[LordOVchaoS]

Boutique to me = Komet, Mad Professor, Divided by 13, Peters, Mako, etc... I'm not a fan of any of them but Peters and Mako really and it's due to the fact that theirs are original and inexpensive. Not to mention some of their amps are metal as fuck!

Some of these amps (Mad Professor, Divided by 13) cost around $10,000 and are usually Trainwreck clones that cost very little to build. They're mojo merchants selling to gullible people with deep wallets and a serious penis envy problem.

VHT, Engl, Framus, Diezel, etc... are not boutique amps in my book. They are high end, top quality, production amplifiers. Low production numbers are a big factor of boutique to me and none of those amps fit the bill. You can't buy a boutique amp at Musicians Friend IMO.

[7 Strings of Hate]

personally i would consider a botique amp an amp that isnt in the vast majority of stores, and that would also mean its different to different people. In england a vht might be a boutique amp because you cant find them or get your hands on them, like wise, a engl is a boutique amp to me IMO because i cant find one to try out

i guess to me, boutique = your opinion of fancy

[JJ Rodriguez]

Originally Posted by 7 Strings of Hate

personally i would consider a botique amp an amp that isnt in the vast majority of stores, and that would also mean its different to different people. In england a vht might be a boutique amp because you cant find them or get your hands on them, like wise, a engl is a boutique amp to me IMO because i cant find one to try out

i guess to me, boutique = your opinion of fancy

By your logic, anything but a Fender or a Marshall would be considered boutique here.

[zimbloth]

Okay this is getting ridiculous. The term 'boutique amp' isn't really that complicated, it has a clear-cut definition. It's about how they're made. Being mass-produced vs. 'hand-made' in smaller quantities (usually by the designer of the amp). Doing business that way enables the amps to have greater attention to detail and higher quality. ENGLs for example are mass-produced and cheap out on many of the components they feature. That doesn't mean they don't sound great anyways, but that's not what a boutique amp is about.

The fact Musician's Friend gets a hold of some boutique amps to sell doesn't mean they're not boutique amps. It's not like they have 200 VHT's sitting around in their warehouse. They're just a dealer like anyone else. They likely only sell a very small number of them.

All this said, there are plenty of mass-produced amps I'd take any day over boutique ones, it doesn't mean they're necessarily better. Let your ears judge.

[budda]

Originally Posted by JJ Rodriguez

By your logic, anything but a Fender or a Marshall would be considered boutique here.

dont forget peavey and traynor! :P

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Let your ears judge.

/thread.

[WarriorOfMetal]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Okay this is getting ridiculous. The term 'boutique amp' isn't really that complicated, it has a clear-cut definition. It's about how they're made. Being mass-produced vs. 'hand-made' in smaller quantities (usually by the designer of the amp). Doing business that way enables the amps to have greater attention to detail and higher quality. ENGLs for example are mass-produced and cheap out on many of the components they feature. That doesn't mean they don't sound great anyways, but that's not what a boutique amp is about.

The fact Musician's Friend gets a hold of some boutique amps to sell doesn't mean they're not boutique amps. It's not like they have 200 VHT's sitting around in their warehouse. They're just a dealer like anyone else. They likely only sell a very small number of them.

All this said, there are plenty of mass-produced amps I'd take any day over boutique ones, it doesn't mean they're necessarily better. Let your ears judge.

especially the first couple sentences there

[LordOVchaoS]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Okay this is getting ridiculous. The term 'boutique amp' isn't really that complicated, it has a clear-cut definition. It's about how they're made. Being mass-produced vs. 'hand-made' in smaller quantities (usually by the designer of the amp). Doing business that way enables the amps to have greater attention to detail and higher quality. ENGLs for example are mass-produced and cheap out on many of the components they feature. That doesn't mean they don't sound great anyways, but that's not what a boutique amp is about.

