Feeding the habit: What do you do with your old builds? How/where do you sell them?

[dchang0]

So I want to build a new amp (it sure is addicting, isn't it?), but the household rules are: no more amps until I sell some of the old ones. This is for budgetary (recouping the cost and using it for the next build) and space reasons.

How/where do you guys sell your handmade builds for decent dough? These aren't brand name builds, so it may be hard to get top dollar for them. But they may sound better and are almost always built better than the brand names, so how do you convey these facts to potential buyers? Selling in person is slow and tedious, and selling over the Internet usually requires a brand name to be searched on, etc. My friends already have massive amp collections of their own to reconcile with their wives/girlfriends.

Any tips on how I can turn my first-to-go amp (a Weber 6A14 with tons of upgrades) around for as much as possible to put towards my next build?

Thanks in advance!

[Tom Phillips]

How about posting some photos so we can see exactly what we are dealing with?
Thanks,
Tom

[MWJB]

You're going to struggle to get top dollar, those who have never built an amp wrongly assume that because it is "home built" that you have somehow managed to get the parts for free and if you ask say $500, they'll say, "But I can buy a reissue/2nd hand Fender out of a shop (a shop that is ulnikely to have even turned the amp on, let alone even wiped it down with a duster) for that!", assuming that you are merely profiteering.

Be realistic, unless you have a significant rep, or a high profile artist using your gear, be happy with not making a loss on the cost of components (forget a labour rate)...or, don't be in a hurry and get your richest friends to play throught the amp until one says, "that sounds great, I must have it, how much?", then hit him with a price you think is valid...without hesitating, stuttering, or blushing!;-) I routinely do all three!

In terms of profit, it's much easier to make money in drips & drabs, doing repairs, rebiasing, the odd mod etc. Even then,you'll still pick up the odd client who'll call you with, "you rebiased my amp 15yrs ago, last week I changed my preamp tubes and the amp is noisy & sounds shit...what are you playing at I expect you to fix it!"...or the guys who let someone else dig about in your work, then expect you fix it at your expense, whilst swearing blind, "no, he just looked at it, never touched it.."...of course, parts just change brand & value overnight!

...take the bitter with the sweet.

To make money, best bet is to build something entry level, relatively affordable, low parts count, get the process down pat, build in small batches (so you pay less per part due to multiple purchase power), have the smallest variation in parts orders...this is what the factories do. Tell this to your girlfriend/wife...again avoiding the blushes/stuttering/hesitating...and convince her that her logic is flawed". Then sell one amp to make way for the 5 new ones! :-)

[tubeswell]

What MWJB said.

[imaradiostar]

Or you could just maintain a big stock of parts and never finish anything. That's my way of doing things.

jamie

[Steve Conner]

+1, selling amps is more trouble than it's worth really.

I build about one a year max. I took all of my old, crappy-sounding ones apart and recycled the parts into other builds. Right now I have three guitar amps and two hi-fi ones.

[dchang0]

Thanks, guys.

Yeah, I figure once other guitarists actually play through this amp, they'll fall in love with it. Getting it in front of other likely guitarists is the hard part. It seems that most I know fall either into one of two categories: 1) cheapskates who play crap guitars held together by string and twine and who have no appreciation for fine instruments, or 2) brand snobs who think certain marques are the Holy Grail of whatever and who won't buy anything but a "hand signed" or a "specific serial number range" unit.

What I need is access to guitarists like most of us, to whom tone is more important than the brand and is worth enough to spend the proper amounts to get it.

A bassist friend of mine suggested a good idea: college students that happen to be hardcore guitarists. They're into good tone but don't have the budgets to be brand snobs. He's got a hook-up to the local college music department. I think that's gonna work...

BTW, I think you misunderstand "top dollar." I don't mean to get as much as or more than the price of the genuine vintage article. Between 50% and 75% of the real deal would be freakin' awesome.

[Casey4s]

That College connection might be the ticket, or the local Craigs list. People are sometimes guarded about buying "Home Brew" electronics. Not that your amp isn't a good build but people are funny.

I have a boat load of DIYs sitting around and I wind up cannablizing them to build something else. I have sold several to friends only at the basic cost of parts without labor, and I have given several away to relatives. I would never sell an amp to the general public simply because of liablity issues, as somone said in an above post if there is a fire or injury your "Homebrew" will be the blame no matter what. If you sell to a college student make sure they sign a wavier for your prototype amplifier.

