Ampeg gets bought

[burpgun]

Hey folk. Just passing along the news that Ampeg got bought by Yamaha. http://ampeg.com/roundsound/news-events ... peg-brand/

[eigentone]

I'm also a bassist. I have some Ampeg gear.

I hope Yamaha does a better job with the Ampeg brand than LOUD did. I think the quality of Ampegs really dropped under LOUD. Production moved out of the US, the amps were made more cheaply, and the QC was poor. The few Metropoulos amps are an obvious exception to this generalization.

Hopefully Yamaha makes these amps as well as they deserve to be made. Yamaha has proven they are capable of making great instruments in Japan and China over the years, to high degrees of quality and with better quality control than we saw under LOUD. Or they may just continue making cheap Ampegs. I'm hoping to see Ampegs increase in quality and reliability with this change.

Thanks for the heads up.

[burpgun]

I've got Ampeg BA combo that I bought used a few years ago, and honestly, it ain't any different that the Peavey stuff I used in the 80s and then the Hartke stuff from the 90s. It's just, like, a generic amp. Any good sounds I get out of it are from pedals like a Sansamp VT. If I ever started playing out again, I'd get a Fender Rumble or something.

[eigentone]

I've got an Ampeg Heritage 4x10. It's cool. However, I was hesitant to buy the matching Heritage SVT head. There isn't much difference between it and the standard SVT-CL AFAICT. The Heritage has better tubes and different dress. The Heritage is assembled (not made) and tested in the US. Meaning, the main PCB is probably identical to the standard SVT-CL.

I'm using a V-4B from 1973-ish with it. That thing is a tank. Its preamp is decent, but I typically use it with an F1-X. That's a great little tube bass recording rig.

I played a modern V-4B at GC. It didn't have the cajones which my old one has and it was quite flimsy. Pretty disappointing.

I've had some Yamaha stuff too. My 80s Yamaha Recording Custom drums are splendid. I have also owned a few of Yamaha's synths (eg DX7, EX5, FS1R). They were very reliable, though there were some things I did not like about the software and I would have preferred higher sound quality but overall… the synths were good instruments. The drums are great instruments.

So I am hoping Ampeg's dark days are over. Yamaha is absolutely capable of making excellent instruments and restoring Ampeg's legacy, if they choose. I am optimistic about Ampeg's new ownership.

[Embenny]

I would absolutely love to see some investment in bringing back some of Ampeg's cooler ideas over the years. Would love to see them bring back their guitar products in particular. When did they discontinue those? The reverborocket and Jet were wicked amps. And to see a Dan Armstrong Lucite reissue again would be incredible...though I'm not holding my breath.

[rhythmjones]

Yamaha makes good stuff. Loud Technologies does not.

This is great news!

[garyfanclub]

I would absolutely love to see some investment in bringing back some of Ampeg's cooler ideas over the years. Would love to see them bring back their guitar products in particular. When did they discontinue those? The reverborocket and Jet were wicked amps. And to see a Dan Armstrong Lucite reissue again would be incredible...though I'm not holding my breath.

I love this idea, but I have trouble seeing how they’d Execute successfully. The original 60s-70s Ampeg are plentiful and dirt cheap compared to their Fender contemporaries. ‘65 reverberocket? $400-500. ‘65 deluxe reverb? $3k

That said, I might be interested in a VT-40 reboot that doesn’t weigh as much as me and smell like an ash tray.

[øøøøøøø]

After Fender discontinued the Princeton Reverb, it was 30 years before they could reissue it profitably. It was that long before it was possible to bring one to market at a price that was competitive with used/vintage examples.

I expect that tipping point will be a longer time coming for most Ampeg guitar amp models.

[Kinx]

I believe they will manage the brand just fine.

My only hope is that they would reissue the guitars and bases, I have a "smoke tinted" reissue Dan Armstrong guitar from late 90s and that thing is a beast, I would love to get another one.

[Igorilla]

Yamaha makes good stuff. Loud Technologies does not.

This is great news!

This!
Though the chance is almost nil, I would love to see Ampeg guitar amps with the glorious Baxandall/James tone stack back in production.