Is There A Market For Broken Gear?

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous [BG]' started by Boom762, Dec 29, 2014.

  1. Boom762

    Boom762 I AM the one who Booms! Supporting Member

    Oct 19, 2013
    Alpine, TX
    I've been holding onto some damaged/broken gear for years thinking at some point I'm either going to learn how to repair electronics or run across someone who does. One item is a Rumble 350 Bass head and I spent too much money on it to just... throw it out with the old milk.

    Is there gold to be made yet or is it all just dust storage?
     
  2. Gorn

    Gorn Supporting Member

    Dec 15, 2011
    Queens, NY
    The classifieds? You may not want to fix it but someone else might. Probably no gold to be made, but maybe a little bit of money.
     
  3. Boom762

    Boom762 I AM the one who Booms! Supporting Member

    Oct 19, 2013
    Alpine, TX
    Well that's what I'm asking. Are pedals and things worth repairing and reselling for those who know how to repair them or are they just junk?
     
  4. It depends on the fix.
    I bought a broken Marshall amp and fixed a major problem only to find it caused another minor problem, and it needs new filter caps. It's worth it to me because I got it for a *very* good price.
    Pedals, however, may not be worth the hours spent on finding and fixing the problem; a Boss pedal worth 50$ that's broken with a tough-to-find problem won't be worth the man hours spent fixing it. The fixer wouldn't be able to pay himself well at all.

    That being said, what do you have? :D
     
  5. Boom762

    Boom762 I AM the one who Booms! Supporting Member

    Oct 19, 2013
    Alpine, TX
    A Black Cat Moan Wah, A Rocktron Planet Metal "I think I fried this one as it makes noise but of low quality and very quiet", and a Fender Rumble 350 head that was in a major car accident. It dented down in the center and broke one of the green circuit boards. I figured the pedals would not likely be worth fixing, but was hoping maybe the head could be repaired or salvaged.
     
  6. The two pedals retail for a bit over 100$ each, so if you can fix them with a few dollars in parts and 2-3 hours each you'd be doing okay, as long as you can sell them for 60-75$. There isn't a load of profit to be made, so if you fix them, might as well keep & use them.
    For the Rumble head, the chances of finding another one of the green boards is fairly low. You can sell for parts, or try to find another rumble for parts and transfer the board.
     
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  7. Big Hoss

    Big Hoss Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...

    Not sure about Lubbock, but here there are several Fender certified service centers, one in particular that is known to do good work repairing busted amps. Typically if the broke isn't too bad, the fix isn't terribly expensive. Might be worth getting it looked at, and maybe put back into service if for nothing else but a backup...

    The friend that taught me bass years ago that talked me into buying the Crate, which was a good choice given my needs back then, had a similar 1x15 Ampeg 100 watt combo that visibly smoked that he took in to get repaired. I think his total bill was like $70.00 and it worked like new for years afterward...

    OUCH. Just saw the details on what happened to the Rumble head... Might be worth checking, but it sounds like its only value at this point might be for parts to someone else... Sorry.
     
  8. Boom762

    Boom762 I AM the one who Booms! Supporting Member

    Oct 19, 2013
    Alpine, TX
    Yeah. Wonder what arts are worth. I found some photos of the insides of that Fender. They are fairly large photos so you can really get in there and look where the stress areas were. Mostly around the screws. A friend of mine told me that if it were the blue boards, it would be no problem but due to it being the green card, I wouldnt ever be able to find a replacement.

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdgq121wr4vpy42/20140408_184604.jpg?dl=0

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/94vswkuwi0ts27i/20140408_184624.jpg?dl=0

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/a6oyqz85j6yjcy8/20140408_184545.jpg?dl=0
     
  9. Big Hoss

    Big Hoss Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...

    Have you taken it to a Fender authorized repair center to have it looked at? You never know, they might have a line on parts that may not otherwise be offered via other channels... It's a shot in the dark sure, but might be worth it...

    That damage is far less than I had expected to see when you said major car wreck. I can see how it happened though. The physics aren't that hard to figure out from the failure pattern. (NO I am not an engineer, but I took a lot of engineering courses before I decided I hated it...).

    I would talk to Fender or a Fender authorized repair center. Odds are slim, but worth taking a shot...
     
  10. Boom762

    Boom762 I AM the one who Booms! Supporting Member

    Oct 19, 2013
    Alpine, TX
    I thought it would still work by the looks of it. It was inside a military duffle bag. When I hit the ice and went over the edge of the hill it got rolled around in the cab a bunch of times and I think it was hit by one of the sections of a 6 string bass I had inside with me. About a month after all this happened, I plugged it into the wall and my cabinet. The red power light turned on but no sound would come out. After a second try the light failed.

    I think Lubbock has 1 or 2 official fender stores. We don't have many guitar stores here period though. I think I found one called JG & KG Inc dba Radio Lab. Ill give them a call and see if there still in business.