# un-repairable future?



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

“Digital amps will probably be obsolete in 10-20 years because they just won’t be fixable”: amp tech Colleen Fazio


Los Angeles amp tech Colleen Fazio is gleefully sharing analogue knowledge in the digital age, and earning an impressive number of followers in the process.




guitar.com


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

I think she's being generous with 10-20 years. I'm already seeing 5 and 6 year old amps that are not repairable due to parts availability (assuming you're good at surface mount repair) or the manufacturers are obsoleting a particular amp board for something "improved".
Interesting that a 60 year old amp can be repaired, but a 5 year old one can't.


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

dtsaudio said:


> I think she's being generous with 10-20 years. I'm already seeing 5 and 6 year old amps that are not repairable due to parts availability (assuming you're good at surface mount repair) or the manufacturers are obsoleting a particular amp board for something "improved".
> Interesting that a 60 year old amp can be repaired, but a 5 year old one can't.


100% right


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

The "right to repair" movement is gaining some traction.


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## David Graves (Apr 5, 2017)

Then there's the whole "support" thing. Most of these digital amps run firmware. Most things that run firmware need updates. What's going to happen as these companies move on from their older stuff, or go defunct. 
No company = no app to support things = No updates. So anything made today, will be obsolete in 10 years. Even if it does still technically "Function".


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

player99 said:


> The "right to repair" movement is gaining some traction.


Getting to the point that hobbyists can eat up a lot of hours on them too. The firmware on many of this gear is complex now. I remember I used to be able to hack routers and tablets quite easily...not anymore.
Hardware faults can be very difficult to repair...SMT requires special equipment, fine eye-sight and a very steady, coordinated hand.


David Graves said:


> Then there's the whole "support" thing. Most of these digital amps run firmware. Most things that run firmware need updates. What's going to happen as these companies move on from their older stuff, or go defunct.
> No company = no app to support things = No updates. So anything made today, will be obsolete in 10 years. Even if it does still technically "Function".


Yeah, you would be on your own. It takes a long time to learn the system and I don't imagine there are any kitchens for them. It's going to be interesting to see how this evolves.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

I don’t think people are going to spend $150 repairing a $75 Marshall MG10FX.

But I do think that people will repair a Tonemaster or a Quilter or a Kemper. Simply because these are computers that are designed to be repaired to some degree and because the cost and performance of them will justify it.

I am always reminding myself not to shit on inexpensive music equipment or anything really, simply because I don’t think it’s healthy to make other people feel inadequate for not choosing to spend outside of their financial comfort zone… BUT… There does come a point where buying the cheapest stuff habitually in order to fill a void becomes more of a burden due to the sheer quantity and the burden of owning a mountain of irreparably cheap things is more of a problem than spending a bit more than usually and investing in higher quality things that can be - and - are worth repairing.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Then there's the whole tube thing. Will there be a time that tubes are not readily available or so expensive they are cost prohibitive?


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## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

player99 said:


> The "right to repair" movement is gaining some traction.


Dishwashers, microwaves and fridges all disposable says me


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Anything that has a processor in it, will be unfixable. Like all of these modelers, those ones won't be serviceable in 10 years or so, while the analog tube amps will probably outlast them. The issue with those though, would be the tubes and where to get them.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

The future is solid state non-digital amps?


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Chito said:


> Anything that has a processor in it, will be unfixable. Like all of these modelers, those ones won't be serviceable in 10 years or so, while the analog tube amps will probably outlast them. The issue with those though, would be the tubes and where to get them.


Should I start looking for a nice acoustic guitar ...just in case?


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

Funnily enough, I recently sold off a Source Audio pedal in part due to what I feel is looming obsolescence in terms of the software required to edit it. I also recently acquired a 100% solid state Peavey Bandit and have been putting it through its paces, comparing it to my digital Katanas mkii (head and 50 combo). Weirdly in the used market the Bandits (at least the red stripe version I got) have been going up in price, but the Katanas are surely going to go down.

I've said it elsewhere but the 1st gen Katanas already are obsolete as far as the software not being supported. It became obsolete last year, only 4 years after the amp came out (in 2016).


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

If I can pick them up cheap to re-house some other amp, or turn them into extension cabinets, I’ll be happy. Otherwise I’m simply happy I haven’t invested in one…yet.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

player99 said:


> Then there's the whole tube thing. Will there be a time that tubes are not readily available or so expensive they are cost prohibitive?


I wonder that as well.
and also, what will happen when todays techs die off, are 20-somethings learning how to service tube amps anywhere?


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Diablo said:


> I wonder that as well.
> and also, what will happen when todays techs die off, are 20-somethings learning how to service tube amps anywhere?


YouTube probably.


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

player99 said:


> The "right to repair" movement is gaining some traction.


Access to repair manuals doesn't guarantee part production, or the ability to do so. There's lots of stuff that I could tell you how to repair that's still not going to be fixable.


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

All right to repair is going to do is cause prices to go up as companies stock obsolete parts and circuit boards.
As well it is going to cause issues with any hack who can read a service manual repairig stuff badly.


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## NoEncores (Sep 23, 2018)

isoneedacoffee said:


> Funnily enough, I recently sold off a Source Audio pedal in part due to what I feel is looming obsolescence in terms of the software required to edit it. I also recently acquired a 100% solid state Peavey Bandit and have been putting it through its paces, comparing it to my digital Katanas mkii (head and 50 combo). Weirdly in the used market the Bandits (at least the red stripe version I got) have been going up in price, but the Katanas are surely going to go down.
> 
> I've said it elsewhere but the 1st gen Katanas already are obsolete as far as the software not being supported. It became obsolete last year, only 4 years after the amp came out (in 2016).


100% I just sold a 3 year old katana because it wouldn't accept a firmware update resulting in not allowing me into boss studio or whatever its called. without the computer aspect it's not the same amp.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

NoEncores said:


> 100% I just sold a 3 year old katana because it wouldn't accept a firmware update resulting in not allowing me into boss studio or whatever its called. without the computer aspect it's not the same amp.


Good to know. I haven't gotten around to updating my MK1 (I did do a V2 update) and after reading this, I think that I won't bother.


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## NoEncores (Sep 23, 2018)

laristotle said:


> Good to know. I haven't gotten around to updating my MK1 (I did do a V2 update) and after reading this, I think that I won't bother.


probably a good idea. mine might have just been a stinker but as a person that liked to go online with it almost every time I plugged in, it was deflating. sold it and bought a mesa mark v 🔊


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

BlueRocker said:


> The future is solid state non-digital amps?


I don't know about the future, but it's an excellent alternative. I've been sold on Quilter for a while. But when I got my Origin Effects Revival Drive this year, I was floored. It convinced me that solid state can emulate the real thing with uncanny accuracy.

You never know, but I hope there will be low to no maintenance involved. For me, these are keepers.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Okay Player said:


> Access to repair manuals doesn't guarantee part production, or the ability to do so. There's lots of stuff that I could tell you how to repair that's still not going to be fixable.


Actually the "right to repair" bills and proposals include guaranteed parts production for at least 10 years after the end of production. I know 10 years isn't a lifetime, but it's better than what's out there now. The gov'ts that are moving towards right to repair are saying any parts, manuals and special tools that the manufacturers have must be made available. There is a guy on YouTube that is almost the public face of right to repair. I have been watching him for many years and it is really moving forward quickly. Especially in Europe. They are about to force manufacturers of cell phones to standardize all the charge and input jacks and wall warts to eliminate having to buy different chargers and cords for every device. The are going to go with the small usb c.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

There are manufacturers that are starting to participate in right to repair as well. There is a new laptop that is incredibly easy to open, customize, upgrade and repair.


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

player99 said:


> Actually the "right to repair" bills and proposals include guaranteed parts production for at least 10 years after the end of production. I know 10 years isn't a lifetime, but it's better than what's out there now. The gov'ts that are moving towards right to repair are saying any parts, manuals and special tools that the manufacturers have must be made available. There is a guy on YouTube that is almost the public face of right to repair. I have been watching him for many years and it is really moving forward quickly. Especially in Europe. They are about to force manufacturers of cell phones to standardize all the charge and input jacks and wall warts to eliminate having to buy different chargers and cords for every device. The are going to go with the small usb c.


