I certainly hope that we are not at the end of the era. This era of electric guitar was born with tube amps. And for a while there in the late 70's it really looked like solid state was the way to go, and Fender, Vox, Marshall did put a lot of investment in production and marketing of the stuff. A lot of other companies did..and a lot to their detriment. The smaller boutique guys started to build ''old school amps'' and what many players in fact wanted. What may have saved Fender in the amp business was realizing that their older products were the ones sought after and that small shops were building products for that market..hence they finally got around to building ''reissues''. They look old school but unless it's hand wired, turreted, or point to point...ain't exactly old school. The hand wired ones are big money, so a smaller shop can be a little more competitive. But I think it's a great idea to take some sideline work like re-tolexing speaker cabs, amp mods and upgrades, service and maintenance. Whatever keeps the lights on and make you a bit of money..business is hard everywhere these days.
I won't speak for SynctronX, but what I was referring to was the rise of the boutique amp shops. I think there are a few that'll stick around, but I think the boutique amp thing has, for the most part, run its course. And really, that's probably the way it ought to be. The existing amp manufacturers can easily build what 99% of guitarists are looking for. If you're looking for a sound and feature set from an amp, there's a very high probability you can find it among the amps out there already.
I agree that 99% of players will easily find something in the main market. Boutique makers will always be a small percentage at the fringe. SOme of them unabashedly say they are making 5E3 clones, the Fender Deluxe.
Fender does make a lot of tube amps, but they also make a zillion solid state amps. I see more FM212R combos than I do Twin Reverb reissues. And every Strat-pack comes with a tiny SS amp. All those solid state bass amps count for something too.
Fender does make a lot of tube amps, but they also make a zillion solid state amps. I see more FM212R combos than I do Twin Reverb reissues. And every Strat-pack comes with a tiny SS amp. All those solid state bass amps count for something too.
I have a little fender sidekick that I disassembled. It was about the suckiest sounding amp I've ever heard. It sounds much better now with no electronics inside of it. I've got the chassis and cab and someday I'm going to put a tube amp (probably a 5C1) in that chassis and replace the speaker with something a little better and hopefully turn it into a more pleasant practice amp.
I bought six dead guitar amps at the Orlando hamfest 3 or 4 years ago. They were all victim of an "expert upgrader" who upgraded them to death or otherwise killed them. The price was $5 each! I couldn't make a cabinet for $5 and some of the cabinets were pretty nice too. Some were easy fixes, some were $5 cabinets, and one, a Crate had a nice speaker and a reverb tank. It's waiting for a tube amp guts transplant.
There were two Fender SS amps, one might have been a Sidekick. Both had a crummy speaker in a sealed and ported cabinet that really sucked. I believe someone in China used a cabinet sim in an attempt to make the cabinet sound bigger than it was, but it had so much boominess to the bass that you had to turn the bass knob all the way down to play it loud. I gave that one to a friend within a few days.
The other Fender was a G-DEC. Guitar Digital ENTERTAINMENT Center! There was a line fuse on the back panel, and a B+ fuse on the PC board, which was blown. Same sucky cabinet and speaker but this one had a DSP chip that offered a few amp sims, and pre-programmed accompaniment. OK, the sound quality was about the same as the other Fender, but the amp sim offered a passable metal scream. The accompaniment was somewhat lame, but offered a few practice opportunities when I didn't want to use this laptop. It took me almost a month to lose interest and sell it......for $30, the cost of all 6 amps.
I am sure that Fender sells a zillion of those cheap little boxes all over the world.....A few years ago you could get a Fender sound system as optional equipment in a few US sold Volkswagen cars. It had a 1/4 inch guitar jack on it! Anything for a $$$$$.
Bass players always want more power. With kilowatt level class D amps available for reasonable money, now they can have it. Some don't sound half bad either.
Doh, I was wrong. Now that I'm home and looking, it's not a Fender Sidekick (though I used to have one of those). It's a Crate BFX15 (Same thing. You say tomato, I say junk). The chassis seems a little thick. Hope it doesn't mess up my Greenlees.
Re original question: Can you start an amplifier company now?
Answer: Sure. Musicians' forums are full of boutique amplifier builders. Anyone can do it as long as it's the ONLY thing that he wants to do with his life, 'cause that's what it takes. And you produce something that the kinds of people who like boutique amplifiers like. And you're lucky. And you are able to make contacts in China because it's a resource that you cannot ignore.
Remember STP snake oil for your car? Somebody asked Granatelli what a can cost to produce. He said about a dollar. A penny for the can, a penny for the contents, and 98 cents for the advertising.
Answer: Sure. Musicians' forums are full of boutique amplifier builders. Anyone can do it as long as it's the ONLY thing that he wants to do with his life, 'cause that's what it takes. And you produce something that the kinds of people who like boutique amplifiers like. And you're lucky. And you are able to make contacts in China because it's a resource that you cannot ignore.
