Mesa/amp techs

[Devho]

So how much do Mesa techs or just amp techs in general make a year? I imagine it varies slightly from place to place.

Any techs out there?

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I make around $400 a week, or $1,200 on a good week fixing amps, but very few of them are Mesa. The majority of that is mods and tube swaps. We do full restoration of most Vintage amps too.

I live in a small town and the interest in Mesa is rapidly growing, but not many people here can afford them. I think I own at least 50% of the Mesa amps in my part of the state, and I'm down from 10 to 3.

It's mostly Fender and Marshall here unfortunately.

 

[Devho]

Haha! Nice. I only ask because I'm considering a possible career change and was interested in that. Any advice on how to get started?

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Get a couple of books.

Inside Tube Amps from Dan Torres. It is really poorly edited, but not that bad of a read. I consider it the "Tube Amps for Dummies," book. Dan is widely considered a "Hack," but he is actually a nice guy with bad employees. Sounds like me. :lol:

Then, The Ultimate Tone, by Kevin O'Connor. This book is much harder to read but full of info.


Some good sites:
http://www.londonpower.com/faq.htm
http://www.aikenamps.com/
http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/ampdebug.htm
http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&message_area_number=22&lastpost=2008-05-1019:22:49


Read the 1st book, especially the parts about safety, it is very important!

Buy a bunch of cheap amps that are broken and teach yourself how to fix them.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions about tools or troubleshooting. An Electronics course at a local school would really help you with the fundamentals.

I do it as a side job, I'm an Electrical Contractor during the week.

 

[Jay22]

I kicked the same idea around as well. I actually would love to be able to design and build tube amps. That would be tons of fun.