How to prove the value of an amp that is over 10 years old and discontinued?

GotMetalBoy

Power User
I recently sold my beloved Mesa Boogie Triaxis to another forum member @Brock and USPS damaged it during shipping. I paid for $2000 insurance and asked that they mark the box fragile. The USPS lady kind of pissed me off because she made a smart ass comment that I'd be lucky if a box that big and heavy makes it that far without getting banged up. I shipped the package from Rochester, NY on Saturday 02/28 and it was delivered to Anchorage, AK 3 days later on Tuesday 02/21. The box wasn't in too bad of condition when it was delivered but all the corners and edges were pushed in and the outside of the box had some puncture holes and looked like it had been dragged on the ground because it was very dirty and you could see the indentations of the corrugated cardboard.

USPS denied our claim because I don't have the original receipt for my Triaxis. I bought my Triaxis over 10 years ago and it must have been around 2004 because that's what I've figured out from the serial number. I barely used my Triaxis and kept it in almost new condition and I had replaced all the tubes.

How can I prove the value of the Triaxis? I provided USPS a copy of the Mesa Boogie online store because it shows the new price but they're discontinued and USPS said that's not good enough proof. Here's the link: https://mesahollywood.com/products/triaxis-programable-pre-amp

We're not looking to get $2000 from USPS. We just want to get refunded for the repair cost and the to and from Mesa Boogie shipping, which is going to end up costing close to the price I sold my Triaxis for.


I am very OCD about my gear and overly cautious with it, especially when selling it. I wrapped bubble wrap around each tube, so they were all secure and I wrapped the entire unit in 4 layers of bubble wrap from front to back and another 4 layers from left to right, so 8 layers total and 1.5 inches thick. I also, sold my 290 with the Triaxis and wrapped it the same way. I taped both units together and then put them in a box and added extra cardboard and stuffing, so nothing could move in the box. I took pictures of every side of each unit as I wrapped them and packaged them.

I think because I used, so much bubble wrap and stuffing in the box, it would have almost been impossible to to crush or dent the box but I think USPS dropped the box hard enough to break something inside the Triaxis. Before the buyer agreed to buy my Triaxis, I made a video of me playing through my Triaxis and 290 and pressed all the buttons and switched all the channels and modes to show everything worked and I even had my laptop on top of the rack with CNN open to prove the date. The night before I shipped it, I made a bunch of recordings and tone matches between my Triaxis and Axe-Fx II.

When the buyer first hooked up the Triaxis, the LD1 Red channel wouldn't make any sound, even with all settings all the way up but all the other channels worked. A couple days later none of the channels would change and had to use presets to access the channels.

I know I probably went overboard with the packaging and proving that everything worked but I have been ripped off in the past both as a seller and buyer, so I try to be as thorough as possible, so there's no surprises. I knew I would regret selling my Triaxis and 290 :mad: This whole situation doesn't help with me trying to sell all my other gear because I have over 10 7 string guitars I need to sell but I've always been afraid to ship them because I've received a few damaged ones and it was such a pain to file a claim and hope the seller would refund me when they received it. Looks like I'm just going to end up using all my 7 string guitars as decorations on the walls.

I really want to thank @Brock for being, so professional and patient through this long stressful drawn out process.
 
give them prints and links from multiple amps on sale at Reverb.

For that matter, you have your sale information, paypal?
 
Based on an eBay search of completed and sold auctions, a Triaxis ranges from approximately $750-$1200.
 
It got denied because you over insured it and it looks like fraud to them
They were $2000 new... I'm sure you didn't sell it for $2000 used so it shouldn't have been insured for that much.

You shouldn't have a problem proving it's worth $1000 and claiming $1000 or the cost of repair which would be under $1000

It should have been double boxed sending something to Alaska in the winter...

USPS is much much much better than UPS/Fedex with paying claims- the others just deny them no matter what

On the other hand- 1.5" on each side of bubble wrap is NOT enough for a piece of gear- FedEx fragile pack standard is 3" on each side... and I've handed them at least 3 triaxis' to ship for $20 for the box and packing- and they cover it if it is damaged.

Also the USPS probably didn't damage the traixis- the 290 did.

Sometimes not having room to move can cause the things inside to damage eachother- thin triaxis vs heavy big 290- it probably beat it to hell the entire way to alaska. you should have boxed them seperate. And- the type of box to handle a 290 safely is hard to find- double walled rated at hundreds of pounds. Putting them together? you'd need 3"+ inches of wrap on the 290 and 5-6" on the triaxis to protect it from the 290.

I had two 290's and sold them to guitar center for $500-550 because shipping them wasn't worth it.

So- just pay FedEx to pack things even if you ship USPS (Although they won't cover USPS damage)
The $20 is worth the piece of mind over the packing materials.

A few screen shots of ebay and pictures of the damage will help. It's also all done online so calling isn't going to help you with the post office- you'll just get the run around- file again- and raise hell if it's declined- but don't file for more than $900-1000 tops
 
Seems to me that the root cause of USPS's handling is that when you pay minimum wage, you only get minimum performance.

Even with above minimum pay these days the worker is now seen as an expendable cost liability instead of an asset to companies. And its hard to have any pride in your work and go the extra mile on zero hour contracts, temp contracts and just generally knowing you will get canned if it means that the CEO's stock options will go up a few cents.

I'll just get off my soap box now.
 
Seems to me that the root cause of USPS's handling is that when you pay minimum wage, you only get minimum performance.

Even with above minimum pay these days the worker is now seen as an expendable cost liability instead of an asset to companies. And its hard to have any pride in your work and go the extra mile on zero hour contracts, temp contracts and just generally knowing you will get canned if it means that the CEO's stock options will go up a few cents.

