TomfromPA said: Did the store carry other botique amplifiers?
Yes -- He regularly carries Alessandro, Carr Matchless and Bad Cat, along with Fender, Marshall, etc. He typically has 8-10 Gretsch professional series guitars in stock along with Electromatics.
TomfromPA said: I'm betting you received a much better mark down on the secret Gretsch than a fellow would see buying one of the better known Victoria amps.
That is true. The ticketed price on the amp was $1600.
Well you have two mass production companies and a boutique amp maker having to make money on these three amps. knowing that and comparing the prices to companies like Matchless,Badcat,Carr,Bruno and look at the price on this Fargen These amps really are not out of line in comparison. Maybe the market is out of line but that's another story.
In an ideal world the Rev and Brian would put their Fenders in the closet and play these.
Proteus -- this is my 3rd try..... (PROXY ERRORS!!!!!)
You are correct, and I stand corrected. I now DO recall those photos from your R.R. reports. A senior moment on my part....
Dan, I wasn't suggesting my pics from the Revival should have been considered sufficient marketing! Not by any means.
Just showing the pics again in case others following along now hadn't seen a 4,700.00 Gretsch amp!
Yes, I understand that, Tim. I was just sort of kicking myself for completely forgetting about the Anniversary amp like that. They say the memory is one of the first things that goes.... I just don't recall which one it is...!
I'm personally not upset about the lack of marketing. Obviously, I benefited from it in terms of the price I paid for Executive.
I would think good price Senojnad. I got the scratch and dent from MF and it was $2240 ( I think ) and then had to swap tubes ( because of microphonics ). I found out that FMIC now has Groove Tubes which explains why they come with GT's. Did you have any microphonic tubes? Anyway, right now the Executive is one fine sounding amp even tho overpriced some. I hope everyone can find one at your price. Ha.. Good Buy. I think were both happy with our execs. Don
Don -- Mine came with Groove Tubes and is completely quiet.
My dealer had this amp since at least Nov., 2006 -- that was the first time I saw it in his shop, and I think He may have had it priced at around $3,000 to $3,200. I'm guessing he had it at least two years and opted to slash the price simply to get his money back out of it.
It was GREAT news for me, but "bad news" for others, I suspect -- My guess is that the dealer will not be stocking Gretsch amps again, at least until customers start showing some interest in them.
That's my issue with Gretsch not promoting their products -- the end result is that it is VERY difficult for people like us to find gear and try it out.
One of the other people on this board had a similar experience some time ago with a Duo Jet. His dealer had the guitar in stock for a couple of years -- with no customer interest -- so he offered it for 60%+ below list price.
Agree with what you say Senojnad. If more could try this amp out it would be something ( plus maybe better priced ). I really think that the amp I got may have took some kind of shipping abuse as the cardboard box appears to have been dropped or something awful heavy put on top. Ain't really knocking Groove Tubes but the first replacement tube I put in V-1 was also microphonic but when I put a Sovtek 12AX7 in it quit ( Sovtek makes Groove Tubes I think ), just luck of the draw. All OK now and the few guys that have tried it want one. Here I am 65 and don't play gigs no more and have one. Why could'nt it have been years ago. Ha. Luck Of The Draw. Enjoy Senojnad. Don
I guess that great gear and some great posts most for a most informative and interesting thread. The Exec is a bit of a dream of mine but with an elderly vehicle which is demanding ever more in the way of repairs I just can't justify spending the money and I have a very strong policy against debt. Debt is for houses and cars (which are paid off early and kept until they are on their last legs) and nothing else short of a full blown emergency. With 14 guitars and 5 amps I'm hardly able to construe any musical purchase as an emergency. (If I found a 6136T LDS for $1,000 that would constitute and emergency.) In any event, there's a lot to talk about here so I'll get crackin'.
