Torres Engineering - Does it exist??

[DrGonz78]

Reading the very bad Yelp reviews on the amp repair services offered makes you question the business in the first place. One of the reviews said they screwed up my amp and then brought the amp to "Skip Simmons" who fixed it right. Sounds similar to a one DAB users story huh?

[Chuck H]

Hello,
Yeah Juan, you should stick to something like marriage counselling !!!

Oh no you di-ent (need side to side head motion analogous with index finger wave emoticon)

[Chuck H]

As of marriage counseling, maybe I should, why waste time decoding schematics, downloading datasheets, or searching for stuff which clearly lazy posters didn't care to?

Maybe you gave me a great idea.

How very magnanimous and non confrontational of you

[The Dude]

How very magnanimous and non confrontational of you

On first read, I thought you wrote "monogamous", which was funny to me given the context.
Dr. Fahey- Marriage Counselor also begs a laugh for those who "know" him.

[Enzo]

One of the reasons I closed my shop is I could no longer do a good job for my customers. I couldn't be there every day. When I was hospitalized I couldn't work for several months. About all the energy I had was to come here and type posts. It is easy to sit here and say "Well, he oughta this and that..." But we don't really know what is going on in Torres life. He may be a screw-up, or he may be suffering. believe me, when I was in a hospital bed, the last thing on my mind was whether I shipped a bag of transistors to someone, regardless of my good intentions to help the guy.

[Chuck H]

I knew Dan before he opened the shop. When he was between his Saratoga shop (Called Torres Guitars. Which he sold to some nice guys that did the place justice) and his San Mateo shop he was writing software for charity based business models. He ran the amp gig part time out of a shop he built in his garage at his home. So I met his kids, his wife, etc. He's not a screw up. There's no GW business going on with Dan. He'd been trying for years to sell the Palm Ave. shop. He did, briefly, on payments to a guy named Joel (don't remember his last name). But Joel didn't manage it the same way and had to back out. So Dan stepped back in even though he was trying really hard to retire. He felt an obligation to his customers. Even through his bout with esophageal problems he managed to keep things going. Though not exactly like clockwork. I don't know how it finally ended, but his Palm Ave. shop did close and I think he moved to Grass Valley. He still keeps the on line store going, but maybe that's changing too. Or going to.

Dan get's some heat here and there on line and in more tech circles. It all started because he was willing to modify vintage amps. Remember that he was way ahead of the game bringing amp mods to the general public and then the on line community. He was, straight up, a forerunner in the whole game. He's had columns in several publications and been consulted regularly by many in the amplifier industry. Now... Compared to what's available for free from the many on line amp forums and the level of tech and prowess available now that the genre has evolved Dan ends up taking a beating here and there. I call sour grapes. He's been a fixture and a known entity in the industry since it's inception. If "I" had as much exposure I can't imagine all the crap that would be written about me. But Dan is no GW. Any inference of the sort should be ignored. Bummer that an order took longer than it should, but that's not the same thing as being a fast Eddy bordering on criminal activity. He's a business man. And has done it successfully for a very, very long time. Maybe he's having some trouble with something or other but if you place an order with Dan you'll get it.

[James Welsh]

I knew Dan before he opened the shop. When he was between his Saratoga shop (Called Torres Guitars. Which he sold to some nice guys that did the place justice) and his San Mateo shop he was writing software for charity based business models. He ran the amp gig part time out of a shop he built in his garage at his home. So I met his kids, his wife, etc. He's not a screw up. There's no GW business going on with Dan. He'd been trying for years to sell the Palm Ave. shop. He did, briefly, on payments to a guy named Joel (don't remember his last name). But Joel didn't manage it the same way and had to back out. So Dan stepped back in even though he was trying really hard to retire. He felt an obligation to his customers. Even through his bout with esophageal problems he managed to keep things going. Though not exactly like clockwork. I don't know how it finally ended, but his Palm Ave. shop did close and I think he moved to Grass Valley. He still keeps the on line store going, but maybe that's changing too. Or going to.

