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obviously missed this way back when....
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/45092/buggera-behringer-have-an-original-idea-not
is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?
With respect, I don't think that's a very good attitude to new buyers - I saw too much of that when I worked in an old-fashioned general musical instrument shop which sold a lot of low-end guitar gear… 'it doesn't matter if it's crap, they don't know the difference'. They may not - yet. But when they do they will most likely never buy that brand again.
I also think it's daft to force more experienced buyers to pay for a speaker they know they will replace immediately at even more outlay, even if it doesn't lose the sale in the first place. If they don't want to price the whole series higher, maybe they should offer a factory upgrade option (at a price, of course)?
But since I'm always Mr. Grumpy, on a positive note at least they haven't moved to control panels to the top, as seems to be the unaccountably popular retro fashion now , and the styling seems to have been improved overall - the new grille, knobs and more textured vinyl look classier.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
They then get fatigued with the muffled sound they get, have bad thoughts on blackstar and don't buy it anymore.
My point is more that the 70/80 sounds awful in it. Dark, Muffled, no punch and low sensitivity.
But almost any other compatible celsestion or WGS speaker in it and something is improved. I'm amazed more companies don't go with a Celsetion V (not v30) as standard.
The difference in cost between the speakers discussed here would be much less than £10 at OEM prices. I think the extra £10 was on the retail price.
My main gripe with the HT40 was incredibly small size of the output transformer; it's smaller than the OT in the Orange Tiny Terror! It can't pass a clean 100Hz full power sine wave with obvious signs of saturation.
Companies don't even have to be in the business of selling sweatshop clothing to run a huge manufacturing cost to retail cost ratio. As I said, things like Rolex watches are classic examples of Veblen goods, where the value people put on them is determined by the price asked, which actually bears no relationship whatsoever to the manufacturing cost. The reality is that watches such as Rolex are entirely made on automated machines at a low cost, and for many cheaper brands 'Swiss Made' means little, with imported parts being used which are then assembled in Switzerland, hence earning both the 'Swiss made' label and a tasty margin. The name of the game is marketing, and it is pretty common these days for companies to spend more on marketing than actually manufacturing the goods they sell!
I would be very surprised if the unit manufacturing cost of a mass-produced amp such as a Blackstar wasn't less than 10% of the retail price, especially given that most (all?) of then seem to be made in China. (Does anyone know if some are still made in Korea?)
From my knowledge of the economics of guitar amps made in China the ratio is much nearer to 5:1 cost to retail.
Margins are pretty slim in musical instrument retail; there are simply too many companies competing in a pretty static market.
Some watches will have a lot more hand finishing such as Patek Philippe, but look at the joke pricing. It is also possible to buy a genuinely craftsman made Swiss watch, but most look appallingly garish and can cost a couple of million pounds!
On the other hand, if you really want a clockwork watch why not get something like a Seiko 5 military at £60 or so? It will still tick and is still made from little cogs and springs!
Then there's the shipping, valve amps are large and heavy compared to normal consumer objects.
Out of interest, why would anyone want a watch with hand-made parts?
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Rolex manufacture is a lot more hands on than you make out. Probably worth a look at the factory visit by Hodinkee (towards the bottom of the page).
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/inside-rolex
Re the Seiko 5, I am a big fan of Seiko but to lump a 5 in with a Rolex because it has cogs and springs is like lumping a Ford Fiesta in with a Rolls Royce. Same sort of bits.
Although I don't see how alluding to watchmaking has any bearing on amp manufacture TBH.
Two very different industries.
Clearly there are differences of opinion as to where manufacturers cut production costs but generally it seems clear, cut them they must. The there is the point that even the 70/80 is not UNIVERSALLY hated! (tho' I haven't seen a good word yet for the Rocket except as an expedient for IC!)
As we have drifted way OT with timepieces, can I come came slightly to an historical electronics matter? I 'lived through' the transistor era. Valves were king in radios etc and then sstate components began to appear and all Silicon audio gear, radio grams, low end 'hi fi' was made. Along with this revolution came RF susceptibility . Living only a score of miles from both Ruby and Daventy I had weekly complaints of Home Service breakthough . Then bloody taxis got VHF AM radios!
Nightmare but fixable with an R and a cap at the front end in most cases. When we talked to the makers about fitting such filters at the production stage..."Ooo! Too costly. Would make the kit POUNDS more expensive!"
So, even a resistor and a cap' at probably no more than $1 per 100 would, in their view, make the kit un competitive. NOW of course we have legislation and EM testing. You have to FORCE the b'std! 'Market Forces' won't do it. They also screamed Stuck Pig but we got moulded mains plugs as well. (tho' I understand some importers try to dodge packing the right mains plug? THAT will get worse if we ever DO leave the EU)
Dave.
I think watches came up, in another thread as well, raised by me, about the perception of quality with expensive guitar kit.
There is a thread going on at the minute where comments like "I don't think I could spend 10k on a guitar, though I can easily afford it" have been made (presumably typing while balancing a laptop on a prole) and it made me realise that just like mentioned in here, as well as being musical instruments, guitars are "veblen goods" - nobody needs this ridiculous high-end kit, not even a little bit. Demand is created by the price itself allied with a perception of the product conferring elite status.
My POV, people work hard and like a bit of luxury now and then, whether it be a Les Paul Custom, Rolex watch, an expensive amp or whatever takes their fancy. It's like, "I'm worth it".
Too many times these "veblen goods" debates end up in inverse snobbery or simply bitterness and jealously.
People don't always want to lead a grey existence, they don't want to eat the cheapest food, drive the cheapest car and live in the cheapest house and if a luxury purchase makes them feel good or is an ambition fulfilled good luck to them IMO.