I have been taking my synths, studio monitors, audio interfaces, etc. to Advanced since 1983. They have always repaired the gear and got me back to work in good time, especially when I've used the 'rush' option. In a word: Trustworthy. That is what I'd call them. read more

Advanced Musical Electronics - Since before we were digital AME was there for us in L.A. - Electronics Near Me - Los Angeles, California

This place really sucks; it is completely crazy that they are still in business today.

Craig, whose job is to answer phones, tells me that Terry, their technician won't repair my Yamaha AW4416 Digital Audio Workstations, because "the parts to fix it are no longer available and there is no documentation." I said to Craig, "Excuse my language but that's BULLSHIT!" Craig immediately chastised me for using that word. I then told Craig that even CNN broadcasts that word on air. His response to me was, "So now you're bringing politics into it? I replied...NO! Craig hung up on me. I phoned back to apologize to Craig for my language(not really) and to explain to him that Mouser Electronics, a well-known national electronic parts distributor, has over 8,000 of the one part needed for that specific repair, currently in stock. In addition, the internet has many videos, photos and written instructions about how to disassemble the product and perform that specific repair. Also, the Yamaha AW4416 service manual can be easily downloaded. Craig wouldn't take my phone call so I spoke with a female employee(name began with an R) who told me that AME no longer repairs "hard disk recorders" and in fact had stopped repairing them several years ago. However, the front page of AME's website clearly states that they repair "hard disk recorders". They also state..."We can fix almost anything!" To that I say... BULLSHIT! STAY FAR AWAY from this place. They are liars and way out of their depth. More then half of their Yelp reviews are 1 star! UPDATE: Audio Rehab in Glendale agreed to repair my three Yamaha AW4416's for $290 each including the two hours of labor and the one $20 part. That money could have gone to AME. I'm relieved and happy that it didn't. read more

Advanced Musical Electronics - BULLSHIT! - Electronics Near Me - Los Angeles, California

TL;DR: Avoid Advanced Musical Electronics at all costs. This shop has no honesty or professional ethics, charges outrageous prices, and will hold your gear for months, only to return it in worse condition than you left it - or, in my case, completely broken. They refuse refunds and instead offer "free rush jobs" on future repairs, which is infuriating considering the nightmare I endured. Please spare yourself the trouble and take your gear to another of the many reliable, honest, and skilled technicians in Los Angeles. They seem to be coasting on the reputation of their previous owners, who are no longer involved. They will overcharge you, hold your equipment indefinitely, and refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes and for wasting your time. My Experience: I've been buying and repairing vintage musical equipment for over 20 years, working with repair shops in Los Angeles and NYC. Never have I felt so completely exhausted by my experience getting a piece of gear repaired. The nature of vintage gear is that it sometimes needs repairs or has issues that simply cannot be fixed, but this shop has perfected the art of marketing themselves as experts, providing absurdly high estimates, and washing their hands of the problem once they have your money. Timeline of Events: August 23, 2024: I dropped off my vintage Novation synthesizer with a common issue (unexpected shutdown after 1-2 hours). I provided them with a full repair history and told them I doubted it could be fixed after Novation themselves failed. They assured me they'd assess it and give me an honest estimate. October 21, 2024: Nearly two months later, they quoted me $250 and said they were confident they could fix it. I hesitated because their estimate was more than double what Novation charged, but they assured me they were "fairly confident." I reluctantly paid the deposit. October 23, 2024: They claimed the synth was fixed and ready. I paid $263.33 and brought it home, only to find: Two knobs were cracked during disassembly. The synth still exhibited the exact same issue. I contacted them immediately, and they promised to fix it at no extra charge and "rush" the repair. Foolishly, I gave them another chance. October 28, 2024: I dropped it off again. Weeks turned into months of vague updates and excuses. By December, they claimed the DSP chip was faulty but couldn't source a replacement. December 23, 2024: They informed me my synth was "ready for pickup." January 14th, 2025: When I finally came to pick it up, I expressed my frustration and requested a refund. They refused but offered a "free rush job" on another repair. I told them that offer had no value to me and that I would never bring any gear to them again. Once I got home, I discovered that my synth was now completely bricked, stuck on the boot screen every time I tried to turn it on. When I called the shop, they blamed the DSP chip and gave me more empty promises, including another offer of a "free rush job" on future repairs. I tried to meet them halfway and suggested a partial refund while still paying them for bench time, but they refused. I made it clear to them that I understand vintage gear can be tricky to repair, but I also felt completely taken advantage of. I had provided them with detailed information upfront, was transparent about my doubts that the issue could be fixed, and had been incredibly patient throughout the months-long ordeal. Guess what - they don't care. In the end, I'm left with a broken synthesizer, over $260 wasted, and more than four months of lost time. This shop lacks honesty, professionalism, and the skills to back up their inflated prices. Please learn from my mistake and take your gear elsewhere. read more

