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Boutique Cabinet Resale

#61
I think just in general the used cabinet sales market has shrunk, I have sold many mint condition premium cabinets over the last 10 years for 40-50 % of what i paid for them. Not that i needed the money or am wealthy by any means, i just had GAS/ interest in different cabs/combinations and instead of just letting them sit i figure if i can recoup some of my expense its worth the lesson to me, sort of my gambling (which i don't do), i finally quit doing that since I'm going to be 63 and just play at home for a hobby.

It seems whether there boutique or not the market just is at a low especially i you involve any kind of shipping.
 
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#63
oranje said:
I love good cabs, own five and use them alternately depending on the band/gig. Everything seems to be slow moving these days for all the reasons previously mentioned, and there is a definite shift to digital modeling. I also consider the famous words of James Careville "It's the economy, stupid". Without getting political, I think uncertainty and dischord make many people hesitant to purchase boutiquey Items.
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I don't think it's the economy. I think the market is saturated. You just said you own five cabinets. I own three at the moment, down from five. When is enough, enough? Answer: until something new and "groundbreaking" comes out. A new "flavor". And then, current gear loses some of it's luster and value. How many new Mesa Boogie 800D amps were sold since Introduction? It's not the economy.
 
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#66
SJan3 said:
I don't think it's the economy. I think the market is saturated. You just said you own five cabinets. I own three at the moment, down from five. When is enough, enough? Answer: until something new and "groundbreaking" comes out. A new "flavor". And then, current gear loses some of it's luster and value. How many new Mesa Boogie 800D amps were sold since Introduction? It's not the economy.
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That's part of it, but the resale market for the Subway cabinets is very robust.

Shipping is one factor that impacts used cabinets more than new cabinets due to economies of scale larger manufacturers enjoy when they ship a lot of cabinets to a dealer. Shipping by the pallet load is much less expensive than shipping a single cabinet through a retail shipping store.
 
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#67
agedhorse said:
That's part of it, but the resale market for the Subway cabinets is very robust.

Shipping is one factor that impacts used cabinets more than new cabinets due to economies of scale larger manufacturers enjoy when they ship a lot of cabinets to a dealer. Shipping by the pallet load is much less expensive than shipping a single cabinet through a retail shipping store.
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I agree. I shipped two Aguilar GS112s to Texas (I live in CT). It was a PITA getting boxes and padding, packing it all up, but my selling price was realistic and the customer was willing to share shipping costs. A fair price and the willingness of the seller to go thru the hoops gets the sale. Those unwilling to ship severely limit their market.
And, yes, Mesa cabinets are in high demand as they are backed by a stellar reputation. But I don't think the economy is to blame for lackluster used cab sales. If I want it and can afford it, I'll buy it. Lots of used gear for sale is analogous to a pair of used shoes. They may even smell! 😉
 
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#68
I spoke with a guy i know at the local high performance car parts shop. He told me a couple of years ago that people always have money for car parts and they don't see downturns. Today he says business is slow and people are hanging onto their money. How things change.

I wish when i was shopping off and on over the past 20 years that there was used high end cabs for sale locally. They rarely come up perhaps because people don't turn them over as much as basses. I do remember seeing an NV610 and i still kick myself for not getting it even though i don't need it.
 
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#69
JutMitch said:
What is your opinion on the wedgie? I absolutely love them and honestly took mine off Marketplace. This Tri115 i've been eye ballin' might be able to be bought for $300 which should give me something similar to a modular El Whappo.
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I really like the wedgie. I probably use it more than my other cabs (Greenboy 15/6/1 x2 & Mesa Subway 112 x 2) for practice at home and it did a great job as my main cab keeping up with a loud drummer in a small room jam session.
I really like how neutral it is and it has helped my get my tone straight for when I play through PA only.
 
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#70
agedhorse said:
That's part of it, but the resale market for the Subway cabinets is very robust.

Shipping is one factor that impacts used cabinets more than new cabinets due to economies of scale larger manufacturers enjoy when they ship a lot of cabinets to a dealer. Shipping by the pallet load is much less expensive than shipping a single cabinet through a retail shipping store.
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Resale on Subway anything is stout. I did pick up the WD800 and a fine piece of gear but trying to track down a used subway cab at a decent used price is difficult and honestly doesn’t really exit. Every so often N’Stuff will get something in but it’s rare. It almost doesn’t make sense to buy used as the prices are so similar.
 
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#71
rolfplamperton said:
The demand for amps/cabinets isn’t there like it used to be. Most gigs I’ve played in the past 15 years haven’t required an amp. In some instances, it may have been better to have one because many sound guys are clueless, but most people prefer no amps now. This also goes for guitar players, the best guitarists I know use some sort of strymon/kemper/quad cortex setup.
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Wow, I haven’t played a show where I didn’t need my set up. Then again I do live in Pittsburgh but that includes playing at Crafthouse,Hardrock cafe, Jergal, South Park amphitheater etc. I do have a SansAMP/Th pre and my guitarist has a Strymon at all times but we always have the gear in the backline.

