From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Thu Oct 20 07:24:50 2005
Subject:Re: Amp Covers

Hi Dan,

>This just mystifies me. I have heard nothing but hard luck stories about the music equipment/support business being virtually on the ropes all the time. Yet here we have two examples (I could site more) of companies that could give a good crap if they sell anything or not. They don't need the money? They are not in business to provide a service/product in return for getting our hard earned cash? They must be making so much dough that they don't need ours!

Speaking as one who works in the selling end of things: It's not quite as simple as, "Take my money." The object of the game isn't just to make money, it's to make ENOUGH money to justify the effort. I've abandoned products that sounded good, because they turned out to be 10 hours work to make one, and the going price was maybe $40.

Custom work is usually a pain in the a**. You do the first one, figuring, "Well, the next time I sell one, it will only take a few minutes." But the next one never seems to be exactly the same, and the process repeats. The only way to really make money on custom work is to charge the actual expenses (time and money) to each customer. In the music business, though, this rarely flies. People look at off-the-shelf products that are ALMOST what they want, and the comparisons kick in. LeCover may have just thrown in the towel. It would have been nice if they responded with a no-thank-you, or pulled their website, but oh, well ...

In Tuki's case, they've become established enough that they no longer do "customs." A cover for a Fender Twin? Yeah, they'll make that. I found the same issue with the monitor cab itself. 15 months ago, I approached a company called Ear Candy Cabs with a proposition: build me your standard 2-12" ported cab (I'll live with the dimensions), but cut 10" speaker holes and add a divider board down the middle to separate the two speaker chambers. (All of this was based on the low-end response of the speakers I chose.) Then charge me something extra for the additional work. At the time they we're willing, but I had some unplanned expenses and the project got tabled.

Six months later, I came back, and was told "we no longer do custom work of any kind." They've got their products set up on automated machines, and they can crank out five stock guitar cabs in the time it would take to set up my one cab. That led me to JDesign Cabs, who did a super job -- and had no problem cutting 10" holes and adding one more piece of wood. But the number of custom guys is getting fewer and fewer.

Turning this whole thread back to clones: A 2-10 cabinet with coaxial speakers (a real tweeter that shoots out of the center of your woofer) is a great keyboard stage monitor. If anyone is interested in the gory details, contact me offline. I thought about making them to sell on my site, but again: too much one-time effort for the 3-4 of them I would probably sell per year.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™ http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

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