So looks like Yamaha bought Ampeg!

rossyamaha

Just posted on Facebook. Could be interesting to see what they do with it. 

pintspiller

That many variants of the classic SVT that it could go either way.

ICBM

Interesting.

I love the sound of an SVT, but I am now resigned to never owning one - because of the colossal weight, size, cost, cost of regular re-valving, and for the modern models not really that great build quality or reliability.

Maybe we will see a THR1000...

Musicman20

Good move. Ampeg have been losing ground. Great tone, but not so happy with the current quality. This can only be good news for bassists.

telehack

I could think of much worse companies than Yamaha to take up the brand.

rossyamaha

Now if the just bought Gibson, Suhr and Mesa Boogie life would be just grand. 

rossyamaha

Oh and RJM. 

ICBM

rossyamaha said:

Now if the just bought Gibson, Suhr and Mesa Boogie life would be just grand. 

Do they give you free gear then?

Whitecat

Yamaha does an excellent job at keeping their acquisitions at arm's length, but giving them access to the QC and R+D resources that generally improve any manufacturing enterprise.

Previous examples include Line 6 and Steinberg... both still run as their own entities, not "dumbed down" in any way but still little hints here and there of their corporate parentage.

I think this is a good thing.

rossyamaha

ICBM said:

rossyamaha said:

Now if the just bought Gibson, Suhr and Mesa Boogie life would be just grand. 

Do they give you free gear then?

Alas no. I do get a level of support as an “artist(ish)” as well as helping out with freelance stuff when they need it. Just be good to get better prices/ support on the stuff I either use or want to use. 

impmann

rossyamaha said:

ICBM said:

rossyamaha said:

Now if the just bought Gibson, Suhr and Mesa Boogie life would be just grand. 

Do they give you free gear then?

Alas no. I do get a level of support as an “artist(ish)” as well as helping out with freelance stuff when they need it. Just be good to get better prices/ support on the stuff I either use or want to use. 

Plus, I think Yamaha could save Gibson from themselves.

Imagine Yamaha appointed QC practices, concentrating on it as a heritage brand and marketing it properly...

I doubt it would happen, but its a nice thought.

ICBM

impmann said:

Plus, I think Yamaha could save Gibson from themselves. 

Imagine Yamaha appointed QC practices, concentrating on it as a heritage brand and marketing it properly...

I doubt it would happen, but its a nice thought.

I've thought that before too. Not only would Yamaha be a good fit for Gibson, they're one of the few companies who are both large enough to buy the whole operation, and would also have uses for Gibson's other brands - Philips audio,Teac etc - since they already have a presence in those areas.

dindude

Love Yamaha but also find them infuriatingly slow in product release and range, certainly in the guitar arena. The exact opposite of the model year trend that Gibson play in. There’s is more like a 20-year cycle for every product released.

ICBM

dindude said:

Love Yamaha but also find them infuriatingly slow in product release and range, certainly in the guitar arena. The exact opposite of the model year trend that Gibson play in. There’s is more like a 20-year cycle for every product released.

You say that like it's a bad thing...

dindude

ICBM said:

dindude said:

Love Yamaha but also find them infuriatingly slow in product release and range, certainly in the guitar arena. The exact opposite of the model year trend that Gibson play in. There’s is more like a 20-year cycle for every product released.

You say that like it's a bad thing...

Not really a bad thing but they miss opportunities. Give us a less blingy SA2200, or a P90 one, or slightly smaller body one, all in their past and capability with little R&D. Give us a chambered or single P90 Revstar. May not sell huge but gets the range back in reviews and front of mind again. An updated THR with Helix informed sounds would sell like hot cakes. Just try a bit harder is all I’m saying.

Whitecat

dindude said:

Love Yamaha but also find them infuriatingly slow in product release and range, certainly in the guitar arena. The exact opposite of the model year trend that Gibson play in. There’s is more like a 20-year cycle for every product released.

Japanese manufacturing culture in general works this way, unfortunately. Very hard to shift that at the most basic level.

ICBM

Whitecat said:

Japanese manufacturing culture in general works this way, unfortunately. Very hard to shift that at the most basic level.

It is at least better than the model-year change-for-the-sake-of-it nonsense that originated in the American car industry and which Gibson have adopted with such enthusiasm.

Whitecat

ICBM said:

Whitecat said:

Japanese manufacturing culture in general works this way, unfortunately. Very hard to shift that at the most basic level.

It is at least better than the model-year change-for-the-sake-of-it nonsense that originated in the American car industry and which Gibson have adopted with such enthusiasm.

This is true. I think companies like Fender have found the happy medium - refresh every few years, and otherwise maybe just chuck in the odd new colour here and there or something in the interim to keep people from getting too bored.

AlexC

Good move imo. I'm not usually 'brand loyal', but Yamaha as a company have really got it together and know how to make great product with great quality control. (You can tell I like Yamaha,right?)

JezWynd

Musicman20 said:

Good move. Ampeg have been losing ground. Great tone, but not so happy with the current quality. This can only be good news for bassists.

Some of Ampeg's recent low cost offerings have traded pretty shamelessly on the Ampeg name. But having been burned by their Micro CL I persevered with a PF-20 flip top and it's proving to be a great amp.

MartinB

Can we call the new ones Yampegs?