Partial Client List -
alphabetical order (bands associated with clients are listed
in parentheses)
Nick Cowan
Cowboy Mouth
Coy Bowles - (Zac Brown Band)
Denny Walley (Frank Zappa, The Magic Band)
Donna Hopkins
Drivin’ n’ Cryin’
Foreigner
Griffin Mastering Studios
Family Force 5
Jackyl
Jimmy Herring (Widespread Panic, The Dead, Aquarium Rescue
Unit, Derek Trucks Band, etc.)
Manchester Orchestra
Oliver Wood (Wood Brothers)
Open Sky Studios
Sevendust
Snowden
Southern Tracks Studios
Stillwater
Swimming Pool Ques
Tree Sound Studios
Vintage Song Studios
Vision Studios
Lefty Williams
Zac Brown Band
Here's Jeff working on a vintage ReverbeRocket
(Scroll down to read Jeff's bio)
Andrews Amp Lab specializes in
the repair modification of all makes and models of tube-type guitar amps
as well as the design and manufacturing of Andrews amplifiers.
WHAT MAKES ANDREWS AMP LAB BETTER?
Customer Experience - As owner of Andrews Amp Lab Inc.,
I want every customer to a have better-than-expected experience when doing
business with us. Before starting this company, I worked for many years as
service representative for a large electronics corporation. In that
position, my responsibility was to work with corporate management, independent
service companies, end users and the dealers who sold our products. This
was a unique opportunity to see and hear all sides of the service experience.
If something didn't go well, I would hear from the customers and dealers, then I
would work with the service companies to resolve the situation. During
these years, I learned a lot about customer expectations. Our customers
depended on the hundreds of service companies we supported to meet those
expectations. It became easy to see what many companies did poorly and
what a few did well. When you do business with us, these lessons will be
reflected in your service experience and hopefully, your expectations will be
exceeded.
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We keep a clean shop. You will not find your amp under a
stack of parts and equipment.
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You'll receive a detailed invoice showing what
was done to your amp.
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You will not be surprised by unexpected charges when you arrive
to pick up your amp. All customers are contacted with estimates.
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Most repairs are completed in one to two weeks. Call or
check our news page for the latest turnaround times.
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We stand behind all of our work with a 90 day warranty.
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We use only top quality parts.
We specialize in Vintage Tube-Type amps but we also provide expert service all makes and models of
"all tube" amps.
This gives us the ability to provide a higher level of service on these amps.
We go through every part of your amp and find everything that isn't exactly
right. Your amp will be diagnosed and evaluated with the most meticulous
care. We don't just repair the obvious problem and put it back together
with other problems still lurking in the amp like most other shops do.
After giving your amp a thorough checkout and listening test, we contact you
with a list of recommended work to achieve optimum tone and reliability. You can decide
what you would like to have done. This helps to insure that you
won't be faced with a problem during a performance or recording session.
Even more importantly, it insures that your amp will operating at peak
performance and provide the best possible tone and that it will unlikely to have
any major problems for many years.
If you have a newer tube amp and just want basic repairs, of course we can
do that too. We service all makes and models of tube-type guitar
and bass amps.
Top Quality Components
All tubes are checked for shorts,
microphonics, gain and sound quality (many on-line sellers don't actually listen
to tubes before selling them). Then they are hot-tested under full
power.
Each tube is chosen for the best performance and reliability in your amp.
We also check all of your existing tubes. If they pass all the electrical
and listening tests, we don't replace them unless you specifically that we do. If they fail our tests, I will let you know.
All capacitors and resistors are selected for optimum tonal quality and
reliability.
Other components are chosen for their ability to stand up to heat, vibration,
humidity and the rigors of gigging and road travel.
We use carbon composition resistors
where they work best and we use metal film and flameproof metal oxide where they
work best. This is not based on price. The choice of resistors type has
very little impact on the cost of amp repairs or mods. This choice is
based on sound quality and is backed up by research and experience. Much
as been written on this subject and you can read the details in Kevin O'Connor's
books or R.G Keen's and Randall Aiken's web sites. To sum it up, there are
only a few places in guitar amps where carbon comps are the best choice so we
use them there for optimum tone. Metal film and metal oxide are much more
accurate, reliable and quite so we use them throughout the rest of the amp.
We use the finest chemicals available
for cleaning and protecting your controls, jacks and tube sockets.
Fantastic tone and reliability are our goals.
When your amp leaves our shop, it will be rock solid and sound its best. You
will probably hear great new tone you didn’t even know your amp could produce!
The deterioration of sound quality usually happens so slowly that often, it isn't
noticed. Many customers report being surprised by the improvement in tone
of their vintage amp after repair, often, they don't remember it ever sounding
so good before.
We go through your entire amp very
carefully and report back to you about anything that is out of spec or appears
to be nearing failure. We want your amp to sound and work at
least as well as the day it was built. All work and most parts (including
tubes) are covered by our 90 day warranty.
No long waits for repairs
Most repairs completed within 2 week
weeks.
