Reasonable turnaround time for repair/service?

DarnWeight

Dropped an old SF Fender ('71 DSR housed in a Twin combo) in with a local amp repair guy a while back, and well, quite honestly, not a lot is happening.  Background?...The amp was working, but produced a nasty squeal with the volume pushed...also the Trem/Reverb footswitching had been monkeyed around with a bit, a master volume had been installed, and one of the front panel slider switches was iffy.  Master volume I can dime-and-ignore, but I asked him to look into the footswitching, slider and squeal.

I'm not an unreasonable sort, and aforementioned guy did say it would be a few weeks before he'd be able to take a look at it.  That was, however, nearly 8 weeks ago, and during the last 2-3 weeks my occasional emails asking for progress updates have been met with fairly short one-liners..."I'm looking at it this weekend"..."Had some family commitments, so it's had to be put on hold for a few days"...that kind of thing.

What's a reasonable timescale for this kind of work, do you reckon?  Right now, a bit narked, so I'm considering just dropping by his, picking it up, and trying to find someone else to do the work.  I don't necessarily need the amp in a hurry, just feel like I'm being messed around a bit.  Also, to be clear, this guy isn't a friend-of-a-friend who "dabbles" type (been there! never again!)...he actively advertises as an amp repair business (courses/repairs/sales/etc).

guitarfishbay

Sounds frustrating.  8 weeks would be a long time to have a look at it unless through prior agreement (which doesn't appear to be the case).  It doesn't even appear from your post that he could be waiting on parts being delivered - it just looks like he's not started yet.

I'd definitely be exploring the other options in the local area at this point.  He shouldn't be charging you anything since he's done no work.

BenSirAmos

If you haven't got anywhere reliable to take it, you can afford to wait. But I would have been investigating other options after a month

Richardj

My DRRI is in for repair over here and Fender have quoted a 10 day turnaround from arriving at service centre to being delivered back to the dealer. Of course longer if an out of stock part is needed. I personally think that anything over 3 weeks, unless it is waiting on parts, is a bit long. He isn't doing you a favour here, it is supposed to be his business. Being fobbed off is always a bad sign. But maybe I'm just impatient.

DarnWeight

Cheers, everyone.  Shit happens, and I'll always give someone the benefit of the doubt, but I think it's deadline time.  Just double-checked my calendar, and it is indeed 8 weeks this Saturday since I first dropped it off with him.  Even given maybe 2-3 weeks before having a chance to have a look at it, that's 5-6 weeks to get something done.  All the chasing has been from my end too, with no updates/apologies/excuses coming from him unprompted.

In short, if you need a guy who repairs amps (an ampguy, if you will), then I would consider maybe looking for another company in the uk first...if you get my drift.

p90fool

I have no idea about the amp repair business, but when I ran a motorcycle business my personal motto was "diagnosis within three days".

It honestly doesn't matter how busy you are, if you stick to that rule it actually saves you time even in the short term. You're not sat in a workshop surrounded by totally unknown jobs, you can plan your sequences and timetables based around what parts you know you'll need and how long it'll take to do each job.

It could conceivably take a few weeks for a busy tech to get your amp finished, but having it sat there for eight weeks without even looking at it is totally unprofessional IMO.

Bidley

guitarfishbay said:

He shouldn't be charging you anything since he's done no work.

I wouldn't count on that. I had a bad experience with an amp guy over this. I asked him to carry out a mod on one of my Carvin amps (a mod recommended and instructed by Carvin themselves), he said "no problem". I drove the 60 mile round trip to drop it off to him. I get a phone call a couple of days later with him saying he's not sure there's any point doing the mod, as he's not sure how much difference it'll make. Now remember I was instructed by the manufacturer to do exactly this to solve the volume issue I was having. After explaining everything to him he still wasn't having it. So I give up and arrange collection with him, drive all the way to his gaff, he hands my amp over to me and says "I'll have to ask you for £20, bench fee". I paid him and never bothered with him again.

