FRENZEL FM guitar pre-amp, in the house (with first impressions)

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Oh and one thing i forgot to ask you and not had a look for myself, with the Frenzel having two inputs are you able to use a cable which splits from a 1/4" jack to two mono 1/4" jacks which would allow you to in effect do the old Jump thing like you would of done with your Plexi but without needing the additional two inputs on the Frenzel to achieve this? That would really have me very intrested if it is do-able. Then you can blend F and M type pre sounds with F and M power type sounds = Extremely wide range of flavours on tap. Course you can do this with one of the guitars which you have fitted the stereo/dual outputs on. Either way I am curious if plugging into one input negates the use of the other or not? If it is able to do that then its very tempting, If it is not i wonder if Frenzel could/would add the ability even if it they charged extra for the feature :love: and :hyper: to find out

The Hayden MOFO has two inputs, They each are voiced differently but you can only use one at a time. Its a decent little amp head

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from the site "you can use an "AB-Y" pedal on the input jacks and blend the Type F and Type M preamp sections for your own custom sound"
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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Hink wrote:from the site "you can use an "AB-Y" pedal on the input jacks and blend the Type F and Type M preamp sections for your own custom sound"
Oh yes :tu: for the price, construction/build method and feature wise i can not think of anything else (not that i was picking to find any holes anyway so to speak though man). A very well thought out design and it will be so interesting and fruitful i will bet when blending the pre-amp voices, Combine that along with the rebel's power-amp blending capabilites. That is the cherry on top i think and last thing i will say/ask until it has arrived

Thanks for the information dude

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heard from Jim Frenzel, they're a few weeks behind schedule :shrug: No problem though :)
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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just a bump to report tomorrow it will be 8 weeks since I ordered it, in the email I got two weeks ago he did say he was a few weeks behind schedule but the good news was my amp was about ready to start the building phase which the build and testing would take about a week*. I did have to email him to ask what was up and besides my emailing him there has been zero communication.

* the exact email
Hi John,

Good to hear from you! I hope you are doing well! We have a large backlog of orders and we are running behind schedule. We are working overtime shifts to try and reduce our build time, but as of today we are still running a few weeks behind our normal 6 week build schedule. The good news is that your amp will be starting the assembly process soon. Once the assembly process starts it takes about a week to complete the build and testing process. We will notify you when your amp starts the assembly process and then keep you updated on the status.

Best regards,

Jim Frenzel
I have not heard that it has started the build phase now which means another week...that will be 9 weeks. The original estimate was 4-6 weeks. While I can totally understand delays and seeing how you find this all over ebay I am sure he is getting a lot of orders. However I am not happy with the lack of communication, I have paid $300.00 for this knowing that there is no refund and this waiting is discouraging to say the least.

Let's put it this way, I'm sure this will be awesome...I equally sure that I will take this delay into serious consideration before buying another product or recommending a product from him. A little communication would make a world of difference :?

However a few weeks behind on the build schedule of 6 weeks would mean to me about 9 weeks instead of 6 so perhaps I am just being unreasonable :shrug: (I have not emailed him again and nor will I until the first of May if I dont hear anything)
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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I am not sure mate, as i have never bought anything online, not even ebay. So zero experience. Not simply forwarding a basic e-mail to all people/paying customers does seem odd, perhaps they were not expecting as much orders as they recieved and obviously took each one without realizing that such a small team have bitten off more than they can chew. I do not think that you are being unreasonable as you are the customer after all. An e-mail with some photographs of the work in progress would put your mind at ease. Do you have a contact number you are able to just call the guy up on as a voice is much better than text on a screen i reckon John

All the best and hope it works out fine

Dean

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I'm not worried about it, I'm just tired of waiting :oops: well, if his name were Rene I might be worried :hihi:
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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well now it's two months, I'm in the 9th week which is 50% longer than I was told it will take to build. I'm now trying to decide just how long I wait before I file a dispute with paypal. I say if it reaches 12 weeks it's unreasonable and that's when I give up (good friday).

The problem is I it will now take a lot to impress me (but I'm still optimistic that it will)...I suggest everybody stay clear from this guy though unless you want to wait forever...I know that I will not buy anything else from him unless one way or another he makes good on this (refund my shipping and send it overnight, add the 'cage cover' for free...something besides a discount on a future product) and one of the other amps I want is built by his son...that's likely out of the question too.

This is no way to do business, at least drop me a friggan email ffs :x


yeah, now I'm growing impatient :?
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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Hink wrote:well now it's two months, I'm in the 9th week which is 50% longer than I was told it will take to build. I'm now trying to decide just how long I wait before I file a dispute with paypal. I say if it reaches 12 weeks it's unreasonable and that's when I give up (good friday).

The problem is I it will now take a lot to impress me (but I'm still optimistic that it will)...I suggest everybody stay clear from this guy though unless you want to wait forever...I know that I will not buy anything else from him unless one way or another he makes good on this (refund my shipping and send it overnight, add the 'cage cover' for free...something besides a discount on a future product) and one of the other amps I want is built by his son...that's likely out of the question too.

