Market Value of Sunn Enforcer

[BradW]

Hi,
I've owned a Sunn Enforcer for a couple of years now and am thinking about selling it. I like it but I just don't use it that much. This amp is so limited though that hard to know what the market value is. Does anybody have an opinion on what a good price range is? Anybody have actual examples of what they sold theirs for?


This is the Enforcer Head 60/100w with the footswitch and 6l6 tubes in it. Cosmetically its got a few knicks but in general looks pretty good. Works and sounds great too.

So what's it worth?

Thanks

[JoeArthur]

Hi,
I've owned a Sunn Enforcer for a couple of years now and am thinking about selling it. I like it but I just don't use it that much. This amp is so limited though that hard to know what the market value is. Does anybody have an opinion on what a good price range is? Anybody have actual examples of what they sold theirs for?


This is the Enforcer Head 60/100w with the footswitch and 6l6 tubes in it. Cosmetically its got a few knicks but in general looks pretty good. Works and sounds great too.

So what's it worth?

Thanks

There is no "market value" on old equipment.  It is worth exactly what the buyer cares to pay - no more, no less.

[Isaac]

Well, there is another factor. It's also worth what the seller will take for it. If I have something I want to sell, and no one will give me what I want for it, then you could conclude that I'm asking more than it's worth, or that they're offering less than it's worth. Ultimately, when buyer and seller agree on a price, that's its market value.

I think what BradW is looking for is a ballpark figure, an estimate of what that value ought to be. There are places to find out that sort of information, a Blue Book sort of thing, but I don't have it. I know that there are people on the Harmony-Central boards who do. As with cars, though, the actual selling price must be negotiated between the buyer and seller, and may bear little resemblance to the blue Book price.

[Rich Briere]

Blue Book in fair condition is $36. Blue Books are written by the "dealers" in whatever industry they serve. Why do "Blue Books" exist?  So the dealer can show you a number, IN WRITING. As we all now, if the number was written by a "third party", it must be true.

If it works, I wouldn't take less than $100 for it if you're selling it to another person.....expect less if you're trading it in. From one who makes his living in retail, I generally advise all of my customers NOT to trade things in.

If it were mine, I'd ask $200 and take what you think is fair.  Just out of curiousity, what did YOU pay for it?

Bass-ically Yours,
Rich Briere

[EdBass]

There is no "market value" on old equipment. It is worth exactly what the buyer cares to pay - no more, no less.

Amen. It's truly worth however much cash it can be turned into at any given time.

Well, there is another factor. It's also worth what the seller will take for it.

But...Only if the buyer actually pays what the seller will take for it! Check this eBay auction; Item number: 7394927285
I don't it's think it is "worth" the Buy it Now by any definition of the word "worth"!

Love it or hate it, eBay seems to be the only real time "worth barometer" for vintage gear. The completed auctions are actual consumated sales, and as far as Sunn goes (c'mon, you guys know you watch them!), the sales prices can and do fluctuate dramatically.

If it works, I wouldn't take less than $100 for it if you're selling it to another person.....expect less if you're trading it in. From one who makes his living in retail, I generally advise all of my customers NOT to trade things in.

If it were mine, I'd ask $200 and take what you think is fair.

Buy low - sell high and live to trade another day; trading in old gear is not the way to do this, that's for sure!

I don't remember the exact sales price, but a couple of months ago an Enforcer went for stupid big money on eBay. I honestly think it was $700ish, somebody wanted that amp REAL bad!
I've only seen a couple of Enforcers on eBay over the last several years. I'd put it up, set a reserve you can live with, and let the market decide it's worth at that particular moment.

[BradW]

I think we are all aware of the subjective value of vintage equiptment. "It's only worth as much as someone will pay for it". We've all heard that before. I appreciate the help but yeah I am looking for a ball park range on what people actually have paid for it in recent memory.

I paid about $360 for it a couple of years ago.

It's my feeling that any vintage 100 watt tube head made by a company with a reputation and that is very limited could probably get more than that. I was thinking around $600. Maybe I'm wrong and I won't get that, but hearing that one went for $700 on ebay doesn't hurt.

Any other concrete examples?

[BradW]

Ill also add that I took it to a reputable vintage dealer in Boston today and he told me $500-600 is what I could get if he sold it on consignment. Obviously he'd get a cut of that.

