Amp Prices... I'm outraged!

[legionserial]

why are amp prices so high? b/c the market will bear it. if you want that p2p wired marshall bad enough, you'll pay what they're asking. you don't HAVE to pay for it b/c you don't HAVE to have it. why pay for a new Audi TT when a 78 pinto will get you from place to place just the same?

and in the spirit of capitalism, why shouldn't the master craftsman get as much as he possibly can for his work? turn the tables--would YOU rather be paid more or less for your day's worth of hard work? funny how it's not "greed" when it's YOU getting paid.....and i LIKE getting paid. who doesn't?

Amen to that....

And, too add, amps will never become obsolete, no matter how good modellers get. Playing guitar isnt just about recording, its about fun...and I don't know about anyone else, but I get a far bigger buzz out of plugging my guitar into a nice big amp and just cranking it and jamming for while. I can totally understand why people like both, but I don't think the need or want for amps will ever die. Hell, sometimes I just look at my amp and drool (only got it recently). Won't see me doing that over a pod, no matter how new lol.

 

[tamky]

Now there's an idea for the Boutique amp guys.

No, titanium

 

[ggunn]

And you've got yourself a nice big boutique door stop when that late '60s solid state electronics finally packs in.

Well, I swallow my words. Sounds like these amps have some serious rep on the Net, saying they are indeed great sounding amps, built like tanks.

"Built like tanks" is certainly the truth. I have a friend that had one of those Kustom bass amps, the one with the three 15's, and he had a gig one night (opening for Bob Seger) in a hall that had a 5 foot stage over concrete floors. His amp was near the edge of the stage, stacked and powered up; he bent over to pick up something off the stage and bumped his amp with his butt, knocking it over.

That Kustom bass head fell the height of the stage plus the height of the cab onto concrete, and bounced twice. He climbed off the stage, picked it up, restacked it plugged it back in, and it came right up almost as if nothing had happened. The only damage it took was the AC plug was bent where it pulled out at an angle and the filament in the power light was broken because it was hot when it hit the floor.

 

[SBax]

You can buy 24 bit piano samples recorded with several mikes in a great acoustic room with a singled out sweet sounding Bosendorfer or Steinway piano but you don't see a soloist playing a Roland keyboard at a classical piano performance. They play the real piano. A lot of the high level pianists will truck along their own piano to "gigs". Same thing with guitar amps. I would think it will be a while before samples replace the real thing. I've heard a lot of great sounding B3 patches but a lot of Jazz artists will truck along their Hammond, etc.

 

[NL5]

Ummmmm, England! I bet those cherrio MF's get paid pretty darn good as well..........

edit - dammit - outlaws beat me to the punch. I do have a 1974X that clearly says MADE IN ENGLAND (by an English MF)
__________________
Jeez,,,,, go easy on us english !
Costs as much as you guys pay to buy marshalls over here as well.
Come over here and try to get a job that pays anything like what you guys earn,,, you will be shocked. Try and buy a tank full of petrol , with the loose change in your pocket,, your havin a laugh,,,
rxkev,, english mf.

It wasn't meant as a slam on the english. It was in response to someone saying the handwired amps were made in china by 39 cent/hour labor. I bet the craftsmen at Marshall make a decent wage.

I will concede however, that you poor bastards get screwed on gear prices. You pay about a pound per dollar. Why is that?

 

[therage!]

Yes, great tones can be had direct, but you can not get the sound of a great tube amp direct. And modelers don't even come close. They are exactly the kind of misaplication of technology that drives me to distraction. Sure, you can do great things with digital manipulation, but you can not recreate. Use them to create, that's fine, but recreations are always, always lacking. It's kind of like why every live recording ever sucks, because they are trying to recreate an experience. If you want to use some kind of modeling thing, use it for something NEW. They can do that, and when great engineers use them, that is what they do. But if they want the sound of a Twin, they use a Twin, end of story.

The worst thing they ever did with modeling is to say they sound like a Marshall, a Fender etc etc. Your comment about using them for something new is spot on. If people treat them like new technology that has very little to do with any kind of true recreating of vintage type amps then we can just move along with it. I use modeling and real amps and when using a modeler I have never really paid any attention to what amp the unit thinks it's modeling, because it will never be the same.

 

[dragonworks]

I cant believe they are getting what they are for the small combos!!

 

[Codmate]

It wasn't meant as a slam on the english. It was in response to someone saying the handwired amps were made in china by 39 cent/hour labor. I bet the craftsmen at Marshall make a decent wage.

I will concede however, that you poor bastards get screwed on gear prices. You pay about a pound per dollar. Why is that?

I wish I knew too.

I don't even want to tell you what I paid for my Vibrolux - it's frankly embarassing!

 

[Farview]

It is a pretty simple formula.

(cost of parts)*(how many amps you can make in a year)+(overhead)= (cost)

(builders personal living expenses)+(cost)/(how many amps you can make in a year)= (price per amp)

If he can't make a living building amps, he will have to get a job. That means he won't be able to build as many, thus driving the cost up.

I think everyone should try to go into business for themselves at least once. It changes your whole attitude when you realise that everything comes down on your shoulders. When you have to show up whether your sick or not, because if you don't, nothing gets done, no money gets made, you don't eat.

Having to do the part that you like for 4 hours, then having to spend the next 8 hours dealing with quickbooks, advertising, shipping, websites, etc...

And all that has to get done...or you don't eat.

 

[nonovice]

Light I apologize again

I'm glad we could call a truce. I WAS out of line calling them (you) greedy. I also live check to check. As a matter of fact I'm unemployed. I was just saying music can be made and made well no matter the situation. I'm sure the work you do is hard I did not mean to belittle it. I know what I do is hard and I haven't made a dime. All the best,
nonovice

 

[legionserial]

I wish I knew too.

I don't even want to tell you what I paid for my Vibrolux - it's frankly embarassing!

Blame Esso.

 

[ggunn]

I wish I knew too.

I don't even want to tell you what I paid for my Vibrolux - it's frankly embarassing!

Yeah, well, I paid a lot for my 1965 Deluxe Reverb (not a reissue), too. I looked at it in the shop and played it, told myself "no" and walked away, and then came back a week later and bought it. Sometimes the right tool is not cheap.

 

[sile2001]

I haven't kept up with this thread in its entirety, and I'm not sure if my amp falls into the category of what is being discussed here, but I just got a used Orange AD30TC (more expensive than your average entry-mid-level tube amp) and it's worth every last freaking dime I spent on it! Never before have I been able to play a 7th chord with the gain maxed out and still hear every individual note Not that I would ever do such a thing in a song mind you...