joessportster Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Anyone know any good honest tube techs or hobbbyist on or near the east coast ? I have a pair of Curcio modded Dynaco MK 3 monos they work, but curcio came out with an auto bias mod that is supposed to be easy to install ( http://www.curcioaudio.com/BCS_3.htm ) I would like to get the mod done, The Link gives the particulars as well as a link to instructions for doing the mod. I will buy all the parts and deliver with the amps / tubes. I have spoke with craig he is full up for the next 6 months, Curcio is in pacific north west and I fear shipping will make it cost prohibitive (anyone know of a better shipping route than the 3 stooges / crooks UPS, Fedex, USPS) what used to cost X and took 5 business days coast to coast now costs a considerable amount more and takes 7 to 10 days coast to coast which is unacceptable IMHO Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xoundmind Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 I’m assuming there aren’t any “stereo doctors” near you. How about a well tech, who repairs tube guitar amps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmi Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 I installed an autobias board on my Latino ST-120 amp last year. It was a pain. Different board, I think, than the Curico one. I believe Bob Latino is on the east coast, you may want to contact him to see if he has anyone in mind that will do the work for you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richieb Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 To zero in on your comment “(shipping) now costs a considerable amount more” - what did we all expect when so many sites ship for free and of course the elephant in the room Amazon Prime. All the free shipping has to be made up by someone . I’ve noticed this over the past couple years when a 40-50 lb. once cost around $60-70 with FedEx is now $100-125. But in my experience, hands down, FedEx still provides the absolute quickest delivery and that hasn’t changed . As the saying goes - Nothing is free — Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 3 hours ago, richieb said: All the free shipping has to be made up by someone You don't honestly believe that Joe (or anyone else) is paying more in shipping to subsidize Amazon do you? That sounds like what you are a implying. UPS is not shipping Amazon's stuff for free and passing the cost on to you. The increase in shipping is because they can. The overall system as a whole is a lot fuller with the advent of online buying. Adding capacity to UPS for FedEx is not as simple as buying a few more servers for your web farm and throwing them in a rack. Facilities have to be built, trucks made and capitol purchases vetted with the powers that be. UPS used to deliver 100% of Amazon's shipping. When they could not scale up quick enough, especially during peak season, they turned to FedEx in addition to UPS. Still later they started delivering things themselves. UPS partnered with the USPS to get the "last mile" taken care of when it does not make sense for them to actually take it to your door. Huge investments in technology to optimize where the drivers will be in a day or two and determine if they (ups) should take that small package along with your big box because they are already in the neighborhood or pay the USPS $1.25 to drop it off with the rest of your mail. In almost real time they make that calculation based on everything else that is in the pipeline and drivers projections and loads. Shippers charge what they can. Sellers entice you with "free" shipping and that cost is passed right back to you in the form of higher prices. Our brains are wired to delight in the word free so we buy deodorant and toothpaste and get it in two days rather than hitting up the store on our way home from work. After all, why take a 10 minute detour when I can buy it on the bosses dime at work and have it shipped free? Higher shipping prices are a direct result of supply and demand. Neither UPS or FedEx wants to go to your house with a 55 pound amp. They want to drop off 25 packages at 10 different stores EACH in a single strip mall. Unfortunately nobody is going to a strip mall anymore unless it is to pick up take out food. Uber-eats will quickly take care of that for you. Me, I wish the future had provided the food pellet and jet pack they promised me over a cell phone and social media. Sorry for the rant, back to stock market BS. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube fanatic Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Joe, given how easy it is to manually bias, and how infrequently it needs to be done, are you sure you want to make such a substantial investment? Maynard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 20 hours ago, richieb said: To zero in on your comment “(shipping) now costs a considerable amount more” - what did we all expect when so many sites ship for free and of course the elephant in the room Amazon Prime. All the free shipping has to be made up by someone . I’ve noticed this over the past couple years when a 40-50 lb. once cost around $60-70 with FedEx is now $100-125. But in my experience, hands down, FedEx still provides the absolute quickest delivery and that hasn’t changed . As the saying goes - Nothing is free — FedEx is the absolute worst in my area and they have changed delivery times. I bought drivers from a frlla in Ca. he dropped them off on SAT morning I got them 10 days later. In the past a piece dropped off on Mon would deliver on Friday. Now when I get a shipping quote on shipping to the left coast they all say 7 days minimum. No body is asking for anything free I have paid plenty to the shippers over the years and it is a simple fact the service has gotten much worse while the prices have increased a great bit. The way of the new world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 15 hours ago, tube fanatic said: Joe, given how easy it is to manually bias, and how infrequently it needs to be done, are you sure you want to make such a substantial investment? Maynard 21 hours ago, Jeffrey D. Medwin said: Hi Joe !! You realize, spending money for the auto bias mod will not change the sound of the amp, for the better, one iota?? Proper mods, spent on upgrading specific parts, or power supply enhancements, will . Is that amp and circuit ultimately worth modding, VS, say, maybe a new pair of QuickSilver Mid-Monos or a Carver Crimson 275 ??? Jeff I have no personal problem with Biasing most amps. That would be the same here except the fella I bought these off of was misleading. Long story short the Bias boards have different caps on them and different bias controls meaning I have no way of knowing how to go about biasing them (the amps have other Curcio upgrades already on board) In fact they really are no longer Dynaco amps IMHO. I have no use for the amps (things changed) and plan to sell them, I thought Auto Bias might make them easier to sell. Its starting to look like I need to list them as Is and cut bait. They work and someone with more technical skills could have a nice set of 60 WPC tube amps on the cheap. Hope that helps explain my thinking I do appreciate the advice Maynard & Jeffery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 On 2/27/2020 at 7:14 AM, xoundmind said: I’m assuming there aren’t any “stereo doctors” near you. How about a well tech, who repairs tube guitar amps? None that I have found. