Trade Train #3 - Brand Name Value

There's no such thing as the perfect amp - it's all relative.  As circumstances change, your definition of perfect changes as well, and that dream rig of stereo 100 watt Marshall stacks becomes slightly impractical if you find yourself playing local watering holes.

My Maz 38 fell into that category.  Despite it being the best amp I've ever owned, once the band stopped getting together, all that power was just silly.  Combined with a tight cash situation, it was time to post it up on Kijiji and see what I could find.

I listed the head and the cab (a Leyland Sound 2x12 with Eminence Swamp Thangs) for $1800 - exactly what I had paid for it 12 months prior.  Since the amp was in the same condition as when I bought it, it seemed fair.

After a few days, and a few offers, a problem clearly presented itself - The head would be easy to sell, the cabinet not so much.  Despite the fact that it was a supremely well made cabinet (seriously - if you know where this specific cab is contact me and I'll buy it back), nobody was interested because it didn't have a brand name they recognized.

There's a lesson here - no matter the quality, people want brand names, at any level of the game.

With lots of cash offers for the head, and none for the cab, I decided that after a week I needed to take a new approach.  First, make it clear that I would not separate the head and the cab.  Second, entertain trade offers.

Expressing willingness to trade gear is usually a fools game.  The offers you get are rarely even close to value, and you'll mostly get kids hoping to trade their Squier Strat (with tuner and stand!) for your Les Paul. If you've ever made a trade offer and don't get the courtesy of a response, you're probably one of these.

Despite rarely succeeding, this time it paid off.  Someone contacted me with a trade offer - A Gibson Double Cut Faded and a Fender Deluxe Reverb Resissue - for the head.  Ugh.  Instead of being shitty though, I explained my thinking to him:

1. The Gibson was worth $700 based on the market at the time.
2. The DRRI was worth $800 (though they were going for $900 at the time)
3. I wouldn't separate the cab, so he needed to add $300 cash to get me to where I needed to be ($700+$800+$300=$1800!) .

Of course, this was all subject to inspection on both our parts, but that went off without a hitch.  The Gibson had a cool vibe with the faded finish and the P90s, and the DRRI was exactly what you'd expect it to be.

While he certainly got the nicest gear in the deal, I walked away with a bit of cash, and a new guitar and amp to play with. I knew they could both be flipped once I inevitably got bored of them, and I wouldn't have to deal with a higher ticket price. Plus, they're the "brandiest" of the brand names.

Lesson learned? Not sure just one, but brand names are easier to sell, boutique names will yield better value, and quality doesn't mean squat if nobody has heard of you.

Seriously though - Leyland Sound Design makes seriously nice stuff.  Never met them, and their site sucks, but if Mennonites built guitar cabinets, this is what they'd be like. 

Next time - How a Gibson DC faded becomes a Gibson SG Standard for the cost of $20 in gas and a bit of bench work.