Any amp techs in north eastern MA area?

[air_bouquet]

wth indeed! I learned basic tube electronics in college but NOT in the classroom. Early 70's transistors were definitely in, tubes were deemed obsolete. See how well that worked out, right? Not only did I have to repair my bands' and my own stage equipment, I got a part time job in my college, repairing and maintaining lab & demonstration equipment, much of which still had vacuum tubes. So, if he had a little more gumption that tech could have learned then. And what's preventing him from learning now? Probably the same thing that prevents my from learning how to fix computers, smart phones, and every new piece of gear that involves digital electronics and switching power supplies. Laziness AND the way a brain seems to not absorb new knowledge as it gets old.

A little south of you, there must be a Boston area tech or two that can help, what with the always burgeoning music scene there. Hopefully someone will speak up themselves, or an area MEFster will point them out.

What's stopping him? For one thing he probably goes 400 lbs and can't hardly stand up without huffing and puffing. He's not going to see 60 so he might as well not bother with learning anything, never mind tubes.

[stokes]

"Early 70's transistors were definitely in, tubes were deemed obsolete. See how well that worked out, right?"Actually worked out real well for me.From the late '70's til the "90's I was scouring "ham fests" and buying NOS tubes for dirt.The ham guys all considered tubes obsolete,and for their purposes,they were.I once scored a quad of brand new,never used RCA black plate 6L6GC's for $50.Saw them under a table and asked the guy how much?He says,well I bought them in the '60's and never used them,I think I payed about 30-40 bucks,so I handed him a 50 dollar bill and said keep the change.He then pulled out a box of about 25 various branded AX7's,all NOS,$30.But somewhere along the line somebody told them what tubes are worth to us guitar guys and things dried up.I still go to the ham fests,but dont find so many tubes anymore.

[Enzo]

What's stopping him? For one thing he probably goes 400 lbs and can't hardly stand up without huffing and puffing. He's not going to see 60 so he might as well not bother with learning anything, never mind tubes.

What does this mean? I am trying hard to read it in a way that is not rude and uncalled for. Do you know the guy personally?


Tubes haven't been taught in electronics schools/colleges for decades. Tubes ARE obsolete. We like them in our amps, but tube guitar amps are a tiny portion of a tiny market. How many tube amps do they sell in a year? Now how many TVs, Computers, smart phones, etc do they sell. There are a tiny few of us with careers engineering tube circuits. How many careers are there for folks with that expertise? A guy could take a couple years and study tubes in depth, but would there be a career waiting for him when he was done?

My customer base - greater Lansing - is close to half a million people, and there is barely enough pro audio repair business to keep a couple technicians busy. If you were in say Helena, Montana - I think the metro area is about 80,000 it would be a lot tougher. If a guy learned electronics there, would he be better off learning tube amps or TV sets?

When I started, there were no commercial transistor things. I always worked on tube circuits. In the coin-op world, I repaired CRT monitors, rebuilt old tube jukebox amps and control centers. (Tube driven core memory on some, pretty cool) But that is an even smaller niche of a niche of a niche.

SO I find it hard to fault budding electronics techs from passing on tubes and going to transistors and digital. Besides, tubes are fairly simple to learn if you have any electronics background. SO if it comes up in your life, you are not all that far behind.

[SoulFetish]

Definitely check out Aztech. I work there
Call first and talk to Tom, we’re stacked with work and there’s only so much space. So, just confirm when you’re planning on dropping it off.

[SoulFetish]

Watertown is confusing to drive in and the traffic is too fast and my reflexes and brain are too slow now lol.

Dude if you take rt90 eastbound, its less than 2 minutes off the exit. Its a little intimidating navigating the rotary getting off the offramp, but even if you miss a turn we are still right in the area so won’t set you back that much