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What can we possibly expect from Yamaha taking over Ampeg?

#201
Some of Ampeg's original designers had long careers in the amp business. Bill Hughes is one I can think of (who was the principle R&D engineer at Fender while I was working under their operation) and it wouldn't surprise me if Yamaha might consult with a few of the "old guys" to get a better feeling about the technical history of a product and what they might have done differently with the benefit of hindsight.
 
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#202
Personally looking forward to the Yamaha influence on Ampeg equipment- even if there are only minor changes in parts and manufacturing processes.

I like Ampeg stuff, especially the upper level amps- despite a few of the aforementioned issues.

In the eighties Yamaha 1604 and 2404 boards, power amps and of course the SPX processors were standard, high quality reliable tools on the large club and theater circuit. Not to mention the DX7 and Pianos.( A refurbished UX3 will be in my home in next two years)

I trust Yamaha to only improve the offerings of Ampeg- even if few new products are offered.
 
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#203
DrMole said:
In the eighties Yamaha 1604 and 2404 boards, power amps and of course the SPX processors were standard, high quality reliable tools on the large club and theater circuit. Not to mention the DX7 and Pianos.( A refurbished UX3 will be in my home in next two years)
I trust Yamaha to only improve the offerings of Ampeg- even if few new products are offered.
Click to expand...

I don't know of anyone who has had trouble getting non-digital Ampeg equipment repair.
They made a tremendous amount of their best sellers (meaning SVT's, B-15's, etc.) that were all extremely reliable. I have no issues buying or maintaining classic Ampeg gear on the used market especially as the value of heavier gear continues to plumit.

My interest is in what Yamaha could bring to the table with new innovations while maintaining the trademark sound.

Your mention of DX7's, SPX gear is a great example of the lower end MI gear and their consoles and power amps are also pretty awesome in the semi-pro, pro market.
Now if they could just figure out how to trim some of the weight off their basses...
 
#204
YAMAHA Makes great stuff, and not just for bassists:

Here's my YAMAHA Stage Customs (in Natural :) ).




And My 02 YAMAHA VMAX!!! (If you're not familiar with this this beast of a motorcycle, well you should get familiar :)) (somehow, this is the only pic on my work Comp..)



Dang, gotta resize..
 
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#205
Here's my YAMAHA Stage Customs (in Natural :) ).

dr2.jpg
 
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#209
Jim C said:
I don't know of anyone who has had trouble getting non-digital Ampeg equipment repair.
They made a tremendous amount of their best sellers (meaning SVT's, B-15's, etc.) that were all extremely reliable. I have no issues buying or maintaining classic Ampeg gear on the used market especially as the value of heavier gear continues to plumit.

My interest is in what Yamaha could bring to the table with new innovations while maintaining the trademark sound.

Your mention of DX7's, SPX gear is a great example of the lower end MI gear and their consoles and power amps are also pretty awesome in the semi-pro, pro market.
Now if they could just figure out how to trim some of the weight off their basses...
Click to expand...

I do not know how you prefer to divide the various anp models into sub segments, but here in Sweden, Ampeg has not the best reputation for quality. It is also stated here on TB, how their semi modern amps (think all hybrid and SS SVT models) are systematically suffering cold solder joints, squealing fans, drifting bias on SS amps (!!!) (SVT-3), very high noise floor (most BA combos) - the list goes on... (And yes, Made in US or Vietnam where both bad, Korean ones were better.)

And then the PF500 and SVT-7 debacle, where I think someone here had THREE consecutive amps fail on him. Actually, the local MI shop here strongly adviced me against getting a new Ampeg amp, due to all the issues. They simply had too many warranty issues.

Yamaha, on the other hand... Well, I would be VERY surprised to find defective solder joints in any of their pro-sumer or pro gear. Even their entry models are reliable, as far as I know.
 