Advanced Musical Electronics - Broken Knob 1 - Electronics Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Huge fan of these guys. I had to repair my Yamaha Motif 8 keyboard, which had been in storage for more than 10 years due to some kind of burnout (I plugged it into a higher voltage socket overseas and blew something). I never got around to repairing it, until covid hit, and I decided to finally pull it out of the shed. After asking a few musician friends, they all recommended this place, so I called and inquired. They are incredibly professional and knowledgeable, and after describing my issue, they were honest about not being able to give a reliable assessment without looking inside the keyboard, but also that they were backed up and would take a few weeks. I had nothing else to lose, so I dropped it off. The shop looks like something out of Doc Brown's lab from Back to The Future, and I felt pretty confident leaving it there. A week later, I got a call about the estimates, which was surprisingly cheaper than I expected, and a few weeks after that, it was ready for pickup. I've been locked onto my keyboard for months now, and I'm ecstatic. I'm recording music like I've never done before! Highly recommend these guys! read more

Don't bring anything in to these guys that you can't live without for an extended period of time. When I brought it my Mackie Control Surface in May 2023, I was told that it would take 5-6 weeks for them to even look at it. After the 6 weeks was up, and I hadn't heard from them, I called. This began a biweekly game of me calling, them promising to get right on it and call me back to keep me apprised and never doing it. I finally have my unit back today, in September 2023, almost 4 months to the day.To make matters worse, they never apologised or took any responsibility for not living up to their promises. read more

We've been taking my husband's gear here for years. They always do an amazing job and the price is always reasonable. They also do free estimates. Because there aren't many places around that do the work that they do, it does take them some time. They give us a timeline of how long something will take when we drop it off. They have worked on everything from Kurzweil and Roland keyboards to Hiwatt, Fender, and Marshall amps. We currently have a 1970 Marshall Major in for repair. read more

Pay the extra $50 to rush your repair and hope it goes as smoothly as my repair just went a few days ago. I've been been a patron for a good 15 years and I can't depend on any other musical electronic repair shop in the region. Thanks Ruth, Kurt & Rob . . read more

Really good ethics. I brought a pedal in for repair. They put it on the bench and couldn't find anything wrong with it. They did not charge me for this. On further investigation at home it turned out to be several bad guitar cables on my end. read more

I love these guys. They always take care of everything I need in a timely manner. Communication is good and Ruth couldn't be sweeter lady Taylor read more

I had a great history with these guys from the 90s and had to return to them for repair on some newer gear and as always they did a fantastic job with good turnaround and reasonable prices. read more

Just wanted to give you guys a disclaimer upfront that I have not used them since so this is not an actual review so I will give them three stars to be fair. I've seen a few people mention the $50 "rush fee" - is that what they call it now? When I went there, they charged this to get the equipment looked at and they called it "the estimate fee". My music set up easily cost well over 10K or more and those amps were extremely hard to find at the time and I would have even paid double for Rush service. I am happy to see that the company apparently has made some improvements but it seems like also that it's a matter of luck. It is very difficult to find a good place for vintage gear. But to be honest I wish I would've written a more detailed review about my initial experience because there was a lot more wrong than just the price. First of all, it took them months to even tell me what was wrong with the stuff. And I called about once a month to get an update and nobody ever knew what was going on or what I was referring to (lol). One would assume that a skilled technician would open an amp and spend a little time on it, which was the $50 or for, and then be able to tell you what's wrong and how much it would cost and how long it will take. One time I just showed up there out of the blue unannounced after not contacting them for two months and it was about six months after dropping off one of the amps. And I asked to see it and the guy hadn't even started to look at it. He basically had no clue yet what was going on - hasn't even tested the sound. It was just sitting there collecting dust. And all the times I called, they just came up with some stories why there were delays because they had to order special knobs and parts from south east Asia blah blah blah and they haven't even touched my amp yet. And I'm pretty sure that when I picked them all up after a year, they only sort of started to fix one of them and they still charged me $1000. And what bothered me the most was this lack of transparency, the lack of interest or care. There was never an explanation or an answer for anything and it really seemed like that they had never done this before. I guess it also depends on the type of equipment they are working on but these were actually Mcintosh certified (!!!????), and I'm seriously now that Mcintosh even knows these people. It's just incredibly sad because people who buy this kind of equipment are usually passionate music lovers and not having their beloved gadgets for a year or longer, only to receive them back in the exact same shape a year later for 1$k - A PIECE (!) Was infuriating. And especially showing up on announced was very revealing insight into their practices because they had charge me $50 for an estimate which they give me within two or three weeks. And six months later they hadn't even touched it yet. As a matter of fact he didn't even know what the initial complaint was and couldn't find a piece of paper with my comments on it so that's probably why they left the thing just sitting there hoping that I would either forget about it or die of old age. Thankfully there are a lot of Facebook groups with skilled technicians and not like 10 years ago where there was this one place in orange county that knew what to do with these things and you just had to deal with it. And it's very unfortunate because I really like to support small businesses like this but they literally did everything they possibly could to not only not fix myself but to infuriate me with their demeanour and they're high price tag for equipment that sounded just as it did before I dropped it off. Maybe they thought it was just some girl who doesn't know wat she's doing? Who knows. But the one time when I showed up and put pressure on it that amp was fixed 2 weeks later and it sounded really good. It sounded like this guy actually did some thing, and he also showed me what he did and he gave me all the spare parts that he exchanged and explained it to me and tested the amp in front of me. But I had to sit in traffic three hours go in there and back to Los Angeles to get them motivated enough to touch my poor amp. Anyway that's it guys - Best of luck to everyone and I hope that the company will improve or has improved lol read more

