Cornford, Krank, ... who's next? Amp and guitar makers going out of business.

[Alex]

I stumbled across the news today that Krank amps, an American company, went out of business on March 22nd.
In March also Cornford started having troubles with their oem manufacturer, and it seems that this is not yet... resolved?

It occurred to me that it must have been happening all the time, or that the economic downturn is starting to take its toll on guitar-related manufacturers as well. I shouldn't be surprised, but somehow I missed this completely.

Admittedly, Krank was never a giant in the industry, and they did make some rather questionable products (read "Krankenstein range"), but I wouldn't have kept my small Rev Jr for all those years if it didn't sound great. Cornford amps, from what I hear, are highly regarded in the UK.

Any other companies gone out of business recently?

[Dmoney]

I've was following the Cornford situation and from what I can tell, the issues with what happened there aren't really down to poor designs or image within the market. It's a bit more complex and I think only the people really close to the company are across the full details. They did have some bad luck though with a fire and illness.

Krank was a weird one. The ones I saw here I thought were overpriced for what they were but I heard of a few kids having them briefly after they got offered discounts on them as part of endorsement deals (Probably without ever playing one beforehand). As far as I know those people don't use them much since I've only ever seen one band in a pub using a Krank and that was years ago now. It was like they tried to push the brand here and then just fell off. Not sure how the costs and marketting was sorted out in the USA though. Tony Krank looks like he's doing Stiff Amps. I imagine they are much like the Krank Amps line and based on the Sovtek Mig sort of circuit.

I haven't heard of anyone else going bust. I think it's hard to come up with original designs in these areas and make a real go of starting a company though. Lots of competition. I do think Cornford especially has left a gap for a really nice UK hand built high gain kind of amp to pop up.

[Philly Q]

Not quite the same situation, but Hamer are no longer making USA guitars since Fender acquired the company from Kaman a few years ago (or maybe Fender acquired the whole of Kaman, I don't remember).  I think that's a great shame.

Edit:  If Wikipedia is right, the entire Hamer brand, including the budget Asian models, no longer exists.  :(

[Alex]

Yes, Hamer went, and didn't "Charvel" (it's part of Fender?) had some corners cut and production moved to someplace cheaper?

[dave_mc]

from what i've heard (which is not that much, i haven't been paying that close attention to either situation), I don't think either is really much to do with the economy. I've heard people say that krank was run badly, and the cornford thing just seems to be a mess... :lol:

[Stevepage]

A shame Cornford went under. I owned a Harlequin once and it was a great little amp. Still to this day I would love to have an MK50.

Randall disappeared for a little bit after being bought out by another big company (who also with Randall bought Washburn). However they seem to be making a bit of a come back, though nothing like the big marketing thing they had going on a few years ago with the V2 and T2 (awesome amp) amps along with all the signature amps they had.

[Copperhead]

Krank Amplification is owned by Martin Chan, who's main business is Kinetico Water Systems. Krank shared a building with Kinetico. He's an extremely wealthy businessman who's midlife crisis included owning an amp company and hanging out with rock stars. Tony Krank (Dow) was an employee. Tony designed everything except the Chadwick Series. Martin parted ways with Alan Chadwick some time ago. Martin also fired Tony three years ago. Tony actually does own some of the designs and took the pedal designs he was working on when he left. Martin never hired anyone to replace Tony nor did he buy any new amp or pedal designs so for three years the only new products they brought to the market were things that were already in the works, mostly expanding the JR series and adding the Nineteen80JR Combo.
Over the past couple of years the Krank employees partnered with some large manufacturers to bring several offers to Martin to purchase the company. Martin refused everything and rebuffed every plea for him to run Krank like a "real" company. He ran Krank on a shoe string budget and brought production down to a trickle, breaking contracts to supply large retailers, failing to fill some large orders. Mostly ignored the European market.
Without notice or severance, Martin suddenly closed the doors and fired all remaining employees. He just didn't have any interest in the company anymore and did not want to see it succeed under different management. He doesn't need the money and his ego cannot accept that someone else could make it run.
A remaining issue is how the Lifetime Warranty is going to be serviced. I've been telling people to contact Kinetico.

