Cost of amps?

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

I have not kept up on this because I've had the same amp for 30 years and it still sounds great for both guitar and steel. (One of the original Music man HD 212 amps made while Leo Fender ran the company.) I'm putting together a new stereo rig, but I'll never sell this one.

Logic dictate4s that just as there are really good but inexpensive guitars coming out of Asia, there would also be really good but inexpensive amps.

Anybody know anything about this?
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Ben Jones · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

I know peavey produces a couple amps in china for the rock crew that are dirt cheap. The reviews tend to range from "awesome" to "trash". Epiphone has a bunch made in china as well including the very popular little valve jr.'s I beleive.

I think the best bang for the buck is still in vintage usa tube amps...like your musicman, old kustoms, guilds, sunns, the non-cork-sniffing fender models/years.

there are also alot of higher end USA amp makers kinda new to the market making some good things but they of course are not cheap.

I dont know much especially about steel amps, but the chinese stuff? ...meh, dont seem so good to me

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Mike,I'm in a similar postion,Last year they had an amp show at a club up here during the day,They had a large bunch of boutique amps,I wasn't invited because I've been playing out of the same amp since high school..Stu
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Eric Jaeger · From: Oakland, California, USA

Mike, it probably depends on how much power you need. The only unexpectedly-good-but-cheap amp I've run into is the aforementioned Epiphone Valve Jr, which is so shockingly good for $99 that I bought two of them, which I run in stereo when I don't need much power. 5 watts. There's a fair amount of buzz about it, since it's cheap, easily modded, and sounds pretty good. I've done a few simple upgrades to one of them (new jacks, etc).

The good-but-inexpensive made-in-Asia guitars mostly carry known brand names (aren't we sheep sometimes Very Happy

). I would think the same would have to hold true of amps.

-eric

ajm · From: Los Angeles

I think we need more info to help (or at least provide some meaningful direction).

1) Is this going to be a live rig, or just used for recording? If it's just recording, will it be mic'ed, or will it be silent and direct to the board?

2) Cheap? That usually means tone is not much of a consideration. Do you want great tone? That usually means price is not a consideration.

3) Will this be used for six string and pedal steel both, or just one? If just one, which one?

4) If you like the amp you have now, have you thought about finding another one like it, buying some kind of stereo "generator (chorus, reverb, delay, etc.), and just sticking with that?

When I was in Japan last year I visited several music stores. I didn't see any amps that I haven't seen over here in the states.
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Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

You can sort of find import (but not "overseas") amps that are produced at lower labor costs - most of Fender's amp line is made in Ensenada Mexico. That does help keep costs down on the PCB and SS amps.

But none of the majors have gone to Asian production for complete amps, save the smaller practice amps. But many of the components - PCB's, chips, etc - in SS amps are made overseas and final assembly done in the States (or in Fender's case, either the States or Mexico).

The reason I've been given is pretty logical - the guitar market is huge compared to the amp market. Even kids playing in garage bands often have 2-3 guitars (like a Squier, an Epiphone, and a shredder Ibanez) that cost under $200 bucks each, but they will rarely have more than one amp. To make production there profitable you need some pretty huge quantities, and the amp market just deson't lend itself to that kind of production.

If you go to NAMM you do see all sorts of Korean, Indonesian and Chinese amps - but they are either SS practice amps or (in the case of larger ones) just pretty bad sounding.

I have no doubt that eventually Fender, Marshall or some other "name" maker will end up with one of their middle-budget lines (like the Hot Rods and more stripped-down Marshall combos) produced overseas.
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
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Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
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Roman Sonnleitner · From: Vienna, Austria

Aren't Peavey Valveking and Windsor tube amps made in China?

Stephen Gambrell · From: Over there

My Vox AC30 is made in China, and it's builtlike a tank---OK, a Chinese tank, but still a tank.

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

I don't want a cheap amp. If you have a cheap amp chances are your tone is pretty poor. You get what you pay for. I don't compromise on equipment. Money is the least factor.

Mike Brown · From: Meridian, Mississippi USA

The Peavey Valve King 112, 212 and the 100 watt VK head and cab are all manufactured in China.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Guess I missed Korg taking the AC30 overseas. The market changes so quickly it IS hard to keep track of what's made where, especially when some cloud issues (like Groove Tube's "made in USA" 6L6GE...that's made in China with some US parts).

Kevin, I don't disagree with you much on your point, although there are a few cheap amps that sound decent. But the big problem with cheap "price point" products in my experience is durability. No sense buying a good sounding but cheapo amp that will spend half its life in a repair shop.

Since the biggest issues with the import guitar lines from major makers are usually hardware and electronics - and considering amps are mostly hardware and electronics - I'd personally tend to avoid any "price point" version of a known amp. Electronic gadgets would probably be fine (my little Fender GDec practice amp is made in China and a great tool, but I wouldn't want to drop it.), but for a solid, reliable stage amp I just tend to stay with the US and European builds, with the exception of Fender's Ensenada output, which seems to be more US-like.
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

The new Chinese made Vox AC15s and AC30s are very nice. IMHO they sound better than the 90s 2000s British made versions, and they seem really well built. There are all sorts of factories in China, some build crap some are capable of amazing work. I have a Neve mike pre clone that sounds amazing and has a super high build quality. It largely depends on the work that the parent company has done in spec'ing the amp. I think Peavey did a great job with the Valve King.
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Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I think that serviceability and durability are primary factors, too. Face it, guitars are dirt simple, there's not much that can go wrong that any competent player can't fix. With amps, it's a different ball-game altogether. When's the last time you took your VCR to get it repaired? Most foreign consumer electronics devices are "throw-away' items nowadays. There's no thought to making them anything more than functional, but "limited-life" items. Also, it's hard enough comprehending the instructions on Asian-manufactured goods. Foreigners who think they have a pretty good grasp of English often are barely intelligible...

"Do not in remote leave too long batteries, for may cause corrode!"

Yes, I've seen a few like that in my day, and that was BEFORE computer language-translation programs! Heaven help the electronic servicemen if the Asian companies would make mistakes in schematics like they do in grammer!

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