Why do used Flextones sell for more than Catalysts?

[ragingplatypi]

Gear math is hard.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

vintage vs modern

 

[laxu]

Flextone owners have more delusions about the value of their amps?

 

[mbenigni]

Per Google:

"The scarcity principle states that the scarcer something is, the more we tend to value it. This is not only an economic principle, but also a powerful behavioral bias, where our brains create an equivalence between the value of an item and its level of rarity or unavailability."

 

[ragingplatypi]

Admittedly, Craigslist is sort of the reverse of EBay now- list it high and wait for the best of the lowball offers. But still…

 

[ragingplatypi]

Per Google:

"The scarcity principle states that the scarcer something is, the more we tend to value it. This is not only an economic principle, but also a powerful behavioral bias, where our brains create an equivalence between the value of an item and its level of rarity or unavailability."

But there were just so many of them. Survived Y2K and everything.

 

[mbenigni]

But there were just so many of them. Survived Y2K and everything.

That's true. But they're still less available vs. an amp that's still in production and in retail channels.

I'm not trying to imply that any of this makes any sense, by the way. :)

 

[DrewJD82]

I dunno, but I snagged a Flextone 2x12 20 years ago that I put different speakers in and I’ve got zero gripes about that cab!

 

[Lysander]

Flextones were a bit more expensive than Catalysts at launch, right? In the $700 range, iirc.

 

[gdhi11]

The answer is reputation. I know a die-hard tube-amp guy that's told me on numerous occasions that he'd love to have another flextone (II) because it was simple and reliable. For him, (owns about 20 guitars, half of which are worth more than my kid's car and a slew of vintage tube-amps to go with them) it's a matter of familiarity, price, and nostalgia I suppose.

I had a Flextone III XL for almost 10 years while I was in college and playing in high-school bands. I'd get guys coming up and saying things like: "you should get tubes," etc.. Eventually I did--when I sold the Flex III XL, I got like $200 + floorboard and it went to a church somewhere.

For whatever reason, the Flextone IIs 1x12s are always that price near me.--wtf. By that logic I should have gotten at least $400 + foot controller.

This isn't the first time I got the short end of the stick.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Buy neither is the answer you're looking for!

 

[mbenigni]

A Flextone II 1x12 was my gigging amp for years. And it's still sitting here.

(Then again, I haven't turned it on in years...)

 

[Baba]

Lol, I feel like EVERYONE had a Flextone at some point. I had a II 1x12, a II HD, and for a brief moment, a III 2x12.

Maybe it's because a Flextone is the most amp-like thing to a bean?

 

[JiveTurkey]

Only cheap digital combo amp I ever owned was the Mustang. I was busy buying 5150s and Dual Rectos (and playing way too loud ) when those turds came on the scene

 

[gdhi11]

Lol, I feel like EVERYONE had a Flextone at some point. I had a II 1x12, a II HD, and for a brief moment, a III 2x12.

Maybe it's because a Flextone is the most amp-like thing to a bean?

They were like the only digital amp option for a while. No one bought the AXSYS212, or whatever that thing was called, so when the Flextone amps came out, it made a lot of sense for people looking for versatility.

Line 6 discontinuing the Flextone line with the 3 was a big message though. Digital stuff was seen as a cheap alternative for amplification by that time.

I don't think things really recovered properly until the Fractal stuff started showing up in everyone's pro-rigs. Now we have professional level modeling devices going into "FRFR" (or just stage wedges) all over the place.

 

[mbenigni]

They were like the only digital amp option for a while. No one bought the AXSYS212, or whatever that thing was called, so when the Flextone amps came out, it made a lot of sense for people looking for versatility.

There was the Yamaha DG80, and the Vox Valvetronix line... and then Fender jumped on with a practice amp or two, right? (G-DEC?) But Line 6 was the biggest name in modeling, and the Flextones were the most ubiquitous.

Line 6 did try to drag modeling amps into the high end market with Vetta, DuoTone, etc. but I never really liked the way those products sounded. The Spider Valve line was a cool hybrid approach, but as you say, this felt like an admission that all-digital was never going to cut it.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I think there were a LOT of camp survivors from that AXSYSWTFVR camp. "It's all the ambs and effeckds! I don't need a haff stack!"

 

[sleewell]

the flextone XL was the hardest amp to get rid of that i have ever owned. should have just taken it to GC and traded it for a pack of strings.

 

[mbenigni]

the flextone XL was the hardest amp to get rid of that i have ever owned. should have just taken it to GC and traded it for a pack of strings.

Try a first gen Vetta head out for size. I tried (more than once) and literally failed to give that amp away. It's sitting in the closet right next to me.

 

[timbuck3]

WHICH FLEXtone was the best of them all? wasnt there like 4 or 5 iterations?