[dchang0]

"Prototype..." I like the sound of that...

I was re-reading MJWB's post. His idea of building a bunch for sale, then possibly keeping one for myself, should work well. Provided I can sell the five I build to pay for the sixth one, LOL.

Six builds... man, that's gonna have trouble flying in terms of how much room it all takes up!

[Casey4s]

"Prototype..." I like the sound of that...

I was re-reading MJWB's post. His idea of building a bunch for sale, then possibly keeping one for myself, should work well. Provided I can sell the five I build to pay for the sixth one, LOL.

Six builds... man, that's gonna have trouble flying in terms of how much room it all takes up!

As long as it is a "Prototype" there is no gurantee it is perfect and the buyer accepts it as is. A production version would be expected to be more or less flawless.

[guitarmike2107]

I try and keep the number of my amps in the house to a minimum, I now have 6.5 in the house and two in build.
Once I have the 0.5 one mounted in a cab I will likely give it to one of my friends that can’t afford a “real” amp.
I have another friend that’s starting a recording business in Glasgow that I will probably donate an amp to too.

Although I intend to sell amps in the future I want to do it in a professional manner that takes into account
all the legal requirements that a customer who thinks they are paying a high price will expect. i.e. warranty, spare parts, safety requirements, insurance to cover my own arse etc.

So I say either sell it to a mate for cost or give them away to a friend. Solves the space problem anyhow.

[WholeToneMusic]

Also by building in small batches you can sometimes get a lower cost per unit from the cabinet builder if your pharming your cabinets.

[J M Fahey]

Problem is, customers don't even care as to how much it cost to you, man-hours spent on it aside.
The normal buyer (not only Musicians) often goes by what's "perceived value" to him, even if absolutely unrelated to reality.
He will pay U$250 for a Chinese/Nicaraguan/etc made Jean, actual cost U$25, because "it's a Fiorucci/Calvin Klein/etc" one, "the same as (insert Star Name here) uses", which he percieves as having high value "or the Celebrities wouldn't use it, would they?".
He will not pay you U$300 for an amp (parts cost U$450) , simply because "nobody famous" uses it.
Sad, but a human reality.
Marketing is a black art and, worst part, requires money, lots of it.
*Maybe* if you get a local celebrity or band to use them, that might help you sell others.
You could also strike a deal (read comi$$ion here) with local Guitar Teachers to recommend (sell) your stuff to their pupils.
Of course, EBay and Craigslist are the old standards, better than nothing.
You may also lend (semi-permanently) a couple of them to a local rehearsal studio, or a popular live music place, with the under$tanding that they get a commission on any sale.
Move them around, sitting at home they will not sell themselves.
Just my 2 cents.
PS: very good looks and a couple good sounding MP3s, or a You Tube video don't hurt either.

[jmaf]

My 2 cents: my friends were my greatest salesmen. Like MWJB said, I sold a few just for the price of the parts. One of my friends got married and I built one for him and gave it as marriage gift. The orders arrived for more similar to what John Doe had or similar to what Jane Doe had. I build a few a year, and currently have 2 in my shop.

JMFahey mentioned human nature and that is very true as well. If you're not building something U$ 100 cheaper than competition, don't try to go into the main market trading punches with chinese made amps, because the musician will then compare you by price. My amps are more expensive than Marshalls because current day Marshalls are built with chinese pots and god awful taiwan caps.

I can't compete with Marshall...so what do I do? I make it exactly the opposite, I claim heck yes it's more expensive than a Marshall because you're buying a unique piece, not a machine made clone.

I also provide lifetime guarantee on the amps I make, excluding tubes and obviously irresponsible damage like beer spills and 2 meter high falls off the top of the stack because the guitarist felt like Pete Townshend.

As for getting the amps out the door, you have plenty of online channels for that purpose. eBay, Craigslist, your own home page, youtube for demos, etc. Make sure you hire a good guitar player for the demos, or ask a friend who can really play to record for you.

Today I came across this: YouTube - Dragon Rat

That is a sure fire way to get yourself zero clients for life. Don't do that. I hope all goes well for you, good luck and rock on!

[WholeToneMusic]

I also provide lifetime guarantee on the amps I make, excluding tubes and obviously irresponsible damage like beer spills and 2 meter high falls off the top of the stack because the guitarist felt like Pete Townshend.

I heard Howard D*(@%$ would drag his builds from behind his pickup truck up in the Santa Cruz mountains. Come on whats 2 meters right?