I HIGHLY recommend Andy to any professional player be it live work or studio work to modify your precious Mesa amp. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about his ability to absolutely NAIL what you are looking for in your Mesa to a T. If the PC board can be modded to do what you want, he can do it. If it can't he will not hesitate to tell you up front and risk loosing the cash to say "It can't be done on this amp" I totally respect Andy on a profesional and personal level. He is a rare, genuine man of character from the moment you get on the phone with him, to him taking extra time to bubble wrap every tube and over pack everything, to him tracking the shipment and calling you in the middle of the day or late at night making sure you got the amp with out damage.
He is a down to earth guy that has a (pardon me) "take no bull-****" approach to doing business. Let's be honest, there are other guys in major cities modding amps that have nice shops and high profile names,...but Andy doesn't play the "make the sale" game. He want's to get you what you need more then he wants to make a nice chunk of money off you for a generic mod that my dad could do with a solder gun.
I personally attribute a HUGE part of a major record I recorded recently to Andy modding a Mesa Boogie V1 Bottle Rockett for me. The studio dates where out of state and I was flown in with just my guitar and some pedals for the sessions. I knew the studio would only provide me an old Dual Rectifier for the recording and I needed to get some very "pop-ish" Santana like tones from the rig for the recording. The Dual Recs simply don't do that sound, so I had Andy mod a Bottle Rockett for my lead tone to run into the Dual Rec for the studio dates. His mod absolutely nailed the sound I wanted taking into account the amp I was running it into and my current rig. I was so impressed, I bought Andy's personal amp from him...a Mesa Maverick and had him further mod it to meet the needs of another project. Every single musician that hears this amp, and this pedal asks me "what is that rig" and it's all due to Andy obsession with tone, feel, expression, dynamic, and playable musicality. He is a fantastic craftsman, and un-like other techs actually plays guitar in a gigging band. So when you talk with him...he simply knows where you are coming from.
If you need a Mesa mod, and it's possible to do in that Mesa model amp, Andy by far and away is your guy. I have never given any of the "other guys" my money simply because they can't and won't do what Andy does.
Most of all, he is now, after knowing him as long as I have, my friend. I trust him with the tools that put food on my family's table. Give the guy your business...you won't regret it.
-Defraim Santiago
