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Vintage Repair article with NOSvalves


Colin

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Refurbish Valves In Michigan 

I know Craig Ostby of NOSvalves in Michigan for over a decade on the Klipsch consumer forums. In the arcane world of tubes, New Old Stock refers to vintage tubes manufactured long ago but never used. Somehow, decades later, the supply of NOS tubes never seems to wear out. Valves is the British term for tubes. So NOSvalves means New Old Stock tubes. Ostby has an excellent reputation there for refurbishing vintage tube amplifiers. Ostby also makes the VRD amplifier with KT88 tubes (60 watts ultra-linear / 30 watts triode switchable). It is one of the best tube amplifiers I have ever heard on Big Ole Horn loudspeakers. He used to post a public queue for his repair jobs, but he no longer updates it. Nonetheless, the list is an excellent reference of vintage models. Ostby also has refurbished amplifiers for sale.


Ostby works strictly on tube-based electronics, but he avoids certain kinds of limited repairs. Vintage units that either reached or are approaching the 50-year mark, he does "complete restoration/rebuild or I'd rather not get involved since doing any type of "fix what is broke" type work will just end up with both parties unhappy as the next 50-year old failure prone component fails." With more modern tube gear from the 1980's and up, he says he will do basic repairs.


"My father learned from his father," Ostby grew up helping his father work on all types of tube based electronics. His father's favorite side line business was buying and refurbishing WW II era ham radios. His day job was electronic repair of all types of household appliances. "I helped him all through my formative years in both ventures.  I kind of ventured away from the business/hobby for many years until I reached my 40's (2001 to be exact). At that time, just by chance, I stumbled into the Klipsch forum about a problem I was having with some Klipsch computer speakers and found many folks were using old tube based vintage integrated, preamps and tube power amps with Klipsch speakers. I knew I was capable of working  on this stuff and decided to get one myself."

 

http://enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0215/Breathe_New_Life_Into_Old_Gear.htm

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"Fledging Under Juicy Wing 


"I was also lucky enough," Ostby says, "to have another forum member Mark Deneen, Juicy Music Audio and Paragon Audio owner take me under his wing for a first few years that I was mostly playing with this gear as a hobby. Well as I worked on the gear, I posted what I was doing on the Klipsch forum and the next thing I knew I started getting request to restore them for other members…. it wasn’t long and it mushroomed into a full time business. I now have customers from every corner of the internet and the world."


"Well honestly, I’d say," my greatest achievement, he said, is "making a full time successful business out of this for the last almost 13 years while keeping a stellar reputation." His typical turnaround time varies, but for the most part somewhere between three and five weeks. Ostby’s minimum bench fee is $125 for repairs, but he rarely does specific repairs like those mentioned above. "I don’t really charge by the hour. My labor charge for most vintage integrated amps is from $185 to $285. It just depends on the model.


People rarely abandon or leave equipment, "when it does its usually because the cost of repair is beyond the gears worth or the part required to repair is just not available. I might have three or four abandoned projects on hand and they just sit waiting to see if the owner ever claims them. At some point I will have to just call them mine I guess. In most cases with gear, with say, bad transformers or something like that, the customer and I negotiate a reasonable price as a parts unit. I keep here for spare hard to find parts."


Ostby's worst repair nightmares are "projects I take on are units sold on eBay advertised as "gone over by my tech" or worked on by a novice DIY type. Those unknown technician or novice DIY can do some really strange things under the hood and you often have to go over the units chasing down poor quality work. These situations can really hurt the schedule and bottom line when you do things as a package deal and not hourly.""

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"Well honestly, I’d say," my greatest achievement, he said, is "making a full time successful business out of this for the last almost 13 years while keeping a stellar reputation."

Respectfully, I wholeheartedly disagree with that assertion. In my view your greatest achievment has been that you are an exemplary husband, father and son. Further, you set a shining example that it is important to make time for yourself, away from business, by setting aside time for annual trips that you allow nothing to interfer with.

While your assertion aboit your integrity is certainly true, I have come to known that Craig the man is so much more than NosValves the business. The sucess of your business is in large part due to your strong commitment to "excellence" in the business sense of that word.

You, Sir, and NosValves exemplify everything that is great about this Country.

Travis

P.S. I also saw in that article that you gave a very nice nod to Mark. Knowing you that probably just came naturally which, in my mind, speaks volumes about you. Unfortunately, it is all to often that people forget that their success had some help along the way.

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Great article Colin, One of the few things that all audio blogs, columns, magazines etc. seem to routinely forget about, is what do you do when your gizmo goes splat. When the magic smoke escapes.  When the doohickey don't hunt.

 

I commend everybody to read Colin's entire article on what would be better titled "The Art of the Electric Craftsman".

 

Then there's that Ostby fellow.  A misogynous, braggart, hack, of truly prodigious flatulence bordering by narcissist from inhaling to much soldering gas...and one of the most wonderful people on the planet.

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