# Melco Amaya



## specialta (Feb 21, 2007)

Was wondering if anybody uses the Melco Amaya 16 needle embroidery machine. I have a single head 15 needle SWF machine that I have used for about a year and a half now, its been a good machine, but I need another one and I am thinking about switching it the Melco Amaya, since that is the machine I was interrested from the start, but I just got a good buy on this machine and went this direction instead. Now my workload has increased and instead of buying a multi-head machine and trying to find a place to put it, I would rather buy two Melco Amaya`s and network them together and use less of my limited space and still have a nice machine.
I would like to know some of the pros and cons if anybody wants to chime in.

Thanks Kevin
Special Tees Custom Apparel


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## curtrnev (May 28, 2007)

We have had our AMAYA for about 18 months no complaints yet.

Curtis


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## specialta (Feb 21, 2007)

is a lease the way to go or a conventional loan..? We bought our SWF outright, but was thinking about leaseing the next machine


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## debragander (Aug 22, 2007)

I've had 2 amayas now for 2 years and will be adding another in the near future. The good thing is if 1 machine is down I can still use the other not that there as been any major problems. I run the machine at 1250pm without any problems.


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## tim3560 (Jan 7, 2007)

You can get a multifunctional machine from SWF and print as a multihead or 2 singles. I've heard great things about the Amaya's but horrible things about their customer service from several members on this board.


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## wm7888 (Feb 20, 2008)

I have three amayas and have never had any complaints.These machines are true workhorses.


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## specialta (Feb 21, 2007)

Has anybody used the Lease plan to purchase these machines...? If so how is that working for you..?

Thanks...Kevin


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## tim3560 (Jan 7, 2007)

wm7888 said:


> I have three amayas and have never had any complaints.These machines are true workhorses.


Have you used customer service yet?


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## tim3560 (Jan 7, 2007)

specialta said:


> Has anybody used the Lease plan to purchase these machines...? If so how is that working for you..?
> 
> Thanks...Kevin


We used a lease to get our SWF machine. We were just starting so we couldn't aford to buy outright. The payments are very reasonable and the company that SWF uses is very friendly and easy to work with.


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## wm7888 (Feb 20, 2008)

Hey Tim,
I have used them a few times and have had no problems.My only problem with melco is the melcomart.I seem to always have problems when I order parts online so now I just call it in and everything is fine,but as for service I have had no issues.


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## wm7888 (Feb 20, 2008)

I leased my first amaya because like Tim said I was starting out and couldn't afford to buy it.I went through omni leasing and ihave had no issues.


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## specialta (Feb 21, 2007)

Well I am thinking about selling my SWF and leasing two Melco`s since I am in need of two heads, so I was wondering if the leaseing was a good way to go or not, I know you should be able to deduct your payments on your taxes each year.
Thanks again for all the reply`s....hope to get some more opinions good and bad.
Kevin


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## exembroiderer (Feb 27, 2008)

Kevin, Three words - *Don’t Do It*. I used to run the Melco Amayas. I had the pre XT model which gave me huge troubles and then I purchased the newer XT with the understanding that the troubles were sorted. I persevered with the new XT for 12 month (which included traveling to Denver to attend training) before I gave up on them. Be cautious of following advice from the AMAYA forums such as amayausers.com because it is not an unbiased forum. It is run by AMAYA techs and supported by Melco ultimately giving a sanitized version of many opinions. Any subjects or threads that will detract from the Melco brand are rapidly removed. Read the post's that do remain - the same silly & niggly problems come up time and time again. These problems relate to machine downtime which equals lost CASH. With respect to the machine users, this is what I found; Many of the users are not actually fulltime or commercial/volume embroiderers. It is rare to fine a larger commercial business that uses this machine this largely due to the stitch quality, difficulty and time consuming maintenance along with the inability of Melco reps to service machines in reasonable timeframes. Because it is software based you are also at the mercy of outside influences such as Microsoft. They bring a new version of their operating platform and there is instantly software related machine problems. Another software point; as Melco fix gremlins that develop there is a requirement to constantly upgrade the software. This is fine in the first 12 months where upgrades are included but after that you need to pay unless you have purchased an ongoing service contract. Other concerns are the quality of manufacture – The machine mostly plastic, I know they promote the lower weight as an advantage but are you really going to carry the machine around. The last concern is with customer service - It is non existant. If you want a multihead machine buy exactly that. Don't be duped into thinking that the AMAYA will do it without spending big quantities of money to make them run. The multihead software is not included with the machine and it is an optional please send more money deal. In short the concept of the machine is groundbreaking, the quality is average and most importantly the ongoing cost associated with machine is well above average. If you are serious about embroidery go with Tajima or Barudan you’ll thank yourself. ‘
Rosco


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## wm7888 (Feb 20, 2008)

Kevin,
I tried all the machines before I bought and I liked the amaya the best,but you need to try them for yourself and see what you think I would never bash another company because really it doesn;t matter to me in the end who you choose I can only tell you what has happened to me.I dont know where you live,but if your close to me your welcome to come to my shop and see what you think and I know theres other ones on here that would do the same for you.The best advice I can give you is dont rush it and try all the machines before making a choice.

Don


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## specialta (Feb 21, 2007)

Thanks Don for you reply, I live in southeastern part of Indiana, I presently own an SWF single head machine, and have seen the Amaya`s run at the different shows and have always been impressed by them, we do a tremendous amount of hats so that is an important issue for me. I have been in contact with another person just north of me and she is gonna let us come up and take a look at her machines and try to make a decision based on what we see there.
Also thanks Rosco for your reply, I definately wanted Pro`s and Con`s for what users thought of their Amaya`s....I understand that you are definately not a fan of melco now apparently but alot of the problems you seem to be talking about are problems I have experienced with SWF as well, so that doesn`t bother me too bad.
Thanks alot...Kevin


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## mk162 (Sep 24, 2007)

We had a Melco, not an AMAYA, but a 4 head. It was a good machine, but it was getting older. We replaced it with an SWF 6 head dual function. Haven't regretted it at all.

Service from Melco is perhaps the worst in the industry. They need about 3 times as many techs as they have now. I personally wouldn't buy from them until that is straight. SWF's service has been great. It also sews better than Melcos since the needle is closer to the garment, less chance for deflection.


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## debragander (Aug 22, 2007)

Rosco

Im interested in what you mean when you say the stitch quality isn't all that good, surely that is down to digitizing?

Debbie


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## mk162 (Sep 24, 2007)

No, it's actually not. There are other machines that sew better for several reasons. I would send designs down to a friend with Tajimas and the same design would sew tons better on his equipment. I think it is partially due to the distance of the needle from the garment and the smoothness of the machine. The Melco sounded choppy and ran rough compared to his Tajimas that were older.

The AMAYAs might be better, but I can tell you they don't build as nice of a machine as others.


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## debragander (Aug 22, 2007)

The reason I asked is because even though I am happy with the amaya I have seen designs that look better, I put it down to digitizing and thread but obviously I'm wrong.


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## mk162 (Sep 24, 2007)

It has a lot to do with the machines, but a lot of it is related to digitizing. I know the newer versions of Wilcom sews small text very well. Maybe a better program would help.


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