If "their superior sound qualities are often lost in a live setting" then why would touring guys spend the extra money? That makes no sense. If they believe it's gonna sound like poo, wouldn't they just get something that works...like the aforementioned bass preamps that are still being made (Alembic, SansAmp, Pope, etc.) ?
It is (almost) never anything else other than low demand/low sales = end of product. Ever.
well put.... and partly to the point..... Most of these units have tubes, compression and multiple routing options. I said that some folks I know who've switched to channel strips have done so somewhat reluctantly because there isnt much available for dedicated bass pre's with multiple routing options, real tube signal paths, compression and extensive eq. Comparing for example an Avalon VT-737 to an Eden Navigator.... the choice would come down to; is the eq, compression and tone that much better that they can justify the cost differential, and moreover, do they have the money to spend to begin with. If you did a blind "taste-test" in a loud live setting..... those sonic differences that were worth $1,300 difference to the artist, may be lost on the audience. If the artist bought the Avalon, my guess is he did it for the satisfaction of his own ears than those of the audience. My overall point here is... if there was a competitor to the Eden Navigator that sounded better but was still less than the Avalon... would it sell? If it had a competitor that sounded AS GOOD, but was priced less... would it sell? Is more competition and more product offerings in this segment justified? Fender, Markbass and Mike Pope all seem to thinks so... but its just a discussion.
"if one could present to the market a 1 or 2 space bass-specific preamplifier with simple, flexible EQ, the ability to switch in a useable range of distortion and overdrive, usable compression and multiple outs / routing options for MAP $599.... I think a medium sized maker would sell them faster than they could make them."
I'm pretty sure they are not going to sell these faster then they can make them.
So what you're saying is.... if someone could manufacture a unit like this under these circumstances no one would buy it? Or, are you saying its not economically feasible?
If you mean to say it's not feasible, I'm gonna hafta disagree. Lets take the GB Shuttle 6.0 for example. $699 MAP. Dealer cost is probably around $450. Like anything else, this amp is the sum of its parts. Lets try and take a guesstimate of how much the actual parts / chipset for the output board is when looking at the whole... conservatively we can say 40%. So, if GB wanted to do a preamp config in that same box it would basically be a shuttle minus the output board, at a cost of $270. Would that $180 difference per unit be enough to both pay for a distortion and compression chipset? Absolutely. Would the remainder thereafter be a big enough margin to justify the likely radically fewer units they would sell? I have no idea... that's the whole point of this discussion.
Obviously GB wouldnt offer a preamp with a few extra features at the same price point as the 6.0..... that's not my point.... my point is that
someone could effectively produce a very nice preamp at this price point. Would it sell well enough to justify? Who knows.....
I'm sorry if I'm speaking out of school but this idea of entitlement really bugs me. As if some people in this thread seem to think they deserve to be able to afford what they want and if they can't afford it somehow it's someone elses fault not there own.
I'll tell you what's really a dying breed are affordable summer homes on the ocean. I'd bet if they could build 5 bedroom 5 bath homes overlooking the Ocean with close proximity to restaurants and in great school disctricts for less then 500k they'd sell faster then they could make them too!
I am sorry I don't mean to offend anyone but look back in this thread.
Well it seems I may have inadvertently offended you somehow, as you seem pretty agitated about this.
This is not entitlement. I try to be a humble person and not speak after myself so I say this for no other reason that to disprove your assessment of my viewpoint; although times are pretty tough right now.... in general I have been able to afford anything I wanted that was commercially available. At my old band's height just 2 years ago I owned 6 basses from Zon, MTD, Lakland etc, 4 different preamps, a couple of expensive heads and half a dozen different hi-end cabinets, plus road cases for everything, power supplies, corssovers, compressors etc. Now, I have barely any gear, as money is tight and other things take precedence. If I wanted to, I could buy $20K - $30K worth of gear tomorrow, but other areas of my life would suffer for it quite badly, so it isnt justifiable. I dont feel I "deserve" to have these items back, nor do I feel the market should adjust its prices to better fit my current budget, or that it's someone's fault I cant justify buying more or better gear at the moment. Its about why isnt more being offered at any price point and why? This is simply a discussion about: 1) is there a market demand not currently being supplied 2) If yes, why do you think so and what would you like to see 3) If no, how do you think that change came about and 5) just me expressing my personal opinion that, with the affordability of today's impressive technology, a market segment likely exists that may not have been previously viable.
I think your comparison of mass-produced, three-figure audio electronics to custom built, six or seven figure luxury real estate is frankly a little silly. One is simply not financially possible. The other, demonstratively, is. Your assessment of my point of view is not only wrong.... its a little insulting, and its honestly a stretch to try and decipher how your reached those conclusions...
