RE: stereo delay

[Andy Ewen <andy.ewen@trace-elliot.com>]

Someone on the list does have a little influence on Gibson's pricing
structure and I'm doing everything I can to ensure that when the 
CE-approved
Echoplex is ready for sale in the UK and Europe, it will be substantially
cheaper than the current US retail. Unfortunately, we don't have much sway
in the price structure for US retail and only make a very small margin when
shipping inter-company from Trace to Gibson. We have, however, been given
sole distribution rights for the UK and Europe, which means we can sell
direct to customers in the UK and to many of the shops in Germany and the
growing number of European countries that we now deal direct with, rather
than the old methods of selling to large distribution companies. This
effectively removes several layers of mark-up, which we will pass on to the
customer. This decision by Gibson to allow us to do this is unprecedented
and we are happy to have this opportunity to offer the EDP to a far wider
audience by reducing the price. This in turn will bring down our
manufactured cost due to economies of scale and you will see the Echoplex
price in the US reduced over time. It is however, dangerous for me to even
make these comments, as it could have impact on current sales, but if the
consensus of opinion is that sales could improve in the US if prices were
reduced, Gibson may listen and cut their margins back to the bone to get
this excellent product out to those who desperately want one.

I am also looking at all of the component prices for the Echoplex and 
buying
parts in much more aggressively. A lot of cost has been added to get the CE
approvals; large screening cans for the processors, high-quality filters on
all inputs and outputs, a filtered mains inlet etc. etc., but we are
determined to make savings in other areas to compensate for the
improvements.

I don't think you can blame the US retail price on Gibson's 'market
stupidity'. The reason the Echoplex is at the price it is now, is that it 
is
made in the UK which has some of the highest manufacturing costs in the
entire world, and then shipped across the Atlantic. This has a huge bearing
on the eventual retail price, and it is not over-inflated, it follows the
same pricing structure as all Gibson products sold in the US. When your
manufactured costs are so high, the retail price reflects this. I am
determined to bring the manufactured price down and this will eventually
filter through to the US street price. I will just add, that there are no
added mark-ups in the price of the EDP to fund future R&D work, which is 
how
some people may interpret some of the comments made.

My priority for the foreseeable future is to get a CE approved Echoplex out
in the market place at a reasonable price and I am now very close to that
goal. I will post more information when I have firm news. 

If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to mail me off-list,
Andy Ewen,
Trace Elliot Design Dept.





-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Williamson [mailto:erwill@suitandtieguy.com]
Sent: 10 October 2001 05:56
To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Subject: Re: stereo delay


>R&D budgets in the future require sales in the present.....
>
>thanks for your support,

the 2 'Plexes i bought new (for a total of $1500 and a year of waiting) 
were
the
best compositional tools i've used ... and i do occasionally regret selling
them.

but, sales in the present require a price point which is at least
competetive.
if the 'plex was only 3 bills, no one would be buying 'rangs 'peaters
'el-fours
dee2s or _any_ of them ... they all have _stupid_ hardware problems. gibson
would have the market totally locked down and cornered and be raking it in,
even
at the lower price point. unfortunately they still seem stuck in the
seventies.
it's unreasonable to stick an $1150 (AND CLIMBING!!!) list price on a delay
that's 16-bit and 41 khz in the year 2001. it doesn't matter to me if it
_does_
have the best UI and software in the world for it. yeah with group buys and
whatnot it's slightly more affordable, but you shouldn't need to undertake
such
activities to have the opportunity to pay FULL RETAIL IN 1996 price for a
'plex
in 2001. remember, while the price of nearly every other tool in the
industry
has gone down in the past decade, the echoplex price continues to rise.
there
was a time when the echoplex listed at $400 or $500. i've never seen a
company
act with such market stupidity as gibson.

i know no one on this list has anything to do with gibson's pricing. 
please,
kim, don't take my semi-public comments as any kind of personal critisicm.
i'm
just voicing my concern, one no one seems to ever address. i really do feel
sorry for you and matthias, for this predicament your baby is in, but not
sorry
enough to accrue major debt buying into it again.

... i'm going to go make some RDS loops now ...

Eric Williamson
www.suitandtieguy.com