I'm pretty familiar with right to repair. I'm also familiar with non-serviceable parts and special tools.

Personally, I think standardizing phone chargers, sounds like a terrible idea, but I'm sure it will make someone happy.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Okay Player said:


> I'm pretty familiar with right to repair. I'm also familiar with non-serviceable parts and special tools.
> 
> Personally, I think standardizing phone chargers, sounds like a terrible idea, but I'm sure it will make someone happy.


Check out this laptop. Louis Rossmann has been spearheading the right to repair movement in the usa and even around the world.







Louis' Channel:



https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup/videos


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

BlueRocker said:


> The future is solid state non-digital amps?


My 30+ year old peavey Bandit has 5 chips on board, but they're just regular opamps mounted in sockets so easily replaced. The rest of the circuit is discrete parts. Is it a hand wired tube amp? No. But it's not bad either for the $100 or so it cost and it's not easily broken.


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## slag banal (May 4, 2020)

Two separate strands 1 right to repair; 2 future of tube amps. 1. This will get much harder as we lose tubes and embrace digital emulation and software. 2. will be wiped out by digital emulation and software.
So, pick your poison.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

slag banal said:


> Two separate strands 1 right to repair; 2 future of tube amps. 1. This will get much harder as we lose tubes and embrace digital emulation and software. 2. will be wiped out by digital emulation and software.
> So, pick your poison.


If I found an am that was absolutely amazing, tubes would be secondary.


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## Permanent Waves (Jun 2, 2020)

I just had a Jim Dunlop Cry Baby 535Q pedal fail on me - the Wah kinda went out of it. This is a newer model with a 2005 pot code. Opened it up to take a look, all SMT PCB with surface mounted chips, resistors and transistors. Pretty much impossible to work on by a layman, and I'm not going to take a $100 pedal to a service technician. I dug up my Jimi Hendrix Dunlop Wah from 1986, which still works. Simple PCB design with through-hole components, easy to fix. Back in the day, I had installed the AC adaptor kit in it, had to drill a hole to mount the 1/8" power jack and it came with a piggy-back DC rectifier mini-PCB that the users could put in themselves with minimal experience. 

I hate the way a lot of the gear nowadays has programmed obsolescence and I try to stay away from it. I've been able to do basic fixes on most of my gear over the years, but very little on gear from the last 20 years. I've done transistor replacements on power amps, the usual cleaning and battery replacements, even fixed an old Oberheim Matrix 6 keyboard once. A while back I opened up a Behringer mixer to try and fix a power supply issue (they use a cheaper switching power supply design) but after I fixed that, there were issues on the mixer audio side and the PCB was so poorly assembled, it was not worth salvaging. I agree with the right-to-repair, stuff should be designed not to end in landfill in less than 10 years.


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

player99 said:


> Check out this laptop. Louis Rossmann has been spearheading the right to repair movement in the usa and even around the world.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Admittedly, I didn't watch the hour plus video, but that looks more like component replacement than repair.


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

Permanent Waves said:


> I agree with the right-to-repair, stuff should be designed not to end in landfill in less than 10 years.


Just because there is a "right to repair" law, doesn't mean an item can or should be repaired. There are quite a number of loopholes in the European proposed law that it will not have a massive effect on stuff going to landfill. 
Until people get out of the "new is better" mindset i don't see much change there.
Big ticket items will benefit from the law, but things like cell phones won't. 
Consumers need to demand better before a R to R law will have any teeth.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Okay Player said:


> Admittedly, I didn't watch the hour plus video, but that looks more like component replacement than repair.


Perhaps but compared to Apple laptops it is a dream machine.


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

player99 said:


> Perhaps but compared to Apple laptops it is a dream machine.


Compared to Apple laptops a teapot is a dream machine.


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

Apple is one of the reasons there is a push for right to repair. They're stuff is damn near impossible to fix without special tools.


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

dtsaudio said:


> Apple is one of the reasons there is a push for right to repair. They're stuff is damn near impossible to fix without special tools.


And even if it still works, they obsolete it by stopping software updates.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

player99 said:


> Then there's the whole tube thing. Will there be a time that tubes are not readily available or so expensive they are cost prohibitive?


I think that this is a legitimate concern.


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## silvertonebetty (Jan 4, 2015)

On the flip side the new tube amps aren’t built to be fixed either 😂. The pcb isn’t reliable they overheat and then melt


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## Rollin Hand (Jul 12, 2012)

My dad ran into that as a TV repairman. As the TVs became more modern, it went from diagnosis and repair to taking 10 minutes to replace a board, or the TV being scrapped. The bottom fell out of the business.

This is also why I haven't replaced my 11 Rack. It sounds good, and it works. Chasing the latest tech is expensive, so why do it?

But then, guitar players are an odd breed. We rend to like vintage over innovation, or whatever was new and interesting from our youth, vs. what is new and interesting now.


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

silvertonebetty said:


> On the flip side the new tube amps aren’t built to be fixed either 😂. The pcb isn’t reliable they overheat and then melt


Sorry, but that is not necessarily true. In fact it is usually the exception than the rule. Well made boards are very reliable and robust. Just ask Mesa Boogie or Traynor.
The problem is that board built amps are less expensive to build, so certain companies (Fender comes to mind) feel its also a license to use shitty cheap parts to lower costs even more. This gives the brand and the build a bad reputation.


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## GuitarT (Nov 23, 2010)

I was faced with this last year. My five year old Line 6 Spider crapped out and the cost of repairing it was substantially higher than the cost of picking up another one on the used market. I guess I have to wrap my head around the fact it's just another disposable appliance like a TV or a microwave or a DVD player. The experience has left me a little hesitant about spending any serious money on digital gear.


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## silvertonebetty (Jan 4, 2015)

dtsaudio said:


> Sorry, but that is not necessarily true. In fact it is usually the exception than the rule. Well made boards are very reliable and robust. Just ask Mesa Boogie or Traynor.
> The problem is that board built amps are less expensive to build, so certain companies (Fender comes to mind) feel its also a license to use shitty cheap parts to lower costs even more. This gives the brand and the build a bad reputation.


I guess I never really considered that . Dose anyone make point to point anymore. Or just out of my price range lol


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

silvertonebetty said:


> I guess I never really considered that . Dose anyone make point to point anymore. Or just out of my price range lol


Bad cat, Matchless are a couple still doing it


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Point to point is not really what they do, it's usually one of those boards that the everything is mounted to. (correct me if I'm wrong)

Point to point:















The usual way:


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

dtsaudio said:


> I think she's being generous with 10-20 years. I'm already seeing 5 and 6 year old amps that are not repairable due to parts availability (assuming you're good at surface mount repair) or the manufacturers are obsoleting a particular amp board for something "improved".
> Interesting that a 60 year old amp can be repaired, but a 5 year old one can't.


lol...I'm thinking a few months after warranty for some....


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

dtsaudio said:


> Sorry, but that is not necessarily true. In fact it is usually the exception than the rule. Well made boards are very reliable and robust. Just ask Mesa Boogie or Traynor.
> The problem is that board built amps are less expensive to build, so certain companies (Fender comes to mind) feel its also a license to use shitty cheap parts to lower costs even more. This gives the brand and the build a bad reputation.


My belief (and I'm probably nuts), is if it's still a through-hole circuit board built amp, i can somehow fix it. There are limitations though. As stated, anything under $250 (about where Fender's repair/replace threshold is) is simply not worth repairing. 
Personally, my objective is to continue with the old stuff and good quality stuff for as long as possible. At 57, I'm probably safe for the rest of my career. That said, I don't know what the future holds for those coming along after me.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

ttt


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

nonreverb said:


> My belief (and I'm probably nuts), is if it's still a through-hole circuit board built amp, i can somehow fix it. There are limitations though. As stated, anything under $250 (about where Fender's repair/replace threshold is) is simply not worth repairing.
> Personally, my objective is to continue with the old stuff and good quality stuff for as long as possible. At 57, I'm probably safe for the rest of my career. That said, I don't know what the future holds for those coming along after me.


I don't believe that you are nuts, Rich. We should be building reliable gear that defies obsolescence; presently, the recycling programs are not very efficient and land-fills are overloading with products that should not be there.
The majority must be demanding disposable products or I don't understand the economics behind it.
As for techs of the future, I don't know if this little guy is up to the task:


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

I love my 60-70 year old amps !!! Few caps here and there. Couple of resistors and your good to go for another 40 years....