In the future we may see Tony Krank and Patrick Flanagan, the displaced head technician, team up to form a new amp company.

[JJretroTONEGOD]

wow it might be finally time to get my arse into gear and buy a cornford head before it's too late, the Roadhouse 50 is something I've always wanted, challenge accepted.

[jpfamps]

I think this simply emphasizes how hard it is to make a living building amplifiers.

It's a very competitive market, and it seems to me harder to persuade customers to buy an expensive amp compared with an expensive guitar.

Notwithstanding, any reservation about the quality of the amps (I took photos of the inside of the Krank I had in our workshop, and it wasn't pretty...), the more specialized your amp the smaller the market.

Take Cornford's case. The MKII was a popular and well-regarded design, but at around £1800 it would only have limited appeal, and it's possible that you could soon run out of customers unless you come up with more designs, ie it might be that everyone who wants an MKII and has the funds to buy one has one.

In the UK there are probably only 3 companies I can think of that manufacturer their amps in the UK in their own factory/workshop and have amp making as there major source of income, and those are Marshall, Cornell, and Matamp.

There are several other British companies that outsource their manufacturing (either in the UK or far East).

Most small builders will make a substantial amount of their income from repairs.

[gwEm]

whos next? gibson or fender judging by rumours here!

[Alex]

whos next? gibson or fender judging by rumours here!

I wouldn't think either goes bust, but I would think that the first thing Fender will do if they start loosing money is to drop some of the companies they own (smaller brand). Maybe not Jackson at first, but maybe Charvel or EVH.

[JDC]

whos next? gibson or fender judging by rumours here!

I wouldn't think either goes bust, but I would think that the first thing Fender will do if they start loosing money is to drop some of the companies they own (smaller brand). Maybe not Jackson at first, but maybe Charvel or EVH.

Aren't they all made in the same factories? The cost difference probably isn't that much for slapping on a different name on a slightly different design, only real reason I can see to drop one of their brands is the cost of marketing if they're not selling well. Never seen anyone ever play a Charvel so I'm guessing those make the least money.

[Keven]

A shame Cornford went under. I owned a Harlequin once and it was a great little amp. Still to this day I would love to have an MK50.

Randall disappeared for a little bit after being bought out by another big company (who also with Randall bought Washburn). However they seem to be making a bit of a come back, though nothing like the big marketing thing they had going on a few years ago with the V2 and T2 (awesome amp) amps along with all the signature amps they had.

Randall and Washburn (as well as some other smaller compagnies) were all bought out by US music corp, which is owned by Jam Industries in Canada. they pretty much revived the brand and still work quite a bit for new products, the "thrasher" being a good example, designed with assistance from Mike Fortin ("NATAS" "Bones" and so on) who is now fully employed by Randall, as well as some smaller 1w-5w amp heads. they seem to be aiming for a broader market. The way of the future? i think so. let's just hope we don't ever run out of tubes!!

[Alex]

whos next? gibson or fender judging by rumours here!

I wouldn't think either goes bust, but I would think that the first thing Fender will do if they start loosing money is to drop some of the companies they own (smaller brand). Maybe not Jackson at first, but maybe Charvel or EVH.

Aren't they all made in the same factories? The cost difference probably isn't that much for slapping on a different name on a slightly different design, only real reason I can see to drop one of their brands is the cost of marketing if they're not selling well. Never seen anyone ever play a Charvel so I'm guessing those make the least money.

Depends really on what structurs Fender has set up, but I can see one of those brands totally racking up a lot of costs, even if it is made in the same factory.

[Lucifuge]

Don't Laney make some of their amps in the UK? (Lionheart series maybe)

I read somewhere that part of the problem with Cornford was that they invested a lot of money in tooling up to build the Roadhouse series but then it didn't sell as well as hoped because people who wanted a Cornford were only interested in the high-end models and didn't want PCBs. Could be wrong though.