Only Played 20 Minutes???

[AC30LP]

Is anyone else baffled by auctions that say "I only played played the amp 20 to 30 minutes, but am selling it. I never turned the volume past 2.5."

Are these people serious? Who really sells an amp after only only playing it once or twice? Are they just lying to make it seem as though their amp is in pristine condition?

If I were to own an amp for only a month..I'd probably put close to 100 hours on it....and definitely would be turning the volume up. I'm not saying that everyone can afford such a luxury...but I think they're just trying to make their auctions seem more desirable.

[Sean French]

I know what you mean.
We all know it takes at least 45 min to an hour to draw that conclusion.

[StevoDOD]

Yeah, and then selling it 'at a loss'....??? I think I'm the one 'at a loss' here!?!?!?

Stevo

[oldschoolguy]

I've wondered about that, too. It makes a lot more sense to me when it's a music store selling it--you know, maybe there turned it on once and played a chord progression thru it just to see that it wasn't DOA. Thing is, that if it were a really good amp, I couldn't just turn it off--I'd be there for a while and just have to experiment a little more to see just how good it can be for me and that would take more than those 20 minutes.
Now, in 20 minutes I think I could determine if an amp were definitely not suited for me, my guitar and what I can play; so I've had this notion that maybe there was something amiss with those amps "played only 20 minutes in my smoke free, perfectly humidity controlled studio".

[StompBoxBlues]

It definitely IS a weird thing. Another point, as a potential buyer, it makes me really wary..."the amp sounds SO bad that the guy played it for two minutes only after buying it, transferring money, waiting for it to arrive, getting it home, open it up, turn it on...and it sounds SO bad he gets disgusted after that short time with the sound and wants to pawn it off...he didn't even want to hear it louder?"

Something doesn't add up. The only time I would go to all that trouble to play an amp, and then only play it that short a time, it would have to be one of the worst, nastiest amps I had every played. Because any amp that sounds "not terrible" I am going to play with for at least an hour, to see what sounds I can coax out of it. And that is in a music store. At home, if I recieved on after buying it, waiting and all....there is no way...

Folks ought to send posts to the sellers that do this and write "I was looking for an X-amp like the one you are selling for a while now, but since you didn't like it enough to even play it for a half-hour, I'm rethinking..."

Seriously, if I were interested the first question would be that...why didn't you try it more, is it THAT bad?

But are these more reseller types than guitarists...just checking that the amp works? If that is the case, I would advise ANYONE dealing with them to demand that they play it longer, and check ALL functionality before even considering buying it. Amps with problems, OFTEN can be heat related...and two minutes is NOWHERE near long enough to get to that heat buildup. So the bozo selling the amp, doesn't know for sure that it works, if he hasn't let it warm up for at least a half-hour. On top of that if it is channel-switching, has boost, half-power switch, different Ohm outputs, or selector, etc, etc. a seller ought to know that all those things work as they ought to.

[FFTT]

And his car was only driven by a little old lady to church on Sunday :-)

[SvenHock]

I can see where that statement seems to draw questions and thoughts of whats up but, I know I can tell if an amp is a keeper in usually less than 20 minutes and sometimes right away. I know, if you dont like it dont buy it then flip it over in 20 minutes but some of us, me included do not have a luxury of try before you buy unless they are Fenders and Peaveys. Not to knock those brands but I want more choices and the interent is my savior.

[tedzepplin]

Once, I bought an amp online and only needed about 30 mintues (three ten minute sessions over three days) to realize it didn't give me the sound I was hoping for. I sold it right away and bought another amp that I'm happy with.

I also bought a BJFE Honey Bee from a guy who played it just a short while. It was new looking, in the box, with instructions and at a fair price. I guess the pedal just wasn't for him but it's perfect for me.

[KazJY]

I can relate to an extent - I know in 2 minutes whether or not I like an amp, but I'd never buy it, and then sell it after 17 more minutes of testing it out. These people are odd - and what, they can't return it to the store?

[edwarddavis]

Well, I know what you mean but I see ads here were a person gets apedal or what ever says plays five minutes and back in the box. In this day and age people buy on the net like us. take a chance and sometimes its just not their thing. I have bought a few things on the net that I never tried and wanted and turned it on and it was not for me. Bought a real nice amp of a member , turned it on and it was not for me sold it the next day to a guy in person who liked the sounds it had .
Make a long story short if you take chance on the net its gonna happen with stuff that you never tried .

[Gasp100]

And how many of these were the Vox AC15 handwired heads? Many....
Because they pop and click terribly when you switch any of the bass modes on the ef86 and between triode/pentode. If Vox just put that in the manual and basically said "it's supposed to do that" (even though I don't think they are) maybe more people would keep them longer. Sorry, had to rant... I've done that 2x with those amps looking for a "good" one.

[guitarded_1]

I always give an amp a chance, but I usually can get a good idea inside of 20 minutes whether or not I dig the voicing of the amp. I always hang on to an amp and play it for a while before letting it go.

[slipbeer]

I guess I'd like a little bit more of a reason why they are turning it over.

"Sounded like butt stink to me"

"Wife enraged over purchase"

"Dang it, I really shouldn't have spent that money"

Whatever it is, don't just pimp the fact that you have barely used it without providing some kind of reason.

I'm going to assume you are dumping it because there is something wrong with it unless I hear otherwise and I'm going to want to ask some real specific questions about it if I have any interest.

[theinteriorleag]

Latest example for me is the Sig:X. I bought it brand new. I knew after 5 minutes I couldn't dial in the sound I wanted. I tried for another 30. I did turn the volume up past 2.5.

I sold it, basically b/c it was too expensive an amp not to do what I want it to right out of the box. I could've experimented with tubes, speakers, etc., but it just wasn't worth it. I knew I could find what I wanted in a cheaper package. I've done the same with many other amps, although the more expensive the amp is, the more judgmental I am with it.

[Leonc]

This doesn't seem far-fetched to me, necessarily. I think there are ALL KINDS of reasons why people decide to sell amps, maybe after not even playing the amp at all. Some examples:

Sometimes, you shouldn't have bought the thing in the first place because you could barely afford it and then some unexpected expense crops up. Boom, you gotta sell something.

Someone may buy something (or maybe get it as a gift) in an unusual color and think they'll be okay with it...but when they get it, they're just not okay with it.

Some people are indeed really impatient and if it doesn't really strike their fancy right away, they don't want it. There have been people here on TGP who've said they can tell in 5 minutes whether or not an amp is going to work for them. And there are plenty of people who buy things sight unseen (and sound unheard).

Then again...I don't believe everything I read either so there's always the possibility that the seller is simply lying. People often sell things that they say they never used at all. Do you believe them? Sometimes yes/sometimes no.

But anyway, what's the big deal? How does this info influence your interest in this sale when compared to the guy who says he played the amp for 8 hours and decided not to keep it?