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A Matchless sponsored player brings me a new C-30 that was built for him. It is an AC-30 inspired build. His complaint is that it lacks treble, and sounds like there is a blanket over it on the drive channel. The drive channel is built around a EF86 tube, my first experience with one. He complained to the guy who now runs Matchless, and it was suggested he bring it to me to work with him, rather than ship it back to get it checked out. (it's a 210 combo).
Customer bring it to me, and shows me what the problem is, except it sounds darn good to me, but he says, no it needs maybe 70% more brightness. OK, I tell him, but I have never seen one of these before, and I am not sure if I will even know what to compare it to. I work for a week off and on with the builder Phil, I send him detailed photos, and solder, check and measure whatever he asks me to. Finally, he says everything looks good on his end, and that it was working just fine when it left the factory, because he "played the hell out it". The last thing he suggests is changing out the EF86 tube, and to stay away from the JJ one because for some reason it's different and should not ever be used in this amp. I do know the owner tried a JJ EF86/EF806 in it at one point, I don't know if this is part of the problem.
He suggested EH, Amperex, or better yet for a brighter tone, a NOS Dario miniwatt which is new to me. The latter will run $50 - 100 if you can find one.
So now I find myself in a situation where the builder is seeming to suggest there is nothing wrong except maybe a tube, the customer insists the amp isn't right, and I have hours into this with it clogging up my small shop in a road case. With the head of Matchless saying he sees nothing wrong, I stand no chance of solving this myself with no schematic. The customer is going to be unhappy, and after all, what do I charge him for a week of trying to solve a problem that might possibly be his expectations? He's a high level experienced player, so I need to be careful about that.
I think I am going to call him tomorrow and tell him I did my best, but he needs to come get his amp and decide which brand tube to get to decide with his ears if it does the trick. I will cut my losses and only ask my minimum bench fee, and after that it's between him and the builder.
I repaired a '64 Gibson Scout combo today that was buzzing like a nest of angry bees, and the reverb and tremolo didn't work. All 4 filter caps were bad, I changed them out, and now it's very quiet and everything works as advertised. I so much prefer that type of challenge where it is pretty black and white vs. "this amp does not sound like I think it should" kind of jobs.
Customer bring it to me, and shows me what the problem is, except it sounds darn good to me, but he says, no it needs maybe 70% more brightness. OK, I tell him, but I have never seen one of these before, and I am not sure if I will even know what to compare it to. I work for a week off and on with the builder Phil, I send him detailed photos, and solder, check and measure whatever he asks me to. Finally, he says everything looks good on his end, and that it was working just fine when it left the factory, because he "played the hell out it". The last thing he suggests is changing out the EF86 tube, and to stay away from the JJ one because for some reason it's different and should not ever be used in this amp. I do know the owner tried a JJ EF86/EF806 in it at one point, I don't know if this is part of the problem.
He suggested EH, Amperex, or better yet for a brighter tone, a NOS Dario miniwatt which is new to me. The latter will run $50 - 100 if you can find one.
So now I find myself in a situation where the builder is seeming to suggest there is nothing wrong except maybe a tube, the customer insists the amp isn't right, and I have hours into this with it clogging up my small shop in a road case. With the head of Matchless saying he sees nothing wrong, I stand no chance of solving this myself with no schematic. The customer is going to be unhappy, and after all, what do I charge him for a week of trying to solve a problem that might possibly be his expectations? He's a high level experienced player, so I need to be careful about that.
I think I am going to call him tomorrow and tell him I did my best, but he needs to come get his amp and decide which brand tube to get to decide with his ears if it does the trick. I will cut my losses and only ask my minimum bench fee, and after that it's between him and the builder.
I repaired a '64 Gibson Scout combo today that was buzzing like a nest of angry bees, and the reverb and tremolo didn't work. All 4 filter caps were bad, I changed them out, and now it's very quiet and everything works as advertised. I so much prefer that type of challenge where it is pretty black and white vs. "this amp does not sound like I think it should" kind of jobs.
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