Hanging up the soldering iron

[big_teee]

That video could must have been made on April 1st.
There is too much BS and misinformation to list in my available time.
However, it was interesting to learn that coupling caps turn brown when they are overdriven. Is that where the term "Brown Sound" originated?
The video has also taught me that I can get rid of most of my test equipment and dispense with the test bench. All I need is a handheld meter and a glass display case.

(I usually don't use the smile faces but in this case I felt they were necessary)

I turned it off as soon as I saw him remove the chassis and start touching all the caps and everything.
So much for taking Cap Voltage readings.
Putting a lot of trust in the Bleed resistors.
I know some Marshall amps he wouldn't want to stick his hand in like that.
All my safety and Osha training couldn't stand it anymore.
T

[km6xz]

I knew a shop in the SF Bay Area that did mods, sold in kit form that he got from someone in the South Bay, who worked just like that. Anything that came was diagnosed as needed a mod kit to repair it. Hum? Sure we will install this $200 mod and it will take care of it. Dead? No problem, this amp only needs this $250 mod kit
He lasted for over a year. There are a lot of techs with as little understanding of the principles involved. Mostly they specialize in old tube amps, the most valuable amps where they can do the most harm.

[kg]

I think I'd rather poke my own eyes out with a pointy stick than do this sort of remote troubleshooting for a living. It's incredibly slow and painful compared to what you can achieve with the faulty gear in front of you.

On the forum, we get to pick what problems we contribute to. Threads with a clear description of the problem are more likely to attract attention and get solved. Maybe that makes the process look more effective than it would be if you had to answer each and every problem.

welllllllllllll

who's to say you don't pick and choose which virtual support calls you decide to take on?

maybe the first 5 minutes of troubleshooting is free, kind of like a loss-leader? if you feel like the callee is going to be a liability, you say buh-bye--if not, you take a CC number and proceed?

just throwing ideas out there.

the fact remains: using/leveraging the technology to parlay your skills into a new business endeavor is one of the ways you can adapt and persist as the world moves on. newspapers are drying up, but that doesn't mean we don't need writers anymore.

[Techknowman]

Sorry that it worked out that way. Its sad to see anyone go. At least your going out in the black instead of in the red!
Having just started doing this again the last 2 years, I would be broke 2 if I had the overhead that most all of you do.
Since I work out of my shop that is on my home's property I don't incure any real extra overhead, other than utilitys and parts and the like.
I'm mildly profitable but only just.
Anyway hope you hang around for the rest of us shlubs!

[52 Bill]

Maybe the answer is to offer online tech support only to other techs working in their own shops. They would need to have a certain amount of test equipment available and also a certain skill set to qualify for help.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Listen Glen, over a year and a half or so ago, I closed my new retail repair shop in Thornton, Colorado after only being there 13-14 months!!
That was after being in my old Arvada shop since 1986 and I've never seen it this rough!
All this was due to the lousy economy and too many junk, clock radio amps being sold and purchased, (they're probably not being fixed anyhow) and there's not very many cool old amps around here anymore.
I think between you, me, Willie and maybe Tom Boffa... those old amps are all working too well. ha ha

After investing in two large storage units for 11 months to hold my good stuff (money down the drain), I slowly emptied it out and while working from home, was able to move most of my entire workshop and parts inventory into my smaller 800 sq ft home basement shop.
It was the best decision I've made in years.
Now I refuse to do any modern made, clock radio Chinese crap and instead do just the mail order biz... tweed amp kits, my custom amp builds and still refurbish vintage amps here at home and at my leisure. Kind of like being retired but I still have a little job.
The really good news is that it has allowed me to start playing out again and I'm in two bands now... having some fun again. The reason I got into this dumb business in the first place... MUSIC.
Anyhow, I only mildly miss the old Arvada shop and I haven't missed the old Thornton shop and my nearly $1200.00 month overhead at all!!
Hey, you are still going to work with Chris and Rich over on N. Federal though, right? Chris needs some direction.. ha ha.

[J M Fahey]

Interesting post, thanks.
I checked you guys in google maps, and found you both are a few miles outside Denver, so basically you are "milking the same cow".
Which by now became quite skinny. Ugh !!
Yes, not many old amps around (which by the way usually means old players, or at least adult ones); 90% (or more) of the market is kids, which of course buy amps "which have lots of features" or which offer "cool/famous player" sound at the push of a button, no player efforts involved ... and that means digital.
No matter that the promises are empty, even a mouse is a lion ... in the kid's bedroom.
The real arena where men are separated from mice is the stage, even a small Club one ... and these kids seldom, if ever, play live.
So their digital junk is fine for them.
Oh well.

