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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 1:48 pm
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The new bass amps I happened to see a couple weeks back(all brands)...they're charging more, and giving much less. I've seen sturdier home stereo cabs. I just can't see most of the new stuff holding up for regular gigging...and the sounds I heard were equally as weak. What the heck is going on?


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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 2:21 pm
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Like virtually all other manufactured commodities, musical equipment has succumbed to the "disposable" paradigm that society apparently prefers.

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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 2:34 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
craig.p wrote:
Also I see more and more tube amps with the sockets PCB-mounted, which IMO falls into the category of How Dumb Can You Get And Still Breathe, especially with the crap solder the manufacturers are being forced to use now.


"How Dumb Can You Get And Still Breathe"

You're killin' me here, Craig!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Arjay


Let's Ask Mr Nylon! :wink: He Seems To Know Everything! :roll:

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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 2:41 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
I went through this research not too long ago.

100% USA MADE: ALL MESA BOOGIE, ALL CARVIN, ACOUSTIC USA, ALL AGUILAR, TECH 21 LANDMARK HEADS, ALL THUNDERFUNK and ALL ACOUSTIC IMAGE. (Good luck on the Acoustic USA 360 as there are only 3 dealers so far.)

Some of the GK stuff is made in the USA but not all. Some Epifani but not all. Ampeg's Heritage Series is USA made but the rest of the Ampeg line is not. Some of the Peavey Tour Series is made in the USA but can't say for sure it all of the Tour Series is USA but at least some is. I've also heard that Peavey was building the USA made Trace Elliot stuff under contract but don't know for sure if that is true or not. Ashdown of all companies opened a plant to make amps in Kentucky a few years ago but I don't know which models are (or were) made there. I think Tech 21 discontinued the Landmark 600 model which sucks but still makes the Landmark 300 in the USA. That's about it.

Oh, Avatar Cabs 100% USA made in Idaho.

It should be pointed out that even the USA made stuff will have foreign components and also that companies can move production any dang time they choose and this post will be instantly outdated.


Tech 21 has a 1000 watt head out now: http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/amps/bass/vt1000.html

It's not the Landmark series, though.

I think those Ashdown 400 watt tube head (or whatever they were), or related cabinets were the ones that were supposed to be made there. It was a long time ago I had read this and haven't followed it up, so I'm not sure.

You know, before I bought the Rumble 350, I seriously considered the Carvin amps, since they are a price I can afford. The problem I had was they have only one area were they have dealers and Fender is all over the friggin' place. If something happened to a Carvin amp, then I'd have to ship it all of the way across the US (I live on the east coast,) where I could just go to town with my Fender. Another thing in the time I've been playing, I've really heard that they were hit and miss with reliability. At least 50-50%. I've heard pros and cons from people who owned their equipment. Although, it's usually the powered PA systems that had the most issues from what I've experienced. I will say, I did own two Carvin bass cabs at one time (a 15" and 2x10") and I never had any issues with them. Then again, those are just speakers. I guess I've always been on the fence about Carvin, because of the distance issue. It would be a huge risk for me. Not a cheap one, either.

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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 8:09 pm
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I agree Carvin is handicapped before the race begins.

First you can't try Carvin out unless you are in California and go to one of their two showrooms. I asked once if I could send something back if I didn't like it and they said "YES." The Catch is that I would still pay the shipping both ways. Sounds a lot like an eBay deal.

Second, even though Carvin support is LEGENDARY (and it really is legendary) there is still that shipping it back thing at your expense. Again, sounds a lot like eBay. The one year warranty is deficient these days compared to many other lines as previously mentioned. Even low end Chinese stuff these days has a 3 year warranty.

Makes a Rumble 350 combo from the local mom & pop look pretty good to me.

Never heard anything about a 50% failure rate on Carvin bass amps.

That VT series from Tech 21 is far more expensive than the Landmark series. Whether it is worth that much more I have no idea, but never heard one bad word about the Landmark series other than it is hard to find and you have to order it usually. In fact the 1000 Watt Tech 21 VT head is a custom order only unit. So there you are with the "can't try it before you buy it" thing again.

Thunderfunk is looking better all the time.


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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 5:59 am
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> Makes a Rumble 350 combo from the local mom & pop look pretty good to me.

