The prices seem reasonable for what they are. I don't own a $2000+ instrument or anything, but the prices seem to be about what I'd expect. I was actually surprised by the Meat Smoke, which I expected to be more than it is. From what I've read/seen/heard, they seem to be excellent amps. I wish the guy all the best in the world.

Oh, and I actually like the look of the wood. I've always been more interested in amps than guitars/basses. I think these look great.

How to these compare to the C. Everett Koop?

Its even worse for the horrid coffee table basses. Those things often sell for less than 50% of the cost on talkbass from what I can tell. Though, part of that is because the people buying/selling them seem to do so weekly and always have new gear and dont care if they lose money.

Boutique pedals are another story, they sell at cost a lot of the time because people just want to bypass the wait times. Four more months for the fuzzrocious, seriously considering buying another rat in the mean time.

elisha wiesner wrote:The used market for boutique amps (as well as custom built guitars) is very soft. I sold a Tony Bruno Cow Tipper and another boutique amp, both in excellent shape, for a friend last year and it took a long time and I ended up getting about 60% of the new value for them. It's something to consider if you aren't 100% sure you want the amp. That's not terrible. As a general rule of thumb, I find that the typical used price for something that you can still buy brand new is about 65%. More if it is something really hot and hard to find new or used.

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Certainly not the case w/ Verellen amps, but I have found that most of my Boutique gear is really poorly built. sounds great while it works, but it's fussy. Like the difference between a ferrari and a toyota. If I played one show a year, I'd be fine w/ the ferrari, but i need shit that works every time, and can rattle around in the back of a van.

ezweave wrote:People always have that mistaken notion that an amp is an investment. Not that it isn't something you can get your money out of, but I know people that get peeved when they don't. Especially something boutique or even mildly rare. Does Joe Guitar Center really know how good a Sunn Sonaro or an Earth Sound Research head sounds? Nope.Now if you buy a Mesa, an Orange, or a Marshall... People are the same with guitars and I always find it funny. "I payed $1000 for it 4 years ago and need to at least get my money back out of it"... No one takes into account that they got to play the thing for 4 years. Try renting a guitar for 4 years. I've lost a few bucks on plenty of gear but $100 here or there for something that I spent years using and enjoying is well worth it in my book.

elisha wiesner wrote: It's not terrible but it's certainly not great. It can be a big hit to take if you buy something expensive and don't like it. Plus, boutique gear is much tougher to re-sell then common used stuff. Believe me. A blackface Bassman head sells for between $700-900ish on ebay. I'm sure you could buy one in that range this week and you could also sell it for what you payed next week. It could take months to find a buyer for an amp that 99.9% of the guitar playing public has never heard of. You could have it on craigslist forever with no offers and a no reserve ebay auction could end up being terrible for you. It can languish in Buy It Now hell for a long time if you go that route. It took me 2-3 months to sell that Bruno Cowtipper for like $1200 less than the new price and it was basically in mint condition. I had it on my website, G-base, Craigslist and ebay, plus I posted it on a couple of forums. If my friend had needed the money quick it would have been a much bigger loss. On the plus side, you could always look around for a used one and scoop it up for way less than new.People always have that mistaken notion that an amp is an investment. Not that it isn't something you can get your money out of, but I know people that get peeved when they don't. Especially something boutique or even mildly rare. Does Joe Guitar Center really know how good a Sunn Sonaro or an Earth Sound Research head sounds? Nope.Now if you buy a Mesa, an Orange, or a Marshall...