We have simplified our set up to speaker on sticks, Yamaha Emx7 and no subs. It’s not the most ideal way but with bars not paying like they used to we had to take steps to make it worth our time. So for most of our normal bar gigs my bass system needs to provide monitoring for me and the bandmates along with providing the FOH bass.
 
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#72
I found this thread interesting on boutique bass cabinets and reading everyone's opinions of why boutique isn't selling as it has in the past.

Speaking for myself and why I'm no longer actively in the boutique bass cabinet market, I evaluate all my musical purchases, (especially if the item falls under the nomenclature of boutique), by asking myself, "Does the item's price exceed it's value to me."

With today's prices for boutique equipment my answer to myself is yes, today's prices (for new or used) have exceeded the modest gain in cabinet efficiency, weight reduction, ect. that boutique cabinets can give.

I'll have to politely pass on the purchase.
 
#73
Sometimes you just need to wait for the right buyer to come along. I had a Schroeder cab for sale here for close to three years before it sold a couple of weeks ago. Price is a big factor along with shipping costs. I don’t offer shipping on cabs, but offer to drive a certain distance for delivery. I also offer to take it to the UPS Store for packing and shipping cost estimates. But, yeah, it’s been slow the last few years. Locally what I see is GK and Ampeg. Gigged for many years with Genz Benz amps and Schroeder cabs; nobody had a clue.
 
#75
shoot-r said:
I found this thread interesting on boutique bass cabinets and reading everyone's opinions of why boutique isn't selling as it has in the past.

Speaking for myself and why I'm no longer actively in the boutique bass cabinet market, I evaluate all my musical purchases, (especially if the item falls under the nomenclature of boutique), by asking myself, "Does the item's price exceed it's value to me."

With today's prices for boutique equipment my answer to myself is yes, today's prices (for new or used) have exceeded the modest gain in cabinet efficiency, weight reduction, ect. that boutique cabinets can give.

I'll have to politely pass on the purchase.
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I agree with that 💯 but I’m seeing the price dropping below even that of even lower end gear which is odd. I’ve seen prices fluctuate but they seem to always retain 50% or above usually but in some cases I’m seeing items sitting well below and not selling at 1/3-1/4 their original cost.

Another possible reason I’m thinking is maybe something I already did. I have a a lot of those cabs and while they are all excellent, they aren’t leaps and bounds better than a lot of other mainstream gear. I have a barefaced two10(sold), Sub Comp, accugroove wedgie, greenboy sub15 and audiokinesis TC112 (sold) While all these cabs are excellent, none of them could hold down a loud gig by themselves. Looking for a one cab solution, i went down the “mainstream” route and picked up a new GK Neo 212 on sale for $750 (Sam Ash). It has been my go to ever since. I do switch around to my other cabs on occasion for smaller rooms.

The biggest reason I didn’t double down on adding another matching 112 from those other companies is price, but looking at the prices now I could have added a matching cab really cheap. So maybe (no offense to those premium boutique companies) for the gigging musician, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
 
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#76
jnewmark said:
Sometimes you just need to wait for the right buyer to come along. I had a Schroeder cab for sale here for close to three years before it sold a couple of weeks ago. Price is a big factor along with shipping costs. I don’t offer shipping on cabs, but offer to drive a certain distance for delivery. I also offer to take it to the UPS Store for packing and shipping cost estimates. But, yeah, it’s been slow the last few years. Locally what I see is GK and Ampeg. Gigged for many years with Genz Benz amps and Schroeder cabs; nobody had a clue.
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Yea, I did love my Schroeder cab although I will say I was not impressed with the fit and finish on the inside. The Accugroove was exceptionally well built. Both both of those names seemed to have vanished off the TB “hype” train for quite some time. I thought they still were held in pretty high regard but the lack of interest (purely my personal observation) is now making me think otherwise.

I just think the boutique cab market is now for a specific buyer. Do your research, buy what you need, play the hell out of it for years and don’t worry about resale. I think it’s getting tougher for guys like me that like to try something for awhile and unload it and try something new. I swear there was a time when AK cabs would literally get sold within hours. I remember trying to Email Duke to have one built because I wasn’t quick enough to snag one used. At that time Duke wasn’t building and I’m not sure if he still is.
 
#77
Another factor for me that’s more of a general amp/cab thing is that I just don’t need multiple rigs. Every show I’ve played was either easily covered by my amp with FOH support or backline from the venue or another band. It’s often tempting to have a variety of cabs for different gigs, but in reality, at least for me in our band, one amp works for both practice and stage monitor and that’s enough.
 
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