I haven't posted on here in a while and just feel the need to vent over this because its kind of a weird situation.
I dropped my amp and cab off with my tech the other day with simple instructions. I had removed my chasis from the headshell a while back in order to take a gutshot to send to FJA and when I put it back in I guess I caused a grounding issue which was causing a hum/feedback. I explained this to him and all I wanted him to do was reinsert the chasis.
I only had 3 power tubes in it when I dropped it off. I showed him the 4th which I had taken out myself on a whim and he said it couldn't be put back in b/c a pin was broken so I said thats fine, I'll just wait and put a matched set in later (I would have only wanted 2 btw, not a quad and probably not 6l6's b/c I've been thinking about switching to el34's or KT88's.
All I wanted him to do with the cab was switch the wiring from stereo to mono and tell me if the speakers were working properly. I've never had V30's and don't know what their supposed to sound like or how to check the condition of the speakers. I don't know what all is involved with this but since the cab uses quick connect wiring (I think thats what its called at least) I really didn't think there would be too much to it.
He told me I could come back the next day and kind of rushed me off w/out even taking my phone number so I assumed we were on the same page that I was wanting minimal work done. I came back to pick it up today and BAM! $200 bill. He put in a brand new quad of JJ 6L6's and a little mini switch on the back of the cab to switch from mono to stereo, which is very cool and all but I did not ask for it. He also said its hard wired to 4ohms and I really don't even know what that means. I thought since it was a 4x12 it would be 16ohm? Will it still be 4 ohms if I switch it to stereo and only use 2 speakers? Ohms aren't my thing so I might have to call him and ask.
I ended up not saying anything and just paid for it which sucks b/c I am young and poor lol. At first I thought maybe there was a miscommunication or something on my end but the more I think about it he kind of did the same thing when I took this same amp in a few months ago only that time he said the tubes were fine and that the guy who did my mods couldn't solder and that he had to re-shoot all the solder joints and undertake some other big task I can't remember.
I thought it was kind of suspect at the time b/c I had my amp modded by Zach at Titan amps and I'm pretty sure he can solder lol, but I ended up forgetting about it until today. Either way, that time I dropped it off and just asked him to make sure everything looked right, left my phone number, and came back to at least a $150 ticket (can't remember exactly) with no improvement in the sound of the amp.
I've been going to this guy for years and don't really have any other choice as far as nearby reliable techs are concerned (I actually have to drive like 80 miles one way just to get to this guy) so unless I switch to solid states or Amplitube or something I'm going to have to keep dealing with him. I guess I'm just going to have to get everything in writing before I leave anything with him from now on.
I just really didn't want to drop $200 on this amp today though. Sucks.
I dropped my amp and cab off with my tech the other day with simple instructions. I had removed my chasis from the headshell a while back in order to take a gutshot to send to FJA and when I put it back in I guess I caused a grounding issue which was causing a hum/feedback. I explained this to him and all I wanted him to do was reinsert the chasis.
I only had 3 power tubes in it when I dropped it off. I showed him the 4th which I had taken out myself on a whim and he said it couldn't be put back in b/c a pin was broken so I said thats fine, I'll just wait and put a matched set in later (I would have only wanted 2 btw, not a quad and probably not 6l6's b/c I've been thinking about switching to el34's or KT88's.
All I wanted him to do with the cab was switch the wiring from stereo to mono and tell me if the speakers were working properly. I've never had V30's and don't know what their supposed to sound like or how to check the condition of the speakers. I don't know what all is involved with this but since the cab uses quick connect wiring (I think thats what its called at least) I really didn't think there would be too much to it.
He told me I could come back the next day and kind of rushed me off w/out even taking my phone number so I assumed we were on the same page that I was wanting minimal work done. I came back to pick it up today and BAM! $200 bill. He put in a brand new quad of JJ 6L6's and a little mini switch on the back of the cab to switch from mono to stereo, which is very cool and all but I did not ask for it. He also said its hard wired to 4ohms and I really don't even know what that means. I thought since it was a 4x12 it would be 16ohm? Will it still be 4 ohms if I switch it to stereo and only use 2 speakers? Ohms aren't my thing so I might have to call him and ask.
I ended up not saying anything and just paid for it which sucks b/c I am young and poor lol. At first I thought maybe there was a miscommunication or something on my end but the more I think about it he kind of did the same thing when I took this same amp in a few months ago only that time he said the tubes were fine and that the guy who did my mods couldn't solder and that he had to re-shoot all the solder joints and undertake some other big task I can't remember.
I thought it was kind of suspect at the time b/c I had my amp modded by Zach at Titan amps and I'm pretty sure he can solder lol, but I ended up forgetting about it until today. Either way, that time I dropped it off and just asked him to make sure everything looked right, left my phone number, and came back to at least a $150 ticket (can't remember exactly) with no improvement in the sound of the amp.
I've been going to this guy for years and don't really have any other choice as far as nearby reliable techs are concerned (I actually have to drive like 80 miles one way just to get to this guy) so unless I switch to solid states or Amplitube or something I'm going to have to keep dealing with him. I guess I'm just going to have to get everything in writing before I leave anything with him from now on.
I just really didn't want to drop $200 on this amp today though. Sucks.