Repair shop for retubing amp

 I have searched old posts here and am looking for updated advice. I just need a combo amp retubed .  Any recommendations?  I live in South Mpls and am hoping to find a shop that is reputable and not too far away.

I just sent a request for a quote to Twin Town on Lyndale.....Are they still bad like some of you posted in 2006?

Savage Audio.  They are pretty much the standard.

 I'd use Casey Gooby, you can drop your amp off at Encore Music (24th and Lyndale) and he'll pick it up there.

http://www.caseygooby.com/

I have nothing but great things to say about his work.

 I am going to give him a call this morning. Thanks for giving this info.  I will decide between Savage Audio and this guy depending on price and turnover time. 

Casey's just about the only person I'm ever going to to want to do any kind of work on my amps anymore. (The magic he did going over my '38 Supro 5 watt. Night and day.) Go to Mr. Gooby. yes, indeed. He's a super nice guy too. Well deserving of your business.

I didn't know he had a deal going through Encore. That's frickin' great. I've still got one more amp for him to look over...

I would also recommend getting your tubes ahead of time. It'll save you a bit of mark up on parts.

I am partial to the JJ tubes, but it's all subjective and depends on the amp and what you want out of it. I've also had to do a bit of NOS shopping on Ebay for a few rarer ones without any problems. (except for the shits who charge more for shipping than the tube itself. fuckers.)

I have a dead Carvin Legacy combo in my office that I need to have him take a look at.

Casey vs. Savage:

Cost:  About the same

Turnaround:  Casey is much faster

Location:  Casey is much closer to the core cities

Service:  Casey will take a look at your amp and then call you to discuss what you'd like done.  This was particularly helpful to me when he was fixing my '52 deluxe, since I wanted to keep as much of it original as possible.  Savage will frequently put parts in without discussing it with you.  It makes sense, since you dropped it off to get fixed, right?  I have nothing bad to say about them; it's just that Casey has a more personal level of service.  Savage is still a close second in my book.

If anyone is worried about his credentials, you needn't.  He was one of the main guys at Savage for a very loooong time before he split off to do his own thing.

Oh, and Jon at thetubestore.com usually has a nice selection of NOS tubes laying around.  And yes, they really do make a difference.  My vintage amps sound...well, more vintage when I put them in!

David is right about almost everything, but Casey is much cheaper than Savage. And does better work.

David Slam:

Oh, and Jon at thetubestore.com usually has a nice selection of NOS tubes laying around.  And yes, they really do make a difference.  My vintage amps sound...well, more vintage when I put them in!

I do agree to a certain extent, but it also depends on what you're looking for and your own subjective aesthetic sense. I have to say I kind of like the extra oomph that an entire fresh set of brand spanking new JJ tubes brought to my Supro Vibra-Verb that I don't think I'd have gotten from NOS.  But in the end it's an individual subjective choice.

And when you get down to it the whole New vs. NOS argument ranks up there for me with digital vs analog & Mac vs. PC in dumb things purist gearheads get worked up about. (Which has nothing to do with you David or your reply, but I've certainly been raved at a few times over this point.)

 I will add my point to NOS vs New Stock.

Tubes were made better years ago, and were more consistant than tubes of today.

Between China and Russia the specs are not as good, and there is a huge quality issue with both at times.

I do love JJ's, but truth be know. Tubes today last about half as long as the tubes of yesterday.

Mr.Slam and myself one day tested about 50 or so tubes on his tube tester. And if I remember right the NOS tubes tended to test higher on the tube scale overall.

I completely agree with you, Lanark.  I don't think anyone argues that NOS will always sound "better," but then again I haven't seen many of those debates before.  If you're looking for a more powerful or modern sound, JJs (or EH, or something similar) will sound significantly different than NOS tubes, and that might be better depending on what you're going for.  In my own testing, I got a half-dozen different types of tubes (pre and output) running the gamut from new to old and had a taste-testing at Area 52 one night.  Everyone there agreed that the NOS tubes sounded more vintage Fender, while the newer tubes sounded more punchy and modern.  As such, everyone had their own favorite combination.

And, it matters what amp you put them in.  NOS tubes in an old amp will sound different than in a modern amp.

I think pretty much all my amps are running some hash of NOS and New these days. (except for the SG Systems 2x12 since those 8417's aren't being made anymore Plus it sounds great as is. I'm not screwing with it.) A lot of that has to do with the odder tubes that some of the amps use for the Reverb or rectifier or whatever. (The '38 Supro is a variation of the original Fender Champ circuit but the Champ's tubes are the ones still getting made...) so I got NOS for those and modern for the remainder

For the most part I'm liking using new power tubes and mix and matching pre's from the pile I've gathered over the years. The JJ's in the 70's Traynor brought it much closer to the sound in my brain than the original tubes (which still had plenty of life in them). That's what works great for me.

It's amazing that you've avoided the anal gear snobs though. I think I just wasted too much time over the years bullshitting with people in guitar stores...

I took my amp over to Casey last night. Got a great vibe from the guy + he worked for Savage Audio for several years.  Also, received a quote from Savage Audio and the price was .............er quite high IMO. 

I've been taking my amps to Jeff at Savage since he was in his basement in the mid-90's.  You get what you pay for, and it's worth the trip to their shop just to see his Fender collection.