Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: sgmypod on April 23, 2010, 02:55:43 PM
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http://www.wienbrockamps.com/me-5.html (http://www.wienbrockamps.com/me-5.html)
Anyone tried or heard of these amps....look hi end
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I believe they're made by guys who used to work at Matamp. Look nice, not played one, based on standard formulas though. MJWs are better value for money ;)
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a shop has the me-5 I think it is going for silly money
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silly loads of money or silly cheap?
EDIT: i haven't tried them, just heard of them.
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silly cheap
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how silly cheap?
:lol:
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cheap enough to put it in my price bracket
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notice the fact that he isn't giving the price so that no one could buy it from under his nose
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hey shut up you...*L*
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notice the fact that he isn't giving the price so that no one could buy it from under his nose
yeah, he is a clever one that sgmypod. :lol:
i was just wondering in case they had more than one- i wouldn't take it if he has his name on it!
have you tried it? :)
EDIT: ah, don't worry, I'm not interested in one, the naming conventions are pretty daft with wienbrock, i thought it was a low wattage amp. :lol:
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*L* clever no...yeah odd namings the me-1 is 1w I think the me-5 is 50w not got name on it
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what's really annoying is that that's about the third time I've got confused by their names. :lol:
i mean, i understand the names, just they don't make much sense unless you're familiar with the product range. Which is normally a bad thing, as it ends up confusing most people (or me, anyway). :lol:
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Firstly - this is not meant to be a flame - I should - however - be allowed to point out certain flaws in the following statements...
I believe they're made by guys who used to work at Matamp.
That's where you'd be wrong - I build the amps and never worked for Matamp... and nor did Toby who does some excellent assembly work for us... and they're nothing like a Matamp inside. They do what they do, we do what we do and MJW does what he does... John did do some assembly work for Dave Green on an 'as needs must' basis while he worked there but Jeff will be the first to point out that his duties were mainly administrative. Ralph did some sales and marketing work for them but was never a Matamp employee... Ged also did some covering and assembly work for Matamp but has worked for any number of amp manufacturers because of his experience at Leech in Salford (who used to make cabs for just about everybody at one time...) so yes there are some connections but absolutely no technological link whatsoever... to imply there is just degrades our respective brands and is not beneficial to anyone...
Look nice, not played one, based on standard formulas though. MJWs are better value for money ;)
Yes we think they look nice too - there'd be no point in making them otherwise... do you mean standard designs when you say 'standard formulas'?... Hmm - I think you should learn a little more about us and amplifiers in general before you make such a broad statement... the fact of the matter is that there isn't anything particularly new under the sun where valve amp design is concerned... sure we've all had a go at messing around with them but there is just so far you can go away from the original specifications that were laid down by valve manufacturers 50 or 60 yrs ago before they become unstable and require more circuitry - I personally find it's more bother than it's worth and have yet to find any advantage in it - our loyal customers seem to agree. We are - however - pioneering the use of the KBO Dynamics 'Tube-Sync' module in our 2011 'Tour Series' amps. We shall also be tackling our 'daft naming conventions' whilst we're at it :)
I'm wondering how - if you haven't seen or played one - you can publicly state that 'MJW's are better value for money'? On what basis? I don't mind criticism - it's how we've always grown as a company - but I try to get my facts straight before I make ill-informed 'statements of fact' on forums... and am the first to admit I'm wrong when I am :)
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Thanks for chiming in; always great to hear from the builder.
Twinfan didn't mean the MJW comment as a dig, I don't think. He's friends with Martin and has been known to sing his praises. I think he meant it with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Are there sound clips on your site?
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wow. April 24th!
kind of old but not by some standards.
why does implying a technological link between you and matamp "degrade" both brands? Do you mean they degrade the individuality in each brand/companies way of doing things, or does being associated with Matamp actually degrade the value of your brand? I mean does it give your company a bad name... or put certain people off who may be your target players?
+1 to what Denim & Leather said about Twinfan's remark.
anyway. your site (I just went on it now) instantly made me feel like i was on the matamp site. I actually had to go to the Matamp site to check it was the same... It isn't very similar, but It was enough to make me think...HANG ON! and then I spotted Ralph designed the Matamp site, and I assume the Weinbrock site also.
The "About Us" section is about you as people, and has no information on the company like you outlined above (your experience or design ethos)... maybe some of that detail should go on your website, that way you won't have to sign up to forums to drag up months old threads to correct people who don't know better? just a suggestion, not a flame!
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We shall also be tackling our 'daft naming conventions' whilst we're at it :)
:oops: :lol:
In my defence the model names did catch me out about 3 times :lol: that's probably more my fault than yours, though :D
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Why does implying a technological link between you and matamp "degrade" both brands? Do you mean they degrade the individuality in each brand/companies way of doing things, or does being associated with Matamp actually degrade the value of your brand? I mean does it give your company a bad name... or put certain people off who may be your target players?
It's like this... I started building amps first out of frustration with what is now known as FMIC and then out of pure necessity because I couldn't find what I wanted anywhere else and it just grew from there...there's no mystery about where my influences lie and there are no politics in what I do... I've built my reputation on amp designs that I always liked the sound of that are no longer available... and am fortunate to have accumilated some very good compatriots to help out and a loyal customer base that's growing...
