V8guitar sorry for keeping you up at night. This post may end up be longer than it needs to be, but --
I never set out to become a professional amp maker. I have no aspirations of being the next Dave Friedman or Mike Fortin, or any of the other amazing boutique amp makers out there. I built this thing for me. Because to buy something in it's class would cost more than some of us paid for our houses. They're priceless. I asked George Lynch at one point if he'd ever sell his Plexi, and how much he would want for it. He said, (and I'm paraphrasing) "Never. I've played dozens and dozens of these amps, and none of them sound like this one. There's no price that would interest me. The amount of money you'd have to offer me to even think about it would be ridiculous... like in the millions, which is totally impractical." Which is exactly how BRYANMELTSYOFACE feels about his mkII.
I only built one for Bryan because we're in a band together (built for cost) and because I thought I could improve upon the original design, and have an amp that would work well within our band, giving Gab the sound she always wanted for her music that in her words "Sounds like how I feel". [Gab plays through a heavily modded Marshal DSL I call the 'DSL MAX' - Mean And eXtremely clean, and when you blend her tone with Bryan's you get this wall of sound.]
I've had several people inquire about buying a Superthump since the article came out, so I'm considering building and selling them. I've already long ago considered all your points. With Bryan, I had him sign a EULA in which he's not allowed to make public any pictures or video of the amp's internal workings, nor is he allowed to create profiles for distribution, for threat of litigation. But I feel that Bryan, respects the amount of work and talent it took to make the thing, I mean he watched me struggle with the amps I had before - trying to get that tone. and was there every step of the way watching me struggle to build this thing. So out of respect, and his own sense of personal honor I don't think he'd undermine all of my work. But the EULA is one way to go. It's a deterrent, but not a guarantee.
After researching the current price of all the components needed to build more, I could price it where some of the other boutique guys price their custom amps in the high 4 figures and make a modest profit. -- OR -- I could, perhaps, charge a price that would discourage profiling and distributing. If one has to pay a very sizable price to acquire one, they'd maybe think twice about sharing or selling profiles on a platform that can so easily be pirated - that is if the goal was to buy one and pay for it by selling profiles, so as to break even on the exhorbinate cost of the amp. I'm sure I won't get many takers at that price point, as it would rival the going rate for a Fender Custom Shop EVH Frankenstein Replica. But that's another way to go.
The third and easiest option is to do nothing. To wait and see.
I know people would then ask, "Why did you go to all the trouble to show this amp off, if you're not planning on selling them? You live in the US, you've created something unique and wonderful that people want - the wet dream of every capitalist on the planet, Go ape shit. Make bank. There's a demand, be the supplier. What's wrong with you?" -- Well, the video exists primarily because Make Magazine thought the sounds coming out of the amp and the story of it's creation were worth sharing, and asked us to make a video that they could embed into their article. Also I'm really proud of the work I've done, and wanted to share what I accomplished along with my love and respect for Van Halen with the world... (Well, to date, less than 3000 people, but who's counting, right?..lol) And making a video for those purposes was long overdue.
So idk what I'm going to do. Right now I have complete control, and every option is on the table. But, in the end, I don't want this amp to turn into a source of aggravation and regret.