The fact Musician's Friend gets a hold of some boutique amps to sell doesn't mean they're not boutique amps. It's not like they have 200 VHT's sitting around in their warehouse. They're just a dealer like anyone else. They likely only sell a very small number of them.

All this said, there are plenty of mass-produced amps I'd take any day over boutique ones, it doesn't mean they're necessarily better. Let your ears judge.

Dude, I you but you didn't have a single negative word to say about Engls until you got a VHT. I, ironically, used to be the #1 ss.org Engl basher Anything below the Powerball is built cheap but from there on up their parts and build quality are on par with VHT with the SE and Invader sometimes exceeding them in parts quality and WAY exceeding them in technology. There are 15 people in the entire Engl company. Everything is done in one building with one guy designing, 7-8 or so experienced amp techs assembling, and some business people taking care of their side. They churn out a lot of amps but you're trying to make them sound like Behringer. None of their work is sourced outside of that building in Germany, it's a tight knit crew making some killer fucking amps that hold the torch of modern guitar amp technology. You're preaching to a guy that buys hundreds (sometimes thousands) of electronic parts a month and has a lot of experience with knowing the "cheap" from "inexpensive but quality" and just flat out pristine quality. You're also talking to a guy who has been inside a VHT Ultra Lead and 3 Engls. Let me say that I'll never buy a Fireball because of what I saw. I'll also say that there's not a component inside my Invader that's "cheap". Being a nerd I pay attention to the brand and tolerance of caps, resistors, etc... VHT uses cheaper parts than Engl does in most places. High end Engls also have 4-5 times more parts in them than an Ultra Lead and cost less.

Not bustin' your balls dude but you have no grounds to bash on Engls now that you don't own one. Not long ago they were the best thing since sliced bread to you.

[noodles]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Okay this is getting ridiculous. The term 'boutique amp' isn't really that complicated, it has a clear-cut definition. It's about how they're made. Being mass-produced vs. 'hand-made' in smaller quantities (usually by the designer of the amp). Doing business that way enables the amps to have greater attention to detail and higher quality. ENGLs for example are mass-produced and cheap out on many of the components they feature. That doesn't mean they don't sound great anyways, but that's not what a boutique amp is about.

The fact Musician's Friend gets a hold of some boutique amps to sell doesn't mean they're not boutique amps. It's not like they have 200 VHT's sitting around in their warehouse. They're just a dealer like anyone else. They likely only sell a very small number of them.

All this said, there are plenty of mass-produced amps I'd take any day over boutique ones, it doesn't mean they're necessarily better. Let your ears judge.

QFT

Joe, yes, ultimately Nick ended up with VHT, but that was because it sounded better to him. He left Mesa behind for Engl, and one could argue that Mesa has a much higher build quality and componentry.

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by LordOVchaoS

Some of these amps (Mad Professor, Divided by 13) cost around $10,000 and are usually Trainwreck clones that cost very little to build. They're mojo merchants selling to gullible people with deep wallets and a serious penis envy problem.

QFT.

[Jerich]

amps in general are very trendy once a good one comes along everyone grabs it then the whole metal community sounds the same for a while with everyone trying to emulate the trend..Boutique is a way of getting something extra.
I consider Brunetti amps Boutique yes they are hand made point to point wired and small company. so what they are exspensive But...they do not sound like any other amps.
Mad Porfessor was in the booth right across from Brunetti booth at NAMM..they had 1 head there for $7000.00us and it sounded like "POO" compared to 1/2 the amps Brunetti had. It is in the ear not the eye or what everyone else owns..I for one Hate Mesa Tones ( when recording i call it funnel tone)...the RoadKing is the only amp by Mesa I enjoy and dam I have four of em'.....
I also have a VHT Pittbul and yes it is awesome but to be honest you cannot play every form of music on it...the first poster asked? will it be a fad? well i can tell you i will Own my Brunetti Boutique amps till the day I die because...I can play Brutal fucking metal with it...or Blues...or country or anything else for that matter because they are not one dimensional amps...





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