Buying Chinese amps - a question of principle.

[Inazone]

Last night, I confirmed that my super-cool ART Eighty/Eighty head is on its last legs. I'm waiting to hear back from ART's tech support as to whether or not they even have the parts to fix it, and am considering my options. I put a lot of money into rack gear in 2006, so at $140, the Eighty/Eighty was going to be my affordable practice-space amp. It ended up sounding really good, so I used it at our last gig and was very happy with it. I was planning to remove it from its shell (the actually amp is a 2U rackmount unit) and rack it up with a HUSH and Furman PL-Tuner. Now, it's worthless, and I have my doubts whether I could get it fixed anywhere else...or for less than the purchase price. Hence, I am exploring other options.

There are some new amps that I could afford, that will meet my requirements, but they are Chinese. Whether it's the $200 Behringer or $400 Peavey...made in China. I still prefer to buy American first, Japanese second, and Korean if all else fails. Am I alone in clinging to this outdated principle? Nothing against Chinese workers, but their government's disregard of patents bothers me, to the point that I avoid buying Chinese products whenever possible. I spent an hour at Target trying to find a space heater that wasn't made in China. No luck. It's starting to look the same way with amps.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

get used to it. and tell all the kids, "good luck with the chinese".

[lerxstcat]

I hope ART can fix it for you. I like my Xtreme a lot, ran it into a friend's old 100 Watt Marshall bass head and a 212 cab the other day and it sounded really good! Your amp is basically a rackmount Xtreme with a stereo power amp, right? You might want to go a little over that $140 you paid if you can have an amp that'll be good for more years. And get a good regulated power supply so shitty power doesn't kill a good amp!

[Spivonious]

You might not be alone, but it's definitely a very small minority.

Do you only buy U.S. made clothing too? I can't remember the last time I bought a shirt and it didn't say "Made in Taiwan" or "Made in Indonesia".

My opinion on your amp situation: if you're debating spending $400 on a new replacement, then I would justify spending up to $400 on getting the ART back on its feet.

[Inazone]

Thom Davis at ART is one of the best tech-support guys on Earth IMO, but he just emailed me back saying that they no longer have parts available with which to repair the DST amps. The unfortunate coincidence in all of this is that the problems started the same night I brought down my Furman and HUSH to run with the ART. It literally was going to be the ideal live rig. I still have one Xtreme (bad power killed my first one - ART stuff is apparently very sensitive to power issues), but both of my Tube EQs are in rough shape. It's getting tough to justify the expense of maintaining my aging gear when I could buy something new with a warranty for the same price.

I guess that it's time to give the Chinese amps a try, if it means getting the features I want for a reasonable price.

[fr0sty]

You could check out Carvin's stuff.

[chrisolson]

There's another ART at Twin Town (or there was not long ago anyway...) - give them a call.

[quiksilver]

I think you're 100% right in your efforts to avoid buying Made In China gear. I try to do the same. I say don't do it. You will have to spend a bit more, but you'll get better gear, and you'll feel better about it.

[UFORocks]

There's a guy here in DE named Dana Sutcliffe, if anyone can get that amp back on its legs he can. Look up DS Music in Newark De, IIRC you can find it on whitepages.com.

It'll probably cost you a few shiny pennies between shipping and repair, but you get what you pay for, you know?

Later,

Steve

[Racerx2k]

I find it to be an outdated principle, personally. Maybe I'd think differently if I was rolling in dough, and could afford to just run out and pay big bucks for whatever I wanted, but I gotta go where the bargains are. Unless I get my hands on a sweet Laney, Marshall, or Carvin, I will more than likely be one of those guys buying a Peavey Valveking head.

[buzzsaww]

Used Carvin, Peavey, Randall, Marshall. Not sure about the last two but the first two were made in the US for a very long time.
Edit, maybe ADA too but you're dealing withn a defunct company there.

[Twisteramps]

I believe the Randall RM100 is made in china, I seem to recall seeing that when I had the chassis out of it.

Pete

[akoch]

"I still prefer to buy American first"

Too little too late, the train has left the station, most likely for good.

[jgcable]

If you are reading this post... you already bought, paid for and are using alot of Chinese made products. YOUR PC!!!!

[Thrust]

That's admirable of you. I'm the same. I WON'T buy a guitar made in Korea or any other country where workers aren't protected by labor laws. Although it's now impossible to avoid, manufacturers outsource their labor to increase profit margins (surplus wealth) with little, if any, regard for the toll it takes on the population here or abroad. The sad thing is, a business owner that has morals and a sense of "pride" cannot adequately compete without outsourcing--either that or develop a niche product (i.e., big $'s). Such are the horrors of free-trade and the bloody nature of capitalism.

Last night, I confirmed that my super-cool ART Eighty/Eighty head is on its last legs. I'm waiting to hear back from ART's tech support as to whether or not they even have the parts to fix it, and am considering my options. I put a lot of money into rack gear in 2006, so at $140, the Eighty/Eighty was going to be my affordable practice-space amp. It ended up sounding really good, so I used it at our last gig and was very happy with it. I was planning to remove it from its shell (the actually amp is a 2U rackmount unit) and rack it up with a HUSH and Furman PL-Tuner. Now, it's worthless, and I have my doubts whether I could get it fixed anywhere else...or for less than the purchase price. Hence, I am exploring other options.

There are some new amps that I could afford, that will meet my requirements, but they are Chinese. Whether it's the $200 Behringer or $400 Peavey...made in China. I still prefer to buy American first, Japanese second, and Korean if all else fails. Am I alone in clinging to this outdated principle? Nothing against Chinese workers, but their government's disregard of patents bothers me, to the point that I avoid buying Chinese products whenever possible. I spent an hour at Target trying to find a space heater that wasn't made in China. No luck. It's starting to look the same way with amps.