maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
I am really starting to like this guy Billy Blades. I emailed him a few times about his amps a while back and he seemed pretty awesome to me. Yeah maybe a little out there but I probably am as well.
Cool - his approach and marketing are appealing to you.
And yours is definitely not. 
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
The truth is.....None of you guys know...That is the truth...
No, that is not true. There are three things that are indisputable. He sold someone a prototype that was a fire and electrocution risk (I say this as someone who builds amps who could clearly see this in the pictures) and secondly, he conned some knowledgable guys on a forum to provide him with schematics and guidance based explicitly on the idea that he was building one for himself because he had been ripped off and that he would not use the info to start a business, which he clearly did. Finally, he bad mouths his competitors without any real facts online by name, which is just ridiculous. He also uses their product names to market his own products, implying you get the same thing for less, which is really bad form.
I am aware of the prototype. He obviously had no business selling it without full disclosure but my guess is he still had alot to learn at that point. This was beaten to death in the other 48 page thread.
I am unaware of conning any forum guys. Did he Con you? If not it is hearsay.
I am also unaware of him bad mouthing competitors and if he did (which no I do not care to take the time to look as you very well may recommend) Then I would assume he had a reason to bad mouth them?
Who knows he could just be a douchebag. Oh well his amp sounds good on You tube.
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
Maybe everything Blades says is a lie, maybe he is pathological.
In..
Could be, but it really doesn't matter. Folks who buy into his martyr/savior marketing and can ignore the indisputable facts mentioned will do business with him. More power to him, as I said.
Correct, It doesn't matter. I couldn't care less.
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
But maybe he did talk to Jose, Maybe he did get screwed over by a builder, maybe he did see an unfair monopoly in "botique" amplifiers.
It is theoretically possible he talked with Jose as I said, and perhaps a builder did screw him over. This whole unfair monopoly in "boutique" amplifiers is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. The information, schematics, everything that Billy used to build his amps is in MANY people's heads and no one is telling them they can't start an amp business. In addition, no one is being forced to buy anyone's amps, so where is the monopoly?
I am not going to debate on this topic. Idk how much it costs to make an amp but I do feel $3,600 is completely insane to ask of someone unless you are doing something revolutionary.
And yes no one is forced to buy anything. I guess that is why people like Blades stepped up to the plate and obviously it's pissing all of the amp builders off.
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
At the end of the day no one will know for sure except those involved so if you are going to base your judgement on Politics. Than I think you are an idiot too
Well... I've clearly pointed out indisputable facts that can easily be researched if you want to.
I did not see you point out any facts of any political adgenda's or Facts of Blades not talking to Jose, only hearsay and a comment about 1 prototype.
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
If an amp sounds good it sounds good. Blades may have had a few hiccups along the way. He may not be "cool with the in crowd" but he's got an amp that sounds pretty damn good to me.
If his amps appeal to you, you believe them to be high quality and you can ignore the indisputable facts, then grab one, by all means. The guy is here to meet your needs.
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
Let's break it down. Friedman Brown Eye is $3,600, Bray 100 is about $3k fully loaded, Bogner Helios is $2,850 and the Blades 100W are about $2k.
Once again, if you think his amps can equal the tone and high quality work of these other builders grab one! Others have a different opinion and will buy from the other folks
I actually said his tone was....are you ready... BETTER than the Brown EYE 
I know I can't beleive I said it.
Again, based off you tube clips which I understand may differ but I would actually assume that ANY Friedman amp has much better build quality, parts and years more knowledge and experience than any Blades amp.
But lucky for me I prefer good tone above anything else.
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
So it is in fact cheaper than all of the competition. I am sure there are many other amps out there that I am not mentioning but if he can sell an all american made amp at $2k and we all know he is surely making a profit....That maybe he is right. Maybe the big guys are really bending people over?
You say you are sure he is making a profit. How can you be sure? He might just be an idiot who isn't accounting for his personal labor costs, R&D, ongoing support, advertising, etc and is actually losing money because he is assuming his profit is the difference between what he's paying for the parts and third party labor costs and what he's charging for the completed amps. Maybe the big boys are actually running P&Ls and are charging what they have to to make a profit taking all this (and more) into account in their pricing and they have been and will continue to be around for that reason. Maybe when you need warranty work, they will be around and he won't. Ever think of that?
Very good points, if he is losing money and thinks he is making money than he is a complete idiot and would go OOB and people would not get a warranty service. Very good point. Normally I would say that is hearsay as well but you build amps so I assume you know how much cost goes into building an amp regardless of the quality of the parts used.Or not, who knows...
One thing I'll say is that my amp is a two channel amp with much higher quality parts, cosmetics, chassis, transformers, etc and it is priced accordingly. My new 50W single channel will be priced in the ball park of Blades amps and it will be built with the same high quality components, cosmetics, transformers, etc. as my flagship 2 channel amp. So, it would be good to at least compare apples to apples when talking price. Some of the amps you mentioned the prices of are two channel amps as well...
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
All I have are you tube videos to judge but I am with True Tone. The Firebolt sounds pretty fucking amazing for this kind of an amp. I actually liked it better than the clips I have heard of the Brown Eye which is about $1,600 more. Maybe I was listening to the wrong clips but until I can play one I can't judge and I have learned to not buy something for the name or for the politics.
As you said, tone is subjective and maybe there is a reason for the price difference when you are running a real P&L and not running by the seat of your pants...
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
Ban me now and I will accept it proudly.
Why would anyone ban you for having an opinion?
maddnotez":5nh5pkgl said:
#Billyblades for Governor.
Ok, I guess.
I will put all of the rest of these into one because the cut paste/sectional thing is hurting my head.
It is obvious you are taking quite a bit of offense for someone thinking a Blades amp sounds better than a Brown Eye. Maybe even taking some personal offense because you build amps as well and feel Blades is a Con and you are more noble than he is but IMO I did not compare apples to apples.
I compared a few guitar amps. I am that guy who does not give 1 short and curly how many channels your 18 Channel Randall with 35 transformers has. If I had that amp I would probably use 1 channel for the stuff I play and roll my volume down for some cleans.
I do understand the cost of having more channels and having "superior" parts but if the end result is a better tone. I do not care if a gang of child molestors made the amp. I do not care if 7 year old slaves in cambodia are building and dying from building that amp and as I once told you Steve I do not care if you punch babies and shit on my car. If you got good tone you got good tone and to ME...that is all that matters.
Also the Billy Blades for Gov. was clearly a joke, the fact that left the "ok, I guess" comment shows me that you are the type of person I do not like. A snooty prick. 
You are the Elitist and try to be in with the "cool crowd" That is why I think you are so offended here. Don't let Mr. Friedman see you hanging out with those Bugera kids.
Or maybe you are offended because Blades knocked it out of the park and you didn't?
Hmm idk, it is getting a bit personal now isn't it?Steve