Dan get's some heat here and there on line and in more tech circles. It all started because he was willing to modify vintage amps. Remember that he was way ahead of the game bringing amp mods to the general public and then the on line community. He was, straight up, a forerunner in the whole game. He's had columns in several publications and been consulted regularly by many in the amplifier industry. Now... Compared to what's available for free from the many on line amp forums and the level of tech and prowess available now that the genre has evolved Dan ends up taking a beating here and there. I call sour grapes. He's been a fixture and a known entity in the industry since it's inception. If "I" had as much exposure I can't imagine all the crap that would be written about me. But Dan is no GW. Any inference of the sort should be ignored. Bummer that an order took longer than it should, but that's not the same thing as being a fast Eddy bordering on criminal activity. He's a business man. And has done it successfully for a very, very long time. Maybe he's having some trouble with something or other but if you place an order with Dan you'll get it.

Chuck, THANK YOU for this post!! This is exactly what I was looking for when I started this thread

I think I'd like to clarify that this was never about how long it was taking to get an order. If someone had returned my emails to say something I ordered was out of stock and I wouldn't see it until early 2016 I honestly would have been ok with that. But that was the problem I was having - no communication. Was something backordered? Was it shipped without a tracking number? Was anyone actually there to fill the order? I didn't know, and I had no way to find out directly from them, so I reached out to a community that I hoped would have some insight.

I have read my share of negative posts about him and his mod work so I know what you're talking about there. I also always figured it was people being pissy about someone modding vintage gear. And I know from guitar wiring that a lot of people ask for mods that are better left undone. They try to cram everything they can into one guitar thinking it'll do it all, and it really comes out bland. I'm sure similar bad ideas are thrown into amp mods too, and people are quick to blame the guy who simply did what they asked for.
The reason I looked past all the negative posts about his work was because an amp builder I respect suggested the Torres book has a lot of great info in it - more than most out there. I'm looking to expand my knowledge and comfort level working inside amps so it seemed like a good starting point. And since the shipping cost to Canada was literally four times the price of the book I added some other bits and pieces to help close that gap.

[Chuck H]

I don't have his book

But I can say that it was Dan that got me started in amp mods some 24 years ago! You see...

He has a reputation for impatience. Not bad, but he does get a little grumpy too quickly. And I'm a tough customer. Dan was my amp guy for a couple of years. When he opened the Palm Ave. shop he ran out of time for my obsessive nature. It was because of his snarky attitude that I decided I would need to learn about this stuff for myself. I have no patience for impatience So I did learn enough about amps to free myself from having to rely on others. With the exception of this great forum. I don't ask too many questions now, but the cast and crew here always come through

IMHE all the mods Dan did to my amps sounded good. He's not as tech savvy as some, but he has a lot of experience and he's very experimental. He didn't put his stamp on anything that didn't deliver something useful, but...

He IS a marketer! He tends to sensationalize wherever possible. His old mailers were a hoot. It worked. And it's also true that a player will be happier with their tone if they "believe" in it. So it nearly always works out. He did (and I think still does) offer the "patented midrange control" for guitars. What he DOESN'T tell readers is that it's not his patent It belongs to Gibson. Or did. It's such an old circuit now that the patent is long expired. I just thought that shenanigan went a little over my line. Very useful and fun circuit though! I bought it and was ultimately happy I did.

[DrGonz78]

Wow!! The back story on this one is really interesting. I think I remember Chuck mention Dan in a post somewhere in some other thread too. I have very high standards out of people I pay money to for goods/services and communication is a must. However, I fully get what Enzo says about when your health takes a toll on your abilities and the last thing on your mind is the smaller matters. Hey after all is said and done the item was shipped, it all worked out just fine.

[gui_tarzan]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. When I first found out about Torres' business I was geeked. No one else I heard of at the time was selling mods so I bought one for a guitar. I don't remember what it was now, but I got it quickly and it was cheap. Many years later when I got into repairing amps on my own I ran across all the negative press he was getting for sloppy work (which we've seen pictures of) and a lot of unhappy customers for things not shipping, etc. and it soured me on him. Having said that, I did not know of his health problems until I read his story on his website and I feel very bad for him, and I think given what he went through he at least made an effort to get people their products but we all know that's very hard to do when you're in a hospital bed. I wish he had been able to sustain what sounds like a good business but sometimes it just doesn't work out. That's when he should have shut it down, finished his orders and done something else. Maybe he could, maybe he couldn't, I don't know but it seems like the logical thing to do.

I am fortunate that I have been able to learn how to maintain my own equipment as well as keep others' amps going but I also know I will not be able to do that forever. When I can't do it reliably anymore I will stop.

On a side note, that time of the year is approaching (cold!) and I'm sitting here in my house shop shivering so I'm going somewhere warm for the night.