Mystery Amp deal?

T

TheAmpNerd

Member
Messages
1,056
The mystery amp thing got me thinking....

Couple of weeks wiring an amp, covering it with goo... $ 6,000

OR

Couple of months of pain staking, hand built detail... $ 4,000



No, that is not a mirror top, that is hand rubbed aluminum!
 
T

teleamp

Senior Member
Messages
3,481
Nice. I would love to see under the hood. What is it? Looks like some type of serious mono block audio amp.

(Guitar players would be shocked at the prices of audiophile equipment, parts and accessories)

Those oil can caps look awesome.



Mike
 
Tag

Tag

Platinum Supporting Member
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40,320
TheAmpNerd said:
The mystery amp thing got me thinking....

Couple of weeks wiring an amp, covering it with goo... $ 6,000

OR

Couple of months of pain staking, hand built detail... $ 4,000



No, that is not a mirror top, that is hand rubbed aluminum!
Click to expand...

Looks nice, but lets hear how it sounds! Clips??
 
H

HeeBGB

Member
Messages
610
brad347 said:
sooo... guitar players are getting ripped off. :)

I have always wondered though. Why do D*mble clones seem to be the most expensive clone amps ever? Just because the originals are expensive? Surely there has to be a better reason than that...

What is the magic "expensive dust" that goes into a high-end D*mble that doesn't go into a boutique Fender or Marshall clone?

P.S. I am not basing this on any facts or figures, just something I think i've noticed, and I could be wrong.
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More labor intensive. Lots of switching and options mostly! You CAN get a D'Lite from Brownote. It's a very cool D**ble style amp with less bells and whistles. More affordable too!
 
Tag

Tag

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hasserl

hasserl

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4,711
Very nice Tag, but does it really take something special for that style? It sounds rather ordinary to me. Seems like a guy could use just about anything for that. And since we can't even see the amp in that vid it might be just about anything. It probably just shows my ignorance of jazz, and no knock on your playing, but I'm not impressed with the tone.
 
Tag

Tag

Platinum Supporting Member
Messages
40,320
hasserl said:
Very nice Tag, but does it really take something special for that style? It sounds rather ordinary to me. Seems like a guy could use just about anything for that. And since we can't even see the amp in that vid it might be just about anything. It probably just shows my ignorance of jazz, and no knock on your playing, but I'm not impressed with the tone.
Click to expand...


Great clean tones are the hardest to find. Once you add buzz and compression, its all pretty similar. If the cleans are so easy, tell that to every boutique builder that my Bruno has laid waste to. I can name them all if you want, but it is almost every builder talked about on here. As a matter of fact, a good production Fender smokes most of them when A/bd. Hey, even CHEAP production Fenders do! My HR Deville is one of the top 3 -4 cleans I have heard yet.
:munch
VERY GOOD, VERY GOOD!
 
T

teleamp

Senior Member
Messages
3,481
Audio and guitar amps are two totaly different creatures when it comes to what is considered "High end".

A high end output transformer for a guitar amp might cost $200, but a high end audio OT can run $1500 and up.

A high end filter cap for a guitar cost about $7, a high end capacitor for a high end audio amp can cost $100 each or more.

If your thinking why aren't high end guitar amp builders offering those kind of options, well I'm sure a few have done some prototyping with high end audio parts and found out that for musical instrument amps, low end is actully high end.

Amps with Xicon carbon film resistors sound as good as amps with more expensive resistors. And are in a lot of high dollar amps.

Are the guitarist being ripped off? Definitely not.


Bottom line, an amp with a good design will sound good, no matter the cost of the parts (and actually some cheaper part sound better if not just as good).

As far as Dumble clones, they are more exspensive because they are labor intensive. I would prefer a high end pcb type if that's what I was looking for.


Mike
 
T

teleamp

Senior Member
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3,481
Tag said:
Inside of my Bruno. Good enogh for me, and the tone has smoked EVERY boutique and production amp I have put it up against. Bring on ANY amp! :BEER
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Tag, sorry friend, I don't think your Bruno would beat that amp with a turntable/tape deck/reciever plugged into it.

Now if you had posted this post in the other "Mystery Amp" thread, I would agree.

Mike
 
B

brad347

Member
Messages
1,260
teleamp said:
Audio and guitar amps are two totaly different creatures when it comes to what is considered "High end".

A high end output transformer for a guitar amp might cost $200, but a high end audio OT can run $1500 and up.

A high end filter cap for a guitar cost about $7, a high end capacitor for a high end audio amp can cost $100 each or more.

If your thinking why aren't high end guitar amp builders offering those kind of options, well I'm sure a few have done some prototyping with high end audio parts and found out that for musical instrument amps, low end is actully high end.

Amps with Xicon carbon film resistors sound as good as amps with more expensive resistors. And are in a lot of high dollar amps.

Are the guitarist being ripped off? Definitely not.


Bottom line, an amp with a good design will sound good, no matter the cost of the parts (and actually some cheaper part sound better if not just as good).

As far as Dumble clones, they are more exspensive because they are labor intensive. I would prefer a high end pcb type if that's what I was looking for.


Mike
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Well, that's kind of my question. If that hi fi amp costs $4k and has all those expensive parts in it, why do guitar amps cost $6k with cheap parts? That was what the "ripoff" question (which was totally a joke, BTW) was referring to.
 
T

teleamp

Senior Member
Messages
3,481
brad347 said:
Well, that's kind of my question. If that hi fi amp costs $4k and has all those expensive parts in it, why do guitar amps cost $6k with cheap parts?
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That hifi amp in the first post had $4000 in parts in it plus 4 months of labor, the retail price on an equivalent amp could top $20,000.

A guitar amp retailing for $6000 might have anywhere from $1000 to $2000 in parts cost....Then there has to be labor and overhead....If the overhead includes marketing and insurance. Plus, a $6000 amp that was that extremely labor intense, you have to add in any warranty repaires that will have to be made.... Replacement parts will need to be keep in stock if you do any kind of artist support.



Mike
 
T

teleamp

Senior Member
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3,481
Serious audiophile buffs spend more on speaker cable than one of us spend on an entire rig, and I'm talling Custom Shop guitars and boutique amps.


Mike
 
H

HeeBGB

Member
Messages
610
A couple of years ago I remeber reading a post at 18watt. It had a link to an audiophile site. It was for a wooden volume knob for audiophiles. It was, I believe in the neighborhood of $400.:eek: For one stinkin' knob!

It was supposed to improve tone! :rotflmao
 
J

Jessie 160

Member
Messages
36
If you want to look into serious audio equipment and see how crazy prices can get, check out www.audiogon.com. It's a site for high end audio. It's amazing what little changes can make in sound. Oddly enough, the interconnects, power cords and isolation devices can make huge differences and they can cost a lot.. Also, a decent turntable will kick the pants off a CD.
 
J

Jessie 160

Member
Messages
36
brad347 said:
Isn't that pretty much common knowledge at this point? Even my wife knows that. :)

In all seriousness, CDs weren't designed with fidelity as the main goal. IIRC, they wanted to be able to fit Beethoven's 9th symphony uninterrupted on a disc medium that would fit in a shirt pocket. Wasn't that Philips/Sony's design goal?
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I'm not really sure if that is common knowledge. Many people I speak to are surprised to hear that.
 
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