You might want to reel-in the blasphemy - it's very offensive to a great many people, and this is a public discussion forum...
Probably just as offensive as the blind patriotism and blatant xenophobia in the prior post could be to some people.
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US vs non-US made Ampeg Amps & Cabs
- Thread starter yousaiditman
- Start date
Probably just as offensive as the blind patriotism and blatant xenophobia in the prior post could be to some people.
I'm outside US and outside Asia, so not directly concerned of feelings for one or the other.
As far as craftmanship, I never took a detailed look at my US made Ampeg. As far as the sound goes, a good friend of mine had the Asia version of the very same amp. We AB tested them once but couldn't hear much of a / or any difference there.
As far as craftmanship, I never took a detailed look at my US made Ampeg. As far as the sound goes, a good friend of mine had the Asia version of the very same amp. We AB tested them once but couldn't hear much of a / or any difference there.
While I agree with you that there was no need for it, I'm afraid that those are who are quite religious are just going to have to accept that there are those who aren't.
You might want to reel-in the blasphemy - it's very offensive to a great many people, and this is a public discussion forum...
Of course, but that doesn't mean that it's OK to profane someone's deepest faith. I'm sure there's a better (read: less profane, less offensive) way to express irritation.
"Accepting those that aren't religious" does not mean that profanity and offensive behavior must also be accepted. One need not be crude and offensive just because he has no religion.
It's a current reality, and more importantly, a future reality.
In the last two years, I've bought an Eden head, Genz Benz head, and Epifani cab. All USA products, right? I thought they were when I bought them. Nope, made in China, Taiwan, and China, respectively.
Personally, I no longer worry where anything is actually made, so long as it is well made. It's all part of being in a global economy.
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
I would buy US Ampeg over Asian Ampeg as I have had troubles with Asian Ampegs, mind you that was during their dud years where they made a lot of failing equipment. They apparently have it straightened out now, so if i was going to buy Asian Ampeg it would have to be made 2011 or later. I would avoid 2007-2010 like the plague.
All of the tube heads I have owned by Ampeg are US made models as well as the cabs I have owned. Some have had issues, some have not. Most of the issues pertained to a recommend fixed by Ampeg, so I believe more of an early design flaw. Never had an issue that was considered a defect or something that was not know.
I do currently own a Micro VR which is made in China and it has served me very well so far with no issues.. I would not hesitate to pick up an overseas built tube Ampeg if it was a good deal, but I try to find US made at times just to buy "local"...
I do currently own a Micro VR which is made in China and it has served me very well so far with no issues.. I would not hesitate to pick up an overseas built tube Ampeg if it was a good deal, but I try to find US made at times just to buy "local"...
All I can offer is that I had a Nampeg SVT VI and it sounded great. I have had a dozen or so USA made various amps over the years, and they sounded/sound great too (except for an SVT III I had for a while. I never could get into that amp. And the line out was NOISY.)
I would adjust that to read 2007-2008, but the funny thing about those duff years in LOUD's history is that when they worked, they sounded just as awesome as the US models. Problem is so many didn't work and the former head idiot in charge didn't seem all that concerned. That all changed in late 2008 when they canned him. Don't know of a single employee who works there now who misses him
I don't care where an amp is made if the quality is good and the sound is what i'm looking for. That being said, I won't pay the same price for it. The whole reason an American or British or German or whatever (It's not about USA its about outsourcing) company decides to outsource is to cutdown the cost of production. My issue with Ampeg is that they haven't passed any of that cost savings on to their customers, they moved production but kept the same market price.
Would you pay the same price for a Squire or MIM Fender as you would a MIA? If Fender stopped making MIA basses but kept charging MIA prices would you still buy them?
$1,500 for a Korean made amp with a solid state power amp seems steep to me when there are still plenty of non "outsourced" made amps in the same price point or even lower.
Ofcourse if I loved the Ampeg sound my oppinion might be different. At the end of the day you have to play whatever gets you the sound in your head. Ive owned five bass amps in my life and all of them have been American made fortenately,
Fender Silverface Bassman
Peavey TKO65
Carin BX500
Peavey Mark VI
GK 800RB
ive owned non American basses though.
