Boutique Cabinet Resale

[bigdaddybass12]

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.

I am at the point of weight 1st! Seems even the ultralight better name cabs are 25-35 pounds. I have a rumble 100 that I use at a small gig. It is 15lbs? To me it’s doesn’t sound good partially because it’s too light. My next in line to use is a amp/cab weighs about 35 lbs. pre fender SWR pro series monitor. $499 23 years ago. it’s killer but it is a kick back cab and kinda hard to deal with.

 

[agedhorse]

I have a rumble 100 that I use at a small gig. It is 15lbs? To me it’s doesn’t sound good partially because it’s too light.

No, it's not because of the weight, it's because it's a very inexpensive combo compared with the higher end of the market. It actually sounds as good or better than anything in its class IMO.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

No, it's not because of the weight, it's because it's a very inexpensive combo compared with the higher end of the market. It actually sounds as good or better than anything in its class IMO.

Come on!! Say it doesn’t sound good because it is cheap!’ Just messing with you A.H.. Good to see you on here!

 

[JutMitch]

As an update to this post, it sure seems that Barefaced isn’t have much issues with resale . Sold my SC within 8 hours.

 

[rockdoc11]

IMHO, there are not enough bass players out there that know what these brands are. If they do, they probably already have one. I run 2 Epifani cabs and almost all of the locals look at the name and scratch their head.

Just wanted to chime in here on this. In 2012 I bought two used Epifani UL 410 cabs that were then five years old. These sold for over $1000 twenty years ago. They were both in perfect condition, weighed in at less than 50 pounds each. I bought both at $325 each. I've been playing them ever since.

A little less than a year ago I decided I didn't need both (as I have several other cab and combo options). So I put one of them on consignment at the by-far biggest music store here in my medium sized city, and priced it at $399. Not a nibble. I've told the store guys I'd basically take any offer. Nada.

I don't need to sell, but am at the point in life where I'm trying to downsize a bit. I'd rather not have buyers come to the house. So I may end up just giving them away to a local school.

 

[agedhorse]

Just wanted to chime in here on this. In 2012 I bought two used Epifani UL 410 cabs that were then five years old. These sold for over $1000 twenty years ago. They were both in perfect condition, weighed in at less than 50 pounds each. I bought both at $325 each. I've been playing them ever since.

A little less than a year ago I decided I didn't need both (as I have several other cab and combo options). So I put one of them on consignment at the by-far biggest music store here in my medium sized city, and priced it at $399. Not a nibble. I've told the store guys I'd basically take any offer. Nada.

I don't need to sell, but am at the point in life where I'm trying to downsize a bit. I'd rather not have buyers come to the house. So I may end up just giving them away to a local school.

When folks ask why we don’t offer our legacy (heavy) speaker models anymore, this is the reason.

Players say they love the old, heavy models but simply won’t follow up with a purchase (as you have experienced yourself). We couldn’t “give them away”.

 

[JutMitch]

Just wanted to chime in here on this. In 2012 I bought two used Epifani UL 410 cabs that were then five years old. These sold for over $1000 twenty years ago. They were both in perfect condition, weighed in at less than 50 pounds each. I bought both at $325 each. I've been playing them ever since.

A little less than a year ago I decided I didn't need both (as I have several other cab and combo options). So I put one of them on consignment at the by-far biggest music store here in my medium sized city, and priced it at $399. Not a nibble. I've told the store guys I'd basically take any offer. Nada.

I don't need to sell, but am at the point in life where I'm trying to downsize a bit. I'd rather not have buyers come to the house. So I may end up just giving them away to a local school.

Yea, at this point I think the market has changed but honestly, I think there was some heavy hitters in the past that just don’t seem to garner much attention. My barefaced cab had emails and offers instantly with a a couple hundred views and adds to watchlist, 8 hours it was sold. My accugroove has maybe 20-30 views, 1 watchers. No messages or emails and the accugroove is listed for a few hundred less and imo is the better deal. Honestly, I just think the hype train is more super focused on a few boutique brands, along with the industry stalwarts like Aguilar and Mesa.

 

[D to the C]

Yea, at this point I think the market has changed but honestly, I think there was some heavy hitters in the past that just don’t seem to garner much attention. My barefaced cab had emails and offers instantly with a a couple hundred views and adds to watchlist, 8 hours it was sold. My accugroove has maybe 20-30 views, 1 watchers. No messages or emails and the accugroove is listed for a few hundred less and imo is the better deal. Honestly, I just think the hype train is more super focused on a few boutique brands, along with the industry stalwarts like Aguilar and Mesa.

The other thing that might be at play with barefaced selling fast is tariffs! I don’t know this for a fact, but I assume they’ve added quite a bit to the price to get them shipped to the U. S. Thoughts?

 

[wjcstp]

Yea, at this point I think the market has changed but honestly, I think there was some heavy hitters in the past that just don’t seem to garner much attention.

I think this is true. The local Craigslist has had a Genz Benz cab listed for about 6 months but a Bergantino HD cab was gone within a couple of weeks.

 

[JutMitch]

The other thing that might be at play with barefaced selling fast is tariffs! I don’t know this for a fact, but I assume they’ve added quite a bit to the price to get them shipped to the U. S. Thoughts?

Yea, I think the Tariff is around 10%, so i think that combined with the wait has something to do with it. I'm not sure how behind Barefaced is right now, but when i ordered many years ago, the wait was maybe 2-3 months to get built.

Yes, Bergantino to me falls maybe more in line with Mesa, Aguilar, Epi and Genzler (just to name a few) that isn't so much what i considered "boutique" (at least right now) but just the top of the pecking order when it comes to all around great products. I think those products will always have a great resale. Those listed brands above are typically known by most, if not all bass players (maybe Genzler slightly less visible and Epi more so).

I just feel that when you start saying Acme Sound, Schroeder, Accugroove, Rev, AK, Baer Etc, it rarely rings a bell to any bass players i've encountered. In fact only, 1 person (sound guy) ever recognized my Barefaced SuperCompact.