Repairing and restoring vintage pro audio gear is a labor of love for me. Fortunately, right now I have a window of opportunity to accept a limited number repair/restoration projects. I specialize in vintage Neve, RCA, Gates, Urei, and other similar, high-end compressors, EQ's and mic pre's mostly, although I would consider other interesting projects as well.
Let me tell you a little bit about how I work. First, I want to know exactly what your expectations are from the project. While I can simply get a broken piece of gear working (if that's all you need) the more interesting work to me is to turn an ordinary piece of gear into a spectacular piece - one that you will be proud to own and show off to your gear-loving buddies. Usually, this involves getting the unit back to specs and then re-working the power supply, layout and wiring, and replacing strategically important components with better quality, more modern ones.
Over the years I have come up with many tricks and tweaks for various classic pieces but I treat each piece of gear individually, addressing the sonic needs of each. This means that the mods your unit gets might be completely unique, depending on your goals. I listen to every piece of gear before it is shipped out, and use it on a mix in my studio, just as you would. Very often, I take a piece back to the bench three or four times for minor tweaks before it gets returned to its owner. It is my goal to have every person who sends a piece of gear to me to respond like this recent client when referring to the Gates Sta-Level I modded for him:
"I used it on a female vocal with a C-12 mic, Neve mic pre... OH MY GOD! Really quiet unit... I then used it on a stand-up act's bass DI... oh my god, again, VERY COOL! THANK YOU!"
That's what I shoot for with every piece. Of course, some are easier than others! If you have a piece you want repaired or restored, use the Contact Us Form and give me your phone number or email address so we can discuss it.
Thanks,
---Joe
Oh yeah, I guess you might want to know a little about me. I have been designing, building, repairing and restoring audio gear since 1979 and have degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics. This site shows a small percentage of my work. I took a seven year detour into IT work but am now returning to my true path, pro-audio. I look forward to talking with you about your projects.