as electronics become more and more disposable and “repair” means throwing away a circuit board and getting a replacement, we need to identify and grow the network of people and businesses capable of actually repairing electronics at a component level.
we’re at a point where swapping in a completely new board frequently isn’t possible due to availability. it’s also absurd to dispose of costly (environmental, labor, economic) assembly due to a small failure of say a connector or passive component.
where we live (rural US) there is literally not a single “business” nearby that is capable of repairing small electronics. so i acknowledge that shipping objects around is the only option for a lot of people.
i’m starting this thread as a resource, hoping to crowd-source contact information for people/businesses who do repairs. i figure this will be music-electronics focused— hoping some guitar shops still have capable working techs.
please share your experiences, and more importantly, contacts.
edit: mods are still in the process of drafting new commercial guidelines— it’s taking… too long. if you offer these services, feel free to post a link to your website or DM invitation.
I’m located in New Orleans and I’ve been doing repairs for several years, mostly for people on this forum…
Primarily modular stuff but a few midi controllers and desktop synths as well. I really enjoy the process of discovering the problem and getting it resolved. It’s usually much easier than you would think!
In payment I always ask for a barter, but I never specify what the price is. You send me something, I fix something for you
Feel free to reach out to me here, and/or, if folks are interested, we could possibly organize a monthly ‘fix something’ stream for others to watch the process… It can be pretty messy but it’s always fun. I’m no expert just someone with electronics as a hobby.
I’m lucky enough to live somewhere (Victoria BC) where a shop like CCTV can exist. Fil has done a few jobs for me – sourcing components, trouble shooting builds, and repairing a mixer – and I couldn’t recommend him enough. He may or may not be around the forum come to think of it…
I’m in west Michigan and happy to help troubleshoot electronic and electrical musical instruments in person and on line. I’m most comfortable with analog, through hole devices.
For anything Ciat-Lonbarde, @crucFX is the first and last stop. His enthusiasm and knowledge of all things CL is unmatched.
I’m a hobbyist (and not particularly great at troubleshooting complex/weird issues), but i’ve brought back to life, done basic service and calibrated a lot of 4-track tape recorders, walkmans, old casio/yamaha keyboards, and the occassional pedal/mixer/etc. Relatively simple stuff like fixing cracked PCBs/traces, power issues, re-capping, re-flowing/re-soldering iffy stuff, replacing burnt components, etc.
I’m in nyc, and i’m happy to take a look at something and potentially repair, at cost or for a nominal fee, with the understanding that i’m not an expert and i can’t offer many guarantees
I’m also happy to build diy stuff for people without the skills or time, for personal use.
EE here in Colorado US. I’ve build/fixed many guitar pedals and euro modules, repaired a Sidstation, built a few Mutable boxes/modules (shruthi, anushri, braids), Repaired a C-L Sidrazzi and designed interface (barres, touch points), built up a few paper circuits (fourses/duber, solar sounders), perfboard rollzer strip, format jumblers, I can calibrate/service SH-101s and Juno 60s, tube amp repair and biasing, all types of guitar wiring, Built a Norns shield, THC recursive machines, probably others I forgot.
checking in from reno, nv. usually building 4u buchla/serge, but have serviced a number of junos, xpanders, ciat stuff and pedals if anyone is ever in need in the area!
It appears to me that was the intention for this thread.
When I lived in Boston, I appreciated an electronics repair shop that was in the little mall in Harvard Square; they took very good care of me. I’m not sure whether that business survived the pandemic.
Repairing broken synthesizers for money is a tough job. It is very hard to know how long the fault finding will take. There is no guarantee the cost to solve a problem will be cheaper than buying a replacement. If you spend a long time tracking down a fault only to find it requires the replacement of an unobatainable part, you get nothing.
I did synth repairs for a while and it was very stressful and not financially rewarding. Be kind to your synth repair person.
I work at Bell Tone Synth Works in Philadelphia - we’ll repair most of your vintage synths and drum machines. If you are in Philly and have something that doesn’t fit the shop’s criteria you can PM me and I’ll see if I can help out
Here in Hamburg (northern Germany ) we fortunately have no shortage of repair shops. The biggest, specialized on audio gear is “Audio Service” at Schnackenburg Allee. It is a really big shop. They are also service contract partner of some Audio Interface producers and have a refurbished gear sale since ages.
(Edit: they once fixed an akai mpc 2500xl for us and can also deal with vintage gear)
Any recs in the Bay Area? A friend needs an analog synth repair… Jason Sole (waveformless) has an awful reputation and Chris Hewett (This Old Synth) has retired…
Edit: got a few recommendations from friends –
Andy Lambert (apparently works for Dave Smith/Sequential Circuits and does repairs) http://bottombunkstudio.com
Nathan at Zodiac Analog has an instagram and an email