Remember STP snake oil for your car? Somebody asked Granatelli what a can cost to produce. He said about a dollar. A penny for the can, a penny for the contents, and 98 cents for the advertising.
And if Fender can charge stupid money for making custom guitars, maybe I'm missing their custom amp shop somewhere, where they make exact duplicates of tweeds and Blackfaces, inside and out.
Jack Nicholson once said, "looks are everything". According to a bunch of research looks are about 50% of any communication, feel is about 30%, and the meaning of the words are about 5%. If the amp really sounds great, and is fun to use and to drag around to gigs, and is pretty simple to use, then looks could have a chance to sell it, IMO.
I'm an Engineer too, and have built about a dozen of what I think are some amazing amps. I built each one for myself, and then later decided I wanted something else, so built more and sold a few. Recent customers were so thrilled with my amps, that I too wondered if I could build amps for a living.
Part costs alone (doing a one off) was about $1K for my 30 watt stereo combo amp, and there are no on-board effects of any kind (other than drive/master distortion option). I didn't keep track of the labor hours building a given amp, but it was RATHER extensive.
If your product is so gorgeous that a rich guy or girl just has to have it, then maybe. But pretty small market. What you name your amp will be VERY powerful too. I wouldn't build more than 4 of anything, without orders and at least half of the cash up front. Ask yourself what it will cost to store 10-20 amps that didn't sell. Like in circuit design, design for worse case, or you could lose a lot. I so wish it wasn't this way, but the world's become an unbelievably competitive place.
I'm an Engineer too, and have built about a dozen of what I think are some amazing amps. I built each one for myself, and then later decided I wanted something else, so built more and sold a few. Recent customers were so thrilled with my amps, that I too wondered if I could build amps for a living.
Part costs alone (doing a one off) was about $1K for my 30 watt stereo combo amp, and there are no on-board effects of any kind (other than drive/master distortion option). I didn't keep track of the labor hours building a given amp, but it was RATHER extensive.
If your product is so gorgeous that a rich guy or girl just has to have it, then maybe. But pretty small market. What you name your amp will be VERY powerful too. I wouldn't build more than 4 of anything, without orders and at least half of the cash up front. Ask yourself what it will cost to store 10-20 amps that didn't sell. Like in circuit design, design for worse case, or you could lose a lot. I so wish it wasn't this way, but the world's become an unbelievably competitive place.
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You have to wonder whether someone could set up shop in China making new amps that are indistinguishable from early model amps inside and out. Perfect forgeries that could sell for a high but not crazy price. They wouldn't have to be dishonest, either. The companies that made the originals could do it.
Or are original amplifiers, like quality houses, no longer possible to build with modern materials and modern workers?
Or are original amplifiers, like quality houses, no longer possible to build with modern materials and modern workers?
Of course they can be made today.
Only problem is that the market is very small, and they can get much better return on investment by satting up a factory for pressing irons, golf clubs, motorcycle helmets, PC printers , backpacks or coffee makers ... or anything else.
Only problem is that the market is very small, and they can get much better return on investment by satting up a factory for pressing irons, golf clubs, motorcycle helmets, PC printers , backpacks or coffee makers ... or anything else.
They seem to be doing limited production runs on various vintage amps.
Yes Fender 57 Custom shop deluxe reissue recently sold on Reverb.com about $1500, mint cond. hang tags etc. These are turret board versions. The standard reissues with PCB around 800 bucks. Funny enough a local music shop near me is selling a really clean silverface original late sixties fender twin reverb $1200. FWIW I don't think $1500 price range is unreasonable for a completely hand wired (not PCB hand wired!)
amp. It's not built by an automated machine, and what these were costing in the 60's and 70's was not cheap either. If it was 500 dollars in those days..in todays dollars we are in these prices. They are not computers and cell phones, cause if they were we would be trashing them every 3 years. Something that can last 40 to 50 years and still be relevant and useable..good solid state is that way too. Built to last, and not cutting the corner for just profit.
One of the re-issue amps is the 1957 Twinamp, which Eric Clapton has been using for the last 15 years. It's available now for about $2800. 40 watt, 2-12 inch speakers, one of the weirdest tone control circuits... There is also a vibralux and tremolux if I remember correctly (smaller amps), that got Eric's approval (whatever that means). I've been using those as a reference when trying to price my amps.
With my 60watt Stereo guitar amp I built, I would have to charge about $4K to actually make money (a guess), because of how many hours it takes me to build one. I have no real shop, just a lab in my 2nd bedroom and access to power tools. Parts alone were about $1700. So then I had to ask myself, why would someone rather have my amp at $4K than the one Eric Clapton prefers at $2800...??? Then I looked around at all the other competition, and that seemed endless...
Plus there are those who are saying the guitar is dead, worn out, had it's day, and that new music; mostly synthetic; club mix, rap, hiphop, etc. is taking over... I hate most of the new music myself, but I think there is some truth to that.
