Jim and Melody were amazing - professional, timely, and with solid process to fixing and even troubleshooting some issues I was having with failing tubes. I've been running my amp hard for over 20 years - Jim and Melody have really done an amazing job getting it overhauled. As someone who doesn't trust many techs, these guys are top. read more

Melody and Jim are awesome. Pleasant to work with, quick turnaround, great work quality, excellent service, and great value. My amp sounds so much better than when I brought it in. Considering I don't know much about guitars I'm really looking forward to learning and playing more now especially with a awesome fender tube amp. Highly recommended for your guitar amp service needs! read more

Amphead - Fender Blues DeVille - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Extremely competent tube amp repair (at a very reasonable price--have you had your car repaired lately??), the best in the PNW.

I just got my 1964 Ampeg Reverberocket back today. I have been using this amp for keyboards and harp for about 40 years - It is an essential part of my sound. It now sounds better than ever. Communication was good and they listened closely to my layman's explanation of the chronic problems I have had issues with over the years. Thanks Jim and Melodie for getting me up and running again. read more

Fixed my amps to perfection. Not cheap but you get what you pay for! My Fender & Peavey are like new now.

These guys are the best. They do quality work at a reasonable price. Very happy with my refurbished amp.

This was my second Amphead experience. Previously I had the speaker replaced in a Victoria amp, this time it was a more extensive repair to a blackface Vibro Champ. Replaced some caps and switches, replaced the tubes with NOS tubes I provided and put in a Weber speaker. He also found a modification that he returned to the standard configuration. A general "tune and service", he also replaced the speaker wire. One of the tubes I provided had an intermittent noise problem, Jim was able to isolated the tube as the problem and I got it replaced. The amp is more quiet, louder than before and the sound is much improved. Jim has communicated clearly about the jobs and accomplished them promptly with excellent results. I am very pleased with Amphead, reliably excellent results, and will be there again. read more

Can't say enough about Amphead. Jim and his assistant are both super nice people and great to work with. Within a week he had my Ampeg SVT Classic diagnosed and repaired. Another local shop told me it would be TWO WEEKS before they would even look at it. If you're looking for a repair shop don't waste your time going anywhere else--take it to Amphead! read more

I really like this place the owner is great. I don't know much about music but I purchased my stepson a amp for Christmas used from guitar center. I figured I'd upgraded for him since I've never worked on a amp before and I know everything right and I messed it up so he didn't get his Christmas present because stepdad was wrong my fault i broke it. I took it to Jim he fixed it for me I messed up one of the chips on the board left few pieces inside and he cleaned up the connections Very nice shop Convenient to get to great communication best of all very reasonable pricing highly recommend this wonderful shop . He bailed me out and saved the amp any step dads out there don't take matters into your own hands leave it to the professionals thanks Jim read more

I was looking for someone to fix some issues and generally tune up my 1972 Musicman amp. I had not played it much for years having moved to more modern amps. And it had some sound issues as it approached its 50 year anniversary. Its not the kind of amp that has a lot of collector's value or notoriety, so I was pleasantly surprised that the owner had worked on other Musicman's from the same era. He immediately understood why I liked the amp and knew exactly how to get it back to its former glory. Now its become my number one amp! He also followed up with me after the visit showing how much he cares about the customer being happy with the results of his work. read more

I brought my 70s Fender Twin in for a tube, cap, and general renewal. Jim made it better than ever. Better than I recall when I bought it new. Brought in my 70s Fender Champ; minor replacements and a fair charge. I use it with a VOX ToneLab LE; love it the pair for studio and wood-shack. I then brought in my 70s Marshall 50W Plexi. I had replaced the 6550s a few years back, but did not bias align them. Jim did not know about my recent power stage tubes. Amphead did some minor analog component replacement, a bias tweak and "no need to replace any tubes". Bottom line: Amphead does GREAT WORK, and does not fix things that are not broke. I appreciate doing business with talented people with highly ethical business practices. read more

Just recently had a heyboer output transformer installed into my mesa-boogie. The intallation was extremely well done. Jim also fixed some issues with the reverb and upgraded the speaker wires. My amplifier sounds both ferocious and cleaner all at once. Service was timely and fair. I highly recommend his services, thanks Jim read more

Brought an 80's Carvin combo to Jim at the recommendation of the guys at Briz Loan and Guitar. He replaced tubes, fixed an electrical problem (connection was arcing), and touched on a couple other items. All in all, good work, quick turnaround, and Jim seems like a genuinely nice guy. When I arrived, he was turning over a repaired Les Paul to a guy who apparently really screwed it up. He fixed the headstock. It looks like nice repair job, so I brought my late 1970's Memphis guitar there to have some connections fixed, and have the frets dressed. He recommended a change to the setup in place of the fret dress. (I like it when shops talk me out of doing extra work!) I will likely have him do a tolex replacement job on my 60's Vega tube amp, having seen examples of his amp restorations. From the looks of the items awaiting pickup by the owners, it looks like Jim is equally comfortable with old point to point connection amps, as well as the newer circuit board stuff, guitars and pedals, etc. I have now been to three places in PDX that are in the same business, and I think I am more comfortable leaving my equipment with Amphead. read more

