So for the past year or so I've been doing repairs for a local music store, selfishly so that I could try to score some deals on stuff that's been laying around, etc. I dropped off a piece and was introduced to the Peavey rep, who after chatting a bit, asks if I'd like to be a Peavey Service Center. I said I'd like to know more, and he refers me to another guy at corporate. We chat about things, and I decide to get the ball rolling by getting a reference letter from the local music store emailed to him, and now they have sent me paperwork to get set up.
I was wondering if those of you who have any experience with this sort of thing, either with Peavey or others, could chime in with any pro's or con's before I commit.
Many thanks,
Mark
Last edited by Blindog on Sat Aug 23, 2014 5:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
"- Yeah, can we have everything louder than everything else? Right!"- Ian Gillan
Similar story--I was recently made an official Repair Station for the local Guitar Center. Allows them to hire out work to me as an independent contractor, and properly add the expense to their ledger. The paperwork was ridiculously simple, and didn't even require my SSN. So clearly they won't be sending me a 1099, which is cool.
I build and repair tube amps. http://amps.monkeymatic.com
xtian wrote:Similar story--I was recently made an official Repair Station for the local Guitar Center. Allows them to hire out work to me as an independent contractor, and properly add the expense to their ledger. The paperwork was ridiculously simple, and didn't even require my SSN. So clearly they won't be sending me a 1099, which is cool.
Just so you know, they're required to obtain a Form W-9 from you. Additionally, they're required to file a Form-1099 MISC if they pay you $600 or more per tax year.
I've been an internal / forensic auditor with several firms for over 25 years.
There are a number of scenarios where the situation you describe can get real ugly.
Depends on your outlook and work load. If your bench is empty, then $15 looks good. If your bench is busy, that one goes to the back of the queue.
I don't fix amps. I do consulting work. Lately, I've had to work for what the market will bear rather than my "standard" rates. So, I've got different jobs paying at different rates. I never like being in this position because the almighty dollar is really very powerful. Whenever I find this going on, I gravitate to the highest paying job first. That's why I really prefer that everyone pays the same rate. The reality is that $#it happens. Customers most of all don't understand by "forcing" me into a discount, they get a reduced priority. Of course, I tell everyone they are important and that I appreciate their business. The simple truth is, I don't mind reducing my rates if the job as a whole is big enough. It's the little ones that are the problem. Sometimes I just say "no." Then I have a little more time to build an amp
Our shop does limited repair work, I do some and oversee the others. I am warranty authorized for NOBODY. We do a ton of old Marshall, Fender, Ampeg, and some limited modern stuff like Orange occasionally.
We get a fair rate, make a good markup on parts, and it's win-win.
As far as modern new products, just look at whats out there: Epiphone junk, Orange Chinese stuff and worse: Berringer, Bugera, Jet Shotty, some of which had inherent problems when they were shipped out. Boards that burn, amps that had hum since new, and limited documentation on everything....
Most of whats made and sold today is not meant to be serviced really. They want to pay you dirt rate, and submit complex paperwork (to the manufacturers), and it only paid in the past when you saw the same unit post-warrantee and could make money. Now with extended warranty, poorly made Chinese junk out there with little or no service data, and GC importing and selling their own brands (Acoustic is one, Digitron is another) and not providing support, it's not worth it.
A guy buys a 112 100 W bass combo for $ 149.00 and it breaks. You likely would charge that or more to get it working (if you can), and he could replace it for that price....
However, so far my relationship with the GC manager has been very congenial. He only asks me to repair the vintage gear, and pays my rates ($45 bench, $60/hr).
It will be interesting to see how this develops in the future. I'll keep you posted!
I build and repair tube amps. http://amps.monkeymatic.com
Reeltarded wrote:I agree with Andy. I did contracted work for a local shop. It's cheaper just to buy everyone a $149 bass amp and get on with your life.
Fender Hotrod DeVille: problem; completely exploded like the last 27. Guy is a friend with a $70 budget. Thanks
Fender Shotrod DeVil: problem; not ever again in a billion years. Tell your buddy I owe him a small chinese bass amp. Thanks
Laughing my ass off...Yes, and I've come across some of these already. Most of the time I can't bring myself to charge these poor souls the bench fee.
