Amp Abuse

I have been shopping for a head and stack, because in my old age, size matters. In my, perusuals, I have seen a lot of used stuff, where the seller says the rig is good, except for a hum here, or cutting out there.

My question to you all is, am I better off buying new, or taking a chance on used equipment that may have suffered some form of abuse?

One seller went so far to say his head was fine, except for a hum when you turned up the gain from using his amp overdrive too much. So too much fuzz and distortion wipes out the value on an amp?

I respect your input and thank you all for your consideration.

Boppa

Personally, I wouldn't rule out used gear as it's price much more in line with what I can afford, but I'm careful. New gear has a warranty, used doesn't. I wouldn't hesitate if I could check out the item before buying, but that usually is not the case. I stay away from ebay, having been burned there too often. Feedback is not a very useful indicator on ebay, etc. I haven't bought from Craig's List either. A place I do feel better about is the used gear classifieds at TalkBass.com.

Wherever I shop for used, I try to get a sense of the seller through exchanged messages. If I get a bad vibe from the person, I don't buy. I don't buy without having ‘talked’ with the seller. If it is a big ticket item and really important to my being able to play (like an amp), I'd be inclined to save for new (and a warranty) unless I was after a vintage, no-longer-made thing.

I just (last January) bought a used Ibanez Silver Series P bass from a guy 1000 miles away from me. He had bought it new in 1979. As he was 74, he wasn't going to be playing anymore. He was straight up in answering my questions, sending pictures, even sent me his mailing address and phone before I committed to buying. He earned my trust, so I bought. And I'm glad I did, I really like the bass, and now I have both jazz and precision Silver Series basses.

Get a tube amp Go used, you can get something a lot nicer used for the price of something new, honestly. Plus there's some real nice used stuff out there, I'd go Craigslist if I were you

I wouldn't buy it if you can stand in front of it but not plug in a bass and hear how it sounds. Sounds like an excuse to hide a damaged amp.

Yeah there's a risk of damage but if it appears to be in good shape and sounds good, then chances are it's all fine. As for the whole not being able to test it, don't buy it. Chances are, it's a scam

My Yorkville 400B sat unused for years. I could power it up and all the lights would work, but the gain and volume pots were completely shot.

Cost $75 to replace the two. That seems like a lot for two pots, but the amp was a solid state amp, and once I opened it, it looked like something out of Star Wars on the inside. I didn't trust my skills, so I sent it to a tech.

Point is, the amp may light up and look fine, but could have all sorts of problems that will irritate you.