How much is an amp service?

[Dandelion]

I have a head which would benefit methinks. Never done before, so how much does it cost?

[TheGreek]

I paid about £40 to have my TE GP7 combo serviced - I'm in Herts which doesn't help you much.

[Dandelion]

What do they do?

[6v6]

Like with a car, the cost depends on why are you getting a service and what needs to be done.

Unlike a car, solid state amps at least have very few serviceable components, so I'd ensure you actually need work doing before handing over cash.

[T-Bay]

Servicing a valve amp is not for a beginner but solid state ones can be looked at by the inexperienced. Look on YouTube for videos on cleaning hi fi separates to get an idea of what is involved, but generally it's just using air and alcohol to gently clean the dust and muck away. My mate does it on the side (he is an electronics engineer) and charges £30 on the grounds it takes him an hour to do one properly. I would guess someone doing for a living would charge a bit more.

[Merton]

My ABM head cost £140 including VAT last year, but it needed all the pots replaced, a couple of jack sockets and all the board interconnects as it has sat unused for almost 17 years and basically got dusty/tarnished.

[MDWagstaff]

I got my TE SMC head serviced for about £36 last year.

[Phil Starr]

6V6 is right, you can't really 'service' an amp. Servicing is really about changing lubrication and filters and examining moving parts, none of which really applies to an amp. You could argue a valve change as a 'service' as they do wear over time and sometimes the bias on a valve amp will need to be tweaked but for a solid state amp save your money.

[Twincam]

[quote name='Dandelion' timestamp='1491682655' post='3274816']
What do they do?
[/quote]

That's a good question.
But a real amp service should be cleaning of the interior especially any fans, possible lubrication of fans. Pots cleaned. All jacks cleaned. And an amp over 20 years old with larger power supply capacitors they should be imo changed just for absolute reliability. Visual inspection of other components.
The biasing checked especially on valve amps but for transistor based amps too it can be wise (I'm looking at you svt 3 pro).
Fuses checked for the correct rating.
Valves checked for microphonics and maybe even checked on a tube tester.

[TheGreek]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1491933487' post='3276628']
That's a good question.
But a real amp service should be cleaning of the interior especially any fans, possible lubrication of fans. Pots cleaned. All jacks cleaned. And an amp over 20 years old with larger power supply capacitors they should be imo changed just for absolute reliability. Visual inspection of other components.
The biasing checked especially on valve amps but for transistor based amps too it can be wise (I'm looking at you svt 3 pro).
Fuses checked for the correct rating.
Valves checked for microphonics and maybe even checked on a tube tester.
[/quote]

That's practically what I had done, everything cleaned, dry soldered joints dealt with and everything checked so it was working 100%. No snaps/crackles or pops...I think what I paid was VFM.

[blunderthumbs]

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1491722809' post='3274924']
My ABM head cost £140 including VAT last year, but it needed all the pots replaced, a couple of jack sockets and all the board interconnects as it has sat unused for almost 17 years and basically got dusty/tarnished.
[/quote]
That's a good price to have all that work done. I've done my own Ashdown Abm before but nothing major. Just removed the fans and hoover all the fluff and dust out. A bit of
switch cleaner on the pots and good to go.