Ampeg Vietnamese Cabs - Run away!

[Lync]

If LOUD had taken over SLM and left production as it was (maybe an analysis to cut some dog products) that would have been much easier to deal with.

 

[Stuggi]

Before anyone flames me, let me start by saying that I have always used Ampeg Cabs (20+ years) and likely will continue to so so for the forseeable future (or at least until I fry my American SVT 1x15 and two SVT 2x10's). I don't own any other brand of bass cabs.

Having said that, I tried out a couple of the NEW Vietnam built cabs and I am suprised at how bad the quality control is. Example: I reached behind a 1x15 to plug in a speaker cable and when I pulled my hand from behind the cab... the plate (now a cheap sticker) listing the power info as well as the serial number was attached to my finger. It literally fell off in my hand after I just brushed against it.

I played a EBMM SR5 through an American SVT head through the 1x15 and it didn't sound right to me. No idea why. Just didn't sound as warm as my MIA Ampeg stuff. I tried a couple of these cabs and had I been just starting to consider Ampeg products, I would have walked away. Also, the construction seems a bit flimsy. It doesn't seem as solid as my gear (likely all built between 2003-2006). Different woods? Speakers?

I hate to say it, but the next new cabs I buy will be Bergantinos. Not a chance I would be caught playing this junk.

BTW, I am Canadian, so I am not just being patriotic and slamming a company for cutting jobs in the US and moving production to the far east.

In summary, if you are as much of an Ampeg fan as I am, buy as many MIA cabs as you think you may ever need. Or buy Bergs, Epifanis, etc.

Good that my SVT-cabs are used...

 

[Nicka]

Trouble is, there have been increasingly numerous reports of amp failures since Loud bought Ampeg. Loud does not provide warranty service or parts for repair. There are several reports of lower quality factory parts being substituted to the detriment of tone and durability. Also, if you think being able to contact someone in the ad department makes up for cheaping-out production and making shoddy products that are virtually unserviceable, you need to try getting your car fixed by the guy who wrote the ads to sell it to you the next time it breaks down.

That is just it, "Reports". Unless you guys have a spread sheat sitting in front you showing the amount of warranty products coming in for repair during XX years then you are just going on off of second, third, fourth, fiftieth hand knowledge. So people have come on TalkBass to discuss their misfortunes with companies and products. I can 100% gurantee that every prominent musical instrument / amplifer manufacturer has had a negative thread describing some horror story that happened and now they're miffed (and rightfully so).

I'm not sticking up for outsourcing. I lost my own job at Delta Faucet company a few years ago to a company in China that could make the same product for less money. So if anyone here has any clue about what it's like to be the victim of outsourcing, I and my family know first hand. But with that said I'm not going to damn LOUD for operating in a capilist economy just like I didn't when my job was sold out overseas.

Besides, there is a saying that grandpa told me when I went shopping for my first car. He told me "Don't buy anything that you won't have the money to fix down the road when it breaks." and thus when I bought my Ampeg rig and every other piece of gear in my rig I got the longest warranty I could for the amount of money I had.

Anywho... Rock on guys. I'm not here to bash anyone but to add an opinion that might not even be worth .02 cents.

 

[alfredpunkjazz]

That is just it, "Reports". Unless you guys have a spread sheat sitting in front you showing the amount of warranty products coming in for repair during XX years then you are just going on off of second, third, fourth, fiftieth hand knowledge. So people have come on TalkBass to discuss their misfortunes with companies and products. I can 100% gurantee that every prominent musical instrument / amplifer manufacturer has had a negative thread describing some horror story that happened and now they're miffed (and rightfully so).

+1

We need real and factual numbers to see if this is true.

On the other hand, if its true, I hope some actions from LOUD, and this period of transition would had been expected (which it was expected), give it some time.

 

[Spector_Ray]

Since it's inception, Ampeg has had many ups and downs. It's changed hands numerous times and sometimes with not so good results. For example the Selmer-Magnavox purchase. Even after all of this, Ampeg usually rises to the top. Given LOUD's track record of sullying good names by way of their business practices, I believe the Ampeg name will be tarnished to the extent that many longtime endorsers and users will find other brands to use. It's already happening quietly, but the numbers will grow. LOUD will eventually cut it's losses and sell Ampeg.
I'm no expert and have no proof of this, but it seems to be a trend in the life of Ampeg. I hope the next entity to buy company realizes the power and tradition behind the name Ampeg and restores it to it's rightful glory.

 

[Rickett Customs]

No comment.
I've been down this road before

I think I may have been the reason a previous thread had been closed.
Spector_Ray, Realdeal and Nicka just said it best,while being diplomatic, even!.

I previously had a hard time being diplomatic about the outsourcing bit, wasted time flamin' about it.
I refuse to comment about outsourcing,politics and religion. Anything else is cool.

 

[Kelly Lee]

With the political content this thread has generated, and now a personal flame war starting up, I am closing this thread before things get really out of hand.