Don't fix it if it ain't broken...

[Randall]

What do you do when you get the guy who brings and amp or a pedal, etc., and says, "I don't know, it just doesn't seem as *fill in the blank* as I remember it. Everything measures within reason, nothing seems amiss, it sounds OK to you, nothing loose or intermittant that you can see. How much time do want to spend chasing down what may just be someone's imagination, or something else all together?

I get these sometimes, and right now I have a Rivera 100 watt head in that the customer says doesn't sound as "shimmery" as he thinks it used to. Tubes check out, all of the many bells and whistles seem fine, bias seems a bit hot for a guy who like big clean tones and pedals, so I brought the current down a bit and buttoned it back up. Minimum hour charge, see ya!

So, how much time do you spend on gear that you aren't convinced is broken? I've spent so much time in the past chasing this kind of thing only to find out it's the guys cable, or pedal board, or cab... or never finding out at all, and wondering if the guy is telling people you can't fix his amp. These days, I'm not so inclined.

[J M Fahey]

Happens all the time.
Originally I worried a lot, tried to find something bad or unusual, worried about what to tell him if he asked: " good !!!!! now explain me what you did"
Today? .... "it will be so much, thanks"
He made me waste an hour? .... ok, pay for it.

[Enzo]

I'd estimate as much as 15% of stuff that hits a shop has no real problem.


This is why shops charge estimate fees, you spend labor on something just to find out if it has any issues.

Doesn't shimmer? Maybe his speaker cones are getting soft. Maybe his ears are aging, or maybe he has played a little too loud a lot lately and he has ear fatigue. Maybe the humidity changed in his eviron. Seriously.

Power tubes are like strings, they keep working long after they lose their tone. How long a time has this shimmer diminished? And how old are the power tubes. They may "check out" but that doesn't mean they haven't lost some shine.

Ever put new strings n your guitar? me either. Nah. They new ones sound so alive. Now a week later, they still sound great, but do you think if you put a new set on anyway that week later they won't still sound newer than the week old ones? All that blather to say you COULD slap a new set of tubes in it and ask if it now shimmers again.

[drewl]

Entwhistle had new strings put on for each gig.

Its also called preventative maintenance.

Check things out. Excessive ripple?
Might need filter caps, or bias drift.
Any connections look like they are about to go bad.

I had my 18w Marshall clone not work at this weekends gig.
A coupling cap broke, lead snapped at the body.
I had a backup head, so no problem.

Wish I had more time for my own gear maintenance!

[Leo_Gnardo]

Power tubes are like strings, they keep working long after they lose their tone. How long a time has this shimmer diminished? And how old are the power tubes. They may "check out" but that doesn't mean they haven't lost some shine.

A big +1 to you Enzo on output tubes. First hundred hours or so, yes extra brightness & "liveness" of tone, then a long shallow slope downhill. Still produce power, sound acceptably good but like old tires that still hold air, they lose their "grip" and tone gets flabby. New set of outputs? Like a new kitchen knife, razor sharp at first then . . . not so much. The greatest musician that ever lived, according to himself of course, Yngnut Malmsteen used to insist an all brand new GE 6550A for all 3 x 100W Marshalls at every gig. What a waste. One day 1992 I arrived at a Virginia venue he just played, the stage hands told me don't bother, they already scoured the rubbish bins & rescued the dozen barely used 6550A's his tech had tossed the previous day. Maybe even Yngnut could hear the difference new output tubes make thru his haze of booze & anesthetic marching powder. Wonder what he does now?

So those who say their amp's sound has gone meh, candidates for fresh outputs. OTOH some of my customers accept the fact & keep running tube sets for ages, sometimes 12-15 years in amps that are used 3 or 4 times a week. And they sound just fine at gigs & in the studio.

I always ask about effects & cables too, and whether the customer has tried playing straight from guitar to amp. On occasion I find someone who just added an old fashioned wah pedal right at the beginning of the fx chain. That sort of thing can load down the guitar signal & take away the zing factor before it ever gets to an amp.

