If you own an amp and want to keep amp repair costs to a minimum, there are certain things you should avoid doing. Here are ten things to keep in mind:
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Never wrap a blown fuse with tin foil and continue using the amp. This is a temporary solution that will eventually lead to more serious problems.
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Don’t gig with your amp for years without changing the valves. This will increase the likelihood of output valve failure at that important gig, resistor burnout, and could lead to transformer failure.
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Don’t rely on power soaks. This will put extra strain on the output valves and wear them out faster, leading to the same issues in point 2.
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When changing valves, don’t neglect the rectifier valve. This is an important component that, if left unchanged, will eventually fail and cause issues.
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Don’t store your amp in a cold, damp outbuilding. This will lead to speaker cone damage and corrosion in the amp.
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Don’t neglect the preamp valves. If you don’t replace them, your amp may become dull sounding, microphonic, and plagued by hum and weird noises.
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When you are testing the amp for noise issues, don’t leave your pedal board connected. Pedal boards can develop faults that look like amp faults. This will make it harder for the tech to diagnose the problem and may cause a higher bench fee.
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Don’t skip PAT testing, as this increases the likelihood of a bad earth. This can be dangerous and may even result in an electric shock.
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Don’t leave a vintage amp sitting for years without using it, as this will cause the electrolytic capacitors to deteriorate and may lead to blown fuses or other issues.
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Don’t let inexperienced friends work on your amp. This can lead to a mess of botched repairs that will eventually all need to be fixed by a professional tech.
By avoiding these mistakes, you can help ensure that your local amp tech can continue to provide high-quality repairs for your equipment at the lowest cost.