I don't understand why we don't see more promotion of these amps either. Even though I'm not in the market at the moment I would love to just see one of these things and hopefully get to plug into it with an interesting Gretsch. Of course the problem is very well illustrated by senojnad's transaction. In order for these to be out in the marketplace a dealer has to invest in them and in order to do that there has to be some very real expectation of return on investment. Most dealers can't afford to invest the wholesale price of such an item and have it languish in their inventory. Perhaps more to the point, were I a Gretsch dealer I'd think very carefully about making such an investment no matter how badly I wanted to have one around. If the money invested in stock is not making a return the end result will be a failed business, period.
Proteus, oracle of Gretschdom said: Something at 450.00 - 500.00, say, and something at 850.00 - 1,000.00.I think that Gretsch does need to fill in the price-gap (more like a price chasm) in their amp line. We have to keep our expectations realistic in this regard however. Serviceable, giggable amps in the price range that Proteus mentions will almost certainly be PCB construction. I honestly think this could be done very easily baseing these models on existing Fender printed circuit boards with different values of certain components which would tailor these amps to the desired Gretsch sound. Here's what I mean; if they took a Deluxe Reverb RI circuit board and perhaps cooled down the pre-amp (a lower gain V1 tube would do this) for more headroom, put it in a bigger cabinet and used a 15" speaker you'd have a poor man's Executive. A few tweaks of cap values in the tone stack would help to make the amp come alive with the 15 and the only difference in cost would be the upgraded cabinet and the larger speaker. This would probably actually boost sales of the Executive because it would give people something to buy now while they scrimp and save for the real thing. Tiered marketing seems to work very well.
That takes care of the $1000 (street) price-point, now for the $500 point, sorry guys, it's going to have to be based on the Blues Junior . . . but that's OK. Blues Jrs. are nice little amps and need just a few mods to make them into great little amps. Here's my idea for a slightly upscaled Blues Jr. The biggest problem with the Blues Jr, IMO, is the fact that the cabinet is too small for a 12" speaker. Make a bigger, better, fancier, most Gretshy-looking cabinet for this amp and you are most of the way there. If it had a cab the size of a Deluxe Reverb, complete with burgandy-colored Gretsch tolex there would be little else to do. I would recommend a few changes in component values to gear the amp more towards a clean sound but that, my friends, is it, I wouldn't change much at all with this amp. (Probably the main change I would recommend in that line would be a reducing the value of R27 thus adding more negative feedback at the phase inverter. This would give the amp more clarity and probably a lot more headroom, not that it suffers in this regard. As 15 watt amps go, this thing has a pretty good amount of clean headroom.)
In both cases these amps could serve as a slightly upmarket version of the equivalent Fender product, could be built on the same lines with little accomodation and would serve as a way to build interest in the high-end Victoria built amps which could stay in the line as a low-volume, custom shop amp, just like Fender's '57 Twin, '64 Vibroverb and the Vibro King. Think of the Fender amps as a Ford, the Gretsch amps as a Mercury and the Victoria built amps as Lincolns.
Now, I wish to take this auspicious occasion as an opportunity to cross pollinate the thread I just started which was inspired by this thread. So please, my friends, take a moment to find out what has been going on meanwhile at stately Synchro manner.
Interesting ideas, Mark. I also wonder about the possibility of lower priced amps, but still with hand/point-to-point wiring. Alessandro makes very expensive amps. Most of their line, if ordered as combo amps, start in the $4,000 to $6,000 range.... and they can go WAY UP from there (especially if you want a solid silve or solid gold chasis... which is just palin silly). However, they also have the Working Dog line -- these are boutique, calss A (mostly) hand wired and very excellent amps. They list for $1,400-$1,600.
The secret project at Stately Synchro Manor sounds like fun! Is Alfred down there in the Bat-Cave helping you? Look forward to seeing the final product!
