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Tubesville Technical Services
Category: Appliances & Repair
Neighborhood: Downtown411 S Main St
#407
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 621-9901
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
4 reviews for Tubesville Technical Services
I'm relatively new to LA, and I had know clue who were the good amp techs around town. My Marshall Plexi kept blowing fuses and tubes, and at the suggestion of a bandmate, I gave Blackie a call. Long story short, Blackie was very knowledgeable and outgoing. My amp has been fine ever since.
Go see him!
Blackie Pagano. My new guitar amp Yoda.
My Silverface Vibrolux Reverb had completely crapped out on me. I hadn't retubed the thing since I received it second-hand in a trade. Lord knows when the last time the amp had been worked on prior to that.
I had been looking for a guy in the LA area that wouldn't just re-tube my amp with whatever Groove Tubes he had lying around; I wanted a guy that'd listen to it, and make recommendations on things either he or I could do to get it sounding its best. After poking around through various suggestions, I stumbled across Blackie's Tubesville site, and nearly wrote it off because he appeared to be an overpriced, hyped up amp repair shop.
Not so.
I called him and described the problems I was having, and also some other modifications I wanted done. In a five minute conversation, he was able to give me a rough quote and totally gained my confidence in his ability to not just work on my amp, but to really take care of it.
Not only was he a really friendly and accommodating guy over the phone, his hours are wide open so that even with an 8-5, I was able to take it to him on a weekend. Roughly three weeks later, I had my amp back in perfect condition.
The first night out with my newly repaired amp, a tube got knocked and lost its vacuum, and I realized it just as I was about to start my set. I was able to call him at a fairly late hour in the evening, and he was available to coach me through removing that tube and substituting it for one that wasn't as critical to get me through the gig. I NEVER expected this kind of service, especially in regards to a condition that wasn't his fault at all. He gave me a replacement tube that weekend.
I HIGHLY recommend anyone with a tube amp to take it to Blackie for general repair or modification. He even offers a next day rush service if you need your amp back really quickly.
Blackie Pagano is one of the greatest living audio designers and tube technicians in the world. Seriously. I have used him for both guitar amps and audio equipment. Everybody knows he works miracles on guitar amps, but I only truly started to appreciate his talents when he overhauled a pair of 300B monoblocks for me.
The audio world is rife with marketers who sell $2,000 worth of gear for $15,000, dressing it up with pseudo-science fed to the reviewers they rent advertising sapce from.
Blackie is the opposite: he is an artist, someone who cares about results. He will give you honest work for a completely reasonable fee. He truly understands amp design and will look at a schematic, immediately understand its strengths and weaknesses and know which parts to use from which manufacturers. He loves music and he loves his art form.
His knowledge of tubes is like that of a sommelier, particularly when it comes to 300bs. He has talked me out of buying the most expensive, most hyped items on numerous occasions. He has a great ear and knows how to integrate that gift into the work that he does.
Having seen what he's capable of when given a blank canvas and a broad mandate, and haivng paid an exceptionally reasonable price (in fact, I have paid more than he asked for on occasion because of the value he delivers) allows me to make a simple observation: If you can deliver the goods on a big job, you can deliver the goods on a small job.
Blackie delivers on everything, and in doing so he sets the gold standard by which all other service providers should be measured.
Blackie fixed my prized '68 Vibrolux that took a beating in transit to LA. He has a real passion for gear and is very knowledgeable. Will definitely call him the next time I need amp work.
Specialties
Tube audio repair and custom. This includes guitar amplifiers, bass amplifiers, studio gear, and hi-fi systems that are tube-based.
Meet the Business Owner: Blackie P.
The choice of pro players and audio freaks, doing repairs and custom since 1985. Please check my website linked above for detailed bio, press clips, and links to my Myspace and Facebook.
Yelp.com has a policy of deleting reviews arbitrarily, so this page does not reflect the actual number or most current reviews. I currently have 8 5-star reviews....
