Hi from "Amp Tech" new to this forum

Arkless_Electronics

Greetings folks! I'm Jez and I play guitar, alto sax, clarinet and pandemonium and I'm based in the North East about 10 miles North of Newcastle.
I run a "one man band" business, Arkless Electronics (It's my surname) and amongst other things I repair amps etc. I'm fairly well known in the local area as an amp tech but have been concentrating on high end hi fi for a long time and want to "distribute the eggs around a few more baskets"... if that's a thing... and remind people that I also fix guitar amps, do re-biasing etc etc!! Call me on 01670 530674 if you need an amp fixing!

I also refurb vintage studio outboard etc and can design and build to order things such as mic pre amps, power supplies and in fact virtually anything that ain't digital!

Winny_Pooh

Show us your rig?

richardhomer

Arkless_Electronics;74821" said:

Electronics (It's my surname)

No surprise you chose this as your profession with a name like that!

Welcome.

Arkless_Electronics

Winny_Pooh said:

Show us your rig?

I don't have any pictures but when I play (rarely these days!) it's usually acoustic guitar, my favourite being an old Antoria. I even scrapped my home made and designed valve combo as it never got any use and was just taking up space.... Sax is a Selmer SBA and clarinet a Conn Big Bore "Arty Shaw model". Oh I also have a bass and Ashdown MAG300 combo for that...

Arkless_Electronics

richardhomer said:

Arkless_Electronics;74821" said:

Electronics (It's my surname)

No surprise you chose this as your profession with a name like that!



Welcome.

Ho ho..... Thanks!

ICBM

Arkless_Electronics said:

Oh I also have a bass and Ashdown MAG300 combo for that…

Being an amp repairer is a wise precaution if you're going to own one of those .

Arkless_Electronics

ICBM said:

Arkless_Electronics said:

Oh I also have a bass and Ashdown MAG300 combo for that…

Being an amp repairer is a wise precaution if you're going to own one of those .

Indeed! Already had speaker changed by last owner and currently out of action cos I had to borrow the mains transformer from it to do a super urgent repair on a customers (he had a gig in an hours time!).

olafgarten

Welcome to the Forum, it will be nice to have another brain to add to the Fretboard think tank.

BGG

Jez is a top bloke, I can highly recommend his work having used him a few times, and many of my mates too.

Ainsley

Arkless_Electronics

olafgarten said:

Welcome to the Forum, it will be nice to have another brain to add to the Fretboard think tank.

Thanks for the welcome!

Arkless_Electronics

BGG said:

Jez is a top bloke, I can highly recommend his work having used him a few times, and many of my mates too.

Ainsley

Cheers Ainsley! I just went back on your forum the other day and PM'ed you... Hows it going marra?

ICBM

Arkless_Electronics said:

Indeed! Already had speaker changed by last owner and currently out of action cos I had to borrow the mains transformer from it to do a super urgent repair on a customers (he had a gig in an hours time!).

Something I've found quite a good idea with them is to get a piece of foam rubber a bit smaller than the power amp PCB and just very slightly thicker, and trap it underneath - it stops the board vibrating under the weight of the heatsinks and cracking the solder joints. It may also help with the fan cooling by stopping some of the airflow going under the board where it's less useful.

A couple of practice studios I work for have several of the head versions and I've been able to keep them going, but it does sometimes seem like a running battle...

DJH83004

@ICBM I knew it, you do have an equivalent to my MG DFX rehearsal room specials...... :-)

ICBM

DJH83004 said:

@ICBM I knew it, you do have an equivalent to my MG DFX rehearsal room specials...... :-)

I had those too, but in the end I just gave up. They're not worth the hassle and cost of fixing properly with new power sections, and it still proved possible to kill a couple anyway even after that... I told the studios to stop wasting my time and their money and just buy some proper amps.

They are now on the (fairly short) list of things I will not work on unless it's something trivial like a broken jack where any future blow-up can't be blamed on me!

ecc83

Hi Jez and welcome.

Good luck with your venture. I have little knowledge in the gitamp area save Blackstars but if one of those crosses your threshold I will do what I can to help.

I am fully retired now so don't have to indulge in the sordid business of earning a living.

Dave.

FelineGuitars

Welcome aboard - look forward to having even more amp expertise around.

Arkless_Electronics

Thanks for the welcome and kind words guys!
It's not a new venture by any means... I've been doing this for years! "the sordid business of earning a living" is getting more difficult by the year in this game unfortunately, so much stuff made in China these days and so cheap it is pretty much disposable. Calls starting "I've got a Behringer xyz" usually get a reply of "bin it and buy a new one" !! How the hell can a tech make a living when you can buy a new 10 channel mixer for £75 or less?
I've been mainly concentrating on high end hi fi for a few years (repairing, moding, designing and building it) but realised I was putting too many eggs in one basket so here I am trying to get some more work in from musos.... I always did both and have had a steady stream of local musos bringing in amps to fix but thought it's time to remind the world that I don't just do hi-fi gear!!

Phil_aka_Pip

EyUp mate! Welcome.

ecc83

Hi again Jez. Have you had any doings with the home recording scene?

If not I suggest you lurk in that section here for a while and then pop over to "home recording .com" . A great many of the folks on these sites do not know their Ohm from their elbow and cannot understand, much less make, the most simple of devices.

For instance, sometimes there is a need for a simple stereo volume control in a system, a pot in a tin if you will. Might as well suggest they build a CAT Scanner!

Other devices are simple switching systems, breakout boxes and (money shot here IMHO!) a load box with an emulated line output.

"If I were twenty years younger...." Anyway, I am convinced there is money in "servicing" this sector. Orchid Electronics have much of the DI box/re amp market covered (with excellent products to boot!) but they have not plugged ALL the holes!

Dave.

DJH83004

Some very interesting observations guys, my particularly bugbear is anything involving switch mode powers supplies and class D amps (usually combined!) found in many modern powered PA monitors and high output bass amps. Its a case of change the mosfets and the driver chip (if you can get it out of the board) and stand well back!! I've actually stopped looking at them, and refer people to replacement module suppliers and their silly prices.   

ICBM

DJH83004 said:

Some very interesting observations guys, my particularly bugbear is anything involving switch mode powers supplies and class D amps (usually combined!) found in many modern powered PA monitors and high output bass amps. Its a case of change the mosfets and the driver chip (if you can get it out of the board) and stand well back!! I've actually stopped looking at them, and refer people to replacement module suppliers and their silly prices.   

Same here - RTM/Return To Manufacturer.

I read somewhere else that the repair procedure for all these things is the same: replace all active devices; pray to favourite deity; turn on.