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Fixed. They simply don't give a shit about anyone's ideas, period. Why companies continue to have a love fest with China is beyond me. Cheap manufacturing? Yay! Rampant theft of ideas/designs/etc? Oh well!
It's pretty easy to see why. The use of Chinese labor saves them X amount of money. Chines copies of their product loses the company Y amount of money. However with most big companies having a huge part of their budget devoted to marketing to the US and Europe and the Chinese companies do not, these copies never really get much recognition in the US or Europe, so if X is greater than Y, it's a good idea to them.
 
lol, so I'm taking it that buying one of these would be frowned upon then?

Would it not be right to have the attitude screw them that's what they get for outsourcing???? Once again...just curios.
 
Right? Oh, I guess making Chinese companies go through the effort of reverse engineering our products was just too cruel to the developing world. I know, let's just hand them all the specs! :facepalm:
That's probably why Randall hasn't done an MIC Mesa. Well, that and a big sense of pride, which is IMO a good thing.

lol, so I'm taking it that buying one of these would be frowned upon then?

Would it not be right to have the attitude screw them that's what they get for outsourcing???? Once again...just curios.
That would be a shitty attitude. Just because they outsource to China doesn't mean they necessarily deserve to be ripped off. Last I looked there wasn't a deluge of Mexican strat replicas not carrying the Fender name.
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
To be honest "originality" is'nt that much of a word in the guitar world. Look at how many established/respected names are pretty much identical strat copies, LP copies etc (albeit with a slightly different headstock for respectability & their own "identity" lol). As for amps, early Peaveys were reverese engineered Marshall's, early Marshall's/Traynor's were reverese engineered Fender Bassman's and so on...

This amp is pretty much a different sounding beast. It definately does'nt sound like my H&K (or an Engl). Does it look like one? Sure, there's an obvious similarity, Just like there are plenty of "highly desireable", "respected/custom/boutique" amps out there (costing mega $$$$) that look like Marshall's & Fenders" (and sound like them too).

It was the same with Japan/Japanese products in the 70's/80's. Nowadays the "MIJ" tag commands respect (and a high price) but it was'nt always that way. Guyatone amps were exact Fender replica's. Ibanez and other manufacturers had their fair share of "lawsuit" models many of which are highly prized collector's items these days etc.

In the end if it sounds good and is well built, who cares what it was "inspired" by & whaere it was made..lol.

This thing might have been MIC & cost $156/- but I would rather buy it (based on what it sounds like) over 99% of the other lunch box heads out there, even if price was'nt an issue. The orange Dark Terror being probably the only other head, I'd consider "as well" ..(I'd still want both..lol)
 
That's probably why Randall hasn't done an MIC Mesa. Well, that and a big sense of pride, which is IMO a good thing.
Soldano didnt outsource to china but mesa borrowed a lot of the SLO with the original rectifier design
All that the amp world is and always has been is copying.

Every amp ever made can be traced back to old hifi/radio designs.

The only think i would be concerned about with these chinese amps is the fact that the safety regulations in china are fairly different to elsewhere in the world.

There was those Wangs amps a year or so back and they had so many shady build practices going on that theres probably a 60% chance it will set your house on fire or kill your dog!
 
That's probably why Randall hasn't done an MIC Mesa. Well, that and a big sense of pride, which is IMO a good thing.
Actually, Randall Smith is very clear and upfront about having no desire to plunge into the lower cost, import amp market. He refuses to put his company's name on anything not made in his factory, and he has no desire to compete in the "entry level" or lower range of the market. That's why his cheapest amps are around a grand: sure, they might not have the features of the marquis Recto and Mark lines, but they're still built by the same guys with the same components/materials from the same supply chain.

He's actually seems like a fascinating person to interview, since he really has quantified his art into something reproducible. He approaches amp design like a boutique builder, and then he spends a lot of R&D time figuring out how to build a PC board amp that sounds identical (sonically, and to an oscilloscope) to the point-to-point wired amp he just created. Then, he can ramp up the large production line to churn them out. Why would he fuck with that formula for $500 amps?

