Sceptre 312

[thetristanchord]

hi guys. looking for some info on my friends amp, sceptre with the 312 cab. after doing a search, i havent found too much, although it appears he asked the same question in 2005, but was never answered. the amp is in good condition, original speakers, no rips in the tolex, everything in working order. looking at the catalog inventories posted here, it appears this combination was only available in 1970, correct? 71 is missing....im also looking for a value estimate...i would like to buy it from him, and dont want to screw him over. thanks in advance for your help.

joel.

[Isaac]

What do you want to know? The Sceptre came originally with a 4x12 cabinet. The 312S is from the 70's 'mix'n'match' period. No reason it shouldn't be okay with a Sceptre, but the impedance isn't going to match perfectly. The 312S is nominally 5.3 ohms. Personally, I'd run it on the 4 ohm tap.

[thetristanchord]

70, and maybe 71, correct? thats the only time i saw it pop up in the catalog inventory, like i said. any way to date these by serial number? ill have it in my hands by the end of this week, most likely. im mostly looking for an estimated resale value. as stated, im not into ripping my friend off, and i want to give him fair market value for it. thanks.

[thetristanchord]

39 views, does anyone have an idea what this is worth? thank you.

[xsolarusx]

People generally shy away from answering questions based on value.  You'll notice that throughout the forum.

As much as you want a concrete answer, it really comes down to how much it's worth to you, and how much you think is fair.  Does it sound good?  Will you use it? Everyone can throw out arbitrary numbers all day till our fingers fall off, but that's about all you're going to get unless you've seen someone else on here selling a 312 cabinet(I just checked, no luck).

I'd say give him $250-300. Worst case scenario, buy the dude lunch or something also.

Good luck!

[thetristanchord]

that said, it is still an item that has a value attached to it, and also a market to go with it. i figured a sunn forum would probably be the best place to find out, but it seems a little clique-ish about things like that.

i mean, say it was a 1973 ampeg V4B. i can ask, or search, and find plenty of information on current market values for that piece of equipment. i know because i own one, and ive done the search. i see no reason why this, or any other piece of vintage gear should be any different. ive searched harmony central, and found a few sunn heads(no cabs) of similar quality going for $1-400, so i figured i'd check here to see how accurate it is, considering i just saw a sceptre/412 going for $975BIN on ebay. thats a bit of a discrepancy, and could benefit from clarification from people that actually have working knowledge about these amps and what they are worth. no reason to keep it a secret, its a number.

thank you, xsolarusx for the bit of information you were able to give me, i appreciate it.

[EdBass]

that said, it is still an item that has a value attached to it, and also a market to go with it. i figured a sunn forum would probably be the best place to find out, but it seems a little clique-ish about things like that.

i mean, say it was a 1973 ampeg V4B. i can ask, or search, and find plenty of information on current market values for that piece of equipment. i know because i own one, and ive done the search. i see no reason why this, or any other piece of vintage gear should be any different. ive searched harmony central, and found a few sunn heads(no cabs) of similar quality going for $1-400, so i figured i'd check here to see how accurate it is, considering i just saw a sceptre/412 going for $975BIN on ebay. thats a bit of a discrepancy, and could benefit from clarification from people that actually have working knowledge about these amps and what they are worth. no reason to keep it a secret, its a number.

thank you, xsolarusx for the bit of information you were able to give me, i appreciate it.

I certainly agree with your logic;

that said, it is still an item that has a value attached to it, and also a market to go with it. i figured a sunn forum would probably be the best place to find out, but it seems a little clique-ish about things like that.

but you seem to think its some secret that everybody but you knows, and no one here will tell you just because we’re ornery.
I have a very good understanding of old Sunn gear and its value (to me). If I said the cab was worth $1200, is that what you would pay? If I said it was worth $50, is that all you would give for it?

What is “market value”? You cite examples of what specific pieces are “going for”, what relevance does that have to the ACV (actual cash value) of a piece? That would be like a car dealer basing what he should give for trade in value by using what private parties list their vehicles for on cars.com. “Going for” is a useless term, nothing is “going for” anything.  An item either has an “asking price” (often a pipe dream), an ongoing bid value, or an actual transaction ("went for") price.
Take that Sceptre on eBay for example. You use the term “going for” in relation to the $975 BIN. What influence could that possibly have on the value of your cabinet? If the seller was asking a BIN at $3500 would it then somehow magically increase the ACV of my Sceptre?
Of course not.
Now, if some idiot actually bought this theoretical Sceptre for $3500, it might have some bearing on what my Sceptre is worth (and you can bet your house that my Sceptre would be on eBay in minutes!).
The only number that matters is the actual sale price; anything else has no relevance whatsoever. The only way to measure value is to somehow get hold of actual sale prices.
Not so easy to do with Sunn gear, they aren’t nearly as common as, say an Ampeg V4B. There aren’t auction reports, or retail sales information readily available as with cars. About your only option is to check eBay completed auctions, follow some Craig’s list item until they sell, etc.
Personally, I try to give accurate and helpful information on this forum. I won’t give up a figure unless I’m prepared to actually stroke a check, and I’ve done that on this forum more than a few times.
The problem is that I also won’t invest the effort towards researching that figure, either on a Sunn piece, a vintage Bass guitar, or a vintage Porsche, unless I have a reasonable expectation that I might actually get to buy the item. It takes some effort and time. When I do specific research, I generally post it for anyone who’s interested;
http://sunn.ampage.org/sdp/index.php/topic,4372.0.html

Sorry to go on this little rant, but its a personal pet peeve. I buy and sell stuff daily to carve out a meager profit, and I routinely get so bogged down with well intentioned amateur ACV “opinions” sometimes that I want to pull my hair out.
Sometimes with music gear, but mostly with cars; I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve been in someone’s garage with my checkbook in hand and make an offer just to have the owner pull out a 3 yr old Classic Car Trader magazine and show me a similar car that some bozo was “asking” several thousand more for in South Florida in 2005, and say “You aren’t going to rip me off, I want this much!”