Egnater update

[bruce egnater]

Egnater
3047 West 12 Mile Road
Berkley, MI 48072
248-541-9100
[email protected]



The success of all the new Egnater products over the past couple of years has been amazing and overwhelming at the same time. The demands required to make this all happen has made it almost impossible for us to continue hand building the modular products as we have been for almost 10 years. For this reason, I have decided to take the manufacturing outside of our small shop in Berkley, Michigan. This decision does not come easy and without careful consideration of all the options. So, please accept this letter as official confirmation that the Egnater Modular products will no longer be hand built by Terri, Ian and Myself but will be produced by a trusted outside contract manufacturer. Of course, I will continue to have complete control over every phase of design, production and quality. The good things that will come out of this are that the Modular products will be much more readily available and will have the worldwide exposure that never existed in the past. I will also be updating some features as well as adding a few cool new things to every model. At this time, we are completely sold out of M4 preamps. Those will not be available again until the new production takes place later this year. We do have a quantity of MOD50 heads available that we are hand building right now. These will be the last of the ?hand built? ones available. Once they?re gone, they?re gone. We will also be reintroducing an updated version of the MOD100 and will finally have the E2 preamp become a reality later this year. My hope is that the expanded production and worldwide distribution will bring the Modular amps and preamps into the hands of players who previously found Egnater Modular difficult or impossible to purchase or just too expensive. I sincerely thank all of you who have remained ?Eggie? fans and supporters for all these years. The future looks bright for Egnater as we move into this new phase of ?Global? domination.
Don't know if you all know that Doug Reynolds, head of the Randall Division at US Music, left there last year and has a new home here at Egnater. I couldn't be more pleased.

Thanks

Very Best Regards,
Bruce Egnater

 

[Vince]

Will they be made in the US?

 

[slashnstrings]

Will they be made in the US?

+1

 

[GtrGeorge!]

will they be made in the U.S.????

 

[bruce egnater]

Why do you ask? What country other than the US would be OK (or not OK) and why? I am looking into all options. Talking to a few US manufacturers as well as outside the US. Everyone is all for lower prices and more features but still want the BMW/Mercedes...trying to figure out how to offer it all.

 

[Vince]

If you haven't noticed... We are in a recession. Companies who are exporting jobs are only adding to the problem and frankly I feel that they are anti-American. 99 times out of a hundred, they never even thought about contracting the work in the US.

Where I live unemployment rate is at 15.9 % and for those who where lucky enough to keep a job and those who help fuel commerce could care less. I have been unemployed for OVER a year. Not for lack of trying either.

I think American companies need to start thinking about who is buying their products. If we have a crappy economy because no one can secure a job due to everything being sourced overseas.... then we can't buy your products. I would be willing to pay an additional $10 for one of your modules knowing that I was keeping someone working in this country. I think you would find that to be true across the board. Hell... I would advertise the fact! I would start a company building them for you! Seriously!

Who knows... could be a great American success story and great publicity.

 

[crev71]

Companies who export help to increase the global economy. Just as important as our own. There are countries out there that are doing much worse than the USA during this economic recession, hence it is a GLOBAL economic recession. I would think to explore all options to see what works best with Egnater's goals and "mission". Granted that is very vague, but if producing them in USA is best for what you guys set out for, then do that. I personally don't care about products made overseas, assuming they are made with good supervision and care, but I'm probably a minority.

 

[Vince]

I am an American first.... a Global citizen second. I want to see Americans employed. We give a MUCH larger portion to charities worldwide than all other countries combined! Kind of hard to do that when you are unemployed....

The bottom line for me is.... If I have an opportunity to help my country economically... I will do it.

I really don't think having them made in the US is going to make or break Egnater or even affect the bottom line... as a matter of fact it will only add to brand loyalty.

 

[m0jo]

If you haven't noticed... We are in a recession. Companies who are exporting jobs are only adding to the problem and frankly I feel that they are anti-American. 99 times out of a hundred, they never even thought about contracting the work in the US.

Where I live unemployment rate is at 15.9 % and for those who where lucky enough to keep a job and those who help fuel commerce could care less. I have been unemployed for OVER a year. Not for lack of trying either.

I think American companies need to start thinking about who is buying their products. If we have a crappy economy because no one can secure a job due to everything being sourced overseas.... then we can't buy your products. I would be willing to pay an additional $10 for one of your modules knowing that I was keeping someone working in this country. I think you would find that to be true across the board. Hell... I would advertise the fact! I would start a company building them for you! Seriously!

Who knows... could be a great American success story and great publicity.

No offence mate, but I think your vision on this might be slightly coloured due to your unfortunate situation.

Outsourcing also makes products cheaper, thus making it easyer for people to buy the stuff.
Do you buy at Wallmart? Because they do the same thing, ruin all the mom and dad stores and destroy town centers.
Yet still everybody buys there.. why? (I think you know the awnser)

I'm not saying you're the baddy, quite the contrary.
But there's more to it than just manufacturers choosing to outsource their stuff.

Personally as long as the quality is on par or better (not likely :lol: ) I couldn't give a ****.
That said I am Dutch and may be a bit more pragmatic about it

 

[Vince]

No... I don't buy at Walmart. Not the norm I know.... but even if I did... like you say... they put all the Ma and Pop shops out of business and that would be my only recourse. Is this REALLY what we want to duplicate?

