Does a " Made in China" sticker bring a potential amp purchase to a screeching halt ?

digitalscream

Telejester said:

ICBM said:

Telejester said:

I want a new amp head, I simply will not buy one that is made in China. That rules out a big chunk of the market but I'm resolute in that I simply will not buy an amp made there. Hrrummph.

Why not? Politics, or mistrust of the build quality?

Telejester said:

What about you, screeching halt or it doesn't matter ?

For me, doesn't matter as long as it's built well, which most are.

 ICBM, I owned a cornford hellcat head that nearly brought tears of joy to my eyes when I opened it up for a look inside. Made in the UK gawd bless em. I've seen under the lid of Chinese amps and oh my god. The cheapest componentry looking like it has been thrown in and I just would not spend my money on a Chinese amp because I couldn't trust them.im sure you have looked inside amps and thought those guys care.I saw under the hood of a soldano slo100 and darned nearly got a boner.

So...because you saw one shitty amp made in China, you're assuming that they're all exactly the same?

That's a bit silly.

Take a look inside the chassis of a Jet City amp to educate yourself. The old ones are all designed by Mike Soldano and made to his specs; the newer ones are more designed in-house, but still made in the same factory and have the same build quality as the others. I've had a lot of Jet City amps over the last 6 or 7 years, and they've always been rock-solid...more to the point, I always get a "wow, I didn't expect it to be that well-made" comment from amp techs servicing them.

They're made in China.

simonk

Don't really care where it's from as long as it's well made. I've had plenty of problems with handwired British amps...

ICBM

Telejester said:

ICBM, I owned a cornford hellcat head that nearly brought tears of joy to my eyes when I opened it up for a look inside. Made in the UK gawd bless em. I've seen under the lid of Chinese amps and oh my god. The cheapest componentry looking like it has been thrown in and I just would not spend my money on a Chinese amp because I couldn't trust them.im sure you have looked inside amps and thought those guys care.I saw under the hood of a soldano slo100 and darned nearly got a boner.

As digitalscream said, Jet City are essentially a Soldano spin-off made in China. You'll do well to find a British-made PCB amp as good, and I've seen problems with quite a few hand wired ones too... but never a Jet City yet.

It's also noticeable that the new Vietnamese-made Marshall DSLs are more reliable than the previous UK-made series. Likewise with Fender and the Hotrods which are now made in Mexico instead of the US, which may not please Trump .

It's nothing to do with where they're made - all to do with the design and quality management. You can have a great amp made anywhere in the world and a crap one likewise.

richardhomer

My US Mesa Lonestar Special failed expensively about 6 months out of warranty - yet to the untrained eye, it looks very well built.

Country of origin wouldn't concern me in the least with an amp.

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM said:

Telejester said:

ICBM, I owned a cornford hellcat head that nearly brought tears of joy to my eyes when I opened it up for a look inside. Made in the UK gawd bless em. I've seen under the lid of Chinese amps and oh my god. The cheapest componentry looking like it has been thrown in and I just would not spend my money on a Chinese amp because I couldn't trust them.im sure you have looked inside amps and thought those guys care.I saw under the hood of a soldano slo100 and darned nearly got a boner.

As digitalscream said, Jet City are essentially a Soldano spin-off made in China. You'll do well to find a British-made PCB amp as good, and I've seen problems with quite a few hand wired ones too... but never a Jet City yet.

It's also noticeable that the new Vietnamese-made Marshall DSLs are more reliable than the previous UK-made series. Likewise with Fender and the Hotrods which are now made in Mexico instead of the US, which may not please Trump .

It's nothing to do with where they're made - all to do with the design and quality management. You can have a great amp made anywhere in the world and a crap one likewise.

Rocker 30

zepp76

My Laney Lionheart L20H is made in China and is serving me well, I'd have no problem in buying another Chinese made amp.

darthed1981

Danny1969 said:

Chinese manufacturing is some of the most advanced in the world,  I suspect  a USA made amp is only a bunch of Chinese made parts put together in the States so I can't see the issue. 

F**ks sake dude, don't tell everyone half the guitar industry is based on people not knowing that!

Teacherphil

Vox AC30 CC1 and VHT Special 6 both made in China and sound amazing to me.

ICBM

ThePrettyDamned said:

Rocker 30

The build quality of the Jet Citys might actually be slightly higher than the Rocker 30, although it's very close. The Orange uses crimp connectors in a few places where the JC has soldered ones, and the JC uses larger resistors. Otherwise the PCB, pot etc quality is about the same in both. Not that those things make the Rocker unreliable anyway, in fact I've never seen a dead one either. 

RandallFlagg

but those Jet City's look really naff don't they?

I like to hear with my eyes

Danny1969

What about Engl amps, made by German craftsmen !! I don't think I've seen a valve amp as poorly put together as the Savage 120

fretmeister

The Chinese Hartke amps I used to use were bomb proof. I'd be happy to have them again.

Limehouse_Blues

Telejester said:

ICBM said:

Telejester said:

I want a new amp head, I simply will not buy one that is made in China. That rules out a big chunk of the market but I'm resolute in that I simply will not buy an amp made there. Hrrummph.

Why not? Politics, or mistrust of the build quality?

Telejester said:

What about you, screeching halt or it doesn't matter ?

For me, doesn't matter as long as it's built well, which most are.

  I've seen under the lid of Chinese amps 

Which ones?

ThePrettyDamned

Danny1969 said:

What about Engl amps, made by German craftsmen !! I don't think I've seen a valve amp as poorly put together as the Savage 120

Funny, I saw the inside of an Engl thunder 50 head and it looked fairly flimsy and loads of wires all over the place. 

ICBM

Danny1969 said:

What about Engl amps, made by German craftsmen !! I don't think I've seen a valve amp as poorly put together as the Savage 120

I was working on a Powerball this week… give me a Chinese Bugera any day.

Maynehead

For amps, no problem. An amp is just a collection of (probably Chinese) parts bolted together anyway. There's no craftsmanship involved.

Guitars however I would definitely care a lot more. A couple of low frets or a misshapened neck can make all the difference between a great guitar and a terrible one.

digitalscream

Danny1969 said:

What about Engl amps, made by German craftsmen !! I don't think I've seen a valve amp as poorly put together as the Savage 120

Oh god, you've reminded me. I had a Framus Cobra which literally fell apart as I took the front panel off.

fretmeister

ICBM said:

Danny1969 said:

What about Engl amps, made by German craftsmen !! I don't think I've seen a valve amp as poorly put together as the Savage 120

I was working on a Powerball this week… give me a Chinese Bugera any day.

A mate has the Plexi tribute bugera (Infinitum?) and uses it for bass. Sounds amazing.

zepp76

fretmeister said:

ICBM said:

Danny1969 said:

What about Engl amps, made by German craftsmen !! I don't think I've seen a valve amp as poorly put together as the Savage 120

I was working on a Powerball this week… give me a Chinese Bugera any day.

A mate has the Plexi tribute bugera (Infinitum?) and uses it for bass. Sounds amazing.

I had a V22 that did me proud for a couple of years without problems. I gave it to my nephew and it's still going strong, great amps.

Bridgehouse

I bloody love my Jet City. Won't bother with another guitar amp. It's more than enough amp for my playing ability - and the fact it's made in China makes not one jot of difference.