Norman86 wrote:
When it comes to guitars, advice is quickly given to try them and get the one which feels best, regardless of how it looks or the brand which it is.
But when it comes to amps, the same advice is never given! Especially on a smaller, lesser known brand.
Ah, the beloved Albion of legend. ? Be fair - the brand and amp was brand new, only officially released at the January NAMM, had little to no info
anywhere on the net (even on the manufacturer's web site), most of us had never heard or seen one (most still haven't). Basically it's hard to recommend anything when you have no experience with it. We recommend what we know.
All amps in SA come with a standard 1 year warranty, except on the speaker and other parts (like tubes).
So they're all the same really.
Unfortunately that's a faulty syllogism ("all fish live in water, therefore everything in water is a fish" kind of logic). We all expect our gear to last a lot longer than the warrantee period - some do it far better than others (my Twin is older than I am and will probably still be going long after I've shuffled off this mortal coil). When it breaks, is it easily (and cheaply) repaired by anyone qualified or is it propriety parts and specialised tools or even replacing entire boards instead of single components? Will it even be worth fixing? What is the local backup like and if there are specialised parts or entire boards, are spares kept locally? These are all things that only come out over time, and a new product/brand does not have that kind of history yet.
A good example - when Laney started making valve amps, I loved the sound and the prices were wonderful. Then some of the models started breaking repeatedly and taking six months (or more) to repair. Other models rattled badly when turned up. Others there were problems fitting replacement speakers because of small cabinet sizes. So I rapidly fell out of love with them. A year or so later, they had fixed all the problems with production and I started recommending them again.
So this is why I usually recommend "name" brands - they have usually already proven themselves over the years (or decades). When Albion reaches that exalted status (and I've heard one and liked one or two of them), I won't hesitate to recommend them either.