That would be a shitty attitude. Just because they outsource to China doesn't mean they necessarily deserve to be ripped off. Last I looked there wasn't a deluge of Mexican strat replicas not carrying the Fender name.
That's Chinese law; any company that wants to do business in China must forfeit their intellectual property to the Chinese government. That is why certain technology--like encryption and security--are considered as munitions by the US government, and are illegal for export to countries on the hostile list.

Considering this amp is just a rip off of another company's design, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. There is no way I'm going to import a ripoff product, without a warranty, from a foreign country where I have no legal recourse. Anyone who buys one of these is taking a huge risk.
 
Soldano didnt outsource to china but mesa still ripped off the SLO witht he original rectifier and adding a few extra bits.

All that the amp world is and always has been is copying.

Every amp ever made can be traced back to old hifi/radio designs.

The only think i would be concerned about with these chinese amps is the fact that the safety regulations in china are fairly different to elsewhere in the world.

There was those Wangs amps a year or so back and they had so many shady build practices going on that theres probably a 60% chance it will set your house on fire or kill your dog!
The amp design world is a small, tight-knit community based upon admiration and mutual respect. Dig back far enough, and everyone is ripping off Leo Fender, including (and especially) Jim Marshall.

Sure, Randall Smith (and Hartley Peavey, for that matter) "ripped off" the Soldano SLO preamp design. A design that Mike Soldano based on a lot of the work Randall Smith did on the Mark series, most notably the concept of the cascading gain preamp. I really do love the amp design world for this reason, since everyone building upon the advancements of everyone else has kept innovation high. There are tons of awesome amp choices on the market right now, while one could argue that the guitar world hasn't advanced as far from the original Fender Strat as the amp world has progressed beyond the Fender Bassman.
 
The amp design world is a small, tight-knit community based upon admiration and mutual respect. Dig back far enough, and everyone is ripping off Leo Fender, including (and especially) Jim Marshall.

Sure, Randall Smith (and Hartley Peavey, for that matter) "ripped off" the Soldano SLO preamp design. A design that Mike Soldano based on a lot of the work Randall Smith did on the Mark series, most notably the concept of the cascading gain preamp. I really do love the amp design world for this reason, since everyone building upon the advancements of everyone else has kept innovation high. There are tons of awesome amp choices on the market right now, while one could argue that the guitar world hasn't advanced as far from the original Fender Strat as the amp world has progressed beyond the Fender Bassman.
Exactly. It's all give and take and it often yields excellent results.

And most of all it gives me a great hobby!

If you think about it analogue technology as a whole hasnt really advanced much design wise but as you said the innovations keep everything interesting and fresh feeling.
 
Anyone who buys one of these is taking a huge risk.
160$ ???? Not really a huge risk...lol...i mean if it shits out...oh well....I spent what amounts to about a Saturdays night bar tab :lol: If it works fine and sounds killer....:winning:!!!!
 
So, are you saying it was $160, including shipping and import tariffs? There is no way I am trusting a tube amp that is that cheap, especially when it looks like a knockoff of a brand known for catching on fire. :lol:
 
I think it would be about 300$ after all said and done...still not bad though...I'd risk it. :lol:
 
For $300, I'd rather have a Jet City, Blackstar, or used Peavey Classic 30 and at least get something that won't explode and has a full manufacturer's warranty.
 
Oh no's It gonna exploded!!! C'mon man... :lol:
 
160$ ???? Not really a huge risk...lol...i mean if it shits out...oh well....I spent what amounts to about a Saturdays night bar tab :lol: If it works fine and sounds killer....:winning:!!!!
No, I think he means it's literally a risk.....to your life. When it blows up and/or burns your house down. :rofl:
 
Yeah I got that...:squint: I think it's absurd to think that while I'm playing it it's going to burst in to flame and kill my family. I'll be sure to unplug it when not in use....:lol:
 
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