Then there's the other extreme. Example: Ampeg SVT 2 Pro bass head, weighs about a million pounds, think I'd need and engine hoist to service it,lol...this piece needed 6 new 6550's before I could even troubleshoot anything else. He couldn't afford the output tubes, nevermind the other preamp and driver tubes that were most likely shot!
I appreciate all the input. I think I'm going to give it a go and see how things shake out.
Many thanks,
Mark
"- Yeah, can we have everything louder than everything else? Right!"- Ian Gillan
like others would say, people would bring in their solid state / chinese made whatever and get miffed by a 30 dollar bench fee.
I eventually bumped up my bench fee to 50 dollars, and that got rid of the little timmy customers so you had time to work on the real stuff.
I know, it sounds a bit mean but every time i would finally dig into a serious repair job i would get paged to come out on the floor and look at little timmy's spider III or one of those fender pro chorus jobbies. I would tell them it would be 50 dollars for me to look at it and i would give them a call in a few days. They would get mad at me and tell me they needed the amp for a show or something tomorrow. They didnt understand that I was 6 amps deep and i genuinely wasnt being rude, but i had 3 or 4 other customers that were ahead of them (and calling impatiently) and had some equipment that i could actually diagnose.
Being selective about the work you do is king, i say. Every "good" repair you do builds your reputation. Every repair you attempt that was going to be a sinking ship in the first place can hurt your rep, and those customers who were the cheapest also scream the loudest.
Warranty work is another story though, you usually dont get paid until what, 60 days after the fact? No thanks, i dont want to have time and money tied up in something and not be able to collect on that.
If it's one thing i have learned as a tech, its that your time is so important. you only have X number of hours in a day, and to make any decent money or be good you have to be fairly quick and troubleshoot even faster. Some things arent meant to be fixed, i don't fix those things lol.
"It's like what Lenin said... you look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, uh..."
beasleybodyshop wrote:S
If it's one thing i have learned as a tech, its that your time is so important. you only have X number of hours in a day, and to make any decent money or be good you have to be fairly quick and troubleshoot even faster. Some things arent meant to be fixed, i don't fix those things lol.
Great observations! Some manufacturers have a DNR list: Do Not Repair. They won't support warranty on l'il Timmy's $99 p.o.s. rather replace it. Some gear should be sold with a big glowing bright orange tag with letters a foot tall so nobody can miss: DISPOSABLE.
That garbage can in a circle with diagonal across it, what a joke.
Show the amp IN the can, that's the troof!
And still I take on the tired, the poor, the mouse infested rusty hopeless cases. I must be crazy, stark staring mad.
Andy and I have been working in the service buis a long time...we both used to work at a place called "Wachuwan" in NY(queens to be exact).
We were factory authorized for just about evrybody...most companies required that you buy parts from them, as well as tubes etc. But that was the days of "real" equipment. I currently am in charge of repairs for a large chain in the country, and I am constanly amazed at how little is
actually serviceable today. Most of the amp companies: Fender, Marshall,Line 6, Ampeg just to name a few have tremendous "do not
repair" lists. Fender tells us"just remove the serial number and the logo
and trash the amp"...that's how I got my champXD chassis and also 2 Mustangs
that only had extremely minor problems. I have freinds in the amp service buisiness here in Nashville, and except for older or high dollar amps its just not worth it. Peavey? dont get me started...a 100 watt amp for $200 with nothing serviceable inside......(but it does have a Trainwreck model...please!)
I'd love to know the opinion of some of the experienced guys here as to the relationship between serviceability of an amp and the amp's reliability and performance.
Is there something about designing an amp, optimized for lowest production cost, that necessarily causes such an amp to sound bad, or to be unreliable in use?
Or can smart design (circuits used, component choices, layout. materials, production processes, etc) produce a good sounding, reliable amp that happens to be very cheap to manufacture?
I think most users want good sound and high reliability, and disposable is just fine if the tone and the reliability can be provided at a much lower cost.
I don't know about cheap (obviously not!) but I've got a McIntosh preamp C2200 on the bench. PCB and components look average, but I LOVE that the chassis opens on both sides, allowing full access to both sides of the PCB. Now that's serviceability!
I build and repair tube amps. http://amps.monkeymatic.com