I have had multiple of my favorite sound toys fixed here including an ADA MP1, Art multi-verb (which needed modding because they no long back the internal battery in the correct size), a tube amp head, and an old Gibson SG amp (they were able to find a speaker to replace the one that was damaged and although not the same it came from around the same time period). All of the work I have had done has been top notch, they know what they are doing and they do it well. read more

Considered this place a couple times for repairs as it's the closest to me-the 1st time I brought my Technics 1200s for calibration. They needed time to do an estimate. A week later they still had not gotten to the estimate and I needed my gear back. Took them to another place and got it fixed in 2 days. Figured I'd caught them at a busy period n gave the benefit of the doubt. Called again for a different repair some years later. Same story, estimate (not the repair) would take 3 weeks unless I wanted to pay a $50 fee to jump the line. Man on the phone was very nice n upfront, but 3 weeks to just diagnose the issue seemed excessive. After seeing other reviews that had the same delayed experiences, I researched other places. Finally found 1 in the valley that could do it faster & immediately knew what the issue was n the cost to fix it. Sure I had to drive over the hill, but good efficient service is worth it. read more

I had taken my Fender Reverb in to two separate audio/music repair shops because the amp wasn't functioning properly (Reverb/Crackling/Static). The businesses said they fixed it and the problem persisted. I drove 2 hours and 45 minutes to drop the amp off here for repair and it works like new. Great customer service. I will definitely (but hopefully not) be returning :) read more

DO NOT TRUST YOUR EQUIPMENT HERE. This is by far the worst experience I've had with any repair shop. It's unfortunate because the people who work there are very nice, but the customer service could not be worse. I brought my keyboard in to Advanced to diagnose an issue I had with a single key, and they returned it to me with four broken keys and an estimate for what it would cost to fix all four. I pointed out that they are clearly responsible for the additional damage and asked what we could do to help the situation. I was happy to pay for my part but it just didn't seem right to have to pay for the damage THEY caused. They became very nasty with me telling me it's my responsibility and that I'd have to pay or take the keyboard somewhere else. There was no option for a discount, no willingness to admit to fault, nothing. Just a tab of a few hundred bucks and another unsatisfied customer. Do yourself a favor, save yourself the time and the headache. There are plenty of quality shops in LA with excellent customer service and a great reputation. This isn't one of them, and now I know why. read more

I have had a working relationship with Ruth for over 40 years. She and her crew are first rate. Whenever I have an issue with a piece of gear, she is my first call. Her prices are fair, the techs will give you a true assessment and estimate (even though it may seem high, I challenge you to find another repair shop that will be any lower and if you do, be wary of add ons...actual price higher than the estimate). I can't imagine doing that business any better than they do and be in business any longer than they have without doing things the right way and especially in the toughest market (LA) there is! read more

They prices are really high I mean it coast more to fix the speakers then buying them brand new. I had one speaker messed up and they insisted I bring both of them in smh what a scam. I got the speaker fixed and that same speaker is messed up again. Never will I ever go back there. read more

Very upfront about pricing and turnaround time for a piece of studio gear. They ended up being quicker than estimated and they did a great job! I will be back!! read more

Very friendly, knowledgeable, and got the job done right. Guitar Center sent me over there to fix our keyboard and they did a great job.

save your time, money, and priceless gear.... DO NOT GO HERE there are plenty of much better places in the LA area. trust me read more

Lots of respect for anyone in the repair industry. Let's keep those old amps running!

