Yamaha buys Ampeg! It’s all about the bass.
Yamaha adds another great music brand to it's portfolio
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Ampeg is no longer owned by LOUD Audio LLC but will now be run from the Far East, as Yamaha has just purchased the classic bass amp manufacturer.
Ampeg
It is probably one of the best-known manufacturers in the bass sector. The US manufacturer is best known for its bass amps, especially the SVT, which has filled rock stages with the “fridge” (an 8 × 10 cabinet) for many decades.
Yamaha/Ampeg and Line 6 · Source: Yamaha
Yamaha
Now the company belongs to Yamaha, a giant from the Far East. Japan. Whether this affects Ampeg’s manufacturing locations and quality remains an open question. The products will probably not change. Yamaha has other companies in its portfolio, including Steinberg, Bösendorfer and Line 6, all of which are doing fine and it appears that Yamaha is good at keeping companies healthy, well managed and creating great products.
Gibson
Maybe they should buy Gibson? As we all have seen the news the last few weeks and know they are on their knees financially. So could a company like Yamaha could do great things for them as well? Just a thought.
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4 responses to “Yamaha buys Ampeg! It’s all about the bass.”
Even more interesting considering that earlier this year Yamaha formed a new division-Yamaha Guitar Group-as a subsidiary to handle their guitar related products (Yamaha, Line 6, and now Ampeg). Makes one wonder if Yamaha is thinking about seriously making a play to become a major player in the guitar market (yes, I know Yamaha is/has been fairly popular in Europe and elsewhere in the world, but here in the States, Yamaha’s presence in the guitar market except for Line 6 is pretty much minuscule to the point of non-existent). Of course to do that, Yamaha would seriously have to redo their electric guitar portfolio. I think Gibson would be too big of a bite for them-I would look for them to work with their existing Yamaha brand which would require minimal effort/investment to do as most of that is outsourced as Yamaha does little actual electric guitar manufacturing (They could bring back the Studio Lord LP copies, eh? Or maybe a 7-string Pacifica or some other variants-fan frets anyone?-aimed at the modern/progressive market to compete with ESP and Ibanez). Also, the Ampeg name gives them credibility should they decide to enter the traditional guitar amp market (How about a revamped Ampeg V4 that could go head-to-head with a Friedman BE-100?).
Now watch the prices double, or triple! You only have to see what happened when they bought Steinberger and Line 6.
Andy watch the quality double as well. Also, Yamaha didn’t buy steinberger, Gibson did, and promptly ran that company into the ground. I know you meant ‘steinberg’, but it’s a good comparison of what happens when Yamaha buys something (line 6) vs. when a company like Gibson buys something (Steinberger). The Helix marks a high point in Line 6’s trajectory, and it’s probably largely due to Yamaha.
Both LOUD and SLM/St. Louis Music did a decent job being a caretaker of the Ampeg brand but if you want to reinvigorate the Ampeg brand you need somebody like Yamaha. If Yamaha does as well by Ampeg as they have with Line 6, Ampeg has a pretty good future.