I later took it to a professional outfit, who did what I asked and the mod made the world of difference.

ecc83

I was in retail electronics servicing for 40 years. I never ran my own business but I worked for many small guys who did. Many went bust but the few that survived had good, tight terms of business posted in the office/workshop and duplicated on the customers repair ticket.

In these would be an upfront, normally non-returnable deposit. Today I think £20 would be fair. That covers the tech' for time raising the paperwork, customer time, phone and fixed costs. It also deters time wasters (which were bad enough in the telly game. WHAT gitamp techs get bending their ears I dread to think!) . Any customer who is not prepared to put a score down is not genuine and you will either never see him again or he will try not to pay. 

It also stops the workshop getting clogged up (and if things start to migrate to 'er indoor's domain you are in deep ***T!)

Implicit in that deposit however is an undertaking to make a quick inspection within say a week and contact the customer with a non-binding report. 

If a tech can't get to a job within a week and have a quick look he shouldn't take it on. 

An old tellmender mate used to tell me "You CAN be too busy to make money!"

Dave.

Richardj

I think it's reasonable to charge a nominal 'look at' fee.  Time is money.  

jpfamps

For someone working full time as an amp repairer, that would be a long time to get a repair done, especially as you are looking at a very common amp; if you can't fix SF Fender's you won't be in business very long.

In my experience what holds up repairs is sourcing hard-to-find parts, waiting for third parties (eg speaker reconing, transformer building/ rewinding).

I also have taken on "uneconomic" repairs on the understanding that the repair will be inexpensive, but won't happen immediately.

Obviously in certain parts of the country there isn't much competition, so waiting times could be long.

A friend of mine has moved to your area and is starting to learn to work on his own gear as he hasn't found anyone he trusts yet.

ICBM

I aim to diagnose within a week and repair within two weeks usually, subject to parts availability. Occasionally it can take longer, but not often - usually just if it's something with an intermittent or difficult-to-trace fault, or where other faults show up after the initial repair.

Like jpfamps I will sometimes take on bigger jobs on a longer time-frame to keep costs down - although I've learned from experience that some of those customers are just as bad for hassling you to find out "how it's coming along" even when you were quite clear that there was no definite return date...

DarnWeight

ICBM said:

I aim to diagnose within a week and repair within two weeks usually, subject to parts availability. Occasionally it can take longer, but not often - usually just if it's something with an intermittent or difficult-to-trace fault, or where other faults show up after the initial repair.

Like jpfamps I will sometimes take on bigger jobs on a longer time-frame to keep costs down - although I've learned from experience that some of those customers are just as bad for hassling you to find out "how it's coming along" even when you were quite clear that there was no definite return date...

I'll admit, I did state that I wasn't in an immediate rush when dropping the amp off, but after 6 weeks, and no attempt on the guy's part to contact me and let me know what's happening, I did start hassling (weekly emails...very pushy!).  I've just been in touch to reiterate that if he can't spare the time to do the work, I'm quite happy to pick the amp up in the same condition I dropped it off in.  I think that's more than fair.

jpfamps said:

A friend of mine has moved to your area and is starting to learn to work on his own gear as he hasn't found anyone he trusts yet.

Tell me about it!  I think this may be my best bet too in the long term.  I successfully swapped out the NFB resistor on my old Traynor without causing any harm (to myself or the amp), just need to build up (and tool up) a bit to handle slightly meatier tasks!

jpfamps

ICBM said:

Like jpfamps I will sometimes take on bigger jobs on a longer time-frame to keep costs down - although I've learned from experience that some of those customers are just as bad for hassling you to find out "how it's coming along" even when you were quite clear that there was no definite return date...

Tell me about it!

On of the worries about being self employed is that you may run out of work, so the temptation is to take on every job that comes through the door.