Jim was very friendly (worth a lot of points to me), even to my 2-year-old (who tagged along both times I went in). He seemed very knowledgeable both on the phone when I called with my amp's symptoms, and in person when I dropped it off. But then, I know next to nothing about amp repair. Even so, he didn't insult my intelligence by dumbing down his descriptions of what probably needed to be fixed, etc. In other words, it was much easier than going to a typical car mechanic. One thing though.. I told him about a gig I had coming up the following weekend, and he said he'd have it done by then. (I said No biggie if you can't, I have another amp, but I'd *like* to use this one if at all possible.) Unfortunately, he didn't have the right parts on hand to get it done that quickly..... but he didn't call me to let me know. :( So I spent some time wondering what was up, and feeling generally uncomfortable about the whole situation. Anyway, in the end, the amp is working great and it didn't cost an arm nor a leg. I'd go back, since his shop is 10 blocks from my house, but if I lived on the other side of town, I'd probably look for someone closer. read more

I dropped off a tube preamp beginning of June. I reported that it had low output on the clean channel and the head room can improve. Middle of July and I had to call to find out what was going on. Instead, he tells me he replace the capacitors without my consent and when it was nothing to do with the original problem. I should have stayed away from him when he told me he doesnot work on tube preamps such as mine. It felt like he took the easy way out to earn a fast buck by replacing the power capacitors, as the head room and output has not changed. Yup, feeling cheated here. read more

I put a lot of wear-and-tear on my guitar everyday. So it's good to know someone who can give it a good tune-up which it needs every now and again. It's an acoustic/electric, so of course I want it feel as much like an electric as possible when I plug it in. Last year I had Jim lower the action so I could play higher on the neck without having to be Hercules to hold the strings down. Everyone who picks up my guitar is amazed at how close the strings are to the fretboard. I recently brought it in again. After a great year of picking around on it, I thought that I'd played the frets out, because I was getting a little too much buzz down at the 3rd fret of all places. He performed a bit of an adjustment for it and it's ringing just as bright as ever. On both occasions, I felt like I'd brought home a brand new guitar, and the price was so right it felt like I'd just won the showcase showdown. Thanks again, I will be back again - in fact I got this amp that needs some work... read more

Jim fixed up my Vox AC30CC2 when I was blowing HT fuses and having rectifier tube issues, where some bad solder jobs led to arcing within the power supply circuitry. He also replaced the cheap factory standard tremolo choke (which was making audible and distracting clicking noises) with a high quality choke that sounds amazing! I really appreciated how thoroughly Jim kept in communication with me and kept my up to speed on the timing of repairs, parts required, labor, and cost throughout the process. His price estimates, diagnosis and repairs were accurate, fair, and of high quality. I trusted him from the get-go and his knowledge definitely exceeded what i had expected and he made me feel very well taken care of. I'll definitely return in the future for further work and would recommend Jim to anybody, for any gear needs. read more

On the road, super reverb broke down in Seattle. Called Amphead in Portland and Jim was able to accommodate us that day to fix the amp. Nice clean workshop with knowledgeable staff. Highly recommend for Portland area. read more

Twenty years on my tubular guitar amps without a glitch, and then suddenly the toll came due. I found myself in need of good amp repair shop--and fast (I use my electric guitars as therapy, and a personal psychotherapist is out of the question...) When I first met Jim at "Amp Head" I knew I was in good hands. He was friendly, knowledgeable & genuinely interested in what I do with my music equipment. We discussed the alchemy of the wood, steel, plastic and wires (guitars that have a higher standing than most family members)...and just what it would take to help get the resonance from it all: What happens when you bridge the instrument with this effect pedal...or that external speaker? The kind of conversation you can't have with anyone other than a professional, or your playing buddies--and even they don't really give a s**t! Since I discovered "Amp Head" a year ago they have helped me get my electrical needs met 3 times, and always very professionally (though it does take a week or so to get things done, just tells me they're successful and just a little busy.) I have sent all my buddies to Jim at "Amp Head", and everyone seems to agree that it's the place to go when you need help. BTW, I've read a couple bad reviews regarding "Amp Head"'s service, and being a business-owner myself, I can pretty easily read between the lines: You can't always make everyone happy. ~Steve read more

Jim does excellent work at a fair price. I am extremely happy with all the work that I have had done there.

