIJ-VI]

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$149.00

Total: $4,647
Change: $451

or soon...

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[coreyfyfe]

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Anyone else see this,,,,

I doubt they are publicly traded. Aren't they held by a private equity firm?

They were publicly traded until early last year when they were delisted from the NASDAQ, not sure what's up now.

 

[edbass]

They were publicly traded until early last year when they were delisted from the NASDAQ, not sure what's up now.

They are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol "LTEC". I hope Ampeg survives, there's a lot of bass history there.

 

[coreyfyfe]

They are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol "LTEC". I hope Ampeg survives, there's a lot of bass history there.

There isn't any movement on the NASDAQ listing since november 17th when it was listed as 80 cents/share. This is likely the last day of trading before de-listing.

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[Jim Carr]

Didn't "Divided by Thirteen" take on a new meaning for anyone else when the $00.13 stock price for Loud was touted?

 

[MAMMOTHvolume]

the market is getting good for the small time boutique guys again!

 

[debassr]

+1 But I did hear that the Micro VR was an old SLM design that was never produced.

well they did come out with the micro vr, which is imho brilliant and priced reasonably for what it does. honestly, i want to like this new loud. i hate to see ampeg hit the skids.

anyway, i wonder where the transformers will be made. the previous us company isn't making them anymore.

 

[edbass]

There isn't any movement on the NASDAQ listing since november 17th when it was listed as 80 cents/share. This is likely the last day of trading before de-listing.

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So, they were de-listed early last year and somehow wriggled their way back in?

I am certainly no stock guru (a cursory glance at my portfolio would confirm that!), and anyone who takes my advise on investing deserves what they get IMO, but I can read a financial report. I don’t really have an interest in LOUD one way or the other, but I looked because of the tone this thread is taking.

Their margins, growth, cash flow and most importantly their consistency sure seem pathetic to me. And, at $.13 a share things aren’t too rosy overall I dare say. IMO they need an even cheaper place (got me! ) to manufacture, or more profit (and volume) from their products.
Both would be good if I were a shareholder .

However, it looks like they have a lot of cash relatively speaking, aren’t in an inventory glut, and their receivables are in line with sales revenue overall (thank God that GC and MF pay their bills in a timely manner), so it doesn’t appear that a collapse is imminent.
I’ll betcha they hang out on NASDAQ for a while, and if the US economy actually does turn the corner in the next year or so they could well pull their corporate fat from the fire.
Who knows, maybe the US production thing is what they need to do to attract a viable buyer for Ampeg…

 

[edbass]

Didn't "Divided by Thirteen" take on a new meaning for anyone else when the $00.13 stock price for Loud was touted?

I think it's an omen. But; does it mean that should I buy stock in Loud or a ÷13 TBL 200?

I'm leaning towards the TBL 200...