It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:39 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 39 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:08 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:08 pm
Posts: 2889
Why is it 95% of the time I go to look at an amp for sale The guys says "just had new tubes installed" by a "tech"

How many of these "techs" are pocketing excellent RCA's and Mullards etc.... and installing the cheapest Chinese garbage they can find ???

Excuse my pessimism but it cant be that every amp for sale needed tubes right ?
Or is it just something they do to cover a possible return ?

I know one "tech" who always seems to have these great old tubes available at seriouse prices and I would say he does 75% of the work in a two county area.

And i've had to fix at least three amps he just "fixed" :roll:

Just wondering what your experience has been.

_________________
Keepn' the Blues Alive

2004 50th Ann. Limited edition AMSE Stratocaster
2017 50's Baja Telecaster BSB

1968 Bandmaster with 2X12 cab C-rex speakers
VHT Special 6 Ultra combo

Visual Sound Route 66
Cmatmods Signa Drive


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 5:09 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2012 6:36 pm
Posts: 75
No doubt they grab tubes left & right. My problem with a lot of techs is that they keep your amp for a month and give it back to you with the same problem or different new problems. Good techs are really hard to find.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 5:27 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 3:10 pm
Posts: 5646
Location: Gateway to the West
I would agree it does happen more than it should. I talked with the two techs I have had in this area for a couple months before I let them touch any of my amps. When I was satisfied they were honest folks then I let em have my amps.

As soon as I dropped off my Concert and asked if he was going to return all the parts removed, he stated that is the only way he works...and so I asked if he had any customer references. Low and behold a guy walks in with a Princeton Reverb for a check up. So I ask him (older guy like me) how long he had been using this guy as his tech...he said over 32 years. So I ask him does he return all your parts including old tubes, and he said yep, he puts em in a box wrapped in tissue and baggies all the electronic parts! I was obviously sold after that, and I asked nothing more just to see what would transpire...sure enough, just as the guy said. I am sold on this guy.

FWIW

T2

_________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
What time is it? It's Fender Time.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 6:30 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:18 pm
Posts: 6544
Yeah, good techs are not easy to find. At least with Net there is a good public info (and unfortunately bad info). To keep things straight, even if you have to do the work yourself.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 8:37 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:08 pm
Posts: 2889
I'm very glad to have the excellent guys here who have talked me through several fixes on my own.
Then I started using the knowledge and safety practices learned here to dig in and fix and tweek some other amps and some friends amps.
I built a library of how to of Tube Amp books and videos and now I can run down just about anything (simple) if it were to requier an osciliscope (sic) I would be in trouble !

It kinda burns me that this guy in north central to north west IN is ripping folks off with shoddy repairs and never returns the "bad " tubes.

You guys might even remember the Blackface Bassman head I bought that had been recently serviced and I found the hole burned in the side of a filter cap, The guy hadn't even removed the pan or if he did he has no place in this bizz !!!!
Lucky for me I guess, I learned how to properly change (dangerous) filter caps.

Now there is nothing more satifying than digging into a vintage tube amp and having it sound better when I'm done !
P.S. my Bandmaster Reverb makes me smile every time I plug it in !!!!
Oh ya and the Vibro Champ too !

_________________
Keepn' the Blues Alive

2004 50th Ann. Limited edition AMSE Stratocaster
2017 50's Baja Telecaster BSB

1968 Bandmaster with 2X12 cab C-rex speakers
VHT Special 6 Ultra combo

Visual Sound Route 66
Cmatmods Signa Drive


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 11:28 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
There are sheisters and charlatans everywhere, and in every field of human endeavor.

Word of mouth helps to weed them out though.

And the web enables people to network with one another to find the good techs and avoid the gomers.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 12:10 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:18 pm
Posts: 6544
Blues, these Forums are great two-way learning sites. One can learn as much, as dispensing knowledge.

iBTW... there are some interesting digital scopes with software, these days. It's hard to keep the old Tektronix going. It uses a bazillion 6922 (mil spec 6DJ8). Not the cheapest tube in the barn.

Also, need a GOOD signal generator. READ: HP.

http://www.rigolna.com/DS1052e/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 12:22 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2011 1:59 am
Posts: 492
I'm very sure that happens!

Sold an amp to someone (not, if truth be told, one of the smartest people I have ever known) a couple of years ago, and bumped into them again at a gig a few months later. Asked how the amp was treating them, and they said "Oh, it's okay. I put it in for service though, and the tech told me all the tubes were about to die, so I had to pay out for brand new ones. Think they must have broken something already though as it doesn't sound quite as good now."

