A Shameless Ribbing, on the Cygnus Amp

[Cygnus X1]

This makes a total of two guys who have bought the amps that I sold.
Both have hinted..."sounds great".

But only after prodding, poking, and the first guy is a total mystery.
I don't expect people to fall over the cliff and rave, but do I really have to put out PM's and ask for an opinion?

I have had some people field test them, again..."sounds great!". I expect to get some consturctive criticism...like,
"it could be more..." fill in the blank.

Fugget.

They haven't been sent back, so I will just keep holding this line.
I love mine, and I guess I shouldn't change anything.

This guy is no pro, just putting something out there for feedback-but if it's great, I won't do anything but keep building them as is.

[DonP]

I've had the same issues when I made my amps. I just said fuck it and make what sounds good to me.

[Cygnus X1]

I've had the same issues when I made my amps. I just said fuck it and make what sounds good to me.

Maybe we should just make one for each other and throw bricks with no fear?

I respect your opinion, Don.
Sounds like a plan!

[Newc]

On one hand, if you hear no complaints, then you did something right. Especially with this bunch and how they love to complain

On the other hand, if no one posts a review of it, there may be a problem. Some people are a bit wary of posting constructive criticism as you never know how the builder is going to take it.


However, I'd say it also depends on the features. What can be said about a power amp besides "sounds great" or "meh"?
If it's a full featured head with 2 or more channels and EQ and all that, then yeah I'd expect more comments, maybe a review.


When I bought Pete's 4watt Twister proto, I ran everything I had through it (MP-1, POD, GSP21 Legend, etc) and even recorded some clips and posted them. I thought it was (and still is) a great power amp.

But I know jack shit about power amps, so if it amplifies signal, it's good


But yeah, if someone who has experience with a few amps bought one from you, they should at least post a review. It could be that you're doing one tiny thing wrong electrically (a math error?) and it sounds like ass. Correct that one error and you could be the next Jim Marshall. But unless someone tells you, you could be making the exploding Laneys like Iommi used

[Cygnus X1]

Good points Newc.
Thank you.

How's the safety thing going?
I'm now a full time departmental safety guy.
Largely training and paperwork.
I wisely keep the compliance business up to the uppers who are paid to worry about it.
So far, so good. 10K monthly bonus payouts, only one accident for the year to report to OSHA.

[Axewielder]

A lot of guys, myself included, aren't capable of writing a detailed amp review. I really am amazed at people who have good enough ears to do that. I wouldn't sweat it.

[Newc]

The safety stuff went great - we got our 2 million man-hours and had a steak dinner at werk.

While we're the 4th facility to reach 2M, we also have fewer people, so that means it took us 9 years to get it whereas the others that had hundreds of people got theirs over the course of only 2 or 3 years.

We're doing Behavior Based Safety training, or trying to. We're just now getting back into regular production and hiring temps, but we're still under-manned, so almost everyone that's still here has been there at least a couple of years and been through all the safety stuff.



Axe - Writing style and composition isn't judged here. All that matters is your honest opinion of it. Can't really compare a small/new builder to an established boutique amp any more than you could compare either one to an off-the-shelf amp anyone could buy at GC, but that's not what's important. Judge the amp on its own merits - features, functionality (i.e. great for Blues and Jazz but struggles with heavier/louder music, or vise-versa), and build quality (wobbles on its own, cabinet coming apart, tolex peeling off, unit gets too hot, etc).

Sound quality will vary from cabinet to cabinet and speaker type/brand, and the tone of anything is always subjective, but a miked cabinet clip couldn't hurt. If you've got different cabs to try it with, do so.

[Cygnus X1]

The safety stuff went great - we got our 2 million man-hours and had a steak dinner at werk.

While we're the 4th facility to reach 2M, we also have fewer people, so that means it took us 9 years to get it whereas the others that had hundreds of people got theirs over the course of only 2 or 3 years.

We're doing Behavior Based Safety training, or trying to. We're just now getting back into regular production and hiring temps, but we're still under-manned, so almost everyone that's still here has been there at least a couple of years and been through all the safety stuff.

Congrats on that!
That is an outstanding achievement.
We are still near #1 in the steel industry, a couple of very small places are beating us by the stats.

We have been doing behavioral based for around 8 years.
The inspiration (I think) was the DuPont STOP card, ours is ORO, where an employee would do an observation of a person doing a job, and check off various points of potential danger, or safety.
Naturally, not everyone takes well to that approach on either side.
So we also have the card. The card can be used many ways, even a compliment on going above and beyond on a safe act. Some use it as a "rat" card...but that will always happen. I handle all of that info, and if it is something that amounts to a "near miss", then it doesn't go into the system, it gets elevated into the near miss process, with an "investigation".
It works overall, but I have a lot of issues with it.
We will be visiting the Honda plant in Timmonsville SC to see how they are dealing with it.

Again, congratulations on the safe hours.
We are paying FAR more than that for far less in numbers.
But it is justified through savings in premiums and potential OSHA fines.

[hippietim]

Cyg - I've told you so many times to run it up here and I'll give you some feedback and put in front of other guys that will as well. And I'll post it anywhere you want.

[Cygnus X1]

Cyg - I've told you so many times to run it up here and I'll give you some feedback and put in front of other guys that will as well. And I'll post it anywhere you want.

I would Tim, but I keep getting rid of them!
Stalled on the next one-I'm toying with a Tweed Deluxe and a Masco 2x6L6 PA amp.

[DonP]

Some people are a bit wary of posting constructive criticism as you never know how the builder is going to take it.

I thought the gloves came off after the Blazer shotgun incident?

[jgcable]

Cyg, send one to Tim or to Pete. If they give it the thumbs up you are good to go around here.