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New ampeg speculation - A true B15 Reissue?

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#444
seamonkey said:
LOUD is doing the right thing - they aren't Ampeg, they're LOUD. They bought the name. The US Ampeg factories are long gone, but they shouldn't just by the name and make cheap copies overseas and sell them for a premium price.

Nobody wants to buy any "new" designs branded "Ampeg" - just the same old. To make them in the US, it's going go cost more. Think of the tech putting them together, you want somebody with experience and skills, that doesn't come cheap in the US.

Tubes are going to come from overseas. And they're going to have the same 90 day warranty as any other tube amp, boutique or not.

LOUD should use the best components possible in these amps. No matter where they come from. Some of the best are made overseas. They may need to have some custom made components, it may be way to expensive to source these in the US.
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+1
As much as I don't like the idea of astronomical prices, I do believe Loud is trying to do the right thing too. Ampeg has taken a bad rap over the last couple of years of Loud's ownership, and I think with the Heritage line, and with this beautiful B-15, they're trying to make up for it. Perhaps they're just trying to say "Hey look, we can make some fantastic upper level amps, yes we made some boo boos the last couple of years, but this is only the beginning of another Ampeg renaissance....for the B-15, to make Jess Oliver proud, and for Ampeg to make Everett Hull and the rest of the bass playing world proud..."

I may be wrong.....but what if I'm not? Lately there's been so much negativity about everything on TB, whether it be new amps, basses, "is SX any good...", etc..... Maybe, just maybe this is the start of something positive....

I'll get off my soapbox now :)
 
#445
Chef said:
I'd be stunned if this product was priced at $1200, and I think they'd be losing fairly significantly at that price point. But, I think it would sell at that. We already know the B15R did not sell well at it's pricepoint. While this might be a more accurate re-issue, it's also powered down.
That's gonna limit it's usefulness, and perhaps therefore it's potential buyers.
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Well, I do know from experience that I used to run two B-15 cabinets with a Walter Woods MI-100-8 and it sounded better than the small Bag End cabs I had. Unless you're going to play it through the mains or in small rooms with small bands the B-15 has volume limitations.

IMHO because of the mistique behind this amplifier, they will sell most of them to professional players, studios and folks who have the disposable income to own one. I own a B-15 N(C) it's got new tubes, a new output transformer, a new rectifier and the caps were replaced. They are nice amps, but they weigh a lot.

Ric
 
#449
Shadi said:
+1
As much as I don't like the idea of astronomical prices, I do believe Loud is trying to do the right thing too. Ampeg has taken a bad rap over the last couple of years of Loud's ownership, and I think with the Heritage line, and with this beautiful B-15, they're trying to make up for it. Perhaps they're just trying to say "Hey look, we can make some fantastic upper level amps, yes we made some boo boos the last couple of years, but this is only the beginning of another Ampeg renaissance....for the B-15, to make Jess Oliver proud, and for Ampeg to make Everett Hull and the rest of the bass playing world proud..."
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to make everett hull proud again, they'd have to discontinue the svt ;) he never would have stood for it under his watch. jess was into it, but he left the company before everett hull sold to unimusic so neither were involved with it.

but you raise a good point. jaime engen's biggest failure as the ceo of loud was to disrespect the ampeg legacy in a big way. magnavox didn't even disrespect the legacy to nearly the degree that loud did. these heritage amps are clearly pyotr belov's way of begging forgiveness from the ampeg faithful. our forgiveness comes with a pretty hefty price tag, but it's really hard to argue with the job he's doing. from what i can see, it's everything i hoped a b-15 reissue would be...faithful to the original but with slightly different artistic strokes, and little touches that fix problems people have had over the years. yep, it fixes everything except it probably won't be in my non-marriage threatening price range ;) if i made 6 figures a year or more, i'd have already signed up for the pre-sale.
 
#451
JimmyM said:
... and if memory serves me, ampeg consulted with him on the 2005 b-15n reissue that got shelved and they were going to use those locks.
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Close, but I don't want to take undeserved credit. I actually found out about the Nielsen-Sessions latches because of the reissue SLM was working on back then. I think Jess had sent me the info along with a photo of some different strike options that were being considered. At the time I think they had decided on some sort of custom extruded aluminum piece but I don't know that for sure.
 
#453
Vintage-Blue said:
Close, but I don't want to take undeserved credit. I actually found out about the Nielsen-Sessions latches because of the reissue SLM was working on back then. I think Jess had sent me the info along with a photo of some different strike options that were being considered. At the time I think they had decided on some sort of custom extruded aluminum piece but I don't know that for sure.
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shhh! i've got everyone convinced you're a genius!

:D
 
#455
Kitsapbass said:
WHAT??????????? He's NOT???????????????????



;)
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no, he really is. he's a genius woodworker and cab maker. his cabs are absolutely flawless and highly recommended for those who want an extension cab or new cab for their orphaned fliptop head. i like mine so much i took my 64 head out of its original cab and put it in there.
 
#456
JimmyM said:
no, he really is. he's a genius woodworker and cab maker. his cabs are absolutely flawless and highly recommended for those who want an extension cab or new cab for their orphaned fliptop head. i like mine so much i took my 64 head out of its original cab and put it in there.
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Dude....I'm totally kidding. I've been on his site, and if I ever can get a B-15, he's the guy I'm going to be talking to. Well, him and you, if that's okay...
 
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