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What can we possibly expect from Yamaha taking over Ampeg?

#21
Yamaha has been making pianos and other instruments for over a century. Even in the modern competitive world of musical instruments, they are not only surviving, but thriving. Since they are a very smart, quality orientated company, I supposed they'll deconstruct the current Ampeg products line, the entire manufacturing process from beginning to end to actual point of sales. Then I hope that they look at support. I'm hoping they'll allow the engineers and employees at Ampeg continue on, then start making quality improvements.

I recently purchased an Ampeg PF-350 and it was built to perfection. The tone was pure Ampeg. I've owned and loved GK's over the years but my new PF-350 won me over in a few hours. I also own the BA108v2 practice combo and it's an incredible little beast for the size. Even my wife, who doesn't like me to practice at night, heard the small combo and came out of the bedroom to tell me that it sounded excellent. And she's been with me since the late 80's when I used everything from large heavy, loud bass amps to small practice combos and she knows when I sound good.

Ampeg has produced some great stuff lately-- the small tube head series, the BAv2 line of combos, and the PF amp heads. I think they've been doing great new product development and I'm very happy with my new Ampeg gear. The construction of the combo and the head are perfect, and quality control is outstanding.

Considering Yamaha's stellar record, I only see a bright future ahead for Ampeg. Now, Yamaha, please develop some Ampeg Micro Class D's and ultralight cabs! :)
 
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#22
The co-president of the Yamaha Guitar Group that bought Ampeg and Line-6 is the founder of Line-6.

I would expect to see integration of Line-6 digital technology into some Ampeg products. They will want to introduce something small as soon as possible. As a starter, perhaps look for a digital Ampeg pedal that competes with EHX and recent Fender offerings, maybe in time for winter Namm. Major new products may not be the top priority but are certainly in the works. Some current products will be discontinued.

There will be a massive push just to set up the infastructure, distributors, manufacturing, customers service, and engineering. This is a lot of work. People have to be hired and quickly trained in the Yamaha way of doing business. Those retailers that carried Ampeg products will have to be willing to take on the Yamaha lines. They want a good supply of products in the stores and visibility.
 
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#23
Weird to see so much optimism about this...

I expect them to move the property on to someone else in a surprisingly short amount of time. 3 or 4 years is my guess. They’ll launch 1 or 2 fairly unsuccessful products in that time that feel neither “Ampeg”-y nor “Yamaha”-y and fail to find an audience with fans of either.
 
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#25
A little unexpected to me, I guess I haven’t been following that closely. I didn’t think Ampeg was having any financial problems. Funny, what I have noticed, at least over the last five years or more, is what seems like every band coming out has a bass player with the prerequisite Ampeg SVT and a Fender P bass. Not necessarily a bad thing, just never been my first choice for sound.
 
#27
6AM said:
MAKE AMPEG GREAT AGAIN
Click to expand...

I'll take the political slant out of this because there are clear times in Ampeg's history where they had better products. There are many discussions on the "year" of an Ampeg. There was a clear line after SLM rescued them from bankruptcy. Yamaha has a good chance of undoing the LOUD Tech damage done to the brand.
 
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#28
beans-on-toast said:
The co-president of the Yamaha Guitar Group that bought Ampeg and Line-6 is the founder of Line-6.
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That doesn't bode well for quality. Line-6 may be popular but they have a track record of using shoddy components and being unreliable.

I was recently on the hunt for a delay pedal and all the reviews of the DL4 and echo park were littered with negative remarks about quality.
 
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#30
I believe that all employees will now be required to wear smallish construction helmets with chin straps and matching jump suits. They will also be required to meet to do morning calisthenics.

Outwardly, I don’t think we’ll see a big change for at least two years. I don’t see anyhthing different with Line 6 and almost forgot that they were purchased by Yamaha.
 
#31
Making this amp/cab available to the public would be a nice start!

fc2ab9512d62aa51d4bcae771b71db32.jpg
 
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#34
I have no personal experience with Ampeg, even though I have been playing bass for over 40 years, but my experience with Yamaha says that they produce an excellent product. Both my tuba and my Waverunner are excellent.
So, I know that whatever Yamaha puts their own name on tends to be good. What they do with their acquisition products; not sure about this.
 
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#35
Nev375 said:
That doesn't bode well for quality. Line-6 may be popular but they have a track record of using shoddy components and being unreliable.

I was recently on the hunt for a delay pedal and all the reviews of the DL4 and echo park were littered with negative remarks about quality.
Click to expand...

You’re right, Line 6 weren’t exactly known for their component quality. HOWEVER, the DL6 and Echo Park were designed and manufactured way way before Yamaha took over. Frankly, Yamaha have improved Line 6 massively since taking ownership.

Having spoken to Yamaha’s Product Development Manager at the Yamaha Music Store in central London last year, we spoke at length about Line 6. We talked a lot about Helix and my initial assumption was that Line 6 themselves were the driving force behind the project. Turns out it was Yamaha’s own engineers who made the component-level modelling possible. Line 6 just wouldn’t have been able to do it on their own.

Similarly, we discussed Yamaha’s current line of guitar heads and cabs. They’re really cool looking rigs and apparently sound great (I’m not a guitarist so didn’t try em out). My main moan was that Yamaha didn’t have a line of bass amps, despite being a manufacturer of excellent quality bass guitars. He didn’t have a great deal to say on the matter. I wonder if Ampeg were already on the radar at that stage and he was deliberately keeping quiet.

Anyway, I seriously believe this is amazing news and that Ampeg is in very safe hands.
 
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#38
In the short term Yamaha doesn't have to do anything. They can move production to a new facility, keep key personnel and continue making great amps. In the long term, Yamaha doesn't have much background in tube technology so there will be a bit of a learning curve there. I'm sure that Ampeg has never had the sales volume that Yamaha is used to and they must have known that going in. Yamaha has never had a big presence in musical instrument amplifiers so this could be a good opportunity for them. Let's hope it's a win win for everybody. I sure hope Yamaha's marketing people check out Talkbass on a regular basis.
 
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#40
MultiScaleMale said:
They will also be required to meet to do morning calisthenic.
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<OT>We like to snipe at those programs but before retiring I did work for a huge company that set up a 10-to-15-minute pre-shift exercise routine that was entirely voluntary. Their on the job accidents and injuries went down something like 60%, productivity and quality went up significantly and even employees who didn't join the exercise session improved. Sneer if you will but that company is pretty unlikely to get in trouble and be sold.</OT>
 
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