Custom Amp Builders Delivery Times - Quick and the Dead

Dang @WizardSouth-JP when that amp hit your doorstep, was the solder still warm? :D

Rick has always been awesome though. I bought an MC2 from him earlier this year and he was great. He's a no BS dude who answered all my questions plainly and gave updates when they were available, and the amp even got to me faster than his original projection.
 
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I've primarily bought second hand but had a pretty quick turnaround with Wizard and Splawn. One or two slow ones - but the communication was good...

Bram576 said:
Long lead times don’t get my business. I don’t care who it is, and what the end result is. If you consistently screw your customers, you’re a POS. The end.
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I think it's important to distinguish between long lead times, and screwing customers. I had a guitar built and the luthier said 12-18 months. I was fine with that, and in the end it was much quicker. This is way different than someone say 3 months, and after 6 they don't bother with emails.

Good things from small businesses often take time, and as long as their communications are reasonable and timeframes transparent I'm onboard.
 
RedB4Black said:
Think I got 2 Wizards in less than 3 weeks last year. Then shortly thereafter an MTL in 11 days.

Longest build times I've had on amps I've ordered new were from KSR and Omega. Anyone in this thread have one of those on order??:ROFLMAO:
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Some of us poor people cant pay for that super fast Wizard shit. We have to settle for other brands and long ass lead times, Lol
 
RedB4Black said:
Think I got 2 Wizards in less than 3 weeks last year. Then shortly thereafter an MTL in 11 days.

Longest build times I've had on amps I've ordered new were from KSR and Omega. Anyone in this thread have one of those on order??:ROFLMAO:
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I have an obsidian on order, should be done this month, communication was good and lead time wasn’t that long. Of course it hasn’t shipped yet so I’ll keep that as a last caveat 🤣
 
ZEN Amps said:
I've primarily bought second hand but had a pretty quick turnaround with Wizard and Splawn. One or two slow ones - but the communication was good...



I think it's important to distinguish between long lead times, and screwing customers. I had a guitar built and the luthier said 12-18 months. I was fine with that, and in the end it was much quicker. This is way different than someone say 3 months, and after 6 they don't bother with emails.

Good things from small businesses often take time, and as long as their communications are reasonable and timeframes transparent I'm onboard.
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Guitars I get a bit more. Especially when it’s a one man operation. I’d wait a year for a guitar. In fact I just did lol. A Guy can only do so many guitars a month. But Jackson giving me a 4 year wait and picking and choosing builds to skip the line. They can fuck right off.
 
KSR was good when I bought a Gemini and Ares.
Bought a Hiwatt Super-Hi 50 from the factory in the UK and wait time was fine. But their communication sucked and after-sale support was zero.

I don't mind long wait times. That's not "screwing" the customer if they're communicative about it. Screwing the customer would continuing to miss promised deadlines, lack of communication, non-delivery at all, no warranty support, etc.

As far as actually building an amp goes, anybody worth their salt can build a relatively simple 1-2 channel, hand-wired amp in 5 days. Now if they are a one-man show and have 100 backlogged orders... that's two years for a new amp if the builder takes zero vacations. Just keep that in mind. That's on a good day. If there is a delay in parts availability or the builder takes a vacation every now and then, a backlog will take more than 2 years...
 
311splawndude said:
Splawn is pretty quick. At least reasonable. Not 12 days quick though :lol:

Usually easy to reach and converse with. Same with Avatar.

I am super impatient. No way I could wait more than 6 months for something :dunno:

Now, the Wizard GAS is just building :yes:
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another mention for Scott. I ordered a couple heads and cabs over the years, and he was on point each time. Great guy to talk with too.
 
Shouting out Carl's Custom Amps who did a Fender Showman clone for me. Great communication when discussing what I wanted to be in the circuit, gave a reasonable estimate (12 weeks), and even when the estimate date came and I emailed he was quick to respond about delays due to a low quality printing of the panel (only took an extra 1.5 weeks because of this). Highly recommend for anyone wanting a custom vintage Fender.

Also shout out to GZA and Monomyth for great comms and quick turn around on their amps I sent back for updates. And also just in general for dealing with my bullshit about tubes.
 
My experience matches above on headfirst, Monomyth, etc.

Science and dean costello both have had long waits but: worked on deposit, delivered on-time, and communicated well. Lichtlaerm and Omega went way over original estimate but delivered and communicated well. JPTR was also over time IIRC but easy to deal with. Matamp was a bit late and didn’t respond to email but showed up just fine.

On the really small side, had a good experience with Barton High Voltage. Filament has been interesting — charged whole cost and I’m a little over a year out without the amp, but I did send it back due to some significant oscillation problems. Last heard in September that it was just about to ship.
 
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Bram576 said:
Guitars I get a bit more. Especially when it’s a one man operation. I’d wait a year for a guitar. In fact I just did lol. A Guy can only do so many guitars a month. But Jackson giving me a 4 year wait and picking and choosing builds to skip the line. They can fuck right off.
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Scott Splawn makes guitars too and hot damn if I don't want this :yes:

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