Carol-Ann Amps Dead?

[MistaGuitah]

Is it true that Carol-Ann amps are no more? Was looking to pull the trigger on a Triptik-2 but found out they're not being made anymore. That's kind of sad because that guy was making some awesome amps.

 

[mixn4him]

Yep for a year or so, supposedly working with Dr Z on a new amp mix of what he did and what Dr Z does tonewise. Lots of info over at TGP...Still amazing amps and easy to work on if you have an issue...

 

[journeyman73]

yep, burned out

 

[BackCrack]

A good friend of mine in Moline, IL that is a very well known and respected guitarist in that Quad Cities region sent Carol Ann money for an amp a few years ago and it never got delivered. No refund was given, either. Communications have been ignored by Carol Ann since the money was received. My buddy has been finding out lately that he's not the only one. Be careful if you're dealing directly with this crook.

 

[mooncobra]

A good friend of mine in Moline, IL that is a very well known and respected guitarist in that Quad Cities region sent Carol Ann money for an amp a few years ago and it never got delivered. No refund was given, either. Communications have been ignored by Carol Ann since the money was received. My buddy has been finding out lately that he's not the only one. Be careful if you're dealing directly with this crook.

wow, that's too bad. this is happening way too much these days within the guitar and amp world.

 

[MistaGuitah]

A good friend of mine in Moline, IL that is a very well known and respected guitarist in that Quad Cities region sent Carol Ann money for an amp a few years ago and it never got delivered. No refund was given, either. Communications have been ignored by Carol Ann since the money was received. My buddy has been finding out lately that he's not the only one. Be careful if you're dealing directly with this crook.

Wow! I haven't heard anything like that before. In fact, I've heard a couple of people in the past talk about driving down to Carol-Ann amps and getting the owner to do mods, updates, and repairs. If this is true then that's not acceptable.

 

[BackCrack]

My buddy has all the emails and receipt to prove it.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

I've heard horror stories about the Carol Ann dude as well - stay away from anything he's doing/or not doing.

 

[311splawndude]

That's news to me. How sad

I'm sure it happens in other industries as well but it is unacceptable regardless. I only really frequent guitar (more gear) forums so I'm not really hip to what other forums/industries this happens in. I am assuming things like custom hotrod'ing (cars/bikes), fashion maybe, artwork, collaboration projects, gunsmiths, things like that?

I'm tempted to make a thread on 'Amp builders to ignore due to thievery' but I know it would turn into a spam fest

 

[Devin]

I’d personally never trust a dude named Carol Ann

 

[rstites]

yep, burned out

According to the posts at TPG it wasn't burn out. It was just that the market had contracted. He shut his doors and went back to work in industry as an engineer. There are two amp builders out there who are degree-holding EE's that i'm aware of and both returned to working as an EE because of pay. I think he's designing PCB's for industrial robots/automation or something akin to that.

Outstanding orders were addressed in the thread over there where he basically said he'd take care of things as he could, but was way too busy to deal daily with amp building. He said something about finishing outstanding orders as he had time. That's been a while, so it's unfortunate if he still hasn't taken care of everything.

 

[japetus]

There are builders and people in general who think it's still 1985, and if they mess up/screw someone over, they can just "lay low and let it all pass by". Sadly for them, the internet is real and never forgets...and it will never go away. Usually, it just gets worse.

 

[LP Freak]

I never got into the holier than thou attitude he spewed.

 

[journeyman73]

yep, burned out

According to the posts at TPG it wasn't burn out. It was just that the market had contracted. He shut his doors and went back to work in industry as an engineer. There are two amp builders out there who are degree-holding EE's that i'm aware of and both returned to working as an EE because of pay. I think he's designing PCB's for industrial robots/automation or something akin to that.

Outstanding orders were addressed in the thread over there where he basically said he'd take care of things as he could, but was way too busy to deal daily with amp building. He said something about finishing outstanding orders as he had time. That's been a while, so it's unfortunate if he still hasn't taken care of everything.

in don't deny that the general market backdrop was an issue - if you look at some of Alan's other TGP posts, however, he himself admits to not enjoying the process of dealing with customers, dealers, orders, etc and used the term 'burnout', himself.

that was more what I was referring to.

Separately, it was very clear over the last couple years the tonality of his responses spoke to lack of passion and enjoyment that was more recently lacking compared to when he started. He was a bit of an a**hole sometimes, frankly, even when addressing supposed lack of delivery on orders.

I don't doubt at all the post above that suggests someone (and maybe some others) are getting shafted.

 

[MistaGuitah]

My buddy has all the emails and receipt to prove it.

I don't doubt you, just never heard a cross word about them until now. Apparently there are a number of people with similar experiences. That sucks. Thievery in the amp business is infuriating. It doesn't look like they posted anything in the Carol-Ann forum here on Rig-Talk so maybe they did cut and run. It would be good of those guys put out a statement to the forum and made everything right with the people who paid them.

 

[Goat]

Next to Dave Tarnowski of ADA, Carol-Ann was the worst builder experience I've ever had.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

I’d personally never trust a dude named Carol Ann

 

[rstites]

in don't deny that the general market backdrop was an issue - if you look at some of Alan's other TGP posts, however, he himself admits to not enjoying the process of dealing with customers, dealers, orders, etc and used the term 'burnout', himself.

that was more what I was referring to.

Separately, it was very clear over the last couple years the tonality of his responses spoke to lack of passion and enjoyment that was more recently lacking compared to when he started. He was a bit of an a**hole sometimes, frankly, even when addressing supposed lack of delivery on orders.

I don't doubt at all the post above that suggests someone (and maybe some others) are getting shafted.

To be clear, I'm not arguing for him. I really know nothing about the company or the man. I was just giving my recollection, which admittedly isn't perfect!

 

[journeyman73]

in don't deny that the general market backdrop was an issue - if you look at some of Alan's other TGP posts, however, he himself admits to not enjoying the process of dealing with customers, dealers, orders, etc and used the term 'burnout', himself.

that was more what I was referring to.

Separately, it was very clear over the last couple years the tonality of his responses spoke to lack of passion and enjoyment that was more recently lacking compared to when he started. He was a bit of an a**hole sometimes, frankly, even when addressing supposed lack of delivery on orders.

I don't doubt at all the post above that suggests someone (and maybe some others) are getting shafted.

To be clear, I'm not arguing for him. I really know nothing about the company or the man. I was just giving my recollection, which admittedly isn't perfect!

Fair enough

 

[mentoneman]

No comment on his business practices because i have no experience with that but the OD2r i owned was one of the best sounding and feeling amps i’ve ever had.