Amen. And, there's a summer price cut in effect on both the combo and the amp. Anyone interested in just the amp, take a look at Sweetwater. I'd grab one this instant if I weren't already up to my neck in amps & preamps. A buck a watt and a five year warranty? Things rarely get this good.

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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 7:33 pm
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Hey Dave, do you remember this: Image I'm not 100% sure, but I think it might be conected with the Thunderfunk people, but I know Russ Allee designed it who also did the those AMP series and Acoustic. I remember seeing that Gibson stack in a store back in the late 80's. I played through it a few times and thought it was really nice, but it was so expensive for me back then.

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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:09 am
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CPL wrote:
Hey Dave, do you remember this: Image I'm not 100% sure, but I think it might be conected with the Thunderfunk people, but I know Russ Allee designed it who also did the those AMP series and Acoustic. I remember seeing that Gibson stack in a store back in the late 80's. I played through it a few times and thought it was really nice, but it was so expensive for me back then.


I don't who Dave Funk is, but his Thunderfunk amps look exactly like the Gibson! And hoooweeeee are they expensive at $1,895.00 + shipping. No power cord supplied. Buy your own. They are built per order once payment is received.

http://www.thunderfunk.com/index.html

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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:13 am
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YEP I even remember this one....this model was my first bass amp purchased with a new Telecaster Bass in 1968. The amp was used and it was either $150 or $175 and I can't remember which. LOL.

Image

The Atlas tube amp was big and heavy. It had 2 6L6GC tubes so it put out about 40 watts, maybe 50 on a good day. There was a single 15 inch speaker with a tilt back leg and wheels. It rolled good. Replaced by an Ampeg SVT. Donated the Gibson to a church about 1977.

Thunderfunk has made many different models, they currently make one that is cosmetically similar to the Gibson but it is probably different inside.


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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 3:44 pm
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Wow, they don't include a power cord? How are you supposed to power it, harsh language? Well, at least you can get one off any old computer (I have at least 4 of them laying around) or some other piece of equipment. At least those things are universal. I remember seeing something about the Atlas amp in my random amp searches, but I knew nothing about it. I did find this post on an internet forum when I typed in Dave Funk and Russ Allee, so I guess there is a connection: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/histo ... tc-157829/

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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:38 pm
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CPL wrote:
Wow, they don't include a power cord? How are you supposed to power it, harsh language?



$@!& YES!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

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2018 Rumble Studio 40 Combo
2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 7:44 pm
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Yeah, you'd think for almost two grand, it would come at least come with one.

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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:57 pm
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BUT,

Is it only U.S. made that will make you happy, or are you just trying to avoid Asian, or Mexican?

Markbass is made in Italy (maybe good, maybe not), but I'm seeing that now some of their stuff is made in Brazil.

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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:00 pm
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I have very limited experience with Carvin gear. I've known lots of guys who wished for some Carvin piece or another but very few have had the courage to order sight unseen and, as already mentioned, that could easily be their biggest turnoff. I've only ever played a few Carvin guitars (no amps at all unfortunately ... and also no basses) and to be perfectly candid, I wasn't all that impressed. The last one I played was about 2 years ago when a jamming buddy of mine came over to my place with a jamming buddy of his who had a Carvin Strat style axe. He was pretty proud of it until he played some of my Fenders and I was pretty curious about his until we swapped for a few songs. I've played a few Yamahas, some Aria Pro IIs, a couple of Ibanez's ... to name just a few. Pretty much the only current day Strat or Tele style guitars that I've tried that can compete with current Fenders are the other Leo guitars, G&L. As I mentioned I have no Carvin bass or bass amp experience but the guitar experience that I do have does not engender any desire to gain some Carvin bass experience.


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Post subject: Re: American made bass amps.....
Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 11:21 am
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Yeah, I've also looked at the Carvin forum a few times to see what was being said. I'll do that with various companies to see what the general consensus is with their products. That's how I came across this place before I bought my Rumble. With Carvin, it was either hit or miss. A lot of people loved some of their gear and some were complaining about various amp failures or other issues. Apparently, they have pretty decent support, but like was said before, they have one location and if you don't live there (especially far away,) it's the shipping issue that concerns me. At least locally, you have some room to work to work with.

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