Ideas for MetroAmp ?

[Woolly Mammoth]

Hello,

This is David from MetroAmp, some of you know me, most of you don't.
George has brought me on board to run MetroAmp.
I have been around for over a year now and we are trying to adjust to deal with the hard economic times.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I am looking to forum members for ideas and comments about ways to improve MetroAmp.
We have been there for you, as you have been for us for many years and we are taking a cold hard look at the way things run (or don't run) at the shop.
We have instituted a $20 minimum order fee. We know it will not be popular but with the way things have been going... sometimes we lose money on orders.
We are a small business of people that really care about what we do, and care about you, our customers.
We feel we have the best product available, very loyal customers and we care a great deal about that
That is why I am reaching out to you to let us know what you need and let us know how we can better serve you.
I am available at the shop, on the forum, and the buck stops with me.
If there are any problems or complaints I am the person that can get things done.
George, Fido and the gang are on board and here for you as well, but I am the one that you need to come to if there are any MetroAmp issues that need to be addressed.

I am looking forward to talking to you about things, both positive or negative.

Thanks

DAVE

[54strat]

Welcome Dave. Do what you guys need to do to survive! I don't think you'll get any complaints about the $20 minimum. I handle shipping at my job and bubble wrap, boxes, padded envelopes, and box tape ain't free. I was just about to order a couple of resistors though

[aquilarosso]

AC30 kit.

[The Wicker Man]

I think you guys are the very best at what you do. Maybe it's time to branch out and establish some original creations for your brand.

I have no idea if this would fly, but I would like someone to produce a low powered copy of my 50 Watt Plexi. 2 X El91 tubes, about 5 watts for bedroom use. A stock 1987 channel and a 2nd high gain modified Plexi type channel. Done right in the way that only MetroAmp can do.

No one else is doing it, and most of the low powered amps out there are aimed at the low end of the market. For those of us who get what MetroAmp does - we'll pay to have the same quality when we want to play and don't want or need to do it at 120 decibels.

Just a thought.

[OnTheFritz]

I don't see anything wrong with the $20 minimum order.
If it's under $20, just order a couple more things you know you're going to use down the road anyways.

I've done that in the past and felt guilty, and ordered extra stuff to make it worthwhile.

You guys are doing great, providing products and service that was never available at this kind of level in the past.

If you need any help in the pre-assembled kits, I'm available and only an hour away.

[MacGaden]

Hello,

This is David from MetroAmp, some of you know me, most of you don't.
George has brought me on board to run MetroAmp.
I have been around for over a year now and we are trying to adjust to deal with the hard economic times.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I am looking to forum members for ideas and comments about ways to improve MetroAmp.
We have been there for you, as you have been for us for many years and we are taking a cold hard look at the way things run (or don't run) at the shop.
We have instituted a $20 minimum order fee. We know it will not be popular but with the way things have been going... sometimes we lose money on orders.
We are a small business of people that really care about what we do, and care about you, our customers.
We feel we have the best product available, very loyal customers and we care a great deal about that
That is why I am reaching out to you to let us know what you need and let us know how we can better serve you.
I am available at the shop, on the forum, and the buck stops with me.
If there are any problems or complaints I am the person that can get things done.
George, Fido and the gang are on board and here for you as well, but I am the one that you need to come to if there are any MetroAmp issues that need to be addressed.

I am looking forward to talking to you about things, both positive or negative.

Thanks

DAVE

Welcome, Dave. Important stuff first: How many vintage Marshalls do you own ? Can you play "You really got me" VH-style..?

Good to see that Metro is expanding in spite of the economy, and that VG gets some more bench time.

You may consider looking at what Neil/neikeel is suggesting:
A 1959T that is really a hotrod behind the faceplate: http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php ... &sk=t&sd=a
It would stray a little from the Metro "Vintage Marshall all the way philosophy", but a lot of us mod our amps/kits anyway, and it would be nice to have a vintage looking hotrod... A JTM50-kit would be easy to add too, and a JCM800 faceplate for your MV-kit would attract a lot of people who thinks that´s the way the MV-amps looked...

