[Harp-L] Mick's crappy, collectible harp amps: Mick Zaklan

["geoff atkins" <geoffatkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mick Zaklan wrote:
But Ray, my friend, I've come to regard these old amps as merely long
term cds or savings bonds.  Inflation fighting investments.  A last line of
defense against bankruptcy and homelessness.  I'll hold on to them a while
longer.
   Besides that, I've sort of enjoyed delving into the shadowy world of amp
techs............[edit]...... Restored to factory specifications.  Then, if
I was unhappy with the sound, he'd be glad to try it my way.  I tell you, I
had smoke coming out of my ears at that point.
   I know this is Easter, but there must be a special place in Hell reserved
for guys like that.
Mick Zaklan


Hello Mick, sorry to inform you that the special place in Hell has already
been reserved for a South African amp repairman. I'd fixed a broken guitar
neck for a friend, and he gave me a broken 1993 vintage British solid state
50W amp 1 x 12", with double preamps. I could see that under the dust and
spiders' webs was a fine solid piece of craftsmanship. I scrubbed it down,
re-fixed the vinyl, resprayed the grille, and it looked like fresh out of
the store, externally almost perfect.
I took it to the officially- appointed tech 14th December, and he said that
I could have it before the Xmas holiday. 
On April 10th, after a few tense phone calls I went to pick it up, nothing
had been done. Except wiring was hanging out of the front and back, it was
filthy, and all sockets were loose. I asked for a realistic completion date
so he rang head office, and then told me that maybe the parts could be
obtained in another three months or so, ...perhaps. 
I took the amp, and as I was loading it into the trunk, the preamps/ amp
module fell out of the casing onto the road, he'd lost the fixing screws as
well.
There's probably a queue of amp techs waiting outside the gates of Hell.
Geoff Atkins