What's Up With Expensive Cabs?

I remember thinking years ago, I don’t think I’d ever buy a new cab with the glut of 10 to 20 year old cabs with celestions available cheap on the used market pretty much anywhere I’ve lived. The stuff that’s not old enough to be vintage but not new enough to be cool and trendy.

Last cab I bought (and I doubt I’ll buy more) was my oversize Marshall mf280 with a quad of v30’s, £125. And it sat a while before I bought it. This was a couple years before Covid and I haven’t been looking, maybe it’s got bad out there.
 
Just bought an early 2000’s 1960bx and imported it over from England for $1300 to my house, but I I really dig the h31777 cones(supposedly leftover 6402’s) they used in that era. $300 more than I wanted to spend but shipping is expensive.
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MetalHeadMike said:
Saw someone selling an old 60s Marshall cab beat to hell for $5k...I don't get it, but maybe someone will. Like you said, plywood or MDF box with four speakers, nothing magic there.
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Vintage Marshall cabs, esp from the 60s will command big prices since they’re highly collectible. Tolex/ no tolex, doesn’t matter. A 1968 cab beat to hell but has original speakers will still get 4K, maybe 6K. If you buy one, and re tolex it, you just lost money. Just the way it is, They aren’t making any more, same with the Pulsonic speakers.
The vintage Marshall cab/speaker market is just as intense as the vintage Marshall amp market…maybe more so since 60s cabs with original speakers, wiring loom, tolex, grill are fewer in number than the 60s amps.
I’d put the Marshall cab market like this:
86-1990 800 cabs, 600$
81-85 800 cabs, 6-1000 depending on speakers
74-1980 JMP, 1200-1500
71-73- 2K or more
66-1970-3K on up to 10k if the M20s are in a 1966-67 cab and it has og tolex, grill

The vintage market is a whole different animal vs reselling a modern built cab
 
Racerxrated said:
Vintage Marshall cabs, esp from the 60s will command big prices since they’re highly collectible. Tolex/ no tolex, doesn’t matter. A 1968 cab beat to hell but has original speakers will still get 4K, maybe 6K. If you buy one, and re tolex it, you just lost money. Just the way it is, They aren’t making any more, same with the Pulsonic speakers.
The vintage Marshall cab/speaker market is just as intense as the vintage Marshall amp market…maybe more so since 60s cabs with original speakers, wiring loom, tolex, grill are fewer in number than the 60s amps.
I’d put the Marshall cab market like this:
86-1990 800 cabs, 600$
81-85 800 cabs, 6-1000 depending on speakers
74-1980 JMP, 1200-1500
71-73- 2K or more
66-1970-3K on up to 10k if the M20s are in a 1966-67 cab and it has og tolex, grill

The vintage market is a whole different animal vs reselling a modern built cab
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I had no idea cabs would get into that level. Amps I get, but wow, had no idea people were that into cabs/speakers to pay those prices. Like anything, worth what someone's willing to pay.
 
FourT6and2 said:
Why are some companies selling 4x12 cabs for upwards of $2,700? Wizard? Hiwatt? These things are bonkers expensive. And then people trying to sell them used are asking more than a NEW 4x12 from companies like Bogner, Diezel, Fryette, Mesa, etc. It's a wood box and for a rear-loaded 4x12 using void-free Baltic birch, with the same dimensions as any other, I can't for the life of me figure out what makes one worth $800 and another command nearly $3,000...
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Some companies price their cabs like that because they know their clientele will pay it without batting an eye so their stack matches.

People are still asking high used prices on cabs, amps, guitars just in hope someone jumps on it, like during Covid. Because for the most part, they overpaid for it in the first place. That time is over, and some people are trying to cash out and get some of their money back while they still might be able to get a someone to overpay what the current market value is, is my thoughts.

Gear is still moving, but the stuff that is moving is usually sellers who realize it’s now a buyers market and they are listing things for a break even or small loss.
 
jtgainor said:
Just bought an early 2000’s 1960bx and imported it over from England for $1300 to my house, but I I really dig the h31777 cones(supposedly leftover 6402’s) they used in that era. $300 more than I wanted to spend but shipping is expensive.View attachment 407702
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Nice! I’ve had the ax cab for like 20yrs looking for a reasonably priced bottom—lowest I’ve seen was $800 and couldn’t do it.

Is yours heavy? My slant version is the heaviest cab I own
 
Also for vintage cabs, craigslist and guitar center are where it’s at. Can always find better deals there… some older guys that are stopping playing selling their stuff. Guitar center kind of caught on to it though.
 
