ampclones Who are these guys?

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yalesmith
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ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by yalesmith »

Has anyone ever heard of the website http://www.ampclones.com/? do they offer quality stuff, any reviews?

Thanks!
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selloutrr
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by selloutrr »

first time I've heard of them.

What I've found when dealing with Clone PCB audio products. They are close but not exact to the originals. You might want to find out how they differ before you get your hopes up on how awesome it would be to have a cheap clone.

Also factor in the cost of using the correct parts it might not be a deal

clones are seldom worth the cost of the parts they took to build the amp.

sorry to be a kill joy. it's just what I've noticed.
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FUCHSAUDIO
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by FUCHSAUDIO »

Interesting business model. Surprised they used the actual product names with no disclaimers or modification...strange. Wonder how they made an Uberschall, considering how schematics are as rare as hen's teeth... I will say the boards and chassis look nicely executed.
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yalesmith
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by yalesmith »

yeah as with most guys here, it is about the build and not about the cost....just is A LONG PROCESS to find out the board is crap.
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selloutrr
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by selloutrr »

FUCHSAUDIO wrote:Interesting business model. Surprised they used the actual product names with no disclaimers or modification...strange. Wonder how they made an Uberschall, considering how schematics are as rare as hen's teeth... I will say the boards and chassis look nicely executed.
Reverse engineering is my guess.
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John_P_WI
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by John_P_WI »

Out of Russia. One of the guys who "collectively" reverse engineers amps and in some cases adds improved mods etc.

From what I understand, the pcb's are of very high quality. Mostly high gain stuff, Mesa - SLO etc. The guys who have built the Mesa's have been very happy.

Interesting, I don't see the VHT Deliverance pcb offered anymore, complete with the "crop circle" mojo....
Last edited by John_P_WI on Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
diagrammatiks
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by diagrammatiks »

the uberschall schematic exists somewhere.
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Structo
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by Structo »

Now I remember those guys.
They are in Russia and although that can be sometimes be a risky business venture,
I have read on another forum where a member bought a pcb and received it in a timely manner and was very pleased with the board.
The one I am thinking of was a SLO board.
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Zippy
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by Zippy »

selloutrr wrote:clones are seldom worth the cost of the parts they took to build the amp.

sorry to be a kill joy. it's just what I've noticed.
Are you talking about "Clones" as the brand name or "clones" as in all the Dumble- and Trainwreck-inspired amps on this web site?

Seems to me that there is strong evidence at TAG for successful clone builds.
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selloutrr
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by selloutrr »

All clones in general this website and others.

I've noticed a high number of people/companies offering dumbles based on sucking the knowledge from this forum.. Not sure that is exactly ethical but whatever.

I see TW knocks off pop up all over the place for $500-$700. dumbles for $800. Fenders you can't give away. Marshall knock off's .. same thing every company offers a marshall clone. based on what it costs to make the amp properly it's not something you do to make a profit.

The biggest $ diffence in TW and dumble amps are the tubes and sometimes the cabinet and logo included in the sale.

The main point. The website in question sells a Dual Rec. clone. You are probably close to $800+ by the time you buy parts not counting your time. You can buy an authentic Mesa Boogie Dual Rec used for $700 all day sometimes as low as $500 if you look hard enough. the factory OEM dual rec will always be worth more then the clone.
The MKII you can pickup for $1200 or less.
To properly clone the SLO the best you can (iron is not available) it's over $1600 a correct SLO can be found for $2000 with correct iron and tone.

In the mind set of collecting amps, Clones have zero value. because when you go to sell them it's your word of how good they are with no factory making claims to back it up. They may very well sound great but it's a hard sell. when an Amp costs within a couple hundred to buy versus make why even bother? You would be better off buying a broken amp and putting a few hundred into it and having not only the correct circuit but a name brand amp.

TW and dumble... are out of the $$$ of most people adding to the fact they are few and far between if you were to buy one. Making clones more exceptable but still barely worth the parts cost to build them versus buying a prebuilt unit. They are a labor of love for the player not an investment.

If it's not about name brands and you just want the satisfaction of making something for your self go for it and have fun! Just know it's not going to go up in value like an authentic amp would.
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jaysg
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by jaysg »

Assuming those are decent quality double sided, plated through hole boards....don't you think they're asking roughly 2x what they should run?
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by vibratoking »

Assuming those are decent quality double sided, plated through hole boards....don't you think they're asking roughly 2x what they should run?
The PCBs appear to be very well done from the pics on their site. The silkscreening is much more detailed than most PCBs that I have seen and that costs extra. 2oz copper adds a surcharge. It is not just the cost of the PCB. There is the cost of 'engineering', whatever that may in this case. As well as the time to do the layout, ERC, DRC, generate Gerbers, etc... I would be charging about the same price if it was me. I can't imagine that they are selling high volumes of these. With all that said, I wouldn't be interested in their product, but not because of the cost. I would prefer to do it myself.
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by VacuumVoodoo »

jaysg wrote:Assuming those are decent quality double sided, plated through hole boards....don't you think they're asking roughly 2x what they should run?
They will charge whatever they want as long as customers are buying and until someone else offers at least equal product at lower price.
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M Fowler
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by M Fowler »

Yeah I got schooled on 18watt.com for building trainwrecks but they thought it was perfectly fine to build Marshalls :?:

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yalesmith
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Re: ampclones Who are these guys?

Post by yalesmith »

I sent an email to the dudes at ampclones sunday and they got back to me in a day or so, which is good. He did say that he will be puting up studio clips in a month...I think I will wait, but definetly let you know how I make out. Also it is never about the $$$ for me, it is about the Build! but with that said, an extasy build would be half of a new one! plus i have a bunch of spare items that I would be be able to build with what i have as well as build a custom cab!

Thanks [/code]
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