[Mark Hammer]

I think many of the reservations people have to my suggestion are well-founded, and likely reflect my naiveté, stemming from not being in the repair biz.

And, while there is a surfeit of free help out there, my sense from the pedal biz is that there is also a large constituency whose description of what is "wrong" or "not working" on the particular piece of equipment is largely inarticulate, and not especially helpful. It can take a week of posting back and forth until the form of the malfunction is identified, let alone the source. In many cases, a series of solid real-time "Let's try this out" trouble-shooting questions can narrow things down quickly. Based on a diagnosis which does not require the repair person to have to find space for the item, the distance client may decide to forego repair (MUCH faster and less exasperating than having them bring it in, oblige you to do the detective work unaided, provide an estimate, reach the client to give them the estimate, and store the item until they come to reclaim it) or decide to ship/bring-in for repair a known/pre-identified problem.

There are certainly caveats, like there is in anything, but it could expedite work, and in some instances provide a your-bench-not-mine means of doing work. Of course, any such tele-repair would have to stipulate conditions for engaging in such Skype consults. The customer would need to be able to demonstrate the piece of equipment, have a meter on hand, decent webcam and sound, etc., before the contact can begin and the meter starts running. Naturally, the terms and conditions of the pricing, and all liability aspects, would need to be well-communicated and well-understood in order to maintain decent customer relations.

Is it ready for being a complete substitute for having a repair shop? Nah. But it could certainly supplement what a repair shop normally does, and like I say, might even expedite work and serve as an incentive to customers to bring things in that they might otherwise have been iffie about. Conversely, there are a lot of nickel and dime gigs that are truly simple problems involving little more than "Take that white wire, yeah that one there, and solder it to the second lug from your left. Make sure you tin it first." Depending on the shop, that may or may not be work you can afford to turn your nose up at.

[bkahuna]

Sorry to see you go. Hope you still hang out here from time to time.
I, too, have been thinking about shifting my focus. This winter was incredibly bad for me. I'm pulling out of it, but I've realized that it's money from field service that is pulling me out of the hole. I've been doing a lot of work with several churches and a local university, and that's what's been paying the bills. Troubleshooting an entire system is very similar to troubleshooting a single piece of gear. It's a slightly different mindset, but the process is largely the same, and seems to be more lucrative at this time.

[Mark Black]

I too basically "hung up the soldering iron" last year after 26 years at the same shop for pretty much the same reasons Glen outlined. There are plenty of other techs & shops in the area and it's tough to make a decent living at the craft.

Luckily for me I live very close to the Boeing manufacturing plant up in Everett, WA and was able to get a job there. I currently work on 747-8's out on the flight line and am daily learning more about working on and around airplanes. The work can be dangerous, both mentally & physically hard at times and is subject to the whims of the weather - all in all fairly challenging. I'm happy to have been able to start a new career at 56, but being just another worker bee after "calling the shots" most of my life is requiring some mental adjustment for sure.

Best of luck to all!

- Mark

[cjlectronics]

Good luck Mars!! I know you will find another source of income.

I too had a shop many moons ago and realized I was not going to make ends meet repairing amps and effects, so I found a day job designing medical devices. I plan on building my retirement fund and do the amps and repair stuff on the side. Even when I retire, I plan on working on musical equipment until I can't move or think anymore.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Kids are gone, I'll stay home for a while... now if I can only find a job for my wife! ha ha.....

[Enzo]

Sorry to hear that, Glen. I know what you speak or, I am on the way to doing that myself.


As to the texpertise-rental approach, I have a lot of experience doing the remote fixing from right here. But when they start to pay, what happens when you have to hand-hold them all the way, you get several hours into it, and they still have not sorted it out. Now what? Charge their credit card $240, and say "sorry?" Hang in there and add up 9 hours?

[Mark Hammer]

No, that's also a fair point.

I guess it remains incumbent on the service provider to be able to recognize when there is a good chance things are going to drag on, and alert the customer to that possibility at the earliest possible point.

There WILL be some things that can be smoothly executed by this route, and there will be some things you won't want to touch with a virtual 10ft pole.

[Tom Phillips]

Good luck to you Glen.
In your first post of this thread you said "...onto the next phase..."
That's a key point. There is always a need for talented self starter type individuals. Anyone who can start and maintain their own business has demonstrated that they possess valuable skills that will always be in demand.
Cheers,
Tom