DrJazzTap

Hmm I had a similar experience with a guitar tech, I waited two and half months just for a guitar to be set up! I don't like to be an ass, and pester people. And I was in no rush to get it back, but that was taking the piss. I then paid £60 for the privilege! To be fair he did a good job, but his lack of communication led me to go elsewhere.

I have a couple of guitars in with a guy at the moment, I've used them before so I know the level of service. That guy is flooded and has given me a month turnaround.

In terms of amps, I was always led to believe it depends on the type of amp? For instance I had tech guys refusing to work on a TSL. Because they said they would be able to repair four or five amps by the time they have diagnosed what was wrong with the marshall. 
My friends dad waited a few months for a guy to repair his Mesa Mark 4. Whereas I believe, a relatively basic amp is a lot easier to fix. i also think that if the guy is that busy, he shouldnt have agreed to look at your amp. If after 8 weeks he hasn't even looked at it....hmm

JAYJO

I put my WEM in a second hand musical instruments shop which also does repairs.

 I waited months. I carried the amp through to the back of the shop where it joined a tailback. 

There was amps everywhere. I thought jesus these must be busy, the amp repairs alone must be keeping the buisness afloat!. 

After weeks of chasing the amp  i got to find out it was One likkle ole fella who works on his own! ahhhh! how cute!. 6 weeks later, Hes had a family bereavement! wtf ok cut him some slack! all in all i waited i think 3 mnths for him to clean pots and renew the power cable. When i went to pick the amp up the place was still backed up with amps waiting to be repaired. (actually i think it was closer to 6 mnths)

hywelg

I'd say ask for it back fixed or not. I had the self same situation with my HRDx many years ago, fault with the footswitching, the guy couldn't find the fault. Had it 2 months and kept saying the same thing so I got it back and he was good enough to say 'I wont charge you anything' !!!. If he had tried he'd have had a black eye.

Took it to the guy I use now about 11 o'clock one weekday morning and he rang me before 5 to say it s done. Guess who gets all (such as it is) my work now......

ICBM

I think a lot of it is down to communication and honesty. If you ask "how's the amp coming along" after a reasonable time and the repairer says "sorry, I haven't started it yet", that's fine. What's not fine is not replying or making up a story about it if it isn't true.

Equally, phoning every few days or even once a week is probably not going to help if the repairer is either very busy or has already told you it will be some time.

Richardj

This. Good business is all about honesty and good communication. If the tech says he's busy then you know it won't be instant. If he says 2-3 weeks then a call towards the end of week 3 isn't out of order. Equally if there is a delay a two minute 'phone call to you is easy and stops you worrying.

Danny1969

I generally won't allow someone to bring something in unless I think I have time to look at it that week. Most of the stuff I do has to be done for the weekend as that's when they need it. I charge £30 an hour, if it's booked in and only needs a fuse it's £30. If I gotta do 2 hours work on a PCB it's £60 etc. You can't not charge as you have to pay the lease, business rates, WEEE collection etc. Guys working from home have a bit more latitude so can do it for less

Sometimes in this game it goes the other way, I have guitar amps, laptops, power amps, Xovers and all kinds of shit that I've repaired, informed the customer and they have never picked the stuff up ...... and you think why the hell did they want it fixed then ?

57Deluxe

Fender/dealer had my warranty   59 Bassman  over 7 months before Fender gave up and ordered a full refund through the dealer... was very annoying. The reason it wasn't replaced was cos the dealer sold the 'floor' model for silly money to me... Left me with few options to get same deal so gave up on a Bassman altogether.

ICBM

57Deluxe said:

Fender/dealer had my warranty   59 Bassman  over 7 months before Fender gave up and ordered a full refund through the dealer... was very annoying. The reason it wasn't replaced was cos the dealer sold the 'floor' model for silly money to me... Left me with few options to get same deal so gave up on a Bassman altogether.

What could possibly be wrong with a '59 Bassman that involved not being able to fix it?!

It's not like some more modern - but still not really new - amps where special parts may have gone out of production. There's nothing in a Bassman that can't be replaced.