[ampaholic]

Any perspectives on where vintage amp pricing is at right now? Are things up, down or the same as compared to the pandemic era buying frenzy?

 

[Budda]

I would say down. Things that seem normally priced are still sitting if my constant Kijiji searches are telling me anything. Consignment stock at stores as well. Those paying more attention should have better info of course haha.

 

[Griff]

I would say they are beginning to trend down from a pretty sharp peak. Mostly that items seem to be sitting longer at what I would consider inflated prices.

 

[mick.335]

I watch the usual sources on a daily basis for vintage amps and certain guitars on my "Must Have at Some Point" list. I am not sure if amp prices have gone down all that much but they aren't moving like they were a couple of years ago. A common reaction I have to certain listings I'm watching is "that guy is dreaming". And they're still dreaming months later.

 

[Granny Gremlin]

Agreed. So many inflated (and not just a little) asking prices though, like everyone's a dreamer these days. This generally applies to all gear not just amps. The examples are astounding - Garnets asking for 80s/90s Marshall money; 2 power tube 3 knob Sunns asking ambitious 4 power tube 7 knob Sunn money. Later era SS amps asking for earlier tube area money, etc.

Some things are up due to hype and recent popularity (Traynor TS series for example), but not as up as sellers are hoping. The $50 days are gone, sure, but that TS-25 + matching extension 1x12 for $300 is pushing it.

There are also reasonable sellers out there.

 

[terminalvertigo]

It's also post Holidays, where everyone is worried about their CC statements and covering xmas bills.. always seems slow for a few months.

 

[Granny Gremlin]

It's also post Holidays, where everyone is worried about their CC statements and covering xmas bills.. always seems slow for a few months.

This is very true. Just like the documented cycle this time of year with the stock market, I have noticed the same thing with general selling of stuff on ebay/kijiji/etc in January. Usually comes back by end of February.

IMHO what we are seeing is not just the normal seasonal dip however. The evidence for this is the aforementioned disparity between asking prices and selling prices; people can't pay as much due to other financial pressures, but sellers want more because of those same cost of living increase pressures, but end up settling for less (or taking much longer to sell if they aren't quite as motivated).

 

[torndownunit]

IMHO what we are seeing is not just the normal seasonal dip however. The evidence for this is the aforementioned disparity between asking prices and selling prices; people can't pay as much due to other financial pressures, but sellers want more because of those same cost of living increase pressures, but end up settling for less (or taking much longer to sell if they aren't quite as motivated).

I agree. I've been watching stuff start to sit longer for sale, and that's previous to holidays. Even stuff I consider good deals I have seen sit. I was combo shopping and had a few items bookmarked where I was trying to decide if the drive was worth my time (and what I was actually looking for). Where I am located it's a bit isolated north of me so you can get some good deals by driving an hour. I couldn't believe how long a few really well priced amps sat. That tends to make me think they may have gone for even less that what I already though were really good prices. I watched those sellers drop their prices, so I don't think it was them holding out, it just seems like a lot of stuff isn't moving.

 

[guitarman2]

After reading this thread I jumped on Kijiji to check if there were any used custom shop 64 deluxe reverbs, which is an amp I've been mildly interested in owning but just never got around to buying one yet. I saw one used for $3,450 and thought that was quite expensive. The last time I looked, which didn't seem that long ago and they were $3,200-3,400 new. So I look on the L&M site and holy crap. New price is now $4,139. At these prices, new and used, I've gone from "mildly interested" to "strongly uninterested".

 

[GuitarTalk]

Any perspectives on where vintage amp pricing is at right now? Are things up, down or the same as compared to the pandemic era buying frenzy?

no change, less inventory.

I’ve been trying to buy a cleanish 5E3 Deluxe for $8k CAD CASH (no trade BS) for 3 months, with no luck. Only one at Capsule sold for $7k same day as it was listed for asking price, which they still have up on their site as available to attract traffic to their site I guess.

Just the 50’s/60’s speakers have evaporated… certain ones fetch $1k+ easily and sell within minutes on Reverb (literally minutes).

Anything cleanish Tweed and early Brown pre-cbs is gone very fast at same prices as 6-12months ago. Certain models like tweed super/pro are non-existent on the market… asking prices for a clean super are $15-20k USD…. not sure who is paying that though.

I bought a 57’ pro for $4500 cad cash a year ago (original iron/tweed/speaker, a little worn and wheels for feet), it was a fair deal and there were several tweed pro’s on the market in the $6k+ cad range in slightly better condition on Reverb… I just sold that pro for $6500 cash… to a dealer. Only comparibles on the market (literally just 2 amps in similar condition) are $7-9k cad and are “local pickup only” which of course limits buyer pool.

Blackface pre-cbs/early cbs stuff comes up at a bargain sometimes but it’s cheaper by the dozen in comparison to tweed/brown era stuff.

Gibson stuff is not doing so well, vintage tweed/two tone Gibson amps are selling for less than 6 months ago surprisingly… BUT it was also really hyped by several youtubers last year and that hype is now gone.