EXPcustom":3br266dx said:
311splawndude":3br266dx said:
cardinal":3br266dx said:
Cameron stuff obviously has baggage, and it seems understandable for people to be upset over pretty much anything he does.
But it has seemed that the forum has been a bit negative lately. It used to be just a wild amp-flipping celebration of kick ass gear, expensive or not. Seems different lately. I know at least one guy who has an undeniably killer amp but decided not to post it because he figured he'd actually get bashed for it since "it's too expensive" or whatever.
I totally agree. Except I honestly believe things have been very positive around here lately. There was a time when there were all kinds of shitstorm threads revolving around Blades, Phaez, pedal builders, CharvelWho, Bugera and of course Cameron. I think Brad at one point banned all Cameron threads and tried to shut that down. Can't blame him.
BTW - I think EXPCustom is trying to do the right thing by getting Mark busy again. But at 2 per year it could be awhile - if I read that right.
Just sayin'
Just to clarify a few things, It's not 2 amps per a year, most of the amps we do are straight custom orders for individual buyers so the only amps you guys actually see are if the original buyer backs out so we just put it up for general sale. We are not making amps at a Bogner or Friedman rate but once we do and get the CCV into production the intent is to reimburse those owed amps.
I have stayed in touch with the original buyers of the CCVs to keep them up to date and many will be receiving either an amp or cash refund once those go back into production.
Our first regular production product will be coming in the next 4-6 weeks and will be Mark's plug in module that I think many will be impressed with. If that one is successful then we hope to ramp up production of regular amps including CCVs.
If someone wants to produce the CCVs for us well then they can send me a private message here and we will got the ball rolling. Problem is many contract manufacturers no longer have the soldering skill set available in the USA since this type of production went over seas for most companies in the last 10-15 years.
This leaves Mark and I in a position that we have to hire and train such employees one at a time and hope the turn over rate isn't too high.
I know lots of people think pizza jokes and why isn't he building CCVs right now comments are funny or proactive, but they really aren't because we need funds to be able to establish a production line. Most of you don't know that Barrang went bankrupt mid production and sold off many of the CCV components and schematics that I was franticly buying back from electronics recyclers in the state with my own personal money to hopefully make something happen with the Cameron brand.
Hope this answers most of the posters comments in this thread.
I think there is something missing here. You mention trying to buy parts back. Aside from the PCB's and the cosmetics, there is nothing in these amps that cannot be gotten off the shelf. I assume the gerber files for the PCBs, if not originally designed by Mark, would be the hardest to recreate. That said, guys at the sloclone forum are knocking out PCB designs for equally complex amps with 100 percent accuracy. So, I dont agree that construction or components are the issue here. Look, Mark is brilliant, just not brilliant at business. The music market is brutal, and Mark isn't the only big name to fail. It's far beyond the technical side. And no offense to you Jason, your heart's seems to be in the right place, but more people fail than succeed. Financially you need to be able to fund the upfront costs and also keep the lights on , buy equipment, be prepared to do repairs or even RMA an amp or 2. This is hard for companies to do let alone 2 people. And what's been said, California is probably the most expensive place to pull this off. Bogner couldn't do it without Jorg, Friedman needs BAD. Fortin (don't get me started) is a hype machine that makes people pay upfront so he can outsource the builds. I believe the bridges that are needed to make this work have been burned, unless there is significant upfront funding. Just my 2 cents.
The reality is that the only way to mass produce while keeping prices within market and make profit, is to outsource. Please tell who isn't doing that to a degree? Unfortunately the consumer places little value on the mom and pop custom market anymore. I would say that Marks easiest and most inexpensive way back into to market, would be single channel amps based on the mods that made him. Most of what he would need including boards, chassis, and headshells are easy to obtain from multiple sources
I will also say, stop worrying about people stealing the circuits. That's been done already, and people will.always prefer the amp from the big name over the clone. It's just wasted effort and unneccessary stress. Friedman's amps got completely dissected and shared. He joined in on the discussion s and didn't fight it. In the end, he's successfully as ever.