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#210
AlexanderB said:
I do not know how you prefer to divide the various anp models into sub segments, but here in Sweden, Ampeg has not the best reputation for quality. It is also stated here on TB, how their semi modern amps (think all hybrid and SS SVT models) are systematically suffering cold solder joints, squealing fans, drifting bias on SS amps (!!!) (SVT-3), very high noise floor (most BA combos) - the list goes on... (And yes, Made in US or Vietnam where both bad, Korean ones were better.)

And then the PF500 and SVT-7 debacle, where I think someone here had THREE consecutive amps fail on him. Actually, the local MI shop here strongly adviced me against getting a new Ampeg amp, due to all the issues. They simply had too many warranty issues.

Yamaha, on the other hand... Well, I would be VERY surprised to find defective solder joints in any of their pro-sumer or pro gear. Even their entry models are reliable, as far as I know.
Click to expand...

Not sure who is building your amps but I have had the exact opposite experience.

My 3-Pro had bad solder joints but I felt this was due to bad manufacturing rather than design.
Anybody can have a bad batch of poorly flowed boards.
The PF 500 and 7-Pro have had severe QC issues documented in my post.

I've owned a lot of Ampeg amps in my time: 2 pre amps, Jet, B-15, V4B, V6B, SVT-CL, 100 watt PA head, SVP 1500, B15T, VT40, 3-Pro, 7-pro, B100, and SVT-CL Micro stack.
Other than the small practice amp, all were used as gigging amps and were often times rented or loaned out.
They were not for bedroom use.
The ONLY one that needed anything (other than very infrequent tube replacement) was the 3-Pro.
IMO/IME they are some of the most robust amps made.
Sorry you guys have been having more than your fair share of problems.
 
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#211
Jim C said:
Not sure who is building your amps but I have had the exact opposite experience.

My 3-Pro had bad solder joints but I felt this was due to bad manufacturing rather than design.
Anybody can have a bad batch of poorly flowed boards.
The PF 500 and 7-Pro have had severe QC issues documented in my post.

I've owned a lot of Ampeg amps in my time: 2 pre amps, Jet, B-15, V4B, V6B, SVT-CL, 100 watt PA head, SVP 1500, B15T, VT40, 3-Pro, 7-pro, B100, and SVT-CL Micro stack.
Other than the small practice amp, all were used as gigging amps and were often times rented or loaned out.
They were not for bedroom use.
The ONLY one that needed anything (other than very infrequent tube replacement) was the 3-Pro.
IMO/IME they are some of the most robust amps made.
Sorry you guys have been having more than your fair share of problems.
Click to expand...

Not directed at you at all, but IMHO/IME, Ampeg was never known to be problem free, super reliable. The grand daddy SVT is not the easiest to work on, and quirky designs and lacking production methods have happened quite a bit.

Please do not bring forward the blunt and inaccurate "everybody can do a bad batch from time to time".
No, everyone does not work that way! That is why Lexus and Toyota build more reliable cars than Ford or Porsche, for instance. Or why Yamaha motorcycles are FAR better than ie Royal Enfield.

Check out Six Sigma, World Class Engineering, Lean production, modern RCA and so on.
 
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#215
Jim C said:
I didn't want to get into a pi$$ing contest with anyone not remotely involved with manufacturing, but yeah, that's ancient junk.
ISO 9000 / 9001 started in 1987.
Click to expand...
Lean mfg, JIT mfg, Six Sigma, ISO 9000/9001 all have different purposes. It's not necessarily ancient junk.
 
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#220
Jim C said:
I didn't want to get into a pi$$ing contest with anyone not remotely involved with manufacturing, but yeah, that's ancient junk.
ISO 9000 / 9001 started in 1987.
Click to expand...

Noone mentioned ISO 9000. And like I said, these methodologies are old, some superseded, some still in use, but they were (or were NOT!) frequent in production industries at the time the Ampeg BA series came to life, or when your "unlucky" (bad) SVT-3 was produced.
Please insted explain why and how japanese brands like Yamaha, Toyota/Lexus and so on consistently have better reliability than Jeep, Porsche, Ampeg, Royal Enfield, to name a few well known brands. And they have had it for decades.
 

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