Why are the Ampeg Portaflex amps so cheap?

[bftbassman]

the pf 500 is a very good amp..i am having a blast with mine, what has really impressed me is how it records, i am recording now and its is very easy to get it in the mix right..its clear, punchy and bassy

 

[lifeoffroadbass]

Because there ampeg. Cookie cutter cheap amps. Not saying you can't get a good tone out of them, but the gist is that they are not high end, why expect a high end price tag. It's not like we are talking tech amp, glockenklang, ebs, or bergantino. We are talking off the shelf gc ampeg. Geared towards beginner to intermediate level bassists. It's a solid reliable product, but not gonna give you the response that the high end custom rigs will. I hope that answers your question. Thump on man!!

This is ridiculous. It has to do with where its made. And to say you can't get an awsome tone is completely false. Just because ampeg doesn't make you pay for the name on the amp. I plugeed into a tone Mark Basses all of which were "off the shelf at GC" by the way and I think they sounded terrible to me. Its all about personal taste it has nothing to do with High Tech. TC electronics hasore features than anyone and their stuff is all realativly cheap. Its just like buying a boutique bass in my opinion. The wood is the same and the electronics are the same as other basses out there yet they can put an 11,000 dollar price tag on them. Lame. Your paying for branding.

 

[Robroy]

This is ridiculous. It has to do with where its made. And to say you can't get an awsome tone is completely false. Just because ampeg doesn't make you pay for the name on the amp. I plugeed into a tone Mark Basses all of which were "off the shelf at GC" by the way and I think they sounded terrible to me. Its all about personal taste it has nothing to do with High Tech. TC electronics hasore features than anyone and their stuff is all realativly cheap. Its just like buying a boutique bass in my opinion. The wood is the same and the electronics are the same as other basses out there yet they can put an 11,000 dollar price tag on them. Lame. Your paying for branding.

The above tends to be my "default" position, but I admit I have come across items that really were worth the extra money. Like the brand of chain saw I use.

And the above hints at why I'm seriously looking at the TC stuff. Features. I notice it doesn't allow for an effects loop, though.

 

[lifeoffroadbass]

From the 3 or 4 people i have ran into who played these i would say its because you have to go through 2 or 3 of them to find one that works without a fail.

I love that everyone basses their opinions on a flaw that was produced on the release of a new product. They have resved the issues since then so why keep up the shinanagins. Some times defects make it to production its just a fact. Look at Windows for your PC.

 

[Bassmec]

The main reason portaflex amps are cheap is because they don't contain anything expensive.
No big heavy reels of copper wound round big iron laminates in the power supply, no output tubes and their associated big reels of copper wire wound round other piles of iron laminates.
Things that don't weigh anything don't cost anything, even if they are made of gold and diamonds.

 

[lifeoffroadbass]

The above tends to be my "default" position, but I admit I have come across items that really were worth the extra money. Like the brand of chain saw I use.

And the above hints at why I'm seriously looking at the TC stuff. Features. I notice it doesn't allow for an effects loop, though.

Your right. There are exceptions to this rule, however, to call Ampeg a "cookie cutter" product (whatever that means) is just rediculous. Is Fender a cookie cutter product cause they mass produce something and sell it at GC. I personally think the MIM fenders sound better than the american. But I'm not trying to bash your post I'm totally agreeing with you. I think I'm still rambling at that original one

 

[lifeoffroadbass]

Another comment I'll make about this post is who thinks $399 is cheap! I have two kids and a mortgage I hardly think its cheap

 

[Robroy]

This is ridiculous. It has to do with where its made. And to say you can't get an awsome tone is completely false. Just because ampeg doesn't make you pay for the name on the amp. I plugeed into a tone Mark Basses all of which were "off the shelf at GC" by the way and I think they sounded terrible to me. Its all about personal taste it has nothing to do with High Tech. TC electronics hasore features than anyone and their stuff is all realativly cheap. Its just like buying a boutique bass in my opinion. The wood is the same and the electronics are the same as other basses out there yet they can put an 11,000 dollar price tag on them. Lame. Your paying for branding.

I have to say that a lot of companies over charge for branding, but sometimes they earn it. I do understand the concept of tolerances in electronic components and often the problems caused by high tolerance (cheap) parts can compound to the point of not only affecting sound but also reliability.

That being said, there is a point of diminishing returns. It is generally your best value to buy the "pretty good" models and avoid the super cheap ones.

BTW, a real world example: I have a behringer mixer and a Mackie mixer with fewer channels. Both sat in storage for three years. I needed one for a local TV show's sound and, just to be safe, brought both with me. It's a good thing because the behringer was DOA. The Mackie worked flawlessly. Now, after a Deoxit bath the Behringer is back up and running, but it's interesting that it needed it.

And I just had the same thing happen with a behringer 4 channel compressor. Every single channel was rife with problems until I tore it down and soaked all of the switches with deoxit. I had to work a couple of them pretty good but it all works now.

Thing is, "usually" you get what you pay for. The exception is a new brand that is destined to be quality, but they need to get their stuff out there. It's how I got such a ridiculously low price on my first Acme low b2 cap. They've gone up considerably - and they are worth it.

 

[Robroy]

Another comment I'll make about this post is who thinks $399 is cheap! I have two kids and a mortgage I hardly think its cheap

You can get a crown XLS 1000 for $280 (1100 watts bridged) and run it from your "high end" DI and blow any of the stuff being mentioned here out of the water. The amp is hi-fi so there is no color to speak of.

