Pro amp building

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Billy Batz
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Pro amp building

Post by Billy Batz » Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:04 pm

Heres a question for George or anyone else familiar. Ive been asked a number of times to do a plexi for either sound guys Im good friends with or guitar players in other bands I talk to a lot. I think the selling point for those guys is when I brag about using better parts and construction and a total cost for me of less then $1k. So I took one person up on it (I should have a large order for you this week or next George.) My question is whats a good price to charge for labor? How do you guys set your price? I honestly dont know how long building an amp would take me if I start with all the components in front of me and dont stop until Im finished. I promised to go through the components thoroughly and walk him through deciding on a certain era circuit, OTs, possible switches, etc.., and I told him Id tweak it as many times as he'd like after its done and paid for. Im not good at asking people for money so I guess what would you more experienced guys feel is a fair price? I think he asked me with the fact that I spent less then $1k in mind BUT Im not doing it for him for free. Im not good enough friends with him that I would do anything for him for free or at a discount.

OnTheFritz
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Post by OnTheFritz » Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:22 pm

I've never built and sold amps, but I guess if you look at other things you could get a ball-park figure. Home improvement for example. The rule of thumb is if you do it yourself you generally can do it for half the money.
I'd say add everything up and double it. Your time and knowledge are worth something right? Especially if you've offered to tweak after the fact.
I just learned this stuff is not as easy as you guys make it look.

Fritz

Billy Batz
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Post by Billy Batz » Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:58 pm

Doubling it seems to be a bit overpriced but I dont know. Thats probably about $1800-$1900.

Necrovore
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Post by Necrovore » Wed Apr 27, 2005 10:33 pm

Best way to price out a contract job, which is essentially what you are doing. Is to price the job as to what you want to make off of it. When I did contract construction I would bid jobs so that I made roughly $100-120/day for the labor charge. Now this figure may or may not equate to what you will be doing on the amp you are building. I really don't think that you would be working 8-10 straight hours a day alone on the amp, so price accordingly. See what George is selling his built amps for as opposed to buying a new name brand amp and adjust for your time and the fact that you told your client that you would be doing after build tweaking until you get him the sound he is after.
I don't think that $700-900 on top of the price of the componants is unreasonable.

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Flames1950
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Post by Flames1950 » Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:43 pm

Billy Batz wrote:Doubling it seems to be a bit overpriced but I dont know. Thats probably about $1800-$1900.
Lets see....stretched out over the course of four days it probably took me ten hours to build my Super Bass. Average shop charge of between $50-$70 bucks an hour equals$500 to $700 plus the parts of around $1K....suddenly we see why George's prices had to go up, don't we? But since you want to make it a reasonable deal for a good buddy or contact, I'd look at $250-$350 to make it a sweet deal?
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Post by myker » Thu Apr 28, 2005 12:38 am

yeah, if you have all the stuff in front of you, it shouldn't take more than about 10 hrs. or so for a knowledgable fellow like yourself to build an amplifier. so im with flames on this one, maybe a bit higher... 350.00 to 400.00 seems fair. you need a buffer for any unexpected fuck-ups and tweak times. :lol:
mike

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Post by 5150loveeddie » Thu Apr 28, 2005 12:44 am

That's a MININUM!!!!

That is what I'm doing now, you make him realize that it will be MUCH cheaper than to buy a piece of crap reissue SLP and he gets the tone etc.... and at the same time you make a little cash doing so I'd go haft way from a reissue at least!!!!
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Billy Batz
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Post by Billy Batz » Thu Apr 28, 2005 7:44 am

I guess $1300-$1400 seems reasonable. I cant see me building it for more then 3-4 days in the evenings.

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VelvetGeorge
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Post by VelvetGeorge » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:48 pm

Doubling the cost is pretty standard for lots of services. As a guy building for a friend, you have some luxuries I don't have. Which is nice, and helps you do it for less.

I have to price my amps in relation to the reissues that I am competing with, for one thing. And they have gone up to $2100. At my old $1550 price, who going to believe that my amps are better? Even at $1850 some may wonder.

I have also upgraded a lot of parts, improved many things and got more accurate components. All of which have had costs.

Bottom line, I am now right around that twice the cost of parts mark. Which seems right to me. I feel compensated and I know the product is absolutely top notch.

For you, I think it's worthwhile to build this amp at which ever price you choose. Then see how long it takes, how much you enjoy doing it, how many times it comes back for more tweaking ect. Those things should spell out whether you need more compensation for your time.

George
Check out Plexi Replicas for my personal amp builds...
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Post by VelvetGeorge » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:50 pm

I also wanted to mention that based on your posts, your friend will be getting a tremendous deal on what should be a fantastic amp.

Lucky dog.

Let me know if you want any suggestions on components and parts.



George
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Billy Batz
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Post by Billy Batz » Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:02 pm

Im not set. I think I just brag too much about building my amps and I guess its just natural people would be curious. Bottum line. Ill try one for this guy since I already said I would but I doubt I have the time to do it. I know my good friend Brian who does sound for my band most of the time and another sound guy my band uses alot asked me about it but I think Ill send them here :) I think the interest is in the fiendly discount though. I'd feel guilty asking someone to pay $2000 for an amp I built when Im not a expert and cant troubleshoot any problem they may develop. Theres no way I can garauntee quality. I feel my amps are high quality but at the same time I work on them carefuly over a week or two and spend time fixing anything wrong for a while after.

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Post by Billy Batz » Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:16 pm

BTW George I hope this thread isnt out of line considering this is your forum and you build amps. I assumed youd know Metro's name would come up when I talk to people about having hand made amps done but in this situation I think the friendly discount is what interests this guy. That and being able to throw it in the car and drive to my place if he ever needs a mod, tweak, repair. Either way 90% of the parts Im getting from Metro.

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