Expensive amps with crap graphics and fonts

robinbowes

CloudNine

Moe_Zambeek said:

http://media.reddogmusic.co.uk/images/products/large/374032.jpg

 That Hamstead logo reminds me of an old Vauxhall car badge or something.

ThePrettyDamned

richardhomer said:

The trouble is the best looking amps have been done - Blackface Fenders, Voxes, Marshall, etc all have a 'look' we accept as 'classic'. We accept them without thinking.

So a newer maker is up against it. I like the Matchless logo, Bad Cat looks good - but actually coming up with something distinctive yet classy is probably a tough call.

I agree with @menamestom - the logo would be a long way down my list of things which bother me.

Mesa did okay. As did blackstar. 

And Carr amps look good. Friedmans just look like old marshalls... Which is okay, but it's the wrong name, so it looks more wrong I reckon  than had they done a new design. 

Not that it's easy, of course. Some amps rely on distinctive looks. What was the brand that looked like 50s TV sets. Super cool. On little legs and everything. 

4114Effects

Lebarque said:

Can I expand this to the actual name of amp companies too? As a Copywriter the words mean as much to me as the font and pretty pictures!  

Bad: Bad Cat, Lazy J (don't flame me), Danplifier (sorry, mate), Tone king 
Good: Most amps which use the guy's surname 

How very dare you. :-)

frictionfraction

It's not only the fonts etc but the names. Standing at the top are Friedmans - marketed at middle aged blokes with names thought up by 13 year olds. 55 year old balding flabby middle manager ( yep I know that's half if us) with an amp with Dirty Shirley written across it just looks a twat 

ICBM

Teetonetal said:

Zoolooter said:

If two expensive amps sounded more or less the same - would you buy the one with the crap logo and fonts, or the one that had a bit of thought put into it.

I'd ask @ICBM which was built better and buy that!

lol

Lebarque said:

Bad: Bad Cat, Lazy J (don't flame me), Danplifier (sorry, mate), Tone king 

Danplifier is one of the best!

Agree about the others though.

richardhomer

Lebarque said:

Good: Most amps which use the guy's surname 

Not sure I agree:

Carr - no - because it reminds me of Jimmy Carr.

Freidman - no - because it reminds me of Dean Friedman who recorded the truly awful 'Lucky Stars'

Morgan - no - because it's a very dull name....

FelineGuitars

english_bob said:

revsorg said:

I don't know... I'm currently allowed to keep my Cornell Plexi 7 in the living room.  It's not just that it's smaller than my old Rivera M60

This from the company who used to use Comic Sans on their control panels.

It kind of looks like a Railway station name sign from a bygone ages - maybe something from Pre-nationalised rail network like GWR or suchlike

ICBM

FelineGuitars said:

It kind of looks like a Railway station name sign from a bygone ages - maybe something from Pre-nationalised rail network like GWR or suchlike

I think it's LNER, but my days of serious railway buff-ery are several decades ago now .

professorben

Morgan should join forces with Freidman. 

Dave_Mc

miserneil said:

I'm afraid this logo just screams beginners toy to me.

I'd say that one falls into this category, though:

Zoolooter said:

sweepy said:

Like it or not, many of us find aesthetics important, you might have the sweetest Strat on Earth but if it was puke green etc etc . It always comes across as poor concept when an excellent product is let down by something as trivial as a logo or font 

Totally agree. If an amp is cheap but good, no problem as the cost reflects the product on the inside not the outside.

Zoolooter

Love this at $2500 

http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r766/zoolooter/tex-berniecc-ld_zpsbutpfauv.jpg" 

FelineGuitars

ICBM said:

FelineGuitars said:

It kind of looks like a Railway station name sign from a bygone ages - maybe something from Pre-nationalised rail network like GWR or suchlike

I think it's LNER, but my days of serious railway buff-ery are several decades ago now .

I think you are right, each line had it's own stylings for the most part

Rocker

Just goes to show that Orange got the logo and graphics absolutely spot on.  And they sound great too which is a bit of a bonus.....

Winny_Pooh

I once had a 90's Peavey Classic 50. After 5 mins it was simply a Classic 50. And thats the nicest looking Peavey ever! (Well, the wiggie was cool)

Amps should look sexy, I always loved the Matchless colour options etc. This is my Ceriatone.

http://i.imgur.com/l7l6nQm.jpg

GoldenEraGuitars

I think Tone King have got a great aesthetic going on. Very unique and cool imo.

Any plexi style builder is automatically going to copy marshall. Fair enough. 

For me, Dumble are amongst the least pleasing visually but I suppose if you've made a good sounding amp do you have time to worry about how it looks? Especially if you're a one man band or small company. 

Neil

^^^

Ceriatone Creme Brulee?

It wasn't owned by this bloke was it?

richardhomer

lonestar said:

For me, Dumble are amongst the least pleasing visually

I agree - it's certainly the main reason I haven't bought one.

GoldenEraGuitars

richardhomer said:

lonestar said:

For me, Dumble are amongst the least pleasing visually

I agree - it's certainly the main reason I haven't bought one.

Yeah I mean... the last time I had £20K sitting there I couldn't do it. I certainly didn't want an ugly ass Dumble sitting in my living room!

pintspiller

lonestar said:

richardhomer said:

lonestar said:

For me, Dumble are amongst the least pleasing visually

I agree - it's certainly the main reason I haven't bought one.

Yeah I mean... the last time I had £20K sitting there I couldn't do it. I certainly didn't want an ugly ass Dumble sitting in my living room!

Heaven forbid! It would be like the Mona Lisa - lovely painting of ugly woman.