This is no way to do business, at least drop me a friggan email ffs :x


yeah, now I'm growing impatient :?
I would be impatient as well. Some people say "time is money" but time is way way more valuable than that.
This kind of frustration also takes the fun out of a purchase that is supposed to bring nothing but fun. That's the point.

I'm sorry this wait is taking the shine off the amp, but maybe when it arrives it will be just the right thing.
:)

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just got this
Hi John,

We will be starting the assembly process on your amp Wednesday 4/6/11. We are working overtime shifts so it is possible we might be able to ship it by Friday.

Best regards,

Jim
:wheee:
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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Pretty sure that it will be a case of taking as many orders as possible which enables him to pay less on a larger number of components to keep overheads minimal which benefits both sides. It does make sense really to do things that way when looking at the price. So without telling yourself or anyone else who ordered around the same time, I am willing to bet that he would simply have set a cuttoff date for orders to arrive with payment, he has by then a few days before cutoff date pulled the trigger on componets (Lets say whats needed to complete around 50 units for example when you ordered). 11th hour comes and everything arrives right on time (maybe a day or two early or late) and in the order he has surplus extras in case of an extra order or two plus factoring in some parts probably going wrong so all that is covered. Then boom off he goes wiring each together followed by a burn in test and QC checks...etc. As you went for the power-amp that may add extra time to the build oppose to the pre-amp only builds which again makes sense.

I just want to hear it in action mate :) and *if i am right* then tis your own fault for going with the optional power-amp :hihi: but i would of gone with that also ;)

*I could be totally wrong but i can not see any other logical way of doing it for the money/parts/labour to make a worthwhile enough profit? :shrug: *

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not sure how it's my fault, if it's going to take 9 weeks instead of 4-6 weeks because I order it with the power amp then he should state that ordering it with the power amp will add time to the build. If you tell someone the job will be done in 4-6 weeks and it's the 7th week an email should go out explaining it. Yes he does say on his site that this is just an estimate time of build, I give that a tolerance of give or take 5-10%. 3 extra weeks is 50% longer than expected. If that's the time it's going to take say 6-8 weeks to complete instead of 'padding' it with 4-6 weeks.

This to me is the entire issue and why we buy things that last half as long as the counterparts in earlier days, mediocrity has become the standard. In society we have come to accept that 'of course that's just an estimate', we have come to accept 'close enough', but where is the pride in that?

I do not think it's unreasonable to expect just a little communication, even though I did say I would not email him I did again yesterday. I paid my money after reading in big letters 'absolutely no refunds' because according to his rules "Once your order is received, we take your funds and order the fabrication of the chassis, faceplates, transformers, parts, tubes, etc. There is no way we can cancel the orders with our suppliers once they have been processed. There are NO REFUNDS."

As a result I expect the same respect back, I expect at a bare minimum communication letting me know if it's going to be delayed and not keeping me hanging. He set his business model so he is not left hanging or holding the bag and I think that is a two way street.

When I ordered my Weber it was late too, they contacted me with and apology explaining that there was a mix up from where they got their boxes and they received an order with twice as many tops and no bottoms. I sent back an email saying "so what you're saying is these attenuators have no bottom end"? He responded with a lol, two weeks later he got the bottoms and I got my weber and you heard no complaints from me because that's how it should go.

:shrug:
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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no word since Monday, so looks like at least 10 weeks :shrug:...Maybe I'll have it by Labor day :hihi:
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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?? maybe they get some components from Japan ?? order and build to keep the overheads down

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fateamenabletochange wrote:?? maybe they get some components from Japan ?? order and build to keep the overheads down
I never thought of that, I'm sure it would be indirect (but less of an impact) because he says he orders his parts when the orders come in, such a thing would be costly shipping from Japan that often. But if he buys from local suppliers (which would be likely) said suppliers could be affected.

Still, on Monday he said that Wednesday it would start the build phase and he stated right from the start that when that happens I will be update right up until it ships. No such info has arrived and he also said hopefully it would ship today which no word has arrived of.

My reason for being brutally honest is because I really have no doubt that this will be a very useful piece of gear for me being able to be used in a modular way, as stage before my soundcard (with impulses 'in the box'), stand alone as a low power amp and I believe that a lot of others might find the same. This could be 'the missing link', not a faux tube (where a single tube is used more for appearances than tube like results) but instead a real guitar tube pre-amp that is versatile enough to sit before a sim or impulses. It might take away some of the negatives and loss of 'feel' that running into a sim bothers some people.

Obviously not being able to get a refund means I have stuck my head out on the line for this. I could come online a gush about it, I could come on here and flame it to death. By always wearing my emotions on my sleeve as I do, in this thread chronicles an unbiased review by disclosing all the positives and the negatives along the way.

So imho I would be amiss at this point if I did not post my disappointments of the last few weeks. I'm now (legitimately I believe) concerned that if I have a problem that requires service under the warranty that it will be a nightmare. It also makes me worry that he might rush the build because he is so busy that causes such service issues.

My angst right now is a combination of three things, excitement of getting it, waiting a long time thus getting giddy/anxious and concerns about the business practices of this company. :shrug:
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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