If Ampeg is the sound you need/want then you don't have much choice I guess.
Would you pay the same price for a Squire or MIM Fender as you would a MIA? If Fender stopped making MIA basses but kept charging MIA prices would you still buy them?
$1,500 for a Korean made amp with a solid state power amp seems steep to me when there are still plenty of non "outsourced" made amps in the same price point or even lower.
Ofcourse if I loved the Ampeg sound my oppinion might be different. At the end of the day you have to play whatever gets you the sound in your head. Ive owned five bass amps in my life and all of them have been American made fortenately,
Fender Silverface Bassman
Peavey TKO65
Carin BX500
Peavey Mark VI
GK 800RB
ive owned non American basses though.
If Ampeg is the sound you need/want then you don't have much choice I guess.
The argument made at the time is that the prices would have gone way up because right before the sale to LOUD, SLM had to find a new transformer supplier because Electrical Windings wanted to get out of the transformer business and jacked up the prices considerably in order to make Ampeg stop ordering them. And while I'm not trying to make excuses for them moving production to China or for the former head idiot of LOUD's other messed-up behavior, the fact is that the prices would have gone up instead of holding firm at their prices for a number of years, even if they had stayed in St. Louis and used a Chinese supplier for transformers. And then everyone would have complained that the prices were going up in the middle of a recession. Kind of a no-win situation.
What I don't get is why Ampeg takes the brunt of the scorn over outsourcing when there are so many companies that have outsourced long ago and nobody says a word.
What I don't get is why Ampeg takes the brunt of the scorn over outsourcing when there are so many companies that have outsourced long ago and nobody says a word.
I see your point. My two amps I have right now is a GK and a Peavey, both have outsourced. Both however only outsourced their low end (budget line) products however and continued to manufacture higher end stuff in the states. GK I believe is bringing all of their production back to the states now.
But like I said in my post, its all about what will get you the sound!
I don't own an Ampeg and never have, but its got nothing to do with where they are made!
Yep this was my main beef back then, they offshored the production but the prices remained the same.
I was looking to upgrade my B2-R to a SVT-3 Pro; these had been $995 like for a long time.
Well by the time I decided to move on that, Ampeg had started making them in Vietnam....and the price was still $995. Obviously it's even more these days.
I'm not a "I only buy 'Merican guy (in fact I have no interest in American cars because they stopped making the kinds of cars (the format) I buy) but to lay off the people, move production overseas and keep all the money? Well that just sucks.
LOUD did the EXACT same thing to Mackie.
The SVT-3 Pro thing annoyed me so much, I voted with my wallet. Wound up buying a Bugera BVP-5500 for $359, made in China of course.
The interesting thing about the Bugera is while it was obviously designed to ape the SVT-3 Pro (the front panel controls have all the same functions) the amp is actually quite different inside, starting with not using an AU7 tube and having four tubes instead of 5.
Internally the construction of the Bugera is way more organized and clean, the Ampeg looks like the parts were installed at random with a shotgun. Just spread all over the place.
It's been a great amp, no issues at all and I still have it many years later
All my Ampegs are US made, but it worked out that way because I bought them prior to the LOUD takeover.
I have a PBC-228 combo, the one with the class D amp section and neo speakers; that was one of the last US made products apparently.
After owning it for years and thinking it was seriously lacking in bass, I found out the port tube had fallen off the flange inside the cabinet. It was that way when I bought it new.
I chalk that up to people losing their jobs don't try to do their jobs very well, just look at the final years of the British motorcycle industry for evidence of that.
Analogeezer
Yes the heritage cabs are also assembled in the US with US eminence speakers. They sound fantastic, but the newer import cabs aren’t bad either. They’ve gone back to plywood construction and the speakers currently being used are supposed to be brighter/less muddy than the late US/early import era stuff.
I had no problems with my micro VR, PF-500, or 112AV cabs, but these were the only import models I’ve owned.
