NAD - Phil Jones dumpster dive.

[Steve Fox]

I’ve been dumpster fishing at my local “Music Mega-Mart” here in town for a few years now. Usually it’s a great place to score shipping boxes, and I’ve even snagged a few things that some of my friends who teach in public school music programs. Feels nice to use my crustiness for good!

So anyway, all the way back in late March of this year I’m hitting their cardboard bin for a guitar box and when I checked the trash I realized that the Dumpster Gods had decided to smile upon me. In the bottom, wedged under a few boxes was a Phil Jones Briefcase. Somehow I managed to lift it out with a broken guitar stand and got it home.

Obviously, it had a few issues. At low volume the amp was distorting and none of the LED’s were working, but otherwise it was in excellent shape and fully functioning. Eventually I contacted the service team at PJB and i arraigned to send it in for service. Boxed up the amps head unit, gave it to UPS 3 weeks ago and today it arrived! The repair was a little over $170 and they got the amp back to 100% and sounding amazing.

 

[BoogieZK]

Nice !
No wonder why the world is turning square right now if even stores are lazy enough to throw away perfectly reparable items.

Did PJB service told you what was wrong? Out of curiosity.

 

[johnh89]

Score of the century . They are fantastic amps made by a fantastic company .

 

[Elk]

Isn't it crazy what people will throw away? What counts as waste these days is shameful...

Good on you for rescuing it. And what a great amp as well. I mean, a free 15-watt Fender Rumble would be cool but a Phil Jones Briefcase? Get outta town.

 

[brianrost]

Seriously, you go dumpster diving at Guitar Center without getting arrested?

 

[Jazzjames]

What a find! Good on you for keeping it going. It’s crazy what people throw away.

Similar story to what happened to me a few years ago. Found an abandoned SWR Goliath III in a park with a missing speaker. Got some glue to stick down a couple of loose dust caps and ordered a new speaker and wired it in. Used it for years without problem.

 

[Pirate Captain]

I knew a guy who worked at [redacted] and would occasionally throw guitars/amps in the dumpster (in cardboard boxes) and then retrieve them later...can't believe he got away with it. And I'd like to imagine that this is what happened here and you ruined some guy's day.

 

[2saddleslab]

I had one of those for a short time when they were originally released. Nice sounding little amp but I needed more oomph.

 

[Brian Patterson]

I'm gonna check the GC dumpster next time I go by...why didn't I think of that?

 

[bassfran]

Major score- good for you.
*thumbs up emoji*

 

[CascadeBass]

Wow, very cool story!

 

[trevcda]

Great find! It is no doubt worth $170 dollars to you to fix something you got for free. It was probably not worth the additional $170 to them on top of whatever they paid for it initially and then not be able to mark it up enough to recoup that cost without selling it for more than they would a new unit. And a seller of new equipment selling broken gear when their reputation already sucks badly enough probably makes it a non-started for them. Business-wise it's probably better to cut your losses and be done with it.

 

[Bassquest]

Ooooweee!!!!

 

[Queue]

Several sold on Reverb from $450-$725, so you've done very well!

https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=phil+jones+bass+briefcase&show_only_sold=true

 

[Andy Marshman]

Wow. Good on you!

 

[RandomKaren]

Score!

 

[Steve Fox]

Nice !
No wonder why the world is turning square right now if even stores are lazy enough to throw away perfectly reparable items.

Did PJB service told you what was wrong? Out of curiosity.

 

[Steve Fox]

What a find! Good on you for keeping it going. It’s crazy what people throw away.

Similar story to what happened to me a few years ago. Found an abandoned SWR Goliath III in a park with a missing speaker. Got some glue to stick down a couple of loose dust caps and ordered a new speaker and wired it in. Used it for years without problem.

Love that! Those Goliath’s were killer cabs!

 

[Ben Clarke]

That's a sweet score. good for you, but also add another item to the GC dubya tee eff list.

I mean, of course GC illegally dumps electronic waste.

 

[BoogieZK]

So basically they dumped a 500$ bass amp for a 2$ bad capacitor....

I wished you go back to where you found the amp and tell the store you repaired the amp they dumped.

Side note: you can maybe post the repair note on the Phil Jones Bass club for people running into the same issue as yours, it's an easy repair.