Selling your Builds

[tonejunkie]

I am currently going sell one of my builds to finance a 335 that I have already puchased. I have used a lot of the help from this forum and was wondering what the group thought about selling these things on ebay. To get people looking at this amp I would like to get the traffic from names such as fuchs, two rock, dumble etc. but that seems dishonest in some ways. I in no way want to make amps for a living or even care about making $ but I would like to get $ back for parts and a little bit more for a small portion of my time. I live in a smaller town and have no time to drum up local buisness. I would get no traffic from just putting Tone Junkie ODS 50 as the heading of my auction uneless I used the mentioned names. People drop names often on e-bay but I was looking for the ideas of the many gurus that helped me with the 3 ODS's that I have built thus far.

Thanks guys

TJ

[Luthierwnc]

To make life a little worse, you also have the issue of liability. 450VDC and no Underwriters Labatory sticker might haunt you. You probably should put a big-assed disclaimer on the listing and on the amp that there aren't any comebacks if someone puts their finger in an empty tube hole.

Food for thought, Skip

[Funkalicousgroove]

So under that logic I can stick my finger into an empty light socket and sue the guy who built my house??

There is a product that is a dog toy called a "Dumble Dog"

get one and put in your heading Great Overdrive amplifier with Special dumble Dog toy included-

[Noel Grassy]

^^^^

[nickt]

Funk - you sir, are a genius!

[Luthierwnc]

You can lose as much winning as you can losing. Trust me on this one. sh

[skyboltone]

You can lose as much winning as you can losing. Trust me on this one. sh

Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. Gosh I hate living in fear. You've got a point though.

I used to have a roll of UL stickers in my former life........wonder where they went?

[v00d00blues79]

To make life a little worse, you also have the issue of liability. 450VDC and no Underwriters Labatory sticker might haunt you. You probably should put a big-assed disclaimer on the listing and on the amp that there aren't any comebacks if someone puts their finger in an empty tube hole.

Food for thought, Skip

Man if that was the case any amp I've ever bought from Ebay or any other used source would fall into that category. I, on the rare occasion that I sell one, put a disclaimer that its as-is, no warranty implied or given... YMMV...

Andy

[Bob-I]

Some of the guys you mentioned are good friends here. I'd avoid using their names, but the Dumble Dog idea works for me.

I've sold 4-5 of my builds, never on ebay though. They've all sold on forums, TPG and others. All the new owners are happy and all but one stays in touch (haven't seen the last guy on a forum lately).

[Luthierwnc]

On my point, I doubt anything would come of it. Still, amps I've sold or built for friends always came with at least a verbal warning that there were serious volts inside.

Every part in my stereo has a sticker reading that there are no user servicable parts and that repairs should be done by qualified personel. Coffee cup sleeves have warnings that the coffee is hot (or so they claim). My toaster says do not submerse. Even sandpaper says to use goggles. I think the toilet paper is safe for now. Didn't we have to acknowledge the inherent danger of amp making when we joined this forum?

It isn't that you shouldn't work on your own stuff or because of fear. It is just that they can prove they told you so.

sh

[Bob-I]

I think the toilet paper is safe for now.

I'm not so sure of that. If you were to use it as a dinner plate AFTER it's intended use.... see where I'm going with this?

[Fischerman]

Man if that was the case any amp I've ever bought from Ebay or any other used source would fall into that category. I, on the rare occasion that I sell one, put a disclaimer that its as-is, no warranty implied or given... YMMV...

Ya but there is often no logic at all. For example, I live in Florida where lots of folks have pools. If you have a pool surrounded by a privacy fence and some neighbor's kid somehow gets into your pool and drowns...you're liable. Even if you put a sign on the fence saying Keep Out or whatever...still liable. It's insane but that's the way it is.

[Funkalicousgroove]

So use a dymo labeler and put a warning on the back, In this overly litigous society there is no real protection from being sued, there s no such thing as an accident anymore, and God Forbid people take responsibility for their own actions- It's ALWAYS someone elses fault, an it ALWAYS has a dollar value

[jaysg]

Beyond liability, how are you guys doing with reliability? I've built exactly one amp I sold. Since my nephew owns it, I get to fix it periodically.

Over two years failure #
1 -- crappy ceramic Octal sockets caused intermittents
2 -- Spraque Atom in the bias circuit caused red plating
3 -- Carling SPST power switch...also suspect the Standby switch of causing blackout

I've just replaced the switches with NKK's Mark Huss recommended. There may be other problems since it blew a fuse after no issues for a year. There are tons of amps from the 50's and 60's where the Atoms and Carling switches are still fine.

I fear to tread farther with this selling of amps.

[skyboltone]

Beyond liability, how are you guys doing with reliability? I've built exactly one amp I sold. Since my nephew owns it, I get to fix it periodically.

Over two years failure #
1 -- crappy ceramic Octal sockets caused intermittents
2 -- Spraque Atom in the bias circuit caused red plating
3 -- Carling SPST power switch...also suspect the Standby switch of causing blackout

I've just replaced the switches with NKK's Mark Huss recommended. There may be other problems since it blew a fuse after no issues for a year. There are tons of amps from the 50's and 60's where the Atoms and Carling switches are still fine.

I fear to tread farther with this selling of amps.

I use NKK also and use DPST and parallel contacts for the standby switch.