Whats the deal with Epiphone amps?

[1984 Guy]

I have two VJr's that are lightly modded and I love 'em. I have played the Blues Custom and I really like it! I have also played the SoCal and really dig that to. So why isn't Epiphone pursuing their amp line more? Seems like they just barely get enough attention to keep them going. With so many other amp companies that appear to be doing well and introducing new amps it seems like Epiphone just isn't going to expand their amp line to compete. Yeah, they introduced the VSr and Hot Rod VJr. Nice but................meh. Just seems like Epiphone amps get very little attention from Epiphone and the public in general. Looks to me like a market almost untapped for Gibby.

[TWANG]

It seems odd to me, too.

The VJs have sooo many people who appreciate them.

The Blues Custom of course did well but not as big in sales..So Cal.. has great reputation.

The valve senior kinda screwed epi up a bit.. all those delays then CRAP for reverb.

Same with the hot rod.

 

and the momentum just seems lost.

 

A great 20 watt amp would have been a killer thing done well.

A real hot rod vj would have used that extra tube for a tone stack, gain pot, dual input or efx loop..

 

and skipped the reverb.

I mean.. a useless tank in a sucky circuit? Did they go deaf or something?

 

A nice new VJ with an aluminum chassis.. a nicer board.. something to really compete with

the blackhearts.. but lower priced.. in 5 and 15/18 watt..

those two things alone would replenish the reputation and introduce a LOT of people to tubes and to epiphone.

 

IMO

[wiggy]

I blasted several guitar mags here in the UK for:

 

a.) Consistantly failing to review the BC30

 

b.) Totally ignoring it when they listed alternatives to the flavour of the month 25w to 40w range vale amp they'd reviewed.

 

The consistant reply I got back from each mag was that they'd have loved to review one but Gibson refused to let them have one every time they asked. In the end they gave up asking!

[mtheory]

You know, it's entirely possible that the explosive sales success of the Vjr was nothing more than a fluke for Epiphone. After all, this company has historically been nothing but a "me too" company, with regard to amps. They haven't historically been an amp manufacturer, but rather a reseller. It seems to me that the Vjr was introduced at a moment in which home studio recording was peaking, which led to an insatiable, overnight demand for small powered tube amps. Not just the Vjr has done well, sales-wise. That amp was probably the first in that arena of small-powered tube amps, but it's not the only one out there now, by any means.

 

It really doesn't surprise me at all that they haven't done nearly as well with their other amps. With the Vjr, they filled a niche that nobody really recognized was even there, until the Vjr was introduced. Instantly, EVERYBODY HAD to have one, because everybody realized, at the same time, that there was a great need for small tube amps. In a year or so, everybody was making and selling them, because they too, recognized that there was a huge niche that had been untapped for years. (Fender knew this, eons ago, but even they stopped making the Champs for a period)

 

So, Epi had tremendous success with the Vjr, specifically because they filled this void in the marketplace. There simply is no similar void in the larger amp world. There are scores of companies making 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 100 watt amps. And, because of that rabid competition, Epi has had much less success in terms of sales, with their larger amp models. Totally understandable.

 

Where they BLEW it, imo, was with the Vlv Sr., which was introduced while people were still extremely hot and bothered about the Vjr, and were more than anxious to buy the next "killer ap" that Epi came out with. Had they brought it into production when they'd initially said they would, they likely would've had tremendous success with it, too. However, for whatever reason, the amp didn't materialize on store shelves for a LONG, LONG time, and by the time it did, there were competitive alternatives already selling. Huge failure, imo.

[wiggy]

As I said in my previous reply, the reason they didn't make a major impact here in the UK with the BC30 is simply because they seemingly refused to market it. If they done so it would have probably been a major seller.