But, like I said.... adding an additional $10 to a module and producing a job is not a bad tradeoff. And what if I got a bad module? Would I send it overseas for repair? Would Egnater have to send it overseas for repair? Or would it be made so cheaply that it would be disposable? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to send it back to the US manufacturer for a quick repair?

Yes... I am talking about the American side of things... but isn't that where the majority of the purchases being made?

 

[m0jo]

Don't be mistaken, I'd rather buy something with a clear conscience than something slightly cheaper.
But I wonder how much the cost difference would be, after all Egnater is a company and do need some profit to live off..

Anyway, Bruce can you shed any light on the radiosilence from Randall?

 

[Vince]

Let's take Celestions speakers for example. What is the price difference between a Chinese made Clelestion and a UK made one?

Same materials.... UK runs about double a Chinese made Celestion. Which one is more desireable? The UK one. Why is this?

I doubt very highly that producing these modules would be anywhere near this example. I am talking $10 extra a module.....

 

[crev71]

Yeah, I would assume that if they did outsource it wouldn't be to China... much different quality control laws. Also much harder to oversee the production process

 

[Vince]

Do you want to support a country where the mentality is profit above all else?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztmpOzV_q0M

Or a country where it is OK to kill a family member if they disgraced you....

These are the countries who are offering discount manufacturing to US companies and stealing their intellectual property as the countries have no laws to protect it and turns a blind eye to counterfeiting.

 

[Goldfish]

If you haven't noticed... We are in a recession. Companies who are exporting jobs are only adding to the problem and frankly I feel that they are anti-American. 99 times out of a hundred, they never even thought about contracting the work in the US.

Where I live unemployment rate is at 15.9 % and for those who where lucky enough to keep a job and those who help fuel commerce could care less. I have been unemployed for OVER a year. Not for lack of trying either.

I think American companies need to start thinking about who is buying their products. If we have a crappy economy because no one can secure a job due to everything being sourced overseas.... then we can't buy your products. I would be willing to pay an additional $10 for one of your modules knowing that I was keeping someone working in this country. I think you would find that to be true across the board. Hell... I would advertise the fact! I would start a company building them for you! Seriously!

Who knows... could be a great American success story and great publicity.

Great post. Support local jobs and don't be afraid to criticize outsourcing. Most people are fine with paying a little bit more if they know it goes back into the local community.

 

[Goldfish]

Personally as long as the quality is on par or better (not likely :lol: ) I couldn't give a ****.
That said I am Dutch and may be a bit more pragmatic about it

Au contraire, that's not pragmatism, it's cynicism. You're chugging down the globalist Kool-Aid a little too hard. Regular folks are usually pragmatic, which is why most prefer stronger local economies ahead of outsourcing.

 

[The Truth]

The only thing that is a concern for me is that I feel there should be a way to distinguish between the handbuilt stuff and the outsourced. I was very early in line for an M4 and really hope that this move will be beneficial all the way around. It's certainly good news for all of the randall guys that want a taste of the egnater stuff. The price point was the most argued issue up to now.

Bruce's patriotism shouldn't even be in the equation. This move can only open more doors for him to refine and expound upon his already awesome product. Good luck Bruce and for the record I would like to see production stay stateside but wouldn't turn my back for such a complete non issue. The components aren't manufactured here anyway folks.

 

[Jack Napalm]

The only thing that is a concern for me is that I feel there should be a way to distinguish between the handbuilt stuff and the outsourced. I was very early in line for an M4 and really hope that this move will be beneficial all the way around. It's certainly good news for all of the randall guys that want a taste of the egnater stuff. The price point was the most argued issue up to now.

Bruce's patriotism shouldn't even be in the equation. This move can only open more doors for him to refine and expound upon his already awesome product. Good luck Bruce and for the record I would like to see production stay stateside but wouldn't turn my back for such a complete non issue. The components aren't manufactured here anyway folks.

Well said.

 

[Vince]

It's like this... Life is full of moral decisions that define you. If greed is your driving force.... that's how you will be remembered.

Greed is what drove all our manufacturing out of this country. If you want to believe we are better off for it then wait a few decades when everything that built in this country is gone.

Why is it that Gibson and Fender are the two most desired instruments?

Do whatever you want.... there are as many opinions as there are people and I alone can't change it and maybe I am a bit old fashioned but that's who I am and that's how I will live my life.

I will guarantee this though.... the US modules and amps will always be more desireable regardless of price.

Now... go drink your Kool-Aid.

 

[slashnstrings]

The only reason I asked if it would be made in america was not to get all political, but was because over the history of music equipment in general there has always been a comfort in buying things that are made in the USA, close to home. The quality has also been better(only in peoples un educated opinion) because we all now know japan can make some pretty great stuff as well as a few other places.

So Bruce to expand on my question. will it be made in the USA or Canada, for that at home comfort and because you we be able to be more physically involved without having to fly to china all the time.

No direspect, you make a great product and I know you will continue to do so. nobody likes there little personal amp company going big they get scared and feel disconnected. but the gotta grow up it's business.

I wish you the best in your expansion

JB