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Post subject: My problem with the '68 Custom Vintage Reissues...
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2017 5:19 am
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I'm a fan of the '68 Custom Vintage Reissues and have been since the release but the price point just doesn't seem right. I own a Super Champ X2 and got this as a budget alternative to the '65 Princeton Reverb Reisue. When the '68 Custom Princeton Reissue released I was shocked that the amp is only $100 less than the '65 Princeton Reverb Reissue. Even more so when considered that the '68 Custom Vintage Reissues are made in Mexico. I just feel like there is something missing in the $500-800 price range if you want a Blackface Fender. IDK maybe the '68 Custom Vintage Reissue are worth every penny and they can't keep the cost down. However to feel that gap it would be cool if Fender maybe included a '65 and/or '68 Custom Vibra Champ to the line up. Again I love that Fender is coming out with new amps, I just like feeling like I'm getting a good deal too!


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Post subject: Re: My problem with the '68 Custom Vintage Reissues...
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2017 11:09 am
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somethingelse11 wrote:
I'm a fan of the '68 Custom Vintage Reissues


These amps ARE NOT RE-ISSUES.

They're bastardizations of the vintage models whose namesakes they erroneously claim and they sound nothing like the originals. Nothing at all.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: My problem with the '68 Custom Vintage Reissues...
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2017 12:52 pm
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LOL. I know. I didn't know what to call them and in a Modest Mouse interview he was calling the Twin a Silverface Reissue. I looked it up and they are in the "Vintage Modified" series... same as the Super Champ X2. Why the YUGE price difference?


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Post subject: Re: My problem with the '68 Custom Vintage Reissues...
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2017 1:49 pm
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AFAIK, the blackface RI's are built in Corona, California. I think the VM silverfaces come from Ensenada, Mexico. Likely that's the reason for the price differential.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: My problem with the '68 Custom Vintage Reissues...
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 3:11 pm
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somethingelse11 wrote:
LOL. I know. I didn't know what to call them and in a Modest Mouse interview he was calling the Twin a Silverface Reissue. I looked it up and they are in the "Vintage Modified" series... same as the Super Champ X2. Why the YUGE price difference?


My 68 CDR and 68 CVR are made in Mexico, and it makes no difference to me.
Mexican workers can use their hands and brains as well as any person who works in the American assembly plants.

These modern made Fender amps, most of them, are made using PC-printed circuit boards.
Some people hate that and get really bent if anyone claims that a modern made PC Fender amp sounds "like" an original from the 50's or 60's.

Are you wondering why a Mexican made "custom vintage reissue" doesn't cost much less than an American made black-face reissue? The 65 VRDR is only $50 more MSRP compared to the Mexican made 68 CDR.

Mexican made Fender guitars cost a good bit less than their American made siblings, or should that be cousins?
But you're right about the amps, the price differences are not in the same area code.
One possible answer is that Mexican made Fender guitars use lower end electronics compared to the American Fenders, and that will affect the overall cost.

Perhaps with the amps there isn't much difference in parts quality and they are on equal footing, and so the slight lower price is just the reflection of lower wages that Mexican employees get.
And, with amps there is likely more automation in assembly so that actual human paid hours don't amount to a greater difference compared to guitars and basses that likely require more actual human work and thus paid hours.

I don't know the exact reason/s, but I'm sure some of what I wrote could account for it.


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Post subject: Re: My problem with the '68 Custom Vintage Reissues...
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 4:09 pm
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The relative labor costs are likely the primary factor in the price differential between amps built in the US and those made in Mexico. The cabinetry work for both is performed in Ensenada and both amp lines contain the same junk electronic parts shipped in from Asia.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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