Aviator Audio Inc — Local services in Edmonds

I used to bring these guys a ton of business but no more. By the time I stopped coming they were charging $80/hour for repairs and no matter what you brought in for whatever reason the cost always seemed to push a couple of hundred bucks.

The last time I went there Erickson tried to sell me for $1200 a dinky little chassis amp he'd built. Honestly, you could buy DIY amps like that on eBay all day long for $200 or less. It was obvious the people there saw me either as a milk cow or a rube with a check book. I also got sick and tired of the slow turnarounds and just plain elitism. They flat out told me that if somebody famous came along I'd get bumped. I don't know if these guys think they're amp repairmen to the Stars but they seriously need to learn some grass roots customer service or one day they're going to find themselves working for somebody else. These are not straight shooters.

For practice and studio work these days I use cathode biased amps and just end run these guys. I buy vintage tubes from reputable online sellers and I'm still paying less than what Aviator charges. If I need amp work done, I send it off to the person or company who made it and I often end up paying less and I get it back faster. (FYI, there are a lot of amp makers out there who do repair on the side and will give you waaaay better service and rates...

I took my Eden WT500/800 (power was upgraded by David Nordschow to 800-watts) into Aviation Audio about 4-weeks ago. These guys are a bit more expensive than other techs in the Seattle area but I went to them because of their great reputation. That reputation was well earned. I opted for the "rush" charge to get them into it within 3-4 days and after 1-hr at express they got back to me with diagnosis including estimate of time expected to finish. Was probably going to need two more hours as he had to trace back a fault, so I went with the "normal" rate for those two hours with expected delivery in 4 weeks. That timing was fine as I had a back up amp to use in the meantime.

Got the amp back today with all faults found, corrected and faulty parts deposited into a plastic bag for me. Amp works great and sounds like new. All steps taken in repair are listed on their final invoice. They also recommended a cooling fan and fan opening modification which I can and will do myself. I'd hear about this mod before and evidently Eden sent out service note on it. All in all these guys, Morris and Rick, are absolutely top notch, extremely thorough, and I recommend them highly. Only reason it's not 5-stars is because they are a bit spendy. BUT...they...

Have been taking amps to Rick since 2005. He's done repairs for me and members of my band. He is a total pro, does quality work and will consult with you to suggest ideas based on what you need, what sound you're looking to get out of your amp, etc. Whether it it is a repair or modification to an amp, highly recommend Rick and Aviator Audio. His work is worth every penny to know it has been done right. The amp will be reliable to gig with. His shop did a bassman for me in 2005 and it had been all over the western United States for hundreds of gigs and jams. It has been a rock solid amp and so far not even a tube needs replacement. He uses quality parts. The Fender deluxe he just upgraded for me actually sounds like a Deluxe should now. The reverb is strong, present, and the amp had much less noise than new from the factory. He made some improvements for long term reliability. Can't thank Rick enough. Highly...