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did i get ripped off?

mellowgerman

mellowgerman

Supporting Member
Jan 23, 2008
4,325
4,184
East Tennessee
#1
I just took my peavey vb-2 to get the power tubes replaced. I supplied the new tubes. 6 EL34s.
Today, over 2 weeks after I dropped the amp off, I get a call saying that it's done and the bill is for $60.
Does this guy get paid $120/hr or does he charge $30/wk?!?!
This sounds really steep... any thoughts?
 
#2
Is it a matter of just replacing the tubes or does the amp need to have bias adjustments done? There are repair shops that charge a flat fee just to bench equipment. Did you ask what the charges were specifically for and were you quoted a price when you dropped off the amp?
 
#8
I have to agree. that's a good price for any tech work. If you wanted it cheaper and done quicker, perhaps you should've considered figuring out how to do it yourself.

2 weeks doesn't seem outrageous if the guy has a backlog. I seem to recall that it took about that much time when I took an amp to get fixed once.
 
#11
okay thanks guys. this is the first time i've had a tube amp serviced. I've just heard that it usually takes less than a half hour to do, so $60 sounded expensive to me(especially since the guy works out of his house, in a small town in NY). but what do i know. he usually does a decent job from what i've heard.
and yes it had to be biased. if it were just a matter of switching them out I would have done it myself. thanks again though.
also, they did kinda quote me. I was told it would probably take a few days and cost about 20bucks. so I came with 35 just in case... another reason for why i'm not too happy.
 
#12
mellowgerman said:
...they did kinda quote me. I was told it would probably take a few days and cost about 20 bucks. So I came with 35 just in case... another reason for why i'm not too happy.
Click to expand...

Most techs have a minimum bench fee. They run a series of standard tests. I have seen these run from $20 to $80. Assuming the work was done properly, I don't feel you were ripped off.
 
#13
I don't know if you got ripped off but if the amp was fully operational (not requiring troubleshooting) you basically wasted $60.
The guy took off the rear screen, unplugged the old tubes and plugged in the new ones.
There's no magic or mystery. You could have done it yourself. If there was nothing wrong with the amp and the deal was simply replace tubes, the guy could have told you you can do it yourself.
BTW, did he give you back the "old" ones???
The VB-2 is such a new amp, why are you replacing tubes already?
mellowgerman said:
I just took my peavey vb-2 to get the power tubes replaced. I supplied the new tubes. 6 EL34s.
Today, over 2 weeks after I dropped the amp off, I get a call saying that it's done and the bill is for $60.
Does this guy get paid $120/hr or does he charge $30/wk?!?!
This sounds really steep... any thoughts?
Click to expand...
 
#14
KPAX said:
The guy took off the rear screen, unplugged the old tubes and plugged in the new ones.
Click to expand...

Nope, the OP said it needed to be re-biased too. And unless you know what you're doing inside a tube amp, it's not something you'd want to mess with yourself. So, for the bench time to retube, inspect, and re-bias it's not too far off.

However, like kpax, I wonder why the power tubes needed to be replaced already too. When I used a tube amp (Music Man HD-130) I was pretty anal about retubing once a year. But I was gigging about 70 gigs/year and using the same amp for rehearsals and practice about at least two other days a week. But that's a lot of use and I knew that amp was kind of touchy about tubes. Plus I learned how to reset the bias myself. So, why did you put new tubes in it?

jte
 
#15
in shipment the amp got bumped around and something broke loose in one of the tubes.(the seller did not remove the tubes and wrap them separately) this caused a horrid rattle/chiming type sound. kinda like when you shake a blown lightbulb. very annoying. the seller sent me free tubes, i just had to get them installed locally.
the amp was still under warranty but the guy at the shop said i'd have to pay the shipping to the peavey repair center so i'd be better off just letting their repairguy do it for "about 20 bucks"
last time i'm going to them for a service/repair. it's not so much the money, it's that they told me one thing and the complete opposite happened.
also, i know how to do most all repairs/adjustments on my basses and a lot on my amps so it bothers me that I have to take the amp in to get retubed...
is it hard to learn to bias the amp yourself? is the equipment expensive?
 
#16
I was going to say 60 sounds about right, until you said they quoted you "about 20." Did you question why the price went up so much? I would have held them to their quote, if possible. Still, any technical or professional service is going to be in the ballpark that the $60 charge is in, regardless of how long it takes.... it's the jacking that isn't right....
 
#17
$60 sounds decent for the work that was done.
My bench fee is $50 and I'm in Southern California, I'm actually on the low end of the spectrum around here.
2 weeks is not bad, depending on repair volume I do sometimes have a 2 week turn around time on amps.
The seller of the amp should reimburse you for the retube though, since he didn't pack the amp well enough to prevent damage.
 
#19
When my VB-2 was shipped from Peavey, they didn't remove the tubes. Also, I doubt shipping damage would be covered by the warranty (unless it was being shipped to the original purchaser from Peavey or an authorized dealer). I think $60 is pretty reasonable.
 

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