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).
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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.
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.
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.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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
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......
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein