Wizard Modern Classic
For my money, there is no better take on a modernized, hotrodded Marshall.
In the end, wishes for new amps are just requests. Fractal decides what amp to add by considering lots of other factors: "How easy is it to get a working example of this amp without spending too much money and time?" "What does this amp bring to the table that's unique and can't already be covered by an existing amp model?" "Can we get a schematic?" "What else are we developing that we should spend our time on instead?"... lots of stuff besides "How many people have voted for this amp?".Seems like there ought to be a thread which asks for proposals for new amps (like this one), but, with a time-limit.
Everybody chimes in. The post at the top of the thread is continuously updated with people's latest suggestions, in alphabetical order, to prevent duplicates.
Then, when the time-limit is reached, a POLL is added, with all those amps in the list, taking votes for highest-priority, second-highest, etc.
Seems like a good way to get a more-focused, more-organized sense of what to add.
Good to know.In the end, wishes for new amps are just requests. Fractal decides what amp to add by considering lots of other factors: "How easy is it to get a working example of this amp without spending too much money and time?" "What does this amp bring to the table that's unique and can't already be covered by an existing amp model?" "Can we get a schematic?" "What else are we developing that we should spend our time on instead?"... lots of stuff besides "How many people have voted for this amp?".
The truth is, driving new amp additions based on a popularity contest isn't likely to get the best candidates in the door.
My overall impression from the Fractal users (especially as a new one) is that disregarding the polls is not appropriate. Considering everything is technically possible and pretty well defined in amplifiers it's just prioritization and resources. If the largest request would drive more revenue and units sold which would fuel more R&D for more niche amps I'm pretty sure it would happen. Unless that market and user research isn't taking place. If a large percentage of your active users are requesting a specific amp or pedal (Klon?) then you could come to a few potential thought experiments:In the end, wishes for new amps are just requests. Fractal decides what amp to add by considering lots of other factors: "How easy is it to get a working example of this amp without spending too much money and time?" "What does this amp bring to the table that's unique and can't already be covered by an existing amp model?" "Can we get a schematic?" "What else are we developing that we should spend our time on instead?"... lots of stuff besides "How many people have voted for this amp?".
The truth is, driving new amp additions based on a popularity contest isn't likely to get the best candidates in the door.
I didn’t say anything about disregarding user requests. Fractal has established itself as giving more weight to user feedback than pretty much any other company in its field.My overall impression from the Fractal users (especially as a new one) is that disregarding the polls is not appropriate. Considering everything is technically possible and pretty well defined in amplifiers it's just prioritization and resources. If the largest request would drive more revenue and units sold which would fuel more R&D for more niche amps I'm pretty sure it would happen. Unless that market and user research isn't taking place. If a large percentage of your active users are requesting a specific amp or pedal (Klon?) then you could come to a few potential thought experiments:
These are my thoughts as a technical product manager.
- Our users really want this and would provide a positive experience for current users
- Positive experience could drive more vocal supports (higher NPS score). "Users beget more users, who beget more users."
- It's not going to push more sales but would just make current customers happy so we may prioritize other amps, pedals, etc to drive more unit sales
- It's just too expensive right now but we know that customers want it. This could also mean reverse engineering for a schematic you don't have.
- Would this model drive more unit sales? If so then maybe budget for modelling in the future. Example: Dumble String Singer
- It's only going to satisfy a small number of current users or the market is too small to prioritize for development
- I know what's good for our customers
- Test your preconceptions against user interviews, market research, competitors, etc.
I didn’t say anything about disregarding user requests. Fractal has established itself as giving more weight to user feedback than pretty much any other company in its field.
My point was that user opinion is just one of many factors involved. And polls can give skewed results that are based on what a majority have access to and have tried. Example: a while back, we got the Hook amps added. These are wonderful amps with a unique gain structure that works really well in a band context. There’s nothing else in the box that’s quite like them. If the decision was left to user polls, the Hooks would never have made it in. They wouldn’t have won any popularity contests because most people had never heard of them.
our search for usage numbers and desire to mine those numbers for maximum profit impact is the heart and soul of product-design-by-marketing-department. Fractal cares about profits, too. But the model here is product-design-by-designer's-vision. That vision is a product that gives maximum performance, maximum functionality and maximum options to professional guitarists.
Im not sure what “classic musician response” means, but given the fact that we’re all musicians here, that would imply a near-universal consensus on the position I put forth.That's an interesting take on it and pretty much mirrors the classic musician response.