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New ampeg speculation - A true B15 Reissue?

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#601
OK, guess I have to clarify what I said.

I personally don't mind where an amp has been assembled. My BA115 is Chinese, and I'm very happy with it : tone, headroom (yes, I said headroom) and no issues.

Now, we're not talking the ordinary mainstreet amp, we're talking about the amps that made the legend : Portaflex, SVT, fridge, etc. It's another story.

These particular amps got their reputation due to tone, but also to their indescrutibility. The Portaflex someone purchased new in '64 is today's JimmyM's favorite tool. Most '69 SVTs are still alive and well. What about the Asian-made counterparts of these ? I can see nothing indestructible in the current SVT line : wood is poor, speakers are poor, tubes are cheap, and I am not competent enough to talk about transformers.

Sorry, a Portaflex or an SVT are not ordinary amps : they are craftmenship. It's not a matter of being patriot or not, just a simple question : WHO assembles WHAT in WHAT ? There were top skilled people for the manufacturing in the Ampeg Magnavox or SLM days. If I want a Portaflex or an SVT, I demand top notch craftmenship, no matter what the price is. Open any late SVT, and you will see the craftmenship is gone.
 
#602
JayAmel said:
OK, guess I have to clarify what I said.

I personally don't mind where an amp has been assembled. My BA115 is Chinese, and I'm very happy with it : tone, headroom (yes, I said headroom) and no issues.

Now, we're not talking the ordinary mainstreet amp, we're talking about the amps that made the legend : Portaflex, SVT, fridge, etc. It's another story.

These particular amps got their reputation due to tone, but also to their indescrutibility. The Portaflex someone purchased new in '64 is today's JimmyM's favorite tool. Most '69 SVTs are still alive and well. What about the Asian-made counterparts of these ? I can see nothing indestructible in the current SVT line : wood is poor, speakers are poor, tubes are cheap, and I am not competent enough to talk about transformers.
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me neither, but i am competent enough to talk about the speakers and wood, and loud speakers and wood are a vast improvement over the osb/mud magnets of the early 2000's.

Sorry, a Portaflex or an SVT are not ordinary amps : they are craftmenship. It's not a matter of being patriot or not, just a simple question : WHO assembles WHAT in WHAT ? There were top skilled people for the manufacturing in the Ampeg Magnavox or SLM days. If I want a Portaflex or an SVT, I demand top notch craftmenship, no matter what the price is. Open any late SVT, and you will see the craftmenship is gone.
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still sounds pretty good ;)
 
#605
pgk said:
leave it to Loud to both completely captivate and then immediately completely piss off a fair share of the bass community in less than one month. I'm not pissed, hardly. as soon as i heard Black check i went "aha dr watson"; black tolex= limited edition, blue tolex=overseas point to point version is probably what they're gonna do. ya want american built ya gotta pony up (and if i could i surely would) but for the rest of us punters an ironed out vietnamese B15 would work just fine. the vietnamese made hand wired J-20 was an Outrageously great guitar amp, too bad it never caught on. ampeg is the harley davidson of amp manufacturers, and for some it's just gotta be an american made ampeg. but it'll cost ya, which is as it should be, imo. american pride in workmanship is not cheap, nor should it be
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+1 They are never going to make everyone happy, but it looks like this is a great middle ground of keeping the purists who balked at the B-15R happy, while throwing in a little something off the beaten path to make it stand out. It's not Navy Random Flair but I'll take Black Diamond! Even if this amp does price out in the neighborhood of a Heritage SVT head, it sounds realistic to me. Hell based on what I paid for my Simmons cab from SLM it would be a bargain! But like my cab - I'm sure it's worth every penny.
 
#612
AmpegUSA said:
We will have lots more info on the Heritage B-15 (and the other two amps) over the next couple months leading up to NAMM.

First off, we should say that the Heritage B-15 is an extremely limited edition run. Only 50 will be made. The heads and cabs will all be hand numbered. As you have speculated and seen, they are completely made in the US.
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This is exactly the right move.

"Ampeg" name should only be used on re-issues of old amps. Once every few years in limited editions. And make them special, that you can't buy otherwise. It you try to make any modern gear call it some other name.