Apart from that: Keep up the great work George and the rest of you is doing.

[shakti]

I think more kits would be a good idea, and an even clearer description of what each kit is (and isn't). It would be very easy to implement as well. I think you should do (and some of these are obviously already available)

- JTM45 (with early RS specs or later Drake specs)
- JTM50 (EL34s, tube rectifier)
- JTM45/100
- JMP50 (Lead or Bass specs, 68 or 70 style filtering)
- 1967 100-watter (aka 10-series, single or dual rectifier, early or later filtering specs)
- 1968 100-watter (aka 12-series, Lead or Bass specs)

These are just off the top of my head, but I know of people who have held back on a kit because they don't feel up to the task of sourcing parts and comparing instructions to make their own JTM50, for instance. I think that for a newbie, coming into the store, it would possibly be a bit confusing seeing all the various chassis and "bare bones" packages, as well as the kits...I think you need a dedicated kit for each of the really classic designs, with just a few options. The list probably doesn't stop with the ones I listed, but that's where my interest ends...

[aquilarosso]

Authentic kitset reproductions of the classic combos.
Vox AC30, Fender Blackface Twin Reverb and the Marshall 1974.

Perhaps a range of pre made higher gain hot rodded boards for both kit built amps and RI Marshalls.

[HTH]

I think a line out/load box (EVH Jose style) with a built-in power amp would be a cool item - crank the hell out of your plexi, but run it at bedroom levels.

A clone of the #34, #36 and #39 amps modded at SIR would be popular - I think the threads on this forum prove that.

[myfoot]

No problem on the mimimum order Not to hard to have enough extra parts around to start another build. How about stocking BrianH's boards or Marstran transformers? That would cut the shipping costs from multiple sources.

[Brian Wallace]

How about stocking BrianH's boards or Marstran transformers? That would cut the shipping costs from multiple sources.

The thought has crossed my mind.

[jape88]

I think a line out/load box (EVH Jose style) with a built-in power amp would be a cool item - crank the hell out of your plexi, but run it at bedroom levels.

+ 100%

Why has a load box escaped under the radar for all amp manufacturers? it has been proved that slaving an amp is an excellent way to run a dimed amp and retain your ears! and most people have more than one amp.

My votes (and cash ) would go for....
Metro Load box, kit or built options.
Power amp kit, in a 100w head, look nice under a SLP
Metro Attenuator, Kit or built ( maybe a joint venture with Alex?)

Keep up the great work guys

[MacGaden]

I think a line out/load box (EVH Jose style) with a built-in power amp would be a cool item - crank the hell out of your plexi, but run it at bedroom levels.

+ 100%

Why has a load box escaped under the radar for all amp manufacturers? it has been proved that slaving an amp is an excellent way to run a dimed amp and retain your ears! and most people have more than one amp.

My votes (and cash ) would go for....
Metro Load box, kit or built options.
Power amp kit, in a 100w head, look nice under a SLP
Metro Attenuator, Kit or built ( maybe a joint venture with Alex?)

Keep up the great work guys

Actually George could do a poweramp, and still stay true to his roots:

I give you: A ´71 100watt Marshall poweramp (I did´nt know these existed, but they are in HOM):







And it´s a Rosemary:

[Roe]

I say:
marstran instead of mercury
sozo vintage and royal instead of mallory 150s and spague 80uf
1m push pull pots
alpha pots as standard on all kits - they sound better than cts
the following tubes:
tad and gold lion kt66s (don't really need the other types)
winged c el34s, the new mullards fail way too often. no real need for jjs
gold lion kt88s and tung sol 6550s
tung sol and mullard RI ecc83s, no need for jjs

[Cabbagebreeze]

There's been a lot of bandwidth spent on the AFD amp. Have the forumites come up with a great AFD amp, - I have Staaf's schematic before it was pulled, I'll have to build it some time. My impression is the market has an appetite for one. Pull the rug out from Marshall!