Classic synth repair! Can anyone recomend an Honest and reliable Tech?

[fatbenelton]

Michael - PM sent

Jon

[Grandmasterbird]

Thats a shame to hear about Panic Music- I've got a Novation Supernova 2 keyboard that needs some TLC and Novation pointed me in their direction.

Apparently they are a Novation approved repair company for their old line of synths or something?

Reading the stories here puts me off sending it there to be repaired, but the alternatives seem to be few and far between.....

[Kolakube]

Wxcuse me guys if this has been mentioned but I confess I have not read the entire thread.

Unfortunatly Tony Allgood from cumbria no longer repairs synths

http://www.oakleysound.com/contact.htm

[baward]

Micheal _ personally I'd post them to James. INterparcel or parcel2go offer reasonable courier service and you could prob get it up to James as one parcel for less than £20-30.

Have you considered taking it there on the train yourself, if you can? In my opinion, its the surest and safest way of getting it to Stoke. A quick check on thetrainline.com gave me an offpeak London to Stoke single ticket price of £8.

Ben

[Kolakube]

baward,

Is James able to turn around in a day? Id have thought he'd have been snowed under.

[vinyl_junkie]

baward,

Is James able to turn around in a day? Id have thought he'd have been snowed under.

No one really turns around in a day unless you pay for it, I worked for a insurance company once who used a wide range of repair shops for their out of warranty stuff and the customers just expect stuff to be repaired in like a day, like it personally gets delivered to the workshop that day they post it and the repairer will look at it before any one elses, asses the fault, get the parts and then fix it, leave it on test and send it back...what is with this mentality?! Even if you weren't snowed under it's still unrealistic imo

[Synth Builder]

Unfortunatly Tony Allgood from cumbria no longer repairs synths

http://www.oakleysound.com/contact.htm

Sorry guys. I'm taking a break from repairing stuff at the moment. I was ill last year, got terribly behind and then got all stressed up because of it. So I'm spending my time on the Oakley modular designs instead which is all pretty exciting really.

There may come a time again when I do take on some more repair work. But right now I'm not sure when that will be. I guess it will depend on how well the new hardware works out.

Tony

[baward]

baward,

Is James able to turn around in a day? Id have thought he'd have been snowed under.

I shouldn't think so either, I would say a couple of weeks at least. But the OP would be able to leave it with James and see his Aladdin's cave o' analogue goodness at the same time!

Ben

[fatbenelton]

Depends...I dropped four synths off earlier in the year and he fixed the SH101 whilst we chatted. It was a straightforward potentiometer replacement so didn't really require any diagnostics etc. I would imagine it's not usual: the other three have been on the shelf for six months!

[Slasher]

Have SOS ever interviewed James? The guy is a legend and deserves some industry recognition for the work he does. Mind you, he hasn't got time to do an interview and I want him to fix my synths before any more customers discover him!

[ramthelinefeed]

Hah hah!
Yeah James certainly merits an interview in SoS,
although I share the concern that it would make him even more busier than ever lol

[Kolakube]

Vinyl Junkie

Reason I asked can james turn around in a day was out of sheer surprise as I didn't think he would be able to do that. Hence me saying "I thought he'd have been snowed under."

It wasn't me that suggested taking stuff up on a train. Think your reply was aimed at the wrong person.

[Kolakube]

Synth Builder,

Whilst I hope you new venture works out for you I selfishly also hope you return to synth repair and once again fly the flag i the North of England.

All the best mate.

[Synthsuze]

I'm a newbie so be kind, but this thread caught my eye as I was having a browse round. If anyone is still looking for a decent tech, they could do worse than give Andy at Synth Prof a whirl - www.synthprof.com. He did a great job on my Polysix and has since serviced my Juno 60 and resurrected a horribly dead DW8000. Reasonable charges and I think he does a no fix, no fee sort of thing, which makes a pleasant change to being fleeced 90 quid just for looking at something. Based in East Anglia but people send him stuff from all over the world. Nice guy too.

Wow, my first post. Hope that's useful info anyhow.

[Sam Inglis]

I took a chance on Synthsuze's recommendation above, and asked Andy at Synth Prof to look at my dead SH-101. Just got it back yesterday and he has done an incredible job, not only of fixing the problem but also servicing and cleaning it up. It was very far from mint condition when he picked it up, now it looks close to new. And unlike some synth repairers, Andy is very communicative and works quickly. So I second Synthsuze's recommendation -- absolutely excellent, and I would use Andy again without hesitation.

[Dave_Bee]

I say this with caution... I am an electronics "expert" and undertake repairs/design of all sorts including music kit. I have good knowledge of Ensoniq and done various other brands too. But I am selective as some kit is either way too time consuming or the parts extinct. I am not afraid of turning repairs down if I feel they are too complex.
I've been in the business now for many years but keep a low profile, however I do like to keep the old kit running.
Feel free to contact me via PM.

[ianadrian]

I know this is an old thread but it helped me find a tech to service my OSCar so thought I'd mention my experience. I can highly recommend James Walker of Synth Repair Services who is very experienced in repairing/ servicing just about any vintage synth known to man. He did an excellent job replacing all pots, connectors and psu caps on my OSCar and all for a very reasonable price considering the hours/parts he put in.

Another tech I can recommend who I've used in the past is Adrian at SynthRestore who used to service my minimoog(just a bit too far away from me).

One to avoid is The Synthesizer Service Centre in London. I've never actually used them myself but have heard many negative comments about them over the years from various sources.

I think decent techs are like finding decent builders. It's always best to go with the ones who've been recommended to you rather than just blindly pick one you've never heard of!