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

dtsaudio said:


> All right to repair is going to do is cause prices to go up as companies stock obsolete parts and circuit boards.
> As well it is going to cause issues with any hack who can read a service manual repairig stuff badly.


Perhaps, but what I saw Louis Rossman say was 3rd party resellers buy up the inventory and the original manufacturers make the profit and pass the stocking and distribution costs to the 3rd party resellers. He gave examples of this happening in the past.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

silvertonebetty said:


> On the flip side the new tube amps aren’t built to be fixed either 😂. The pcb isn’t reliable they overheat and then melt


Agree with the first statement in some cases. Like Dan said, many are built to be serviced, but I think there are also a lot of modern tube amps that are not going to hold up very long. Certainly not the 50+ years like the classic stuff. Especially when you have SMT stuff on the boards.


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

I'm starting to see more and more surface mount parts. Hate them, and not just from a repair standpoint. The specs aren't as robust as through hole parts, and great care has to be taken in specifying or replacing parts to spec.
Not to mention trying to figure out just what a particular part is. But, it's not the circuit board, it's the way the board is made that is problem.


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

dtsaudio said:


> I'm starting to see more and more surface mount parts. Hate them, and not just from a repair standpoint. The specs aren't as robust as through hole parts, and great care has to be taken in specifying or replacing parts to spec.
> Not to mention trying to figure out just what a particular part is. But, it's not the circuit board, it's the way the board is made that is problem.


They were never made to be repaired, only replaced. I took on a couple of Mark Bass heads a couple of years ago thinking I had a chance of repairing them within a certain budget. I quickly found out that that was not the case. In one case, I contacted Mark Bass in Italy looking for some assistance with schematics/service manuals. They wouldn't even entertain the idea....but they were more than willing to sell me a complete replacement board to the tune of $450......my customer declined.
I have considered acquiring the tooling to do SMT work in the past but have come to the conclusion that it's not cost effective.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

To a certain extent it goes back to Ensoniq and then Line6, both their business models were based on the computer industry, where board swaps were the norm. And part of the reason for that is because with triple (or more) layer circuit boards, you can have board faults that are non-repairable.


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

nonreverb said:


> I have considered acquiring the tooling to do SMT work in the past but have come to the conclusion that it's not cost effective.


I bought an inexpensive re-work station a while back. Hot air and regular soldering tip combined. It's fine for things like resistors and diodes, and I can do opamps or IC's with large pin spacing, but the finer stuff forget it.
Oddly, I bought the thing in an attempt to replace some large capacitors that were through hole. Mounted on a four layer board, I couldn't generate enough direct heat without damaging the board and pulling out vias. 
I used the hot air to pre-heat the area and then wick out the solder. Wasn't 100% but it got the job done. Hopefully I never see that kind of job ever again.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I guess no one here has a modern traynor tube amp die outside of canada? Their "take it to the nearest dealer" means nada when you're in North Carolina the night it dies.

As for current gen modellers becoming obsolete and unrepairable, there seems to be a startling amount of 80s rack pieces alive and well. No idea if thats exception or rule...


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

nonreverb said:


> They were never made to be repaired, only replaced. I took on a couple of Mark Bass heads a couple of years ago thinking I had a chance of repairing them within a certain budget. I quickly found out that that was not the case. In one case, I contacted Mark Bass in Italy looking for some assistance with schematics/service manuals. They wouldn't even entertain the idea....but they were more than willing to sell me a complete replacement board to the tune of $450......my customer declined.
> I have considered acquiring the tooling to do SMT work in the past but have come to the conclusion that it's not cost effective.


If you wish to give it a shot, Princess Auto has one on sale this week for $90:


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## telle-tom (Nov 8, 2021)

Modern electronics sadly seem to be designed for a limited lifetime. Unlike a tweed bassman which, other than having to deal with 120 vs 110V A/C line voltage, still are in service today, it seems manufactures have adopted the model of planned obsolescence. Why sell an item that will last a lifetime when you can sell a person a new one every few years. All part of the "land-fill" economy. 

