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Hate to hear this, I've owned and used an AG100D for well over a decade, probably closer to 15 years.
And an R1000 / 4;10 bass rig. I also have a friend / business partner with a ton of Carvin p.a. gear and we use it all the time. And so it goes.... |
#32
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Besides that, without a doubt, California has a gargantuan economy, but to some extent it's coasting at this point. It's an entirely uncontroversial fact in the business world, verified by publicly available statistics, that companies have been leaving California in recent years, primarily due to high regulation and taxes. The same goes for migration between the states--more people have left California for other states than vice-versa. That's the overall trend--it will vary across business sectors. I don't know enough about amps and such, but given the insanely low production prices in Asia, it strikes me that Carvin may have been located in one of the worst states to have a fighting chance in the long run. |
#33
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Wow that's a shame, it appeared that Carvin had carved a niche for themselves.
No doubt there are numerous factors involved personal as well as business , known and unknown Attempting to sight one aspect seems a bit like ill-informed conjecture , and cliche'
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Ventura 12.2.1 Last edited by KevWind; 10-11-2017 at 12:39 PM. |
#34
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The liquidation sale going on is sad, but some excellent equipment available .
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Couple of CF guitars, Couple of wood guitars Bunch of other stuff. |
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#38
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It's always disappointing to see a formerly successful business fail, for whatever reason. I'd think that the guitar/bass business has a niche with much less competition as compared to the separate amp/speaker/PA gear business. Keisel allows a tremendous amount of customization, unlike most other guitar/bass manufacturers, whereas Carvin produces products which aren't functionally or cosmetically too different from what is offered by numerous competitors. Further, Carvin's direct-sale model, and absence of local service locations for most buyers, makes it difficult to test-drive their products or to have them serviced, which is a disincentive for some prospective buyers who can also pick from alternatives readily available locally.
It is not improbable that their costs of doing business are also much higher than those incurred by competitors who manufacture elsewhere, making competitive pricing along with reasonable margins a challenge when they are competing for the mass market rather than with the boutique brands which can charge more. |
#39
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hunter |
#41
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I'd like to add something here: My original post on this tax subject was merely a relaying of some of the responses I found attached to one of the YouTube videos that I found interesting, possibly pertinent, and not previously covered here. It was never my intention to add any controversy to the thread...just to add to the discussion. I'll admit to being taken aback at how sensitive some people were to the issue. So for the record: I am not a troll. I am a long-time business owner and employer. I have my own personal reality-based opinions on the subject and you'll never hear them argued here. I'm here for gee-tar stuff. Even my first remark above was merely a thought about some else's comment, not meant to be an incitement. I like thinking. I wish I did it more often. I'll belly up to the bar to discuss laminates vs solids, bridge pins, amplifiers, microphones and yes...even capos. (This is me, the guy who actually likes Bird of Paradise capos...Yeah...I can be controversial.) As for Carvin, I'm just here to stand at the wake and talk about the recently departed. Last edited by menhir; 10-12-2017 at 03:55 PM. |
#42
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If I were to guess—and it's only a guess—I would think it's the change to the online landscape that did them in.
They started out as a way to buy top-quality gear for less money by buying direct. But with the growth and proliferation of Amazon, Musician's Friend, Sweetwater and and Guitar Center (online), I don't think they could really compete as a single-brand supplier, having lost much of their price advantage. But that's just my guess. Too bad, too. I've been eyeing an AG200 for over a year, and now it's too late. |
#43
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Another very happy owner of an AG-200, for several years now. As a matter of fact, I think I heard about it first in these very pages.
Bummer. scott memmer |
#44
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CNBC has a detailed ranking of best-to-worst states for business. I'm going to add Texas as a state known for its decent economy in recent years. CNBC's "cost of business" where you're looking for low taxes, low utility costs and incentives ranks Calif. 49, Texas 15 and Miss. #1. "Business friendliness" covers regulatory levels and litigation. Calif. ranks #50, Texas 24, Miss. 44. Workforce has Calif. 10, Texas 1, Miss. 46. Overall these three come in as Calif. 28, Texas 4, Miss. 48. Mississippi would also like to send its thanks to Hawaii and West Virginia. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/11/amer...l-ranking.html Lots of things go into starting and running a business, including other factors in that survey like quality of life and infrastructure. One point I agree with was the ridiculously tough time a Carvin had competing against Sweetwater, Musician's Friend, its brick-and-mortar cousin Guitar Center etc. They have amazing selection and outstanding return policies. I had zero trouble, online-ordering, returning and getting a refund for one guitar each from Sweetwater and Elderly simply because I didn't like the sound. Looking at it that way it's amazing Carvin lasted as long as it did. I understand they had great return policies too, but the selection issue played out with me when I when shopping for my first Martin over a year ago. I wanted to buy from a wonderful Mom and Pop store, but they had a tiny selection. Five miles away was Guitar Center, a big one, where I spent months playing pretty much every high-end guitar they had until I bought the GPC-28E, which I didn't even know existed when I started (and which the Mom-and-Pop didn't have in stock, nor would I have known even to ask for it). I'll add I was lucky to meet an extremely knowledgeable, helpful and patient salesman at this particular GC, we all know that ain't always the case. (Indeed it wasn't the case a few months later when I walked into the exact same GC when Expert Salesman was out and the B Team I encountered fit our stereotype of big box salespeople). I'll keep my eye out for used versions of the AG200 and 300, but I was already keeping my eye out for them on Reverb and Ebay and rarely saw anything--which to me said people were happy with them. In fact the only AG200/300s I saw in eBay were new ones being sold by Carvin. |
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This is more likely to be the case. |