Although I believe it's entirely possible to build gear in the US at competitive world prices, even cheaper to ship within the USA boarders. I don't believe that an amp that requires many manual steps, and extra testing of components can be economically built here. For example the cars built in the US include a lot of robotics in their assembly.

Also, I don't believe that you'll get all the parts from USA - like tubes. And cap makers overseas are the making some of the best caps. As long as the majority of manufacturing costs are in the USA you can say Made in USA, but you ought to include the disclaimer that foreign parts are used - if they are.
 
#613
Interesting that Ampeg hasn't been back to this thread to face the music and explain themselves.

I know that the TB community hype this up, but Ampeg did drop tidbits on a regular basis to fuel the fire (so to speak). I think the reason so many are feeling angry is that it feels like a bait and switch.

(Going to look for vintage B15s on ebay...)
 
#614
well i don't get it matt, but ok. i don't think ampeg's done anything wrong here. the wrong happened under the former head idiot, and you just don't repair it completely overnight with one amp.
 
#615
Jimmy, the problem is when Ampeg says "oh wait, you have almost no chance to get a B15, so don't worry, we will release an Asian hybrid for you".

We're talking about B15, so we also should talk about R-E-S-P-E-C-T. If you're not a rock star, then the hybrid is enough for you.
 
#616
seamonkey said:
Also, I don't believe that you'll get all the parts from USA - like tubes. And cap makers overseas are the making some of the best caps. As long as the majority of manufacturing costs are in the USA you can say Made in USA, but you ought to include the disclaimer that foreign parts are used - if they are.
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There is very little tube production in the USA any more, if any.

A fair bit of electronics aren't even made in the USA any more, so good luck finding everything that is "MIA".

And anyways, what is the REAL benefit of using, for example, a American made 100uf 100v cap versus a high quality asian imported 100uf 100v capacitor? Especially if the American capacitor costs more?

Just an example....
 
#617
JayAmel said:
Jimmy, the problem is when Ampeg says "oh wait, you have almost no chance to get a B15, so don't worry, we will release an Asian hybrid for you".

We're talking about B15, so we also should talk about R-E-S-P-E-C-T. If you're not a rock star, then the hybrid is enough for you.
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jay, all due respect but i think you have it all wrong. realistically, how many $2800 boutique 30w amps do you think they can sell? i think 50 is a pretty safe figure.
 
#618
KramerBassFan said:
There is very little tube production in the USA any more, if any.

A fair bit of electronics aren't even made in the USA any more, so good luck finding everything that is "MIA".

And anyways, what is the REAL benefit of using, for example, a American made 100uf 100v cap versus a high quality asian imported 100uf 100v capacitor? Especially if the American capacitor costs more?

Just an example....
Click to expand...

No problem with that. The best parts should be used no matter where they come from. But it should state on the amp "Made in USA from imported parts."
or "some imported parts"
or "%30 imported parts"

Just to be fair to another company that may actually try to source all parts in the USA.
It's not just manufacturing costs that should count for MIA.
 
#619
KramerBassFan said:
And anyways, what is the REAL benefit of using, for example, a American made 100uf 100v cap versus a high quality asian imported 100uf 100v capacitor? Especially if the American capacitor costs more?

Just an example....
Click to expand...

well, i gotta say that i do like the sound of sprague atom caps (and am willing to pay more) alot better than ixicon, TAD, rubycon, nichicon or NIC (nippon) caps, but i'm not sure where the the atoms are actually made.
 
#620
JimmyM said:
jay, all due respect but i think you have it all wrong. realistically, how many $2800 boutique 30w amps do you think they can sell? i think 50 is a pretty safe figure.
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Jimmy, I don't imply that Ampeg should do thousands boutique amps each year. I know they couldn't (though there were times when they were able to).

Now, an "industrialized" version of the B15, outsourced in China or Korea, but ALL-TUBE, would sure be welcome. Not a hybrid, which already exists in the Ampeg range (without the fliptop design, though).

But... no, we are not rock stars, so we don't deserve all-tube portaflexes. That's the way I take it.
 
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