why doesnt ebmm make amps anymore

[bluebullet]

just wondering why they stopped and if any thought has been given to making them again .

 

[slukather]

I'm not sure why they don't make them anymore, l think the amps where a part of the Music Man name, and not the Ernie Ball name.

They are very sort after amps though.

But l think they have their hands full just making guitars/accessories, and why would they want to compete with Mesa Boogie, Marshall, Peavey etc etc etc.

Just my take on it.

Scott.

 

[Jimi D]

Music Man stopped making amps before Ernie Ball bought the company, if I'm not mistaken... Ernie Ball don't have the manufacturing facilities to build amplifiers - to tool up to do that would be insanely expensive, and they'd end up just another semi-boutique builder in a very crowded market. The only other alternative would be to have the amps built elsewhere and put their name on them. I can't really see them doing either...

 

[John C]

Music Man stopped making amps before Ernie Ball bought the company, if I'm not mistaken... Ernie Ball don't have the manufacturing facilities to build amplifiers - to tool up to do that would be insanely expensive, and they'd end up just another semi-boutique builder in a very crowded market. The only other alternative would be to have the amps built elsewhere and put their name on them. I can't really see them doing either...

Jimi D is correct; I'm all but certain that the Music Man company had gone bankrupt and had ceased production by the time Ernie Ball bought the company in late 1984/early 1985. Ernie Ball bought the name and the guitar designs; I'm not sure if they even bought the amp designs since they only had a guitar production facility (the old Earthwood plant).

For those who are curious, all the original Music Man instruments were built by CLF Research under contract to Music Man. When Tom Walker and Forrest White first approached Leo Fender about forming the company that would become Music Man, Leo was still under his non-compete contract with CBS. Leo had to be a "silent partner" in Music Man until 1975. Leo had sole ownership of CLF Research already and ramped that company up to design and produce the guitars and basses. Music Man had another plant that produced the amp lines.

As the story goes, Leo Fender had a falling out with either Tom Walker (according to Forrest White) or with Forrest White (according to Dale Hyatt and George Fullerton) and sold his shares back to the other two. Leo of course founded G&L Guitars with George Fullerton, and essentially "CLF Research" became "G&L Guitars" - same factory, same people, etc. They made both lines for a couple of years (circa 1981-82) but both parties ended the contract under a cloud as there were issues with improperly installed truss rods on the Music Man necks - problems that were never found on the G&Ls. By 1982 there were no guitars on the Music Man price sheet, only the Sting Ray and "Cutlass" basses.

Here is a link to a very nice user-created site on Music Man amps:

http://www.musicmanamps.com/

As for me; I've travelled an interesting road in this world of gear - in 1981 my rig was a Fender guitar (a Lead II) into a Music Man (RD-50 1-12) amp; as of late 2004 my rig is an EBMM guitar (Silo Special) into a Fender (Deluxe Reverb RI) amp.

 

[Terry Hayes]

Music Man stopped making amps before Ernie Ball bought the company, if I'm not mistaken... Ernie Ball don't have the manufacturing facilities to build amplifiers - to tool up to do that would be insanely expensive, and they'd end up just another semi-boutique builder in a very crowded market. The only other alternative would be to have the amps built elsewhere and put their name on them. I can't really see them doing either...

What about the "Audiophile" series of bass amps? Those were being made quite recently as I recall which means that they would have had the manufacturing facilities.

I think your second reason, the fact that the amp market is so crowded, is the real reason they don't make amps now.

Terry