However, it seems that Bluegrass and "Jazzabilly" type stuff may be on the rise. Some of it is all acoustic with electronic reinforcement, and some is like a small rock band but doing bluegrass influenced mellow rock, some blues, some jazz and what might be called hillbilly. Some of this stuff is actually quite hip.
With my 60watt Stereo guitar amp I built, I would have to charge about $4K to actually make money (a guess), because of how many hours it takes me to build one. I have no real shop, just a lab in my 2nd bedroom and access to power tools. Parts alone were about $1700. So then I had to ask myself, why would someone rather have my amp at $4K than the one Eric Clapton prefers at $2800...??? Then I looked around at all the other competition, and that seemed endless...
Plus there are those who are saying the guitar is dead, worn out, had it's day, and that new music; mostly synthetic; club mix, rap, hiphop, etc. is taking over... I hate most of the new music myself, but I think there is some truth to that.
However, it seems that Bluegrass and "Jazzabilly" type stuff may be on the rise. Some of it is all acoustic with electronic reinforcement, and some is like a small rock band but doing bluegrass influenced mellow rock, some blues, some jazz and what might be called hillbilly. Some of this stuff is actually quite hip.
I had the Fender price lists in 1965 or 1966. I think I remember the Dual Showman listed at $995. According to an online inflation calculator, that would be $7538 in 2015 dollars. And local guys had them.
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Some people used to say that disco would eclipse rock in the late seventies. But thankfully I think enough young people today are into listening to new ''real bands'' that actually play instruments including electric guitar..at least I keep hoping!
Is it strange to think that the big company endorsement deals to the big stars, is just a payoff for advertising? It's pretty much been like that from the beginning. It's a deal, whether they actually prefer the brand they endorse or not.. I heard that Claptons own personal reissue got modded til he was ''happy with it''. And probably isn't what is getting sold to others. There are a couple of articles I read about Lazy J amps that hinted towards that. All hearsay I guess.
Is it strange to think that the big company endorsement deals to the big stars, is just a payoff for advertising? It's pretty much been like that from the beginning. It's a deal, whether they actually prefer the brand they endorse or not.. I heard that Claptons own personal reissue got modded til he was ''happy with it''. And probably isn't what is getting sold to others. There are a couple of articles I read about Lazy J amps that hinted towards that. All hearsay I guess.
I also read that Clapton's amp was modded somehow. I don't know if that changed it much.
A guitar/Amp store recently closed after several decades, and I talked with the owner who told me that most guitarists are broke financially, and places like Guitar Center ("big box stores"), have also made it hard for smaller places to survive. I read that companies would actually give amps to high profile "star" guitarists for free, hoping they would use them on stage, to get their name out there.
From reading guitarist comments in many forums on the web, I realized that very few guitarists have any real technical knowledge, but they all think they do. They have all kinds of wrong theories about what is good and why. Many think they want every feature imaginable until they get that, and then it's all too much hassle. I chose to keep my amp very simple, since every one I know has pedals, which keep changing as new better products keep coming out. Serious musicians usually have pedal boards with many pedals.
One feature I would include in an amp is bluetooth, so the musician can play a song through his amp, from his smartphone, to show the band what song he wants to do and how it's done by whoever did it. That's rare and useful now that everyone has a smartphone with bluetooth. The bluetooth circuit is about $15 at Parts Express.
A guitar/Amp store recently closed after several decades, and I talked with the owner who told me that most guitarists are broke financially, and places like Guitar Center ("big box stores"), have also made it hard for smaller places to survive. I read that companies would actually give amps to high profile "star" guitarists for free, hoping they would use them on stage, to get their name out there.
From reading guitarist comments in many forums on the web, I realized that very few guitarists have any real technical knowledge, but they all think they do. They have all kinds of wrong theories about what is good and why. Many think they want every feature imaginable until they get that, and then it's all too much hassle. I chose to keep my amp very simple, since every one I know has pedals, which keep changing as new better products keep coming out. Serious musicians usually have pedal boards with many pedals.
One feature I would include in an amp is bluetooth, so the musician can play a song through his amp, from his smartphone, to show the band what song he wants to do and how it's done by whoever did it. That's rare and useful now that everyone has a smartphone with bluetooth. The bluetooth circuit is about $15 at Parts Express.
That's the thing though, You really don't need that complex of an amp/circuit to do a wide range of sounds/styles...Now the various setup's/say configuration's/certain Component's/Quality that can make a big difference.
But still get down to how something might sound awful/different to one person to the next etc.
Bluetooth? Really, any band that actually plays has a PA system, or at least a practice room monitor system. if you want to demo a song to the band, just run it through the PA. Many small practice amps have CD input jacks for such a reason, but you won't find that on serious gigging amps.
The band I was in recently would hold a smart phone up to one of the mics to show a song, because finding a proper cable and plugging it in was considered a hassle. The fidelity was a joke. It sounded like you were listening to something over a telephone. We had 6 members in the band, and cables everywhere. None had the mini plug that would fit a smartphone jack. Bluetooth is wireless 16 bit digital audio and inexpensive. It's just more convenient.
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