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Genz Benz Streamliner 900 saved by Agedhorse

C

calshands

Feb 11, 2004
112
36
#1
I haven't been around the forums much lately, but had to post.

I have just received my Genz Benz Streamliner 900 back from Agedhorse. It had taken a fall out of my car and was producing nothing but the NASTIEST hum/buzz/tear-your-heart-out sound. I contacted Andy, he told me how to proceed, and as has been said before: he made my amp sound like new again. I'm not sure if there's an Agedhorse fan club, but I am ready to join.

Thank you Andy. You are everything that the music community needs.

John
 
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#3
These amps (in spite of folks preaching how class D amps are disposable or not repairable) are fully repairable provided the necessary expertise and troubleshooting knowledge is available. Since I designed all of the Genz Benz amps, it's fairly trivial for us to repair them in-house. We stock all of the parts and also have the necessary tools and tooling to do many of the sheet metal repairs when an amp takes a tumble.

The company has been shut down almost 10 years, yet we are still providing the same factory level service that we did when operating. This is because of Jeff's and my passion for what we accomplished while at Genz Benz... the first commercially successful compact (in large numbers) class D bass amp that was released in 2007 (Shuttle 3.0) that remained essentially unchanged until Fender's decision to shut down in 2013. Looking at the amp landscape today, had we not been shut down, it would still be a viable amp exactly as it is with no changes needed. That would equate to a product life of 16 years without revisions. What would Genz Benz look like had we remained operational? There are a lot of clues based on the directions we all went in (Fender, Genzler and Mesa).

The viability of the service program is not just because of Jeff and I however, our corporate owners also shared some of our passion and visions about customer service. KMC and Fender both supported our visions, and made it possible by actively supporting us in this venture as we transitioned service away from the Fender service network. Not all corporate cultures are bad, in fact some are really pretty decent within the limitations of operations that enormous size.
 
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#7
agedhorse said:
These amps (in spite of folks preaching how class D amps are disposable or not repairable) are fully repairable provided the necessary expertise and troubleshooting knowledge is available. Since I designed all of the Genz Benz amps, it's fairly trivial for us to repair them in-house. We stock all of the parts and also have the necessary tools and tooling to do many of the sheet metal repairs when an amp takes a tumble.

The company has been shut down almost 10 years, yet we are still providing the same factory level service that we did when operating. This is because of Jeff's and my passion for what we accomplished while at Genz Benz... the first commercially successful compact (in large numbers) class D bass amp that was released in 2007 (Shuttle 3.0) that remained essentially unchanged until Fender's decision to shut down in 2013. Looking at the amp landscape today, had we not been shut down, it would still be a viable amp exactly as it is with no changes needed. That would equate to a product life of 16 years without revisions. What would Genz Benz look like had we remained operational? There are a lot of clues based on the directions we all went in (Fender, Genzler and Mesa).

The viability of the service program is not just because of Jeff and I however, our corporate owners also shared some of our passion and visions about customer service. KMC and Fender both supported our visions, and made it possible by actively supporting us in this venture as we transitioned service away from the Fender service network. Not all corporate cultures are bad, in fact some are really pretty decent within the limitations of operations that enormous size.
Click to expand...

I've posted about this before, but I remember the NAMM show when you and Jeff introduced the Streamliner and how impressed I was. I remember you pointed out the tactile feel of the knobs which I though was cool that such a small detail was just one of the many details that mattered to you guys. I had a Shuttle 9.0 at the time but had to grab a Streamliner 900 immediately afterwards. Still love it (and still plan on sending it to you for a tune up!)
 
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#9
agedhorse said:
These amps (in spite of folks preaching how class D amps are disposable or not repairable) are fully repairable provided the necessary expertise and troubleshooting knowledge is available. Since I designed all of the Genz Benz amps, it's fairly trivial for us to repair them in-house. We stock all of the parts and also have the necessary tools and tooling to do many of the sheet metal repairs when an amp takes a tumble.

The company has been shut down almost 10 years, yet we are still providing the same factory level service that we did when operating. This is because of Jeff's and my passion for what we accomplished while at Genz Benz... the first commercially successful compact (in large numbers) class D bass amp that was released in 2007 (Shuttle 3.0) that remained essentially unchanged until Fender's decision to shut down in 2013. Looking at the amp landscape today, had we not been shut down, it would still be a viable amp exactly as it is with no changes needed. That would equate to a product life of 16 years without revisions. What would Genz Benz look like had we remained operational? There are a lot of clues based on the directions we all went in (Fender, Genzler and Mesa).

The viability of the service program is not just because of Jeff and I however, our corporate owners also shared some of our passion and visions about customer service. KMC and Fender both supported our visions, and made it possible by actively supporting us in this venture as we transitioned service away from the Fender service network. Not all corporate cultures are bad, in fact some are really pretty decent within the limitations of operations that enormous size.
Click to expand...
Hey...don't write me out of the history. :-(
 
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#10
I'm another very satisfied customer of Andy's. He put my Shuttle 9.0 back into perfectly good condition after it began some weirdness a couple of years ago. My experience (and observation of others') tells me he is tops in the field of rapid (important!) and professional repairs.
 
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