I thought my Yamaha keyboard was fried, but I took it in and they tried a new power supply and my keyboard was back in action! They didn't even charge me and I am so thankful for their help. They are the best! read more

For pro studio peeps. I sent in a high end digital interface (Prism Sound) after the firewire buss had issues connecting to my computers. They replaced an IC which fixed the connection issue, but didn't check the functionality of the machine. The unit now cannot accept digital signals without distortion and a looping feedback, it's unusable. To be fair, I only tested this after the warranty was up, however, it is almost impossible the work done didn't create this new problem, as it removed and worked on the same PCB board as the source of the new problem and the problem wasn't there before. After explaining this, I was told it's an 8 - 10 week wait with no recognition that it was the work of A.M.E that either created this new problem, or recognition the machine and sent it back in a non - working order. The idea and hope is to fix equipment so we can get back to work, not fix one element then hope the rest works on complex equipment without checking it. I still have an expensive piece of equipment I cannot use or sell for market value, minus $180 for Advanced Musical Electronics "fixing it". My advice for high end gear repairs would be to find the experts/makers of the gear, this place isn't it. read more

These guys are horrible and its hard for me to believe any of they good reviews. I brought a keyboard there just for some simple maintenance and cleaning. and got it back in worse condition than i brought it. As soon as you voice your grievance about the work that was done it's like they don't care.... I used to go here years ago. and back than they had pretty good service, but now it's gone to crap...... go at your own risk read more

Brought my Access Virus for warranty repair. They did repair my Virus but helped themselves to my LCD while they were at it and replaced it with a dying, washed-out LCD. They're shady. Stay away. You have been warned. read more

I had a rather odd experience. I brought in a home-stereo amplifier (vintage 1973) which wouldn't power on. I examined it myself to make sure there were no blown fuses inside or burnt capacitors, resistors, diodes, etc. Their cost to evaluate and diagnose is $50 (fair enough!) so I paid it and waited a week. They called and said my repair cost was about $300-350....but they would not tell me what was wrong with the unit (power capacitor? burnt output transistor? burnt resistor/bad power circuit? some short in the power board? I completely could not afford it, but I was FINE with paying the bench charge, and I looked forward to their idea of what was wrong (like a transformer or power capacitors, etc)... But they would not tell me what they found! They said it was "on file" in case I decided to let them repair it. I am not young, but I know my way around a soldering iron. I was a teen-ager when this amplifier came on the market. I can replace a burnt capacitor. So, I have the amplifier back now, but I am no further to the cause of the malfunction than I was before the $50 diagnostic fee... I do not know what I paid them $50 for.. I already knew it was not functional. You might say I wasted fifty bucks.. but I am sure they did the work; they just refuse to tell me what they found. I plan to file a complaint with the CA Board of Consumer Affairs, since when you do this... they notify the shop and ask for a reply, and then they may/may not investigate (depending on the shop's reply). Fifty bucks is not nothing for a person who must exist on a $650 per month Disability. I give them two stars because they did not do "nothing"... They did troubleshoot my stereo.. however they refused to tell me what the defective parts were. (I was told "It's on file") Maybe it should be one star after all. I have spent 12 hours on it and I MAY have found a defective relay. It's really a handsome old stereo amplifier, and it weighs fifty pounds. I hate to just throw it away. All I wanted was to pay someone to diagnose it ; maybe I can fix it. I can't imagine taking my car in for an evaluation (for a $75 bench charge, gladly paid! ) but having them only give me the repair cost but refuse to tell me what parts of my car were actually faulty... sr read more

I have an update that will delight all. I took my synth to another shop, www.bustedgear.com, who completed my repair for $139.00. My handy invoice offered the following info: "Open up the chassis, remove the keyboard assembly. Remove the key contact PC board, remove the affected rubber contact strips. Clean the contact strips and the printed circuit contacts. Reinstall the strips and the PC board. Recheck the performance. Ok. Remove the PC-mounted lithium battery. Install a new battery and solder it in place. Locate and install a replacement foot that matches the other three. Recheck all. OK." All parts and labor are broken down on the invoice as well. Which shop would you rather go to? read more

This place is honest as they come. I took my tuner pedal and my jbl studio monitors in that were having issues. They assessed my gear and did a free estimate, and having realized that power for my tuner was the only issue with that... And how my speaker had a notch on the back that was on the wrong setting giving it low output volume, they called to let me know I could pick up my gear, free of charge because no repair was done. They took the time to see what was wrong and still didn't charge me when they could be doing so many other things. Basically a free consultation with a quick turnaround, with no unnecessary jargon. Highly recommend. read more