Please click here for more information about
turnaround time and other news.
Click here to see what some of our customers
have to say us.
A few words about tubes
Today, there are many more choices in terms
of tubes than we had even a few years ago. Some people
have a favorite brand, others swear by NOS (new old stock). Still
others say "a tube is a tube, just use the cheapest thing you can get". Of
course, there are as many opinions about tubes as there are tubes.
Here is my opinion;
1) The majority of NOS tubes are
overpriced, sometimes over $100 per tube. Some are very high quality. Some
are not. Fortunately, there are still a few NOS bargains available so we
do use them in some cases.
2) The majority of Chinese tubes are
of poor quality but there are a few good ones and they are getting better
recently.
3) Many Russian and eastern European
tubes are as good or better than some NOS alternatives and are more
attractively priced. We use carefully chosen selections from this category
for most work. The choices are based on tube reliability experience and
listening tests as well as the amp application.
4) Groove Tubes - There is much
confusion in the market place about the Groove Tubes brand. In short, very
few GT tubes if any are made by GT. They buy "off-the-shelf"
current-production tubes and test them. Those that pass the tests get the GT label
and higher price tag. We also test all tubes that are used in amp
repairs. In addition to standard testing, we actually listen to the tubes
and reject them if there are any audio problems. In general, I can supply
the same tube without the GT label for a lower price.
I'm very particular about which tube I
use in various amps and each choice is made based upon several factors relating
to sound quality, reliability, voltage and current requirements, microphonics,
hum,
etc. When applicable, we will ask you about your tastes and playing
style and choose tubes that best complement your playing while avoiding tubes
that are known to have reliability problems.
Recently, several new tubes have
appeared on the market that are much improved over what was available in years
passed. I am constantly on the lookout for the latest news and I try as
many new tubes as possible. When I find a good tube for a reasonable price, I use it.
If you are one of those who
insists on only NOS tubes in your amp and you are willing to pay the premium
price, please tell me before the repair or estimate is complete. I will
use anything you want as long as I don't feel that there is a reliability risk.
Tubes purchased from other dealers
We will reluctantly install tubes that you have purchased from another dealer.
However, we will charge a fee of $5 per tube in most cases. Also keep in
mind that if one of these tubes fails and causes any problem with your amp, we
can not provide any free troubleshooting or repairs that may be required as a
result of the failure of any tube purchased from another dealer. If
we install tubes purchased from us during your repair, we will warranty the
tubes as well as any damage to your amp that may occur as a result of a failure
of the tubes. We stock the best tubes right in the shop at competitive
prices and we can get nearly any tube you request if we don't have it in stock.
Speakers
We have many different
speakers in stock, both new and used and we give you a chance to try before you
buy. Many people are surprised at the drastic differences in tone from one
speaker to another.
ANDREWS Hand Wired Amps
Jeff Andrews
Jeff's Bio
My fascination with electronics
started in the 1960s when I was a kid. My Dad helped me build a
crystal radio and we hooked up a long wire around the eves of the house.
The radio picked up a few AM radio stations and I was hooked. After that,
I took apart and destroyed several of my Grandfathers radios to try to
understand how they worked.
A few years later, I picked up an
electric guitar and started trying to follow in the footsteps of Jimi Hendrix.
I understood that part of what I liked about his music was the renegade way in
which he approached the guitar and amp. I too wanted to know how to get
new and radical sounds from the instrument. While focused on becoming a
"rock star", I was encouraged to plan on a backup career "just in case".
That was easy, it seemed a logical fit to learn electronics since that knowledge
might help me to get cool sounds from my gear and allow me to maintain the
equipment.
I studied electronics in my last year
of High School and in my local Community College and graduated with honors in
1979. Beginning in around 1977 or '78 while taking electronics in high
school, I began doing basic repairs on my guitar amps and those of my friends
and band mates. While still primarily focusing on the guitar, I worked in a TV shop
repairing tube-type and solid-state TVs as well as solid state audio gear.
Over the years, I became especially proficient on reel to reel tape decks at a
local Atlanta shop. From there, I worked to stay on the leading edge of
audio technology. I was one of the first techs to learn how to work on CD players, Laser Disc and DVD as each product emerged. During
all this time however, I was always tweaking and repairing guitar amps and other
gear for friends, band mates and myself.
In the Late 80s I was hired by a big
Japanese company to take responsibility for the service of Laser Disc, DVD,
projection TV and Plasma displays for ten southern states. In that
position, I was a technical trainer, warranty administrator and repair technical
support representative. I learned much about the electronics industry.
In 2002, as consumer audio and video
products were becoming more disposable and impractical to repair, I started
Andrews Amp Lab to get back closer to why I started in electronics. Now I can
enjoy keeping amps working and sounding great while helping other guitarists
work towards their musical goals whether it be to become a star, make
recordings, to play music
with others for fun, to play praise music in church or for the personal
enjoyment of
collecting gear and playing at home.
JA