It's not without pain so I have to have respect for anyone stupid enough to think they can hand-build amps in our modern world and make money... but that's where it ends for me. What anyone else is doing is of no consequence to our own success... I have to focus my attention on the future... the future of my children and family, the future of my business, and the future of all the other businesses on which we inter-depend. I have no time for petty squabbling about who builds the best amp in a 50 or 60 mile radius... I am deeply grateful to Leo Fender and Jim Marshall, Dave Reeves and Harry Joyce, Mat Matthias and Dave Green for their legacy of excellence... and all the guys who've spent a Saturday afternoon with us - trying our stuff... telling us what they liked and didn't like... it's made us grow in tough times... they all know who they are and I'm very lucky to have listened to them. I don't think you'll find that to be your experience with any other amp mftr in the world....
anyway. your site (I just went on it now) instantly made me feel like i was on the matamp site. I actually had to go to the Matamp site to check it was the same... It isn't very similar, but It was enough to make me think...HANG ON! and then I spotted Ralph designed the Matamp site, and I assume the Weinbrock site also.
The "About Us" section is about you as people, and has no information on the company like you outlined above (your experience or design ethos)... maybe some of that detail should go on your website, that way you won't have to sign up to forums to drag up months old threads to correct people who don't know better? just a suggestion, not a flame!
You're probably right - we're so busy building our reputation on the ever increasing quality of our products and the user loyalty that follows that we kind of just see the website as the initial point of contact - it'll grow as we grow - I'm just glad that Ralph build it for us and then drove all over the country with our amps in the boot of his car to find the right dealers to communicate the rest of our message... :)
We shall also be tackling our 'daft naming conventions' whilst we're at it :)
:oops: :lol:
In my defence the model names did catch me out about 3 times :lol: that's probably more my fault than yours, though :D
Well to dispel the mystery - it all started with the ME-1 - ME standing for 'Mighty Electron' and 1 for it's wattage rating... that just stuck for some reason - then when we started messing with the 5E3 circuit I couldn't resist just subbing the 5 for an M to see if anyone would pick up on it ... it just went from there... you'll be pleased to know the ME-5 Barracuda will simply become a Barracuda in 2011 and other new names will follow :) :) :)
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Ok, I just thought "degrade" was a strange choice of word to use. You clearly value what makes you individual and I can see why you would want to make it clear that there is no association with any other manufacturer.
there's no mystery about where my influences lie
Not when you explain them... assuming people know that already is a long shot ;)
I have no time for petty squabbling about who builds the best amp in a 50 or 60 mile radius...
But you have enough time to sign into a random forum and find a 3 month old thread in which you correct peoples mistakes and interject where tongue in cheek comparisons are made based on a lack of available information? ;)
I don't think you'll find that to be your experience with any other amp mftr in the world....
Do you still do that? I mean, if I wanted an amp could I come and try one and tell you what I would like to change for my personal tastes? I don't think that's rare in custom build circles... or it shouldn't be... if a company is a particular size then I can see that service would no longer be that practical or would become really costly from a consumer point of view. A guess the factors for that would be production methods, build time, amount of staff, current work load... etc.
You're probably right - we're so busy building our reputation on the ever increasing quality of our products and the user loyalty that follows that we kind of just see the website as the initial point of contact - it'll grow as we grow - I'm just glad that Ralph build it for us and then drove all over the country with our amps in the boot of his car to find the right dealers to communicate the rest of our message... Smile
Obviously you have a product you believe in... editing the website to include some of the things you've mentioned in this thread can't be more than a few mins worth of typing and copying and pasting some HTML or whatever? If the website IS a first point of contact then I think it is really important. I kind of feel like you played down what I said. Since Ralph probably isn't going to come to my house in his car, and I don't think I could walk out my house today and happen to find a weinbrock where I live, I'd probably rely on the internet for help... at least in making the decision of whether I should make the effort to track one down to play.
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Well to dispel the mystery - it all started with the ME-1 - ME standing for 'Mighty Electron' and 1 for it's wattage rating... that just stuck for some reason - then when we started messing with the 5E3 circuit I couldn't resist just subbing the 5 for an M to see if anyone would pick up on it ... it just went from there... you'll be pleased to know the ME-5 Barracuda will simply become a Barracuda in 2011 and other new names will follow :) :) :)
yeah, that's what got me, a couple of times i thought the me5 was a 5-watter :lol: the 5e3-based one makes sense, though :)
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never got to try was sold.....but still interests me when I have some money in the future
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Sounds great music had a couple of them in when I went in at weekend. I did no try them so cannot comment on how good are.
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Just tried the ME5 and ME3- pro in Oxford, really impressed with both amps. I think the ME5 is based on a Bassman circuit, loud and clean. Great for jazz/ blues/ country, very dynamic and responsive amp.
Both amps have a normal and bright volume which you can mix together, ME3 only has a tone control and vintage/modern switch, I only tried it on vintage. This one's based on tweed deluxe but with two 6l6's and has 25w clean head-room, it's loud from the off and I never had the volume passed 9 o'clock so I imagine it just gets gainier after that. This amp's pure fun and great for those Cropper type sounds, it's the first amp I've tried where I can understand the fuss about just using the guitar vol. knob for driving the amp. You can get a sparkly clean with the guitar vol low and then turn up for overdrive. Again it's very dynamic, from aggressive biting tones to soft and jazzy .
I read on a forum about an ME4 which is the same but with 4 6l6's and would be into checking that out as well but I reckon I'm going to go for the 3-pro.
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mmmmm ME5 Barracuda sounds nice, will have to get somewhere to try one
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Place not far from us do them Gary was why I started thread ages ago
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Place not far from us do them Gary was why I started thread ages ago
stop it..STOP IT!
tis Ripon ain't it?
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So when we going last time I asked them had in at good price