[tedmich]

sometimes perhaps you are asked to do this

(A Catholic priest blessing a new Toyota in the Philippines)
which is to "lay hands" on a mysterious piece of equipment and imbue it with your spiritual "mojo"
If the customer feels better your money is well earned!


Love the Ygnut story Leo! His video with stacks of strats strewn about his Mansion in piles ( "there's a '54 under that one...") still makes me laugh!

[Randall]

Good point about outputs still working but losing their zing. Problem is the customer lives in Chicago, but has an amp rig stashed down here in very humid SWFL for the three weeks he comes down to visit and gig. So replacing the outputs would mean we don't know if it did any good until he gets here. And then, I wouldn't want to have to recommend a brand in case they weren't going to meet his particular sonic needs. I generally point to tubes based on reliability, and that's hard enough these days. I ran this by him today, and am curious if he will want to pop for a new quad as an experiment. Somehow, I don't think he will.

The amp sounds fine to me, BTW. But I don't know what it used to sound like, so I can't really be too objective here.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Good point about outputs still working but losing their zing. Problem is the customer lives in Chicago, but has an amp rig stashed down here in very humid SWFL for the three weeks he comes down to visit and gig. So replacing the outputs would mean we don't know if it did any good until he gets here. And then, I wouldn't want to have to recommend a brand in case they weren't going to meet his particular sonic needs. I generally point to tubes based on reliability, and that's hard enough these days. I ran this by him today, and am curious if he will want to pop for a new quad as an experiment. Somehow, I don't think he will.

The amp sounds fine to me, BTW. But I don't know what it used to sound like, so I can't really be too objective here.

Takes a bit of time but you could do a sort of A/B test with old tubes then new. Unfortunately the ear's memory is about 30 seconds... even with that if the effect of new tubes perks up the amp it will still be noticeable. And reliability... EL34's from Ruby/Magic - 2 varieties of Shuguang, JJ either EL34 or E34L, all seem similar to me in terms of reliability. OTOH I seem to replace a lot of Russian EL34 whether labeled Mullard or TungSol or EH, some freshly installed and gone to sparks n smoke. Recently I've started trying 6CA7 JJ's in amps that challenge EL34's, like Orange OR120 and 80. So far so good and no complaints from crustomers saying "I lost my tone wah wah wah..."

[nsubulysses]

It's always hard to say what to do. I usually try to gauge power output and just tell the customer all I can, then let them decide.

Had a recent one where a customer said their amp sounds good, but their friend has the same one and A/B'ing between them his friends was noticeably louder (which I worked on a few months back). He never had a problem with the amp until comparing it to his friends. Anyway I found that with the power tubes it had it clipped at 26.8V into 8 ohms vs. 29V with new tubes -- 90W with old tubes, 105W with new. Not a big difference to your ear but at least with some numbers they had something to go by, and opted for new power tubes.

Is there any difference in power output new tubes vs old? Of course it could be a billion different things, or nothing.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Is there any difference in power output new tubes vs old? Of course it could be a billion different things, or nothing.

I often, but not always, note an increase in power with fresh output tubes. Numbers don't tell us everything, but a customer does feel a little better if you tell him his power at clipping went up 10 or 20% with new ones. It sort of proves the old ones needed to be swapped out. Sometimes I read less power with new ones in spite of a refreshed tone. Then I don't mention measured power although I tag the inside of the amp & report it on the repair invoice . . . If it sounds "more powerfuller" to the amp user that's what counts.

[Enzo]

And I am available locally to wave my business card over an amp. it improves the mojo considerably.

[nsubulysses]

Is this the only service you offer now that you are retired ??

[tedmich]

And I am available locally to wave my business card over an amp. it improves the mojo considerably.

Its the beard that does it!

[Enzo]

Is this the only service you offer now that you are retired ??

No, of course I am still God's gift to waitresses.

[g1]

plus that "tremolo-ing" service you mentioned the other day .