I'll just get off my soap box now.
In general, I mostly agree...

However, USPS is not a "company" it is a government run organization. And the pay is a fair bit better than minimum wage.
 
Yeah I gotta say, I do a lot of buying and selling of amps and guitars, and I NEVER ship USPS. I bring my stuff to UPS and or FED EX and have them pack it. If it is damaged during shipping they won't deny the claim if they packed it. and it just so happens both the UPS and Fed Ex Drop off locations near me have really nice people working at them, and they both pack like monsters!
Just got a new guitar in, and when I saw the guy shipped it USPS I cringed, and prayed it would arrive in one piece. Box was pretty beat up when it got here, but thankfully contents were ok. But damn did they abuse the hell out of the box on it's way to me.
 
Agree with Cliff. USPS is terrible. Consider that they are funded by the US treasury so they do not have to turn a profit to stay viable. Further consider that the guy who started FedEx started it in his garage, went up against the USPS, and kicked their ass in the marketplace. Pretty much says it all regarding USPS.
 
Mesa Boogie was able to identify when my Triaxis was made from the serial number and provided a price sheet from 2004 that shows how much they sold for retail and how much stores paid for them. They also provided a repair estimate. Hopefully that will be enough info for USPS.

The good news is that the 290 is working, so it didn't get damaged.

Nothing against @Brock but I'll only ship to the 48 states from now on and pay the extra money to have FedEx pack and ship. I take way too good of care of my gear to have it get broken during shipping.
 
Agree with Cliff. USPS is terrible. Consider that they are funded by the US treasury so they do not have to turn a profit to stay viable. Further consider that the guy who started FedEx started it in his garage, went up against the USPS, and kicked their ass in the marketplace. Pretty much says it all regarding USPS.

I think 50% of FedEx packages go through USPS's hands today
and a small percentage of USPS packages go through FedEx (I think some priority)

So... Fed Ex or USPS there's a good chance both have their hands on it.

FedEx is bullshit though the home delivery extra charge is $3 at least- and most things ship usps for only $6
And they don't come out Saturday unless you pay extra, or Monday home delivery for that matter.
USPS is unsustainable because they have to put away money for pensions they wont have to pay for 50 years today. GOP has just been setting them up to fail and then they can sell it to their friends (privatize)

On the other hand- The post office goes everywhere and doesn't say no- if it's not profitable enough for Fedex/UPS they say no- USPS does it no matter what- and they have an infrastructure that can't be beat.

ALSO- their employees make bank and have some of the best benefits you can get working in the USA- so saying they're all paid min wage and do bad work isn't the case.
 
Not that anyone cares (except us Alaska folk), but shipping up here is outlandishly expensive when using UPS and FedEx - as in 2-3x that of USPS. And I'm not sure their success rate is any better from my experience. The Triaxis is the first thing of value I've received from USPS that's arrived damaged - and this includes lots of guitars (including my j. Custom I just sold for nearly $3K and sent to Florida), a giant computer I had a friend in Chicago build for me, and more. A few years ago, feet from my 3rd story doorstep, UPS let a 100 lbs. $2000 subwoofer roll down a flight of stairs. I cringed. Thankfully, the company's packaging was absolutely top notch so it (and its piano black finish) survived unscathed.

To be clear, none of this is @GotMetalBoy's fault. I insisted he ship via USPS. His packaging was impeccable and his attitude throughout this debacle has been the same. I think this was just some bad luck.

The problem I'm having with the Triaxis is something many other users have reported and I'm guessing it might be more the fault of M/B's design than USPS's shipping. Still, when you pay for $2K insurance, I'd expect they'd cover a $500-600 repair without complaint.
 
Not that anyone cares (except us Alaska folk), but shipping up here is outlandishly expensive when using UPS and FedEx - as in 2-3x that of USPS. And I'm not sure their success rate is any better from my experience. The Triaxis is the first thing of value I've received from USPS that's arrived damaged - and this includes lots of guitars (including my j. Custom I just sold for nearly $3K and sent to Florida), a giant computer I had a friend in Chicago build for me, and more. A few years ago, feet from my 3rd story doorstep, UPS let a 100 lbs. $2000 subwoofer roll down a flight of stairs. I cringed. Thankfully, the company's packaging was absolutely top notch so it (and its piano black finish) survived unscathed.

To be clear, none of this is @GotMetalBoy's fault. I insisted he ship via USPS. His packaging was impeccable and his attitude throughout this debacle has been the same. I think this was just some bad luck.

The problem I'm having with the Triaxis is something many other users have reported and I'm guessing it might be more the fault of M/B's design than USPS's shipping. Still, when you pay for $2K insurance, I'd expect they'd cover a $500-600 repair without complaint.

I've also read many other users have had the same issues as mine which is strange because everything worked perfectly the night before I shipped it. I don't know much about electronics but I wonder if maybe the Triaxis circuit boards get brittle over time and start to crack easily when moved and cause the solder connections to loosen up? I rarely used my Triaxis even though I had it for almost 13 years. I bought it around 2004 and moved it from my apartment to my house in 2006, so that was the most movement it ever had. It lived in a rack it's whole life and was moved from it's original rack to another one in 2012 when I got my Axe-Fx II and it really hadn't been used since then. It was kept in a dry area were most of my other gear is.
 
Mesa discontinued the Triaxis??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Wow. Although I have to say that the Axe II is now indistinguishable from my Triaxis in all the modeled modes except Lead 1 Red (which was ever-changing). Even though I plan on selling my Triaxis, I'm still a bit sad that it is no longer made. It is a great piece of engineering/art.
 
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I asked a person at M/B if a replacement was around the corner and his answer seemed to suggest there is, but that it won't see the light of day any time soon.
 
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