It's the "background noise" for me whenever I discuss bass amps. I'd love to see a "preamp only" version of some of the amps we discuss here. But the problem, I believe, is that the class D amplifier section is not a major part of the cost of the item. So a "pre-only" version of a class D bass head that goes for $600 would probably still cost $500.

 

[ursusaltered]

Your right. There are exceptions to this rule, however, to call Ampeg a "cookie cutter" product (whatever that means) is just rediculous. Is Fender a cookie cutter product cause they mass produce something and sell it at GC. I personally think the MIM fenders sound better than the american. But I'm not trying to bash your post I'm totally agreeing with you. I think I'm still rambling at that original one

I think it is a cookie cutter product, all that term means is that they standardized the methods of creation. I didn't say there was anything wrong with ampeg, or fender, but they are made for mass production and geared towards beginner to intermediate players. This is basic marketing, economics and business. There is more money in that realm of musician. Period.

 

[Robroy]

I think it is a cookie cutter product, all that term means is that they standardized the methods of creation. I didn't say there was anything wrong with ampeg, or fender, but they are made for mass production and geared towards beginner to intermediate players. This is basic marketing, economics and business. There is more money in that realm of musician. Period.

The inventor of "cookie cutter products" is the USA. It is what allowed us to win the revolutionary war. And another famous man used it to put americans behind the wheel. Before the Model T, ALL cares were "boutique" cars.

You don't sell such items to the masses. They are too inefficiently produced and do not provide the value their cost would suggest. Sure, they are better, but not THAT MUCH better. Mike Lull put an 18 volt Bartollini pickup system in my bass and it had an intermittent crackle. I finally took off the back plate and discovered one of the connections had never been soldered.

It can happen with the best boutique stuff, but a device made by machine is pretty much flawless, unit after cookie cutter unit. And cheaper.

 

[Robroy]

I think it is a cookie cutter product, all that term means is that they standardized the methods of creation. I didn't say there was anything wrong with ampeg, or fender, but they are made for mass production and geared towards beginner to intermediate players. This is basic marketing, economics and business. There is more money in that realm of musician. Period.

I used to be a sales engineer for Compuware. I represented a product that is a thousand times simpler than a Windows operating system. We charged millions for it, though, with six to seven figure renewals every year. The reason? We spread the cost of r&d over a couple hundred customers rather than a billion.

 

[CL400Peavey]

I am pretty sure I know how to use the Gain/Volume and tone controls on the head after 20+ years of playing bass,so I will assume something was wrong with it then.

I'm not saying you don't know how to run your amp, but the vast majority of complainers on Ampeg volume don't get that you need to turn the gain up till you see that red light flash. That isn't a "danger" light, it is more of an acceptable signal light.

 

[JimmyM]

You can get a crown XLS 1000 for $280 (1100 watts bridged) and run it from your "high end" DI and blow any of the stuff being mentioned here out of the water. The amp is hi-fi so there is no color to speak of.

No offense, but there's no way in heck I want to do that.

 

[shawshank72]

I love that everyone basses their opinions on a flaw that was produced on the release of a new product. They have resved the issues since then so why keep up the shinanagins. Some times defects make it to production its just a fact. Look at Windows for your PC.

Nothing i said was a lie, just fact.
Sorry you were offended.

 

[Jay Mastro]

Another comment I'll make about this post is who thinks $399 is cheap! I have two kids and a mortgage I hardly think its cheap

Believe me, I didn't mean cheap, inexpensive is definitely the word, I'm definitely not made of money, but when I saw the prices compared to other heads the first word that came to mind was cheap sadly, also, I dont know much about amps, this will be my first non combo amp, need something good for gigging that will be good enough for a while if venues get slightly bigger

 

[AMJBASS]

You can get a crown XLS 1000 for $280 (1100 watts bridged) and run it from your "high end" DI and blow any of the stuff being mentioned here out of the water. The amp is hi-fi so there is no color to speak of.

Ya, no thanks. I gig for a living, and there is no way this setup would be either be versatile enough, or more portable than many of the excellent small amps available on the market right now. Color in a bass rig is something you want.

 

[Jay Mastro]

Ya, no thanks. I gig for a living, and there is no way this setup would be either be versatile enough, or more portable than many of the excellent small amps available on the market right now. Color in a bass rig is something you want.

Pretty much I'm looking for a gigging head for a 4ohm Carvin BR410

 

[Robroy]

No offense, but there's no way in heck I want to do that.

Yeah, me neither. But if someone was on a budget and really needed power...

I'm about hi-fi in my amp and speakers, leaving the tone to the signal that feeds the amp. I want people to feel the low B when necessary, but I also want the sound needed for the 50's and 60's rock and country I do as well as the modern Country I do. For me, a thousand watt amp (stuff like the crown XLS stuff is ideal) and one of those new 15" three ways (or two for sterero effects) is what I need. I can use the GT6b to get the sounds I want and then I just need something to get from there to the amp. Technically, I could run it direct now that the amps have volume controls.

 

[Robroy]

Ya, no thanks. I gig for a living, and there is no way this setup would be either be versatile enough, or more portable than many of the excellent small amps available on the market right now. Color in a bass rig is something you want.

But the amp is only 7 lbs and fits in a shallow rack.

BTW, to those that gig for a living, I'm definitely not talking to you. Think of it as me talking about ways to soup up your honda for street racing, but you guys are nascar. Not the target audience.

If I gigged for a living I'd be all over those $2000 bass amps (stuff like Glockenkang).

Then again, I've noticed in music, cars and photography usually those with the most expensive equipment are the ones with the least "talent". They usually have lots of money, though. Pros get what works and save the expensive stuff for the rich wankers or when they, themelf can afford it, which is rarely.