How to best approach amp repair for a living...

[Prairie Dawg]

This is the one area in which I had the most trouble. If you can get a go-between to handle the customers, GET ONE!!!

I had guys who wanted to watch, who told sob stories until I did the job for free or a reduced price (never could get the sob story to placate the owner, though...), I would jump items in line waiting to be repaired because someone was in a hurry and couldn't wait, etc. All tended to cause problems.

On the other hand, I had a belly dancer/Celtic harpist who liked to watch me work on her tube D.I. and harp pickup.

No problem there...

The jobs kinda sort themselves out. If its something I can turn fast it goes to the head of the class. If it belongs to someone who has a gig and the amp's not done they get to use my Traynor YCV80.

[Structo]

This is the one area in which I had the most trouble. If you can get a go-between to handle the customers, GET ONE!!!

I had guys who wanted to watch, who told sob stories until I did the job for free or a reduced price (never could get the sob story to placate the owner, though...), I would jump items in line waiting to be repaired because someone was in a hurry and couldn't wait, etc. All tended to cause problems.

On the other hand, I had a belly dancer/Celtic harpist who liked to watch me work on her tube D.I. and harp pickup.

No problem there...

That's easy.
Just tell them that bench time is $40/ hr or $60/ hr if they watch.

[cbass]

I tried some advertising once.All i got was people wanting me to tell them how to fix/mod there amp over the phone.

The only real prospect I got from adverising was a guy from a local band that brought me a power amp that he said cut out on him a couple of times.I could not find anything wrong with it I ran for 24 hours straight.I didn't charge him anything but they have brought me several amps to repair.

Of course you gotta relize i live in the middle of nowhere about 4 hours away from a major city.

[Prairie Dawg]

I tried some advertising once.All i got was people wanting me to tell them how to fix/mod there amp over the phone.

The only real prospect I got from adverising was a guy from a local band that brought me a power amp that he said cut out on him a couple of times.I could not find anything wrong with it I ran for 24 hours straight.I didn't charge him anything but they have brought me several amps to repair.

Of course you gotta relize i live in the middle of nowhere about 4 hours away from a major city.

I don't see that too much around here. People already know that if they want to f**k their Marshall into a pile of s**t, then they'll have to send it to a moody genius in Los Angeles and wait three years. I'm not that guy. I try and take care of the working or semi working musicians who bring me stuff because they all talk to each other and word gets around if you try and hose them. It's a very tight knit community.

[Reeltarded]

My phone has been tonging lately and I don't do this stuff to make money.. can't..

The only guy that fixes stuff here charges about 3x what it's worth and destroys your amp. I get to undo all that for pennies on the dollar for friends who are victims from the past. Guy claims he found a "design flaw" in BFSR reissues and basically was charging $350-$500 to turn your amp into a fuse disposal and selling worn out tube pulls for NOS prices... yet I am the carny..

Figures..

[tribi9]

The local amp guy here in town...
A guy brought in his vintage blonde bandmaster. The guy sold him a replacement Eminence for $150 and gave him $50 for his working 15" original speaker. He also sold him an adapter ring so he could use a 12" speaker instead of the 15" for about $150 bucks.

Guy didn't even remove the death cap or replace the cardboard bias caps at "recap" time.

Replaced all his tubes except for 2 preamp tubes. The bandmaster owner say's he never got the original tubes back.

He charged him around $750 dollars. This was around the year 2002.

Dude still posts his amp repair ads on kijiji and if you look under his other posts, he also has ads searching for free or cheap tube amps for repair.

Yet, in his ads, he sometimes tells people to beware of "hacks".

[martin manning]

There is a local guy here, Chrome Dome Audio, who builds and sells his own designs and also repairs amps. I've been meaning to get over to his store and check it out. I know some local musicians who take their gear to him. Allen amps is probably a 40-minute drive from my house. I know there is another repair shop who say they repair guitar amps, and the retail music store near me has a shop, plus there is a vintage guitar (etc.) dealer who has an electronics shop. Maybe this area is unusual but it seems there is no shortage of places doing it. At the same time I don't know anyone else who is hobby building.

[Reeltarded]

Yet, in his ads, he sometimes tells people to beware of "hacks".

Same guy or related.

Martin lives in the middle of golden era dance hall towns. Between Ohio and the Atlantic coast in a strip two states wide I bet I have seen 50% of the colored strats and 50's Gibsons that were sold. More colored strats than SoCal even. Thousands of amps and Hammonds and cool related things. Millions. Brazillions. The instrument belt.

[LeftyStrat]

Last time I looked the going rate in Seattle was $70-75. Sounds great until you see real estate prices out this way.

That would be a good living if you could find 40 hours worth of work every week.

The other things to consider are:

- Insurance.
- Cost of setting up an LLC (you don't want to lose your your personal possessions if someone decides to sue you).
- Cost of shop space if you're not doing it out of your house.
- Dangers of doing it out of your house. (Scenario: Junkie musician comes to your place and sees lot's of amps sitting around.)
- Danger of turning something you love doing into drudgery.

[tribi9]

Yet, in his ads, he sometimes tells people to beware of "hacks".

Same guy or related.
.

If you're asking, yes.

Same guy.

[LeftyStrat]

Yet, in his ads, he sometimes tells people to beware of "hacks".

Same guy or related.
.

If you're asking, yes.

Same guy.

They're all hacks if they don't know about TAG.

[Prairie Dawg]

They're all hacks if they don't know about TAG.

Preach it brother. You got a witness.

All kidding aside, good customer relations skills and doing good work will build you a clientele. My brother in law was a successful auto body man who had his own shop and he observed once that in his estimation, one good job will bring you two more jobs. It might take a while but it will happen.

[Reeltarded]

It's a fact!