I'm sure the fact that when he bought it, the amp was stuffed full of absolutely perfect NOS Mullards which I had fitted about two months before sale had nothing to do with that. :lol:


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:43 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:29 pm
Posts: 614
Location: SW Ohio
Retroverbial wrote:
There are shysters and charlatans everywhere, and in every field of human endeavor.

Word of mouth helps to weed them out though.

And the web enables people to network with one another to find the good techs and avoid the gomers.

Arjay


Exactly.

I found my current tech through my luthier and the local guitar shop (who also sells his fair share of vintage gear). He's the guy that does their work. Any and all removed parts (even death caps and old 2 - prong cords) come back to me in a baggie. If he can find or has a vintage tube.... they get put in. Hell.... the local shop owner gave me a used vintage RCA 6v6 for free for my Champion 600. Yikes - what that RCA did for that Chinese amp. :lol:

I always recommend people start their search for an amp tech with the local and well-respected vintage dealer in their town. They certainly want the best people working on their items. Too costly for them to allow someone to botch up an expensive piece of gear.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:10 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:08 pm
Posts: 2889
Imagine my suprise and :D when I picked up that English Electronics Tonemaster a few weeks ago and found all three tubes were sweet old RCA's instead of Chinese or russian junk.

I know that if that amp had been serviced in our area it would have been stripped of perfectly good USA made RCA's !

Lucky for me the young ladie had received it and the guitar as a gift twenty years ago and stuck them in the closet :mrgreen:

_________________
Keepn' the Blues Alive

2004 50th Ann. Limited edition AMSE Stratocaster
2017 50's Baja Telecaster BSB

1968 Bandmaster with 2X12 cab C-rex speakers
VHT Special 6 Ultra combo

Visual Sound Route 66
Cmatmods Signa Drive


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:39 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:53 pm
Posts: 2252
Location: Harvard IL
Yeah ! My method is to provide a written discription of all work (to be)done(after a personal explanation) for the player's records. All R&R parts or tubes are returned. There have been times, when one power tube was OK and we would adjust the bill accordingly. A lot of these guys are on a tight budget, and I've provided good tubes and components at no cost. Reason being, I prefer to have these folks sound good and out of respect for the old amps. Art

_________________
None of Us are free, if One of Us is chained !


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:40 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
aclempoppi wrote:
A lot of these guys are on a tight budget, and I've provided good tubes and components at no cost. Reason being, I prefer to have these folks sound good and out of respect for the old amps. Art


You're a gentleman and a scholar of the finest tradition, Art.

HAND SALUTE!

I periodically do some pro bono amp and guitar work myself, some of it for folks right here on this forum.

It's all good.

Rawk on!

8)

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 3:04 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am
Posts: 14049
Location: Province de Québec, Canada
Most of the guy who call them a tech , are NOT a tech. These are only handyman good for amp or guitar. When they hit a real electronic problem this take time ( they ask many question on forums all the time ) and cost $$$ to the customer and amp is real mess after they work inside

A tech for me is an electrical engeneer who LEARN ELECTRONIC ( or musical instument ) IN SCHOOL.

If you don't learn electronic serously like in school , sorry you are not a tech.

__________________________________________________________________

Like in any job , some people are not honest


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 5:57 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:08 pm
Posts: 2889
Thats my point, these guys work in well respected music stores and still pull this on poor uneducated customers.

As far as an education having to be in a "school" I have to disagree, we home schooled our kids and they have a much better education than that of the local public ed kids.
My son was doing advanced electronics (college level) in his freshman year of high school.

Nothing wrong with learning anything by yourself, just don't make it your occupation untill your highly knowledgeable.

So why do so many sell off their prized vintage amps so soon after service ????
Cheap tubes that will never allow it to sound as it should ? Thats my guess.

Thats another reason we should never get put off by simple questions here !
sometimes we send off newbys to the sharks due to our being annoyed at simple things
like how do I remove a tube, is it dangerous etc......

_________________
Keepn' the Blues Alive

2004 50th Ann. Limited edition AMSE Stratocaster
2017 50's Baja Telecaster BSB

1968 Bandmaster with 2X12 cab C-rex speakers
VHT Special 6 Ultra combo

Visual Sound Route 66
Cmatmods Signa Drive


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Honest Tube amp repair guys ?
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:56 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:18 pm
Posts: 6544
"As far as an education having to be in a "school" I have to disagree. "


You know Blues, Some guy named Leo Fender and another named Jim Marshall had no formal education in electronics. Yet, they seemed to do ok.

:mrgreen:


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 39 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: