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New ampeg speculation - A true B15 Reissue?

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#781
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#789
I'm not going to name names, but I was just told that ONLY the cabinets are being made in the states. The electronics and chassis are all Chinese parts, and labor. "Assembled in the USA" means the completed chassis is being popped into the US built cabinet.

I would LOVE if someone could prove me wrong. I want to believe...
 
#791
I understand that is what they announced. I also understand that reading between the lines of PR speak is often required when dealing with a company... especially one with the reputation that the current incarnation of Ampeg has :(

"hand built in Michigan" could very easily mean "we pulled a finished chassis out of a shipping crate and mounted it in the cab we hand built" or "we got pallets of Chinese parts and put them together"
 
#792
Vintage-Blue said:
Per Ampeg's previous announcement the amplifiers are being hand built in Michigan by George Metropoulos and his staff at Metropoulos Amplification.
Click to expand...

When making this claim, US companies are only legally required to make a certain percentage of a product in the US. This percentage includes the box it ships in.

So joshwilkesbooth claim is possible.

And likely, considering that even companies like Fender and Marshall use chiense made components. Plenty of transformers and speakers are made in china. Along with most of the passive components like pots, resistors, caps, and wire.



I hope he is wrong though. It would be nice to see Ampeg amps made in the US again.
 
#794
josh, ampeg gives it the designation "made in the usa." that's a much meatier designation than "assembled." the way i understand it, the core components have to be actually made in the usa to use that designation. that would include the transformers, imho. i'm not an expert by any means so i could be wrong, but that is how i understand how the "made in the usa" designation is used.

obviously it's not 100% usa components. the jj 6l6's give that much away. but george really tried to be authentic and used the best and most authentic of what's available. so i tend to believe that even though it may not be 100% usa parts, it's going to rock.
 
#796
even if it didn't get them in trouble with the ftc, it would be a complete and total pr disaster for ampeg to call these "made in the usa" if they were only assembled in the usa from all foreign parts, especially the transformers. jaime engen i could see pulling a stunt like that. but ampeg was honest about the heritage svt-cl's transformers, so i tend to believe they'd have admitted it if the b-15's transformers weren't usa made. there's way more to lose by being deceptive than being honest. and american transformers aren't hard to make for the b-15...not like the svt where the company that made them priced themselves out of the market so they could stop.
 
#797
george metropolous just posted this on his webiste forum:

I just seen a post on Talk Bass questioning if the amp is truly "Made in USA".

I can confirm the items that I personally contributed:

transformers and choke made in Michigan

chassis and tube cages made in Florida

component boards made here in my shop

component boards loaded here in house

signal capacitors made in USA

everything on the chassis is attached here in house

all sub-assembly work is done here in house

We are taking all the raw parts, starting with the chassis, and assembling from scratch. These are 100% Made in USA amps.

George

there you go. that's about as made in the usa as it gets. here is the link to the thread:

Link Removed
 
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