No hand wired amps at my guitar center

[bnwitt]

I went into our local GC the other day and was surprised to find out they had not one single hand wired amp of any kind (other than in the vintage room) in stock. You want a Marshall Vox or Fender HW model and you have to order it. I guess these things are just too expensive for the average player.

[jaysg]

When Mitch Colby was posting at 18Watt, he said that the previous year had been Marshall's biggest ever. I think that's all the solid state product, not tube amps. I imagine whatever tube hybrids they're selling now, far outstrip sales of RI style amps, just because the kids expect all the features. A 1987 would confuse them.

On an unrelated note, I went to see all the guitars at my local Best Buy, but they didn't have anything like that, so it must not be all of them.

[bnwitt]

When Mitch Colby was posting at 18Watt, he said that the previous year had been Marshall's biggest ever. I think that's all the solid state product, not tube amps.

That doesn't surprise me at all. I can't tell you how many pcb based Marshall amps I have had in and out of my shop with problems. There must be a bunch out there. Keep going Brit boys, and thanks for the repair work.

[muchxs]

I've been hanging out on another amp forum to keep track of market trends. It's easy to forget how good we have it over here. We're techs talking to other techs so we know what works and how to do it. We're a little spoiled because we can have any luxurious tube amp we want for the cost of parts and a little labor. Musicians like things like multiple channels with reverb on each channel, "master" volumes for each channel, they lust after features that would have most of us scratching our heads. How do they get what they want at a price they want to pay? By buying mass produced PC board amps, that's how.

Ever find a Dumble or a Trainwreck in a dumpster? Inconceivable. Mass produced amps in a dumpster, even relatively recent stuff? Sure, those things go out with the garbage every day.

[Abstract]

My local GC has a couple Sewell amps...

Doesn't mean I'll shop there.

[Trigger]

My boy and I spend alot of time at the local G.C. He loves playing different guitars and amps just to see what they are like, but we never leave with anything other than strings and picks. We use the store so he can get the "sound" of an amp so he can relate it to different amps that we want to build. It is great having him know we can build an amp rather than buy it. I have him on the Just say No to PCB's program.

[mhuss]

(putting on flameproof suit)
PCBs are not inherently evil. Check out the VHT , Fuchs and (older) Fatboy amps for some sterling examples of how to do it right.

However, most modern PCB stuff (pretty much everything at GC/MF) *is* crap, designed for minimum cost.

--mark

[bnwitt]

(putting on flameproof suit)
PCBs are not inherently evil. Check out the VHT , Fuchs and (older) Fatboy amps for some sterling examples of how to do it right.

However, most modern PCB stuff (pretty much everything at GC/MF) *is* crap, designed for minimum cost.

--mark

I've got no problems with PCB's as long as they use thick trace material and don't put tube sockets, controls or jacks directly on the boards. If you don't do any of that, you might as well use a turret or eyelet board.

[Trigger]

I have no problems with a pc board. I was only kidding. I actually played a little Egnater Rebel 20 at GC tonight, cool little amp. Really cool to have 6V6's or El84 and to be able blend them. I wanted to open it up right there and see it's in-nerds and see what makes her tick. The GC guys may not have thought it was as cool of an idea as I did.

[bnwitt]

I have no problems with a pc board.

You obviously don't do service work. I have no problems either. They feed my family. I've got a Peavey head coming in tomorrow for the third time in two months.

[jaysg]

In the days when Hi-Fi was King, those pc boards had a lot of heavy clad on them. The narrowest thing wasn't a trace, it was the space between traces. The recent stuff seems to have been layed out by people who do digital boards where traces are assumed to be narrow unless called out otherwise.

[chief mushroom cloud]

the component placements are pretty sad, too.....
circuitboards CAN be made serviceable....just requires a little forethought

[M Fowler]

I had a bitch of a time fixing the power jack on my Roland GR-33 the foil was to far gone to solder on to, so I had to jumper to a spot that was good.

I prefer turret and chassis mount amps but played a Peavey Bandit 65 for 20 years gigging with no repair work, should have kept that killer little amp.

My local Best Buy store is the local Gibson dealer and they stock Bogner, Fender, Vox, Marshall, Epiphone and Roland.

Mark

[selloutrr]

speaking of guitar center next time you get the gear flyer look on the back of the add for the 10% off coupon and read everything that is excuded from that offer. I think you'll be amazed!

[Bob-I]

I went into our local GC the other day and was surprised to find out they had not one single hand wired amp of any kind

And there's no Rolex at Kmart. GC=Kmart in my book.