Peter Diezel":1j6vu7t8 said:
Thank you so much for the comments, guys.
I´m playing around with a 22 watt / 2 channel amp.
Digital spring reverb simulation which sounds very
close to a Accutronics reverb can.
No midi but it´s easy to use external switchers or
switching jacks from effect units.
Silent recording and half power switch for the home
and studio users. Recording out with or without IR´s .
Combo version should have no more than 12 kg.
Big problem is the design and the Diezel logo.
Any suggestions ? How to get the young and
old customers ?
Peter, I think the Schmidt is a fantastic amp. I think the logo is great just like it is. The Fokker is a great looking amp too. I'd hate to see the Schmidt go away. I think a couple of improvements could bring it up in a big way. Three things I hear people say about the Schmidt is that it needs a presence, depth, and 1/2 power switch. I know your products are worth the price, and so do most of the people on this forum, but I think the Schmidt is a hard sale at $3500 to everyone else in the world. Take off the 3rd channel and put a simple gain boost and mark the Schmidt at $2500. Somehow you have to have the features and bring the price down without sacrificing quality.
A 22w amp sound OK, but I'm done with small tubes. There have been some low power amps with bigger bottle tubes that have come out which are great. Soldano made the Hot Rod 25 with 5881's, Marshall made the 5w Slash combo with a single EL34, Blackstar makes a 20w head with a pair of EL34's which sounds great. Man a loud-enough 20w amp with KT77's or 6550's would be cool. What I don't want is a low power head that's only good for home and barely cuts it for band practice. The Friedman Pink Taco is a 20w amp that can get freaking loud. You can actually gig with that thing. That's the kind of low power amp I like where you can go from home playing to bar gigs.
Man if you think about it, you have monster 100 watt and 100+ watt heads and no 50w. The Einstein used to come in 50w and it was really great. It would be cool if there was a 50w Lil Fokker for $1999.
From my observation and experience, good quality audio and video are the biggest things people want. They want to know what an amp sounds like dry with no effects, with a strat and a les pau, how much clean headroom, how much gain. People want to hear what they sound like playing classical, blues, jazz, rock, metal, and lead tones. Also, if the player is too good, people won't buy into it as much because great players sound good on any amp. If the player is not good enough, he won't do the amp justice.
A lot of it really does come down to price too. People don't want to buy Chinese stuff, but we can't necessarily afford $4000 amps. MIDI and all those channel features are great for flagship amps like the Herbert, VH4, Hagen, etc..., but most people don't need 180 watt heads with 4 channels and a $900 midi foot switch. The D-Moll was a good step, but still a bit out-of-league for the average dude. The Lil Fokker is a great amp and much more agreeable price point, but no 50w version. Plus, I think the Fokker makes some people feel like they're settling for less in order to afford a Diezel. That's why I think it's best to avoid describing it as "stripped down." It is what it is and it offers more than many expensive boutique amps, so leave it at that when you market it.
Well that's my 2 cents.
