Amplifier Servicing in the north

[moncur]

I know its a longshot but does anybody know a place from Inverness northwards that could service and re-valve an amp? Got a quote from a company in Glasgow for £100 (£40 for valves and £60 for the work) but I probably wont be there for a few months.

Thanks

[fingalmacool]

David Hilton, stays at Delny could be the man you want, Tel 01862,842752:confused

[Jeid]

David Hilton is apparently a very busy man.

Moncur, have you considered reading about your amp and the possibility of doing it yourself?

Is it just the power amp valves that need replacing?

[buddyrich]

Theres a guy who does all electronic repair work for one of the Inverness music shops that i would heartily recommend. He's an older gent who works from home, i think in the Hilton area of Inversnecky and is an absolute genius with valve amps and does fast work and is a thoroughly bloody nice bloke. Cheap too.

Im pretty sure it's the Music Shop he works for, rather than the Music Station. I just phoned up to ask about amp repair and was referred to him. I cant remember but think it was a pre amp valve he did for me.


Dave Hilton is indeed very busy but also does top notch work.

DIY is an option but be careful because removing the back panel might invalidate warranty, if there is one.

[dx100uk]

resonable knowledge, did it for 15yrs
what are your issues?

pm if you wish

dx

[moncur]

thanks for your help folks, good to know theres a few folk up here who can do it.

If i can describe the amp and the situation.

I bought the amp a year ago from a guy who had used it in a studio every day for 6 months, so it would be needing re-valved completely by my guess. Playing it in the house on Sunday as usual, when all of a sudden there was no sound. Did the usual of swapping sockets, cables, guitars, different amphead into the cab etc so it is defo the head at fault as it would not make sound out of the small cab either. Left it to sit for 10 minutes unplugged then it was ok for another 5 minutes until it cut out again.

Jeid, I wouldnt like to try fixing it myself as I cannot find much technical info on the head, the Krank forum seems to provide very little advice about amp maintenance. plus as you are aware Im useless with electrics and dont want to fry the amp or myself lol.

[Gleber2]

thanks for your help folks, good to know theres a few folk up here who can do it.

If i can describe the amp and the situation.

I bought the amp a year ago from a guy who had used it in a studio every day for 6 months, so it would be needing re-valved completely by my guess. Playing it in the house on Sunday as usual, when all of a sudden there was no sound. Did the usual of swapping sockets, cables, guitars, different amphead into the cab etc so it is defo the head at fault as it would not make sound out of the small cab either. Left it to sit for 10 minutes unplugged then it was ok for another 5 minutes until it cut out again.

Jeid, I wouldnt like to try fixing it myself as I cannot find much technical info on the head, the Krank forum seems to provide very little advice about amp maintenance. plus as you are aware Im useless with electrics and dont want to fry the amp or myself lol.
Moncur, our resident experts may be able to help.

[Dynamic Sounds]

You could give my dad a call, as a kid i remember him taking various valve amps to bits and fixing them.

He might even be able to give you a diagnosis of what might be up with it.

[moncur]

Thanks v much for your replies people. Will defo be making a phone call or two in the coming weeks.

Did a lot of reading up today on Krank amps forum, turns out Krank had a lot of problems with the batches of electro harmonix pre-valves they used to use so switched to Rubys thereafter and a lot more people were happy then.

I reckon I'll be replacing the Sovtek Power Valves with something a bit higher quality first. Get it rebiased and serviced at the time then once I can afford it I'll splash out on some pre-valves.

[Jeid]

My advice on the pre-amp valves is to get a few different good quality ones and play around with their positioning (v1, v2 etc). Different valves offer different sounds in different positions. In my Boogie I've got a Harma low gain valve in my V2 position(for my clean channel) and a Tung Sol in my V1(for my dirty sounds). I've tried a few different valves and these are the best combo I've tried so far. Make sure you get a good PI valve as well, people tend to overlook these and just put a 12AX7 in there(as I did) but apparently a 12AT7 or 12AY7 work better in there.

Sorry, I just got all geeky. Try some Winged C's in your power amp section, supposed to be pretty sweet.

You'll only need it biased when you put the new power amp valves in, the pre's are interchangable. Good luck