Uncertainty on the economic landscape has forced most small businesses to re-evaluate their operations and take the necessary measures to adapt and survive, and Goodsell Amplifiers is no exception.
This past September marked 7 years and 1,000 amps since the business evolved from a Hammond organ shop, but without radical change, the current business model is unsustainable. This means taking a second or third look that everything that effects the bottom line, from moving into a smaller shop, to working with vendors, dealers, and media, and finally refining the manufacturing process to enable me to do all of the amp building without any additional employees.
The one area where there was no room for compromise was the amps themselves - but with most of the industry going down-market there is the additional challenge of making the amps more affordable and accessable - introducing a parallel product line based on printed circuit boards was not an option, and while some of those makers offer incredible value, there is just no substitute for point-to-point handwiring of each and every amp by the guy who's name is on the front.
A year ago, that meant spending about $2000 for the average Goodsell combo - now, for less than half that amount, there are a dozen amp companies, some old and familiar, and others newly started by ex-pats of those same companies, that offer a spectacular array of products made in Asia.
I wasn't ready or willing to take that step. Enter the Black Line - four existing models re-engineered for more efficient production. By concentrating on the parts that the Super 17, Valpreaux, Unibox, and Dominatrix have in common, sourcing can be streamlined for a deep discount, and while this required using imported cabinets, all covered in black, each of the amps now benefit from as much as a 25% price reduction without any change in build quality or USA-sourcing of the "tone" parts.
As a result, the Super 17 now has a street price of $1499 with reverb and tremolo, same as the plain 3-knob 17 when it was introduced 7 years ago.
