Amplifier Repair in Calgary

[ENDITOL]

Who is there? Thanks!

[Jeff Flowerday]

Who is there? Thanks!

The guy in Axe Music's building beside Jim Mozzell. I don't have his number, call Axe.

[fernieite]

Yeah, exactly. I think his name is Dave. Jim'll know his # too.
There's also the guy at the guitar connection on 17th ave sw.
Sean.

[Mr. David Severson]

The Guy on 17ave is Mike Pasnuk..I think thas his last name. Anyway he works out of the Guitar Connection.:rockon2:

[Adicted to Tubes]

I repair and build tube amps.

www.claramps.com

claraamps@shaw.ca

For a reference call Long & Mcquade in Calgary.

[traynor_garnet]

I wanted to chime in and mention Keith at Clara amps (member "addicted to tubes").

He has my amp right now and although I don't have it back yet (it just went it) his customer service has thus far been impeccable!!

TG

[Jeff Flowerday]

A bit of a drive for you, though, isn't it TG?

Isn't it like a vacation for you guys? Coming to the lovely Calgary! :eek:

[traynor_garnet]

Nope, I just packed it up and sent it via Canada Post. I don't think I can drive to Calgary and back for $30; especially when you factor in 6 hours of my time.

I have had horrible service from amp "techs" in Edmonton. The only guy that has been recommened to me has a 3-4 week backlog so it made perfect sense to ship my amp to Keith.

BTW, I was debating if I should ship via Canada Post or Greyhound because I didn't know about Greyhound's insurance policy. Keith phoned greyhound, found out, and emailed me with the info!!!! Wow, now that is customer service :)

TG



A bit of a drive for you, though, isn't it TG?

[TimH]

Sacha,

Depends on what you're trying to have fixed. The guy next to Jim at Axe is Dave...he works for Frank Bade of VB Electronics fame (Mother's and guitarworks use them almost exclusively) but they can be UBER SLOW sometimes...like painfully so...unless you headlock 'em into doing it fast which is to say, pay them more money.

There is a guy over at The Guitar Connection if it's a vintage piece. He's good from what I've heard.

And yes, the guys at L&M will give huge props to Keith. He's a good guy.

[voxworld]

Kieth is where all my stuff goes, and there's some stuff...
I own one Clara at this point, and he's probably fixed/serviced at least a half dozen amps for me so far. Very prompt service compare to anyone else in town.

[drift_boat]

You won't go wrong with either Keith at Clara Amps or Mike at Guitar Connection. Both are technically sharp, know vintage stuff, know mods, and offer GREAT service and turnaround time. I've had work done with both so I know.

[BrownID]

I'll personally never have anything ever to do again with Mike at Guitar Connection.

I took a stand alone Fender Reverb to Mike, as well as my vintage Lexicon PCM-42 a few years back. The reverb needed to have a blown power transformer replaced and the Lexicon just needed some simple tweaking. It took Mike 4 months to replace the blown transformer with... the blown transformer. As for the Lexicon, Mike "borrowed" that for 2 years and parted some of it out. I got the Lexicon back only after the police got involved

Both James Peters and I have seen too many examples of Mike's "technical sharpness".

If you need amp repair work done, stick to people that really know what they are doing - Keith from Clara here in Calgary, Lindsey up in Edmonton or James Peters in Winnipeg.

[ENDITOL]

Thanks everyone, James also recommended another guy, Alex at Lextronics. :rockon2:

[prairietelecaster]

Keith just serviced my Deluxe Reverb and my buddies Blues Deluxe last week. Excellent service and a very personable fella and very reasonable rates. He was very accommodating for my brief sojourn into Cowtown too! I will take anything I can't solve to Keith. Thanks a ton again Keith
(No personal affiliation etc. etc. for me either)
Cam

[Robboman]

OK, this is all things I've heard mixed with some personal observations, but here goes. Correct me if I'm wrong about any factual details...

I've had work done by Mike Pasnak years ago when he was apprenticing with John Macintyre (Musitech, next door to Axe until the late 90's or so). John is THE all time amp guru of Calgary as I understand it, having built stuff for David Gilmour and other superstars. Supposedly Mike learned everything he knows from John, who left behind amp service years ago to go work for Lexicon (I think) designing circuits.

Even back then, their shop was FULL of customers amps that would sit for months on end! Now if you are, say, Gordie Johnson and Big Sugar is in town and you need amp service, Mike will drop everything and come right out. If you're Joe Blow it might take a bit longer, depending how hard you ride his ass. I think Mike is a nice guy and totally knows what he's doing, but he's not the most reliable and his execution can be a bit sloppy. Sorry Dude.. my 2c.

Enter Keith McNeil (Clara). Great guy, reliable, quick turnaround, reasonable rates and knows his stuff. At least that's been my experience with three service jobs and the Clara 18watt I purchased. I will take all my future business to Keith as long as he has time for me, and am very likely to buy another of his amps.

[mandocaster]

My vote goes to Keith as well.

My '65 Super Came back sounding like....a '65 Super.

Yummy. I think Keith uses the term 'tasty'.