SA amp repair standards

OD1

Apparently this standard of work is what to expect in the repair industry according to amp techs. Am I the only one who finds this to be a sloppy repair job and think techs should be able to do better?

Like to get input from you guys.

V8

OD1 That's bad - though I'm unsure I'd do any better! Was this from a legit repair place?

OD1

V8 Yep....

I wanted to get some opinions as the tech who did it say it's fine. Took my amp to the gear junkie as their amp repairs had always been goo or so I assume. Yet received the amp back like that (not the only issue but just that is unacceptable to me).

Took the amp to Karel Mars for an assessment (as my opinion as client carries no weight) and he said there is nothing wrong with the repair work that had been done, or anything else.......so I wanted to test if I'm the crazy one, expecting something that's unrealistic. Graham even asked that I pay him back the refund he gave me (because Karel said the work is fine like that) the best I could do was to agreed to pay R150 for the parts used and paid him that.

I really thought I might be a difficult client not happy with the amp[ repair......and should be happy with that

Cerise

V8 leaving aside this particular example, going forward when it comes to tube amps, it will get harder to find good independent amp technicians as more of them retire or even pass away ...not enough new ones replacing them

V8

OD1 Hey Bud, I did pop in and ask the Junkies about what happened wrt your amp.

It was a tricky repair and was outsourced to the repair guy they use (P.s. the same guy all the local WC music retailers use for their repairs too). He's also worked on a few things for me as well.

Unfortunatley, your expectations were not met - from what I understand it was a tricky repair and I now know I would have done far worse.

From what I understand, the amp wasn't functioning at all, you'd initially attempted a repair yourself and then sent the amp in for repair. The amp was working post repair - not that the ends neccesarily justify the means!

But from what I heard you were dealt with professionally and fairly, as I have always felt when dealing with the Gear Junkie - and I have done many, many, many deals with Graham.

So, sad to hear that you had a negative experience, but to be fair, from my decade of dealing with them this is the very rare exception.

modulator

It does not look very neat...

The general opinion might be " does it work? then it's good"? No major damage, all good? But you pay for professional work?
I know somebody who works on, builds, fixes valve amplifiers, he has done some lekker Hi-Fi amps through the years, and is currently building a few interesting amps.
He once sent me pictures of an amp he had to repair, an amp built by one of the more well known and revered builders, and it was a nightmare. There is no way to establish whether that work was done by the builder, or the mess was the result of somebody else working in it, but I can assure you, it was a disgrace. Even I can do better.
So, yes, sometimes you can expect sloppy work, it seems.
But it should not be condoned.

V8

Cerise It'll be harder to find them - I know of one guy who does work privately, but only really likes working on old/vintage tube amps (he's just turned 40). He's just moved to East London, so if anyone does need something done in the EC, he's your guy.

There's definitely still a interest out there (and tons of information), but they don't advertise their services - it's word of mouth.

I did eventually have a chance tp show my B.I.L OD1's photo's and he was unimpressed - He reckoned the de-soldering braid probably left behind a bunch of flux residue which could be carefully washed off using the appropriate cleaner. He's got over 30 yrs experience in the electrical component deisgn & manufacturing industry - he's seen it all, got me thinking you'll seldom find that kinda experience in a amp tech.