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What happened to ashdown???

#23
Just adding my $0.02 CDN
I have a Mag600R that I've been Gigging Hard with for over a year now. It's been to every sh**hole, uh, I mean Pro Gig I've played since last January - held up through numerous clubs with blown subs (hence having to crank it so the soundguy's hearing enough low end) and untold bumpy van rides. Still sounds great to me.
I might be wrong, but for some reason I recall reading that the chinese Ashdowns are built using the exact same components as the British models, just assembled in China. Or am I Imagining Things Again..;)
 
#24
'vtwo' Electric blue ashdowns havent been made in the UK for a very long time, you can still get some UK ones around in various places, here and there. But most are chinese.

And yes, ashdowns from china are basically made from the same componants, because most of the ashdown componants in the UK ones were from china etc anyway, it was just put together in the Uk.
 
#25
The new Ashdown Klystron models are now up in the EBS price range. Not all that scary for the quality of workmanship, really. I recently found out from an Ashdown rep that the circuitboards have been made in China for the last two years and the amps were merely assembled in the UK. LOTS of manufacturers do this (Warwick). As long as a certain percentage of the work is done in a particular country they can say that it's "made in Germany" or "made in UK". I couldn't help but notice a recent thread on how GREAT the Mark Bass product is but there was NO mention of the fact that GC bought Mark Bass and promptly moved all production to China from Italy. (I own an Italian MB) I don't think ANYBODY is happy about jobs moving to China (or anywhere else) but the door has been opened (by those we elected to office) and it will soon swallow up more and more jobs. Manufacturers have to make these moves to compete in the market place. Honestly, I can't hear a difference between the UK and Chinese Ashdowns and I've been a dealer for Ashdown for over 10 years. As ugly as opening the trade door with China is, there's no changing it now! We may as well accept it and judge the products on quality and price rather than country of origin. Thoughts?
 
#26
Oh, Kayakbass, you're such a hunk! ;) And I do miss my Ashdown.

I have an OOOOLLLDDDD ABM and love it. Having played through some newer ones I couldn't hear any difference. While I do like the idea of buying American (or UK, Canadian, Elbonian, etc) to me it comes down what does what I need the best. If the American product does the job, great. All things being equal, I would buy the American product. Unfortunately, it's usually not quite so simple. Hence the reason we drive Toyotas and Kias as well as Fords and Pontiacs.
 
#29
will33 said:
+1

It doesn't always mean it costs less either. Ampeg went from paying what, $10-$30/hour for labor to 30 cents/hour. Have you seen a corresponding drop in price? I haven't.
Click to expand...

(Continuing this part as it's economics, not so much politics)

For me, this is part of the real issue. There are factories and workforces all around the world capable of making first class product, and garbage. Which flag they're under doesn't make much of a difference to me.

What does make me want to drop a company is when they move production in an obvious cost cutting move, and keep the difference as profit. Ampeg was not in trouble, they're selling amps like mad. But they moved production to Vietnam to increase their profit margin. When Lakland made Skylines, when Fender makes Squiers, when Spector makes import models the pass the savings on to us, in a manner of speaking. Ampeg is not, and because of that, they've lost my respect as a company, and will not receive my business.
 
#32
clockworkwar said:
Nope, thats what I expected with the ABM that it would drop in price and it hasnt really. Its just so the company can gain more profits, its quite sad really.
Click to expand...

Who's to say that because the product is made in China that it's price has to come down,some of the components for Bass amps that are made in China are just as good if not better than some of the American made components and it may break some hearts but some of the finely crafted Basses that come out of Japan is outsourced to Korea.
 
#35
JAUQO III-X said:
Who's to say that because the product is made in China that it's price has to come down,some of the components for Bass amps that are made in China are just as good if not better than some of the American made components and it may break some hearts but some of the finely crafted Basses that come out of Japan is outsourced to Korea.
Click to expand...


most companies goto china to reduce costs to the consumer so they buy more products. So why would you move a product to China and not drop the price even by a small percentage to the consumer. And i know that chinese componants can be just as good, as they wouldnt want to damage the intergrity of the product and as its a musical item reduce the sound quality. Its just the priciple of moving things to china, with no see able benefit to the consumer, other than to increase the pocket size of the company.
 
#37
In a niche market like musical instruments, companies have the ability to earn very loyal customers, so loyal that often times they will pay rediculous amounts of money for a product that has many substitutes, often of equal or sometimes even better quality, for a cheaper price. But, since it's such a niche market, companies aren't going to be selling high numbers of units (unless they're a company as big as Fender), and each product has a fairly low profit margin (high production costs), so they need to maximize pofit as much as possible for each unit being sold. So, if they have loyal customers who are already willing to pay one price for their product, and they can find a way to increase the profit margin of each unit (by lowering cost of production/overhead), why bother lowering the price to the consumer? They're in this to make great amps, but more importantly, to make a living at it.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Ashdown ABM 300, best head I've played other than Orange, and I would love to buy another one, but I'm a broke, newlywed college student, so even if it was $200 I couldn't buy one (I got in enough trouble when I bought the first one without telling the boss [read wife]):rolleyes: :help:
 
#39
*I have edited my original post here. I had originally wanted to close this thread but since I wanted to post my personal views on the subject, it would not be fair for me to "have the last word" so to speak. BTW, these incoherent ramblings are my own. They do not represent TB or Paul in any way and my moderator hat is /off*

Hmm, moving production to another country to reduce operating cost and it is automatically assumed that it is to line their pockets with more cash. :hmm: It astonishes me how many people don't have a clue how a large corporation works. I'm sure it is partyly due to increasing their profit but what gives you or anyone else the right to say what is a "fair" profit? They are in business to make a profit and since I haven't seen any philanthropist bass gear companies ever, give it a rest.

Did anyone notice that all around us the prices on everything keep going up? Well guess what, that happens to these companies as well. So, instead of raising prices, or possibly closing up shop, they move production somewhere else so they can keep their prices the same and maybe, just maybe, even lower the price a bit.

Ampeg wasn't in trouble financially so they shouldn't move production? :eyebrow: How do you think they keep from being in financial trouble? That's right, they make decisions before they get into that situation. That's smart business.

I'm getting really tired of all this coporate bashing that goes on here and elsewhere. If it wasn't for the corps we wouldn't have the affordable TV's, microwaves, computers, etc., etc...that we have today. Business isn't always pretty and yes, some companies are very cold in their decisions but after all, it is a business. It does the biz no good to give their employees everything and remain in the US (or where ever else) just to go out of biz down the road. That hurts consumers overall and puts even more people out of work.

I can't believe I'm defending corps but some comments in this thread really bug me. I'm not a fan of Big Biz but geez guys, give it a break! :scowl:
 

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