FourT6and2 said:
Why are some companies selling 4x12 cabs for upwards of $2,700? Wizard? Hiwatt? These things are bonkers expensive. And then people trying to sell them used are asking more than a NEW 4x12 from companies like Bogner, Diezel, Fryette, Mesa, etc. It's a wood box and for a rear-loaded 4x12 using void-free Baltic birch, with the same dimensions as any other, I can't for the life of me figure out what makes one worth $800 and another command nearly $3,000...
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One thing that is also true, just like amps that are the same circuit, manufacturer, year made etc....identical Mesa V30 cabs for example can sound vastly different from one another....it pays to try the cab out if possible. Some are dogs; and some are killer.
 
Racerxrated said:
One thing that is also true, just like amps that are the same circuit, manufacturer, year made etc....identical Mesa V30 cabs for example can sound vastly different from one another....it pays to try the cab out if possible. Some are dogs; and some are killer.
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You're absolutely right. I had 3-4 Mesa halfback 412s, 3+ Mesa Straight/Slant OS 412s, 2 Mesa Recto Slant 4x12s (one was a buddies). Between the speakers and construction they all sounded a bit different. Some bright, some muffled. I don't think I paid more than $600 for any of them though. I had multiple Orange 4x12s that were night and day difference, but one had UK V30s, the other had Chinese V30s.

The used prices on cabs have creeped up a bit in my area. Mesa cabs are going way up. Oranges have always been high. Marshall cabs are still hovering around $500, but people are asking that much for the cheap MX/MG trash as well.

It's gotten to a point where I'm just going to start building my own 4x12s and 6x12s. I'm rolling the dice. It would take 2 sheet of 4'x8' 3/4" plywood to make a 4x12 or 6x12. Just $130-160 like Madashatter said. The cheapest I can get 4 brand new V30s is $471.81 though, so it's a gamble. No guarantee if UK or Chinese V30s show up when I order them though.
 

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Never understood that especially when you can get a good 70s cab with Green/Cream/Black backs for less.

Racerxrated said:
I’d put the Marshall cab market like this:
86-1990 800 cabs, 600$
81-85 800 cabs, 6-1000 depending on speakers
74-1980 JMP, 1200-1500
71-73- 2K or more
66-1970-3K on up to 10k if the M20s are in a 1966-67 cab and it has og tolex, grill
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I trust you on those ranges and agree and look at the bargain between a ‘74-‘80 cab vs some of the newer cabs. A ‘74 Creamback cab can sound killer. A ‘78 Blackback cab can sound way better than most new.
 
SpiderWars said:
Never understood that especially when you can get a good 70s cab with Green/Cream/Black backs for less.


I trust you on those ranges and agree and look at the bargain between a ‘74-‘80 cab vs some of the newer cabs. A ‘74 Creamback cab can sound killer. A ‘78 Blackback cab can sound way better than most new.
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Ive never liked any 70’s cab I had. Also hate the way they look.
 
vultures said:
It's gotten to a point where I'm just going to start building my own 4x12s and 6x12s. I'm rolling the dice. It would take 2 sheet of 4'x8' 3/4" plywood to make a 4x12 or 6x12. Just $130-160 like Madashatter said. The cheapest I can get 4 brand new V30s is $471.81 though, so it's a gamble. No guarantee if UK or Chinese V30s show up when I order them though.
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This is where I'm at now. Any cabs I want I'm just going to build myself. It's not overly expensive to build the box. You can generally do it cheaper the buying & shipping a used or unloaded one. Speakers are where the bulk of the cost comes from. At least by building I can start with the speakers I want instead of having to swap out generic ones that came in the used cab.

Also the cabs I want aren't exactly readily available anywhere. I want to do my version of the Butterslax 412/15 and a Lemmy style 415.
 
tallcoolone said:
Nice! I’ve had the ax cab for like 20yrs looking for a reasonably priced bottom—lowest I’ve seen was $800 and couldn’t do it.

Is yours heavy? My slant version is the heaviest cab I own
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I’d jump all over a $800 bx or bc cab if it was a 90’s/early 2k version. Wouldn’t pay that much for a brand new one though.

Iirc, the shipping label was listed at 92 pounds. So probably 85 ish pounds for the cab itself. Doesn’t seem to be any heavier than the Friedman straight cab I have sitting next to it, also loaded with 4 greenbacks.
 
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