I'm intrigued by the sound and the portability (weight) of the new tone-master fender amps, but I seriously doubt we will ever see a 2021 Tone Master DR listed in 2030. I could be wrong, time will tell.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

It should be pointed out, however, that 60+ yr. old amps which are still around is just a happy accident for us. There is no way Fender in their wildest dreams ever thought that would happen. It would be completely self-defeating from a business standpoint to design that way.
But there must be a happy medium somewhere between product that outlives it's owners, vs disposable stuff that is designed to (usually) last only as long as the warranty.
Some of this stuff, they could probably build the cabs out of thick cardboard and it would last as long as the rest of it.


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## tonewoody (Mar 29, 2017)

Hang in there. Subscription based amps are just around the corner....


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## Mutant_Guitar (Oct 24, 2021)

We have everything to do with this now, where before the spark of novelty would flicker in the eyes and whet the appetite of imagination. No more. We know that this business is defined by its inability to focus on quality and value in all respects. Voting with the dollar no longer sends the message. We have to STOP buying.
I know this sounds like a soapbox rant, or some fancy highfalutin talk. I don't want crap, and I don't want the future generations to think they got away easy (or got it better). This "future" is absolutely marked by the law of diminishing returns. If you cannot lug your 25kg amp to the venue, take on a protege who will give you the respect and honour you deserve, who will gladly do the footwork, and who will in-turn glean from you as a learner does from a master. No more pitch-proposals, no more upselling "new and better". Old gold must persist for our strengths and our virtues to subsist


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

jb welder said:


> It should be pointed out, however, that 60+ yr. old amps which are still around is just a happy accident for us. There is no way Fender in their wildest dreams ever thought that would happen. It would be completely self-defeating from a business standpoint to design that way.
> But there must be a happy medium somewhere between product that outlives it's owners, vs disposable stuff that is designed to (usually) last only as long as the warranty.
> Some of this stuff, they could probably build the cabs out of thick cardboard and it would last as long as the rest of it.


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## Patrice Brousseau (Aug 12, 2020)

Diablo said:


> I wonder that as well.
> and also, what will happen when todays techs die off, are 20-somethings learning how to service tube amps anywhere?


I hope they will still be available for the next 40-50 years. If big amps manufacturers continue to build tube amps, there will be a market for tubes…


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## Patrice Brousseau (Aug 12, 2020)

jb welder said:


> It should be pointed out, however, that 60+ yr. old amps which are still around is just a happy accident for us. There is no way Fender in their wildest dreams ever thought that would happen. It would be completely self-defeating from a business standpoint to design that way.
> But there must be a happy medium somewhere between product that outlives it's owners, vs disposable stuff that is designed to (usually) last only as long as the warranty.
> Some of this stuff, they could probably build the cabs out of thick cardboard and it would last as long as the rest of it.


It wasn’t their goal but being built more simpler, there was always a way to repair the gear. Same goes for cars I would guess (or washing machine, etc…). My dad was doing his own work on home appliances and cars back in the eighties.

The only thing I can do on my car (I’m not a mechanic) is swap the tires. One could also works on the brakes but for the remaining parts, good luck!


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Patrice Brousseau said:


> It wasn’t their goal but being built more simpler, there was always a way to repair the gear. Same goes for cars I would guess (or washing machine, etc…). My dad was doing his own work on home appliances and cars back in the eighties.
> 
> The only thing I can do on my car (I’m not a mechanic) is swap the tires. One could also works on the brakes but for the remaining parts, good luck!


If you want to there's plenty an amateur can do with so basic tools and YouTube. But working on cars is hard on the fingers. It's more about getting seized and snapped nuts, bolts and parts off.


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## Patrice Brousseau (Aug 12, 2020)

player99 said:


> If you want to there's plenty an amateur can do with so basic tools and YouTube. But working on cars is hard on the fingers. It's more about getting seized and snapped nuts, bolts and parts off.


Fine offer but I know my limits… and my interests! A car, for me, is something that helps me going from A to B.


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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

If your post had been in the Pub section, I would have said that yes, our future is now un-repairable.


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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

Double post


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Patrice Brousseau said:


> Fine offer but I know my limits… and my interests! A car, for me, is something that helps me going from A to B.


For some people, any other time it's a liability.


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