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A couple of disjointed thoughts offered for consideration:
Should Gretsch get more deeply involved in the amp business? The company was much better known for their guitars. Even during the golden era of the 50s and 60s Gretsch amplifiers didn't garner much attention against the stuff from Fender, Ampeg, Gibson, Silvertone etc. Perhaps this is why FMIC is struggling to market terrific offerings like the Executive, Variety and Playboy.
Was there a time in Gretsch history when the company built their own amplifiers? I thought most of them were turned out by Supro.
The enormous gap between MSRPs and actual selling prices are scaring customers away the Executive and its siblings.
Is FMIC going to bank roll Gretsch's entry into the amplifier market only to compete with Fender's offerings. This only makes sense if the Gretsch line can gain traction against some other firm's amps.
The Tweed Deluxe (5E3) has pretty much dominated the market for a $1400 to $1600 PTP. Is the room at this price point for a lesser known alternative.
Would Victoria build a re-badged product and not price it much higher than their own stuff? To be price competitive shouldn't the work be done at the Fender Custom Shop?
The first Gretsch that broke my heart was a smoke green Duo Jet. This was circa November 1964. The guitar was awesome and tragically unaffordable at the time
. The demo amp was a TONE MONSTER of a Gretsch with two 12s. It was a BIG part of the magic that day. Two years later my first professional grade amp was a Fender Twin Reverb. As good as the Gretsch was it was never in the running.
I don't see Gretsch getting any deeper into the amp business unless they commit to re-thinking the enterprise.
Isn't it great that the amps Gretsch is putting out are so darn good. Maybe in the end this is enough for their purposes?
senojnad said: The secret project at Stately Synchro Manor sounds like fun! Is Alfred down there in the Bat-Cave helping you? Look forward to seeing the final product!I hope to get the ball rolling very soon on this little project. Alfred is, of course, attending every step with his typical loyalty and dignity.
Tom from PA said: Should Gretsch get more deeply involved in the amp business?That's darn good question Tom. My suggestions were basically along the lines of new wineskins for old wine. The illustration of Ford vs Mercury came to mind because of the obvious parallels. Ford Motor Co doesn't care one way or the other whether you buy a Ford or a Mercury, in either event they are making the profit and their workforce is kept busy. In this same regard the Greatch amps I am suggesting would be just another choice within the FMIC family of companies and if they were Fender based they'd be built in the same factory, by they same people etc.
The main thing I see as an advantage to this is the fact that it would give the potential Gretsch/Victoria buyer a useable amp with Gretsch styling that they could buy today while they were waiting to be able to afford a top of the line Gretsch amp.
I'm completely sold on the Gretsch Executive at this point. Of course, I also don't have the cash to pay for one either. Within the next few years I plan on buying one. I just have to scrape together the coin.
The amp is pricey, but I have done gone and got myself smitten by it. There is no turning back. I wonder how long it will take me to save up the money if I just keep dropping my spare change out of my pockets in a jar at the end of each day.
I've never played through a Gretsch amp. I've never seen one in person either.
However, I'm sure that playing through one would be like playing through my Fender '57 Twin Amp, and then playing through a Fender Hot Rod or Blues DeVille.
There's "something good" going on with the TwinAmp that the other Fenders just can't duplicate.
They may look similar, but when played through, the "looks" are the only thing in common.
Nice review and enjoy the heck out of it.
TomfromPA said: Should Gretsch get more deeply involved in the amp business?
Tha is, indeed, a very good question, Tom. My thought is that they should be in it, as long as they offer products that are not merely clones of others or (even worse) the same amps with different tolex and grill cloth. That's why I suggest a couple of models to compete with these: http://www.alessandro-products.com/working_dog/index.htm
The fact of the matter is that they ARE in the amp business. Given that, the company should (1) do more to assure success of their existing line and (2) look for other opportunities in the market to compete and be profitable.
My Ex is one week away 
Macky54 said: My Ex is one week away
My opinion -- you are really going to like it!!! The bonding between my Executive and me has continued to grow.
I look forward to your review and comments.
