babow2
Well-known member
Yes, the title is correct. This is a NOS, virtually brand new Heartbreaker head, with a story.
Henry Heistad, the inventor and founder of Redplate Amplifiers, ordered this head directly from Mesa, in a road case, in 1989. He got it, and used it between 5-10 hours for product testing, when he was developing his line of amps. He then put it back in its road case, where it sat unused until June 2024. How do I know? I bought it this summer from Mr Heistad, along with his original Redplate prototype, that he built in his garage.
The HB head arrived to me with the original tag still on the road case, and with the original Mesa QC tag attached to the amp handle. It is a museum piece. I was concerned about the amp having sat unused for all these years, so I drove it across town to the Mesa factory (yes, I live in Petaluma CA) and had my tech there go through it for a full maintenance and check up. It got a new set of tubes and a new relay, and a clean bill of health.
The amp looks and sounds brand new. For all intents and purposes it is essentially new. A real, actual closet classic.
How do you put a value on a museum piece? I have no idea, so I’m just going to put a price on it based on the current fmv of HBs generally. I am asking $1150 net to me, with buyer paying shipping costs and any transaction fees. Obviously, local pickup in Petaluma would be even better. The amp will come in the road case, with tags, original footswitch, original manual, receipt from the service at Mesa, and the various bits of documentation I have related to this provenance.
By definition, there can not be a Heartbreaker in better condition than this one, unless Mesa has one in storage. More detailed pics or other info available upon request. $1150. How can you pass this up?
Henry Heistad, the inventor and founder of Redplate Amplifiers, ordered this head directly from Mesa, in a road case, in 1989. He got it, and used it between 5-10 hours for product testing, when he was developing his line of amps. He then put it back in its road case, where it sat unused until June 2024. How do I know? I bought it this summer from Mr Heistad, along with his original Redplate prototype, that he built in his garage.
The HB head arrived to me with the original tag still on the road case, and with the original Mesa QC tag attached to the amp handle. It is a museum piece. I was concerned about the amp having sat unused for all these years, so I drove it across town to the Mesa factory (yes, I live in Petaluma CA) and had my tech there go through it for a full maintenance and check up. It got a new set of tubes and a new relay, and a clean bill of health.
The amp looks and sounds brand new. For all intents and purposes it is essentially new. A real, actual closet classic.
How do you put a value on a museum piece? I have no idea, so I’m just going to put a price on it based on the current fmv of HBs generally. I am asking $1150 net to me, with buyer paying shipping costs and any transaction fees. Obviously, local pickup in Petaluma would be even better. The amp will come in the road case, with tags, original footswitch, original manual, receipt from the service at Mesa, and the various bits of documentation I have related to this provenance.
By definition, there can not be a Heartbreaker in better condition than this one, unless Mesa has one in storage. More detailed pics or other info available upon request. $1150. How can you pass this up?
