Why did they discontinue "vintage" gear ?

[cjacek]

Hi again,

I'm just wondering why companies discontinued their reel to reel recorders, vintage cassette players, like the awesome pioneer ct-f1250 and many others ? I know that you'll probably say "cost" but that wouldn't explain it fully I don't think. Sure, companies must make money and making cheap, plastic ridden components saves them lots of $$$ but they knew that as early as in the 70's and 80's and still managed to produce quality gear and quality components. So what's the real deal ? Also, what would it take for companies to go back to producing these superb machines again ? Will we be stuck with cheap "made in china" components and digital gear or will companies make a turn-around and once again produce what so many of us want ? What are your opinions ?

Daniel

 

[regebro]

They stopped producing them because they didn't make money on them. It's as simple as that.

What would it take to make them produce them again? Easy: They would have to see the possibility of making money out of producing them.

Most of the vintage gear sold today would have manufacturing prices way above what they are sold for second hand, and the second hand prices are usually quite high since there is a low supply of the gear. Hence the manufacturing cost would be much higher than what you could sell them for, and therefore you can't make any money out of making new ones, and therefore they don't.

Some equipment is so heavily sought after that they are replicas made in small numbers by small companies. They can make them with a profit, while the larger companies originally making the equipment need to sell large numbers of something for it to make a profit. So therefore you can buy rack-mounted midi-enabled Roland TB-303 soundalikes.

Other equipment would be perfectly possible to manufacture modern versions of for profit today, but the original company has gone out of business or are no longer dealing with this kind of equipment. Several vintage mic preamps and compressors fall under this category, and you will therefore find many different companied making replicas of these things, like Urei 1176, and Teletronic LA-2A and Telefunken V72 preamps.

So, simply put: If you can't find a replica of the classic shtuff you sought for, it's probably because it's not economically viable to make one.

 

[muttley]

Also the technology changes over the years and consumers for the most part are looking for more, better, cheaper.


da MUTT

 

[regebro]

Yah, that's the main reason the machines stop being profitable.