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 Lets try another Route. Who can give me the info on a resistor if I get a close up PIC ? Curcios question to me about Biasing the amps was " what resistor is used on the output tubes, and does it have a single resistor for each output or a shared resistor " this is info he needs before he can tell me the Bias specs. I will get a pic and post it . Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 13 minutes ago, joessportster said: Who can give me the info on a resistor if I get a close up PIC ? Take with a grain of salt, but I think the colored bands mean "things". I've seen online calculators where you put in the value and it gives you the colors or the other way around..... Like this, give it a look and see if it helps. https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/conversion-calculators/conversion-calculator-resistor-color-code-4-band Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 On 2/28/2020 at 8:04 AM, rplace said: Take with a grain of salt, but I think the colored bands mean "things". I've seen online calculators where you put in the value and it gives you the colors or the other way around..... Like this, give it a look and see if it helps. https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/conversion-calculators/conversion-calculator-resistor-color-code-4-band this resister has no bands heres a couple pics Thanks Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 Solved, Appreciate the responses...............................Discussed with Joe Curcio Again, sent him the new photos he gave me a resistor value of 10 Ohms said to measure VDC across the resistor. Adjust to 0.85 up to 1.0, Have them set at 92 VDC and music is currently playing. These have sat for several years so need some play time and recheck bias etc.... Dont have matched 6550 currently but have a quad on the way. ........... Will see what they sound like Thanks again All Joe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechEngVic Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Would love to see pic of those amps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 On 2/27/2020 at 1:31 PM, rplace said: Note the future was predicted to include punch cards. If that had been true I’d be able to amortize that key-punch degree 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 On 2/28/2020 at 4:28 AM, joessportster said: FedEx is the absolute worst in my area and they have changed delivery times. I bought drivers from a frlla in Ca. he dropped them off on SAT morning I got them 10 days later. In the past a piece dropped off on Mon would deliver on Friday. Now when I get a shipping quote on shipping to the left coast they all say 7 days minimum. No body is asking for anything free I have paid plenty to the shippers over the years and it is a simple fact the service has gotten much worse while the prices have increased a great bit. The way of the new world. you have to stop using 'Ground' for anything but the most insignificant and shipping that isn't really time sensitive... the longer the item is in the shipper, any shipper, possession... the worst the outcome can possibly be. Use 'Express' and use over night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 On 2/27/2020 at 1:31 PM, rplace said: Sorry for the rant, back to stock market BS. Psssst..... (whispers out the side of his mouth)..... I have some FREE stock certificates for you..... you simply pay shipping!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 1 hour ago, Coytee said: Psssst..... (whispers out the side of his mouth)..... I have some FREE stock certificates for you..... you simply pay shipping!! No kidding I have actual stock certificates from GM before they went under. My dad worked for them for 35 years and couldn't conceive of a world where general motors would go out of business. I'm guessing the paper has to be worth something.....not much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 1 hour ago, rplace said: couldn't conceive of a world where general motors would go out of business Yeah, I'm with you there and feel for those who got steamrolled. When I speak to groups or individuals, I need to come up with some stories/illustrations and GM was always the one I used.....wasn't there an old adage "As goes GM, so goes the country" or something similar? I have since needed to alter my story that went back to GM and in truth, every now & then if I'm not thinking about what I'm saying (being a creature of habit), I'll find myself telling a story and all the sudden I'm referring to GM...... NOW, I have to pivot mid-story and somehow make their demise part of my original point (which it was no part of) Side benefit.... it tends to keep me on my toes and adaptable to the situation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted March 1, 2020 Author Share Posted March 1, 2020 7 hours ago, Schu said: you have to stop using 'Ground' for anything but the most insignificant and shipping that isn't really time sensitive... the longer the item is in the shipper, any shipper, possession... the worst the outcome can possibly be. Use 'Express' and use over night. I am inherently CHEAP, Though I will pay a FAIR price for a service or item, I sometimes labor over the decision. I 100 percent agree that the longer ANY shipper has a product the higher the chances of damage. For me though Its another nail in the coffin of my continued activity in the hobby. Though it has been said before the aggravation of dealing with some of the people I have run into lately, The expenses of shipping, hearing loss, health issues, ETC... I have a plan to pull way back and enjoy what I have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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