Ampeg VT 40 customer woes

[Randall]

Got a VT40 410 combo in, it's a beast. The guy wants to put as little as possible into it to sell it. I tell him sit needs a serious cleaning before I can tell too much more about it, so he agrees. I get it cleaned up and quieted down, but it still sounds bad. I find a seized speaker, so I call him and explain. He picks the option of a slightly used Eminence 1058 on Reverb.com for $50. I install it only to find one or more of the other three are ratty on certain notes. It's hard to tell exactly since they buzz sympathetically even when unplugged. So I call back to explain this and he is not happy. I guess he thought the cleaning and one speaker would make it new again.

I didn't sell him a cap job, nor tubes, nor did I charge him extra to replace the speaker. He wants to know why I didn't catch the other failing speakers when I called him the first time? I tried to explain that with multiple problems, it's not always reasonable to expect to find them all in one pass. He said he'd get back to me. Sheesh.

The thing is, I hate it when people are suspicious that I am leading them on, because I never do.

[xtian]

Sounds like you did the right thing.

I've run into this as well, and now I'm certain to explain up front that we cannot find out what condition THAT part is in until we first fix THIS part. Set expectations appropriately.

Good luck with this client!

[Leo_Gnardo]

Get him acquainted with The Bottle Rockets' "Thousand Dollar Car." A brilliant midde eight kind of tells the whole story:

"A thousand dollar car just won't go
Until you throw another thousand in the hole
Spend your money and there you are
The owner of a two thousand dollar
Thousand dollar car."

Works for amps too.

Watch here for a larf:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzim1iYhmGA

[Enzo]

You have encountered the "fix it, but don't really fix it", customer. And you fell into his trap. You are motivated by a working, good sounding amp, he is motivated by dollars.

As to cleaning it, I can spray Deoxit into the jacks and controls in about 5 minutes, so no loss there. Speakers in a 410 do sympathize, so pull them, and drive them individually. They don't work as well standing alone, but you know what makes a reasonable encloseure? Hold it over a trash can. That gives the rear of the cone something to work against. We like to match the impedance to the amp, but your 4x10 can be run as a 3x10 well enough to test the thing. If your siezed speaker is removed, and they buzz sympathetically, that still means at least one of them is doing the buzzing and needs replacement.

Since it is to be sold, no one expects a used amp to have new tubes in it. So unless they flat out don;t work or blow fuses or something, leave them be.

WHen I get a fixit half way guy, I want him to write down exactly what work he wants me to perform, and that he understands I cannot guarantee doing ONLY that will result in a good sounding amp. And you always have the option to explain that you don't feel you can honestly do a good job for him within his budget. As a professional, I won't put my name on a repair unless I feel the amp is 100%. MAybe a different shop would be better suited to his needs. I do ask for a budget up front, how much does he want to spend. I may find out he thinks $20 should be enough, at which point we can amicably end the discussion.

Yes, it can be walking on hot coals sometimes.

[DrGonz78]

I learned that same lesson with a V4 amp head. Just fix the obvious blown out crap and then cross your fingers it is ready to be sold. Right! Explain to the guy that repair work is like peeling back layers of an onion. Eventually at some point it has the potential to just make you cry. These types of old heavy duty amps were not built cheap and many times they are not cheap to repair. However, like Enzo said tubes work okay still then don't replace. Main filter caps still holding up then great! Tell the guy that you were 100% that the speaker was bad and only when you are 100% do you order another one. This guy sounds like a shark as the other guys pointed out he is about the money and your about the integrity of a good honest repair (and some money). Also, the guy probably had a rejoicing moment when you first got back to him about replacing only one speaker. Then when you let him know about another speaker to replace he felt his resale profit dwindling down and it deflated his hot air balloon dreamland sequence that he had going on in his head. Once you get the next speaker all set to go and it is fixed call to tell him it is done. But first tell him there is a 3rd speaker that just revealed itself as being troublesome too. Then let him know your just kidding. If he laughs then that tells you something about his character. Also, it points out that you did all you could to not throw 4 new speakers in the thing.

I have a friend that always buys broken amps and brings them to me for resurrection. 9 out of 10 times I fix the amp for a very good price and mostly since the parts were cheap. That one amp out of 10 that has major parts to repair makes me feel so bad that I could not charge him a very good price. I feel a need to apologize to him and he just says "that's the risk I run by buying broken amps." Amen to that brother!

[Randall]

Guys, don't be too hard on this customer, he's a good and happy guy. He's a retired luthier, and he gets it, but he just had an ideal in his head and every time I speak to him about it gets diminished. I am actually going to advise him to sell as is for a reduced price and disclose what work has been done, and the condition of the remaining speakers, and letting the buyer decide what to do for repairs later. He just wants to move it. Anyone who buys it will have to put hundreds into it to get to stage reliability or top resale, which as I see is around $800.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Anyone who buys it will have to put hundreds into it to get to stage reliability or top resale, which as I see is around $800.

As I did with a VT40 I owned many years ago. Good amps but they still sell for "sleeper" prices. Eventually a customer bought mine, then he sold it to Earl Slick who loves it to bits - got that "Stones" sound from the 70's and he's stoked about that. No get rich quick scheme here Ralph! How do you make a million bucks trading amps? Start with two million. Straight to the moon, Alice!

[Enzo]

I'll see your still shot, and raise you: