- an ongoing
service journal of interesting, humorous, and devastating technical surprises
describing just a few of the machines we get in and try to repair. Sometimes,
these units just end up getting recycled!
Also, there
are some funny posts that are Musician or Music related.
UGH! Electrolytic
Capacitor Leakage! Good luck cleaning up that conductive "goo!"
Lots of electrical crosstalk there... --marty
May
26, 2022:
Who does
this? That is just plain LAZY! --marty
November 18,
2021:
Oh, HELL
NO! -marty
May 02,
2021:
Not bad
rework.... however, next time try not using your feet to solder! -marty
July 19,
2020:
I guess
a little piece of heatshrink for the vibrato unit was out of the question?
-marty
April
11, 2019:
"Now,...
Be honest.... did you replace the fuse with the correct one?..." -marty
September 17,
2018:
Fool me once,
etc... -marty
December 29,
2018:
There it
is! -marty
August 06,
2018:
OMG! Every
freakin' potentiometer....
-marty
May
10, 2017:
Based on
the accumulation of dust on the speaker terminals, I am to assume it left
the factory this way ---- assembled on either a Monday, Wednesday or Friday....
-marty
April
18, 2017:
Uh... No...
No. No! No!! NO!!! NO!!!! -marty
March
11, 2017:
There it
is! -marty
November
02, 2016:
This one
came in just after Halloween - Trick or Treat! -marty
October
16, 2016:
(This is
Satire - of course...)
I am truly
amused by the shallowness of what overpaid "creative" marketing
executives come up with. It is pathetic to assume that the life of an ACTUAL
working musician is "all that." The slogan "Not A Good Idea
Folks..."
was added to this image AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN on the original ad - you know,
to show that drinking alcoholic beverages to the point of spilling them all
over your brand new amp may say you've had just
a little too much. I DO NOT understand
why clueless and irresponsible corporate minions believe that alcoholism and
abusing new equipment is okay as to promote products based on their ignorant
and distorted convictions of what contemporary "Rock
and Roll" is. -marty
May
05, 2016:
Wow! Pedalboard
by "Ralph (aka: The Wolf Counsel)" - That is what I was told...
-marty
March
22, 2016:
Every once-in-a-while,
I'll get an amp with a "roach" infestation! -marty
September
9, 2015:
Not one but
TWO?!? Both in the same month!! Not sure but I think mice - Luckily, these residences
had been vacant for a while.... -marty
August
11, 2015:
Really? Why?
No-one ever thinks about us who have to repair this mess someday... wanna
see more goop? -marty
April
26, 2015:
Well, that's
another way to "repair" a speaker - just tape it up!... See June
10, 2005 -marty
That, ladies
and gentlemen, is a brass wood screw with it's head "ground" off... -marty
March
12 , 2014:
THE BEST
T EVER !!! -marty
April
06, 2012:
What a mess!
Beer spill to the max! -- yet, this amplifier kept working through the gig until
a tube finally blew it's top! -marty
December
9, 2011:
Wait!... Is
that a shoe print? How the hell?!?.... This was found between the front panel
and pcb of an ARP Avatar. -marty
August
2, 2011:
Man! Good
thing that wire twist caught that piece! Can you imagine what could have
happened if this little conductive part did a dance across the high tension?
- or even the bias shorting to ZERO Volts? Yeesh! - Gives me a feeling of
unease thinking about it! -marty
June
21, 2011:
It really
cracks me up to see that someone went through the trouble and time of drilling
more holes into a chassis to provide the extra security of over-tube spring
retainers. I guess using the existing holes and screws for the original retainers
wasn't an option? -marty
March
13, 2011:
(note found
through letter slot) "Hey Marty! Thought you might like this stuff
- none of it works though... Mr. F.B."
Yep! We love
junk! Thank you Mr. F.B.! -marty
October
31, 2010:
How-zat for
coincidental! Here it is, Halloween and I find this message on the inside-bottom
panel of a DX-7IIFD! Kinda' creepy - looks cursed... Mr. D.J.P. graphically
claims that he is/was the owner of this synth. I'm scared to even work on
it.... (BTW - his actual name and phone number were blurred for privacy)
-marty
October
06, 2010:
BLECH! - even
our tech is a little squeamish about RATS! -marty
August
17, 2010:
Poor little
guy - Can easily survive a nuclear holocaust BUT NOT Rock and Roll! -marty
May
24, 2010:
Not getting
enough crunch? Why not permanently install a load resistor at the speaker
jack so you can drive the original vintage output transformer into oblivion...
-marty
February
19, 2010:
Customer
had explained this unit was used to play classical music that would ease
tensions between animals in a barn. Moo & GiddeeeYyuuup... -marty
January
22, 2010:
"Well,
let's see... I'm too lazy to remove the pcb to access the foil pattern so...
I'll just drill a hole on the chassis in that general area on the other side....
--- WHOOPS!! The bit slipped!"
Seeing this
makes me wonder if there are Darwin Awards for hacknicians! -marty
September
16, 2009:
This WAS a
Roland Jupiter 8 digital PCB. -marty
June
11, 2009:
Hmmm...
I got it! "If the screw fits..." No? OK, here's a better
one: "If the screw DOES NOT fit, you must uh... quit?" -marty
March
9, 2009:
OK, I have
been racking my brain on this one --- it is kind of like, well, I need to get
input from others about picture captions or something. I mean, I some-what understand
what could have happened here but HUH?!? -marty
January
13, 2009:
"yeah,
I installed a great mod I read about on a blog but I don't
think it works right -- my volume and tone controls don't do anything
and It makes a whole bunch of noise when turn the knobs..."
November
18, 2008:
FYI - You
cannot solder leads directly to a battery anode or cathode terminal cap
folks... -marty
July
5, 2008:
Jeeeezzz!
- WHY!?! -marty
April
17, 2008:
This ferrite
ring mod (yellow arrows) courtesy of Anal-Audio Inc. -marty
January
11, 2008:
This one has
got to be my all time favorite! -marty
November
7, 2007:
I have to
give this tech some props. When a replacement PCB is not available, well...
ya' do whatcha' gotta' do. -marty
August
29, 2007:
Not a technical
disaster but would definitely save a musical one. If this pedal really exists,
I NEED ONE TOO! -marty
The yellow
arrow shows how a capacitor will sometimes commit "capa-cide." -marty
February
13, 2005:
It appears
someone does not approve of any tinkering to their "scary-great modifications"...
-marty
October
17, 2005:
Man! I would've
loved to have been at that gig!! (by the way, the manufacturer covered this
under warranty!) -marty
June
10, 2005:
Well, I give
this guy an A+ for creativity. Yes, that is a metal hole plug. -marty
February
4, 2005:
(sigh...)
---Here we go again... (see journal entry May 2nd, 2003)
-marty
September
22, 2004:
Wow. I guess
that new years eve party really got out of hand! One would think "Aw, just
brush it off." - not when the glitter is mixed with multiple showers of
sparkling wine! (yes, it is all over the console!) . -marty
April
24, 2004:
"Uhhh....Can
I get this fixed under warranty?" ---Uhhh, No... -marty
November
16, 2003:
What the
heck!?! What is the light-blue stuff here and why is it all over the input
level potentiometers? I was told by this customer that this unit was installed
in the kitchen of a restaurant. I guess the cooks may have got a bit overzealous
with the cake frosting. Maybe they wanted a "sweeter" sound --
(I know, bad joke...) -marty
May
2, 2003:
Ya'
gotta' wonder why manufacturers bother to silk screen the fuse rating on
the back panel of a machine. Also, ya' gotta' wonder what logical sequence
goes through the mind of a person who thinks that if the fuse keeps blowing,
the fault HAS TO BE THE FUSE- RIGHT? I mean, why not just wrap foil around
it, re-install it, turn the power on and HEY!! == It's the 4th of July
all over again - and again! -marty
January
29, 2003:
YUCK!! Got
in a mixer with intermittent channel issues that was covered with cat or
dog hair! The customer who owns the unit said that his CAT sleeps on the
face of it. He told me that HIS CAT is VERY CLEAN and has always slept on
it and doesn't believe this would have caused any failures. Check out the
underside of the faceplate! -- Uh, Really? PET PEE-PEE!! Sometimes,
I wonder why I get talked into taking these units in.... I knew I "smelled" trouble.
-marty
July
12, 1999:
This has
to be the largest ribbon cable replacement recall imaginable! As you can
see, they filled an entire trash can! .
-marty