I'm really suprised that anyone would say that I should sell it for $100-200
Even broken vintage tube heads get that kind of money.

[Rich Briere]

Ill also add that I took it to a reputable vintage dealer in Boston today and he told me $500-600 is what I could get if he sold it on consignment. Obviously he'd get a cut of that.

I'm really suprised that anyone would say that I should sell it for $100-200
Even broken vintage tube heads get that kind of money.

Sorry that you took some offense to my post.

One of the things that exists in the world of Sunn is the timeline. Anything that was put out during the reign of the Sundholm brothers is considered "Vintage" by Sunn-o-philes. I, of course, use the word "anything" loosely, but you understand what I mean.  

Regarding pieces built after Sunn was sold to Corporate America, the collectibillity and value drop dramatically.  The Enforcer is just such an amp and there are lots of others that fall into the same category.

If you've found a dealer who tells you that he/she can get you $600, I'd advise you to do so and, if it were mine, I'd bring it there today.

In the Department of eBay, I may be the only person on the planet who has never purchased anything on eBay and I have no plans to. I couldn't even tell you how to get there and find things. Why? Because I believe that eBay, while it's here to stay and obviously serves a purpose, is THE single biggest rip-off on the planet.

Why? As I've mentioned previously, I often hear you guys talk about pieces that are on there for huge money. These are often the VERY SAME pieces that I'd see on dealers walls or showroom floors selling for peanuts because they either didn't work or were downright pieces of moosepoop. When eBay came along, this afforded those dealers a way to clean their dusty shelves and made it possible for someone who has never WON anything in their lives to "WIN" an auction. You don't actually WIN anything. You simply agree to pay more for something that you know nothing about than anyone else will.

Having said that, and still trying to stand by my morals and ethics, I have a ton of Fender gear that I own from my days with that company---much of it one-of-a-kind stuff. I keep some of it on my website and a slow but steady number of Fender-philes pass through, realize the value in some of the stuff and buy it because of their real love of Fender. I COULD put it on "The Bay" and sell it all tomorrow.

So, bottom line, I wish you luck selling your piece......but as has been stated, the buyer will determine the price and I've seen Enforcers sell for under $100.

Bass-ically Yours,
Rich Briere

[bentbolt]

and let's not forget that some folks out there don't know the difference between a "Sundholm" Sunn and a Fender "Sunn" as evidenced by the genius who paid $1500 for a "reissue" hah hah hah...

if you cash in, you've also cashed out. goodbye.

[BradW]

You guys seems to be suggesting that this was made during the period afterwhich Fender owned Sunn correct?

Everything I've read about this amp before now has said that it was one of the last things made under the sundholm name. And that the reason that they only made 100 of them is because it was right when Fender bought Sunn, and they discontinued the line immediately. Is this not correct?

[Rich Briere]

Hi Brad,

To clear up the confusion, Hartzell Corporation was the first company to take over, not Fender. Fender picked up what pieces were left when Sunn was a mere shadow of its former self. One of my favorite posters, Don T, could give you more information there becuase he was there at that time, I believe.  Fender needed a place to build amplifiers and Sunn had the building and the gear.

The comparison is a good one however, Sunn does have a kind of "pre-CBS"-stigma to it. In this case it would be "pre Hertzell" however.

Nobody is saying that your amp is junk by any means. Sunn, IMHO, put out great gear during its ENTIRE lifetime. After the Brothers Sunn left though, things got sketchy as the company tried to cut corners and do what corporations do...put dollars before QC....and they spread themselves too thin. It's, to me, one of the great tradgedies of the MI business.

The nice thing about Sunn is the "family" that it left behind and continues to grow as we spread the word. All of us keep carrying on the glory of not only the company and its history...but, more importantly, how wonderful the gear was. Fortunately for the Sultans of Sunn, the line is now one of the LEAST popular with collectors so we can always pick up great stuff for very little money.  

Should you like more history on the company drop by the Sunn Shack.

Bass-ically Yours,
Rich Briere
The Sunn Shack
www.richbriere.com

[WillH]

For the record, the Enforcer was designed during the Hartzell period of Sunn's history, in 1983, if I recall correctly. I was the engineer who designed it. I left Sunn before the Fender acquisition, but I understand that Fender kept manufacturing it for a short while-- I think there were only around 150 of them manufactured in all.

I have one and use it all the time, but then I'm biased. I have no idea what its resale value is, though.

Regards,

WillH