Holland head.

[lowmantotempole]

Does anyboy know anything about Holland amps? I have somebody that is offering me a Holland 100 watt head (see pics). It's a custom one off and sounds great! I just have no idea what it's worth. I have even e-mailed Mike Holland but got no response.

[bbartilson]

It's a custom one off and sounds great! I just have no idea what it's worth.

What does the owner think it's worth?

Amplifiers can be looked at in two ways:

1. As an investment.
2. As a tool.

I run across this same thing in the motorcycle industry all the time. If guy owns a $500 motorcycle with $5000 worth of custom accessories, is it worth $5500? The answer always is: It depends on you.

If you like the amp a lot, and the owner is willing to part with it for a price you think is fair, then make the deal.

If the tool does what you want it to do, then the only question is what a comparable tool under a different name is worth. The name plate doesn't matter unless the build quality is suspect, or you can't get support for it when it breaks. Sounds like the maker may or may not be unavailable, but you've still got this place when something goes wrong. That IS or is not a factor for you.

So what's the going rate for an amp like this (but with a known brand name) where you live? Unless it's really special to you, the amp isn't worth more than that, and perhaps less, as it's a generally unknown brand.

If you're looking at it from an investment standpoint, like you want to be able to come out ahead when you sell it, then that's a whole different equation. In that case there's not going to be much of a track record of sales. The answer there is that it's probably not worth as much as a comparable amp in a brand name. Unmolested Fender/Marshall/Vox/whatever amps continue to increase in value, but are not generally accepted as work horse amps to take on a gig. They become less a tool and more a showpiece.

There is a vast difference between something being rare and being desirable. If you want the bragging rights of having a custom amp no one else (or very few others) has/have, you're back to how much you like it, and what it's worth to you. And that's the only figure that really matters.

What it's worth to the next guy doesn't matter until you want to sell it.

Make sense?

-Bill