This business is a great contribution to the community. They fix the equipment for the school where I teach music. In an age where most things are becoming disposable, they help to keep equipment working year after year. They are are great resource for Fender warranty repairs. They are not a fast food restaurant, and it may take a few weeks before they can give as estimate. That's because not many other people want to do this sort of work. As a result they are in demand. Thank you to the owners and workers at Advanced Music Electronics. read more

Professional audio and electronic musical equipment repair. It seems like they have been there forever. When walk in the first thing you'll notice are the piles of audio and musical equipment laying around. The second thing you may notice are all the musician photos on the walls. These guys seem like pros and are the real deal. I dropped my power amp off. It going to take about 2-3 weeks before they can even give me an estimate, so we'll see how it goes. UPDATED 11/4/2007: They called me with a quote on Wednesday, three business days after I dropped it off. Then again later that afternoon to tell me it was ready to pick up. WOW! that was fast. read more

I had a great experience with Advanced Musical Electronics, start to finish. I brought in a Yamaha M08 with pretty serious physical damage (the brain was fine). They came back with a reasonable quote in a timely fashion, and got the work finished sooner than I expected, within the week. The keyboard is in perfect condition now. On top of that, everyone I spoke to was friendly and polite. I have to admit that I was hesitant to bring my synth here after reading some of the negative reviews. But I'm really happy that I did, and feel very confident recommending these guys to anyone in need of repairs. read more

This place has taken care of me a few times now. As promised, they deliver an estimate on your repair within a week; and as promised, the final cost of the repair is very near that estimate. I've always found the staff courteous and professional, and I would say this business is a best friend to all musicians in the Los Angeles area. Highly recommended. read more

Super friendly folk here, and not a bad labor fee and they are a repair place, picture this..... Photos lining the entrance way about 5' in from top to toe, then a counter littered with invoices and mail, with a freindly man framed by speakers on the wall and amps on the floor, that's when you know this ain't no Guitar Center, you best know what ya need cause they know how to fix it. Check em out if you need a mix board or a monitor fixed, I know I did and they both work great! Enjoy! read more

woo hoo is an understatement--these guys (and gals) rock!! My new Fender amp pooped out, and within a day, they had it diagnosed...now, I'm rather partial to the old creme tolex that Fender used on my series...and a replacement was not available. Solution? The boss, now and forever to be known as "Ruth the Boss", suggested we pop the new electronics into the old package. I love it! Thanks guys, for your honesty, smarts, and speed. You are, simply, the best! read more

Hard to fault these guys. Fast turnaround, reasonable prices, constant communication and excellent customer service. When Fedex screwed something up they chased them down for me. I was a first time customer a few weeks back, wouldn't use anyone else on the West Coast now. read more

Great group of people here. Another shop had our board for two weeks (on a rush order) charged us $100 only to tell us that our board was beyond repair. The guys at AME had it working like new again in less than three hours. We were back in production the same day. Highly recommended. read more

Found these guys as a Yamaha website as an authorized service repair shop. Brought in my Yamaha HS8S subwoofer with damage to the cabinet caused during moving apartments -- basically the pegs were torn off and I wanted to do better than just superglue hack job that I would've done myself. Brought in the woofer and 3 days later they had the replacement cabinet quoted and ordered after I placed a small deposit. Received the woofer almost 5 days later and it looks brand new (and works too, of course). Definitely recommend! read more

Gotta say! After reading other reviews, I was skeptical. But a friend who worked at West L.A. Music said that they were great. So first I took my Digi 003 there. While I was at the front desk explaining the issue, a technician who was in the back room came out and gave me that inquisitive look. He took the board back, and came out front in five minutes and said that the problem was software related, not hardware. Bear in mind that they charge you just to diagnose the problem. I offered to pay him, but he waved me off and said "No charge." I couldn't believe it. But I took it home, reloaded Pro Tools like he said and sure enough, he was right. So, about 2 months later I brought in my Fender Cyber Twin. It took them a couple of weeks to get to it, which they said would be the case. But then they called, told me what was wrong and gave me a reasonable estimate. In another two weeks, it was done. I just took it home last night and tested it out, and it's fixed. They did right by me. read more

I have been to Advanced a few times. There work is decent, but their timing and customer service is not great. I dropped off a speaker on 10/25 and was told 1-2 weeks. It is now 12/3 (5 and a half weeks later) and I do not have it back. I have called multiple times and they just keep saying "it'll be done when it's done." Don't think I'll be going back. read more