I really wanted to like Jim Taylor who owns amphead, he is very personable face to face, however, I feel hes overpriced and doesn't back his work, at all. His repair fixed my marshall only for a short time and the same problem returned. Doesn't believe the customer either, he insisted that the amp didn't have a bias drift problem when clearly it did. Tubes redplated after the repair. On several correspondences he conveniently wormed his way out of covering his work and being responsible for the repair, claiming it was a new problem or it was past the warranty time. Hes extremely hardnose, does not budge an inch. He always uses slick "nice" language to basically say yer on your own, and if you want it fixed right you're gooding to have to pay me all over again as if he never worked on the amp to begin with. So now I'm forced to take the amp elsewhere where they fix things right and back their work. I am steering all my musician friends away from this business, and i see from other reviews other folks have had similar bad experiences there. Stay away. read more

I took my 1964 Fender Vibro-Champ amp to Amphead be repaired. The owner Jim was very friendly and I enjoyed speaking with him. When I dropped the amp off we agreed on a pick up date and I told Jim to let me know if that wasn't going to work. I also stressed that since he was the first person to ever work on the amp, it was very important that he saved the original parts. When the agreed upon completion date came and went with no communication I contacted Jim and he told me he didn't have the common capacitor he needed and that it would take another week to get one in. So another week came and went and again no proactive contact from Jim. Another email from me and got a a reply that said when it came in, he'd let me know. So basically I had to be the one to continually contact him and he missed a deadline he agreed to with no communication. When the amp was finally fixed I took it home and 2 days later realized I had left the box of original parts at his store. I contacted him and he told me he through them out. This on top of everything else left a very bad taste in my mouth and turned what was an overall mediocre experience into a fairly negative one. Jim could have taken a few seconds to call me or send me an email about the parts before he trashed them and the fact that he didn't after I told him how important the original parts were showed a very poor level of customer service. The work done to the vibro-champ ( very simple circuit) should have taken no more than 40-45 minutes, tops. Replacing 3 capacitors, 1 fuse, 1 resistor and an A/C cable. I could have done the work myself in that time. Instead Jim charged me for 2 hours labor. Fair enough. As they say, it's not the mistake, it's how you fix it. Jim never bothered to reply to my email expressing my disappointment that he threw the original parts away. For that, Jim's poor communication skills and fairly steep labor charges I won't be taking any of my other vintage amps to Amphead for repair. I am now left hoping the repair itself will hold up...time will tell. read more

Dropped my Carvin V3 off for a once over. Jim was expeditious with email replies to my questions prior to, and during the diagnostic process. He retubed it with my requested tubes and biased to the specs that I requested (Carvin notoriously biases cold) and man, this thing breathes fire much more than when I first got it. Can't say enough good things about how friendly, responsive, and kind Jim was. read more

Came in to get some work done on a vintage sunn amp. First thing he did was laugh and shake his head several times at the state. I take it into an "expert" and this is how he treats a new customer. When I called him out on belittling me he wipe the grin off his face and said, No, no thats not what I am doing, but since you said you are getting a bad vibe I'm going to just turn you away now." Only intelligent thing you did business wise. Disrespectful and rude guy. Cool is an attitude that you don't know. You can inform without being a jerk, but I suppose the fact that you are way out SE working alone behind a constantly locked door should have been a tell that you don't work well with others. Not saying you don't know what you're doing, just saying your people skills need an overhaul. read more

I have a 1998 Bogner 101b that I have owned for almost 19 years that was starting to develop some random noise and possible grounding issues from prior mods and just a megaton of use. I picked Jim's shop for several reasons, One of them was I went out to his shop to pick up a few P.I.O caps and noticed his turret board work and a JTM45 clone he built by hand. Back to my amp, after a thorough inspection he identified a few other issues and called me before he ever proceeded forward with any work. He called me a second time, time when he found out that he had to pull one of the circuit boards out to fix some traces that were damaged by a prior tech. My experience was totally professional and friendly. My amp sounds incredible and is so quiet, even on the high gain channel. His prices are more than fair! Turn around was a little less than a week, Jim was actually trying to get a hold of me by phone and email to let me know my amp was finished. I figured it was going to take much longer and was busy with work so I finally looked back through my call log and saw all the attempts he made to get a hold of me. In closing, getting all of this work and some other stuff I didn't mention finished in under a week is incredible and this is exactly why I am giving him a well earned 5 star review, Thanks Jim! read more

I have had three tube amplifiers maintained by Jim and have always had great service there. Two of these are vintage Ampeg fliptops (both 1966, a B-15 and an SB-12). Both required some level of restoration, and I was impressed by Jim's knowledge and his demonstrated capabilities. The B-15 proved particularly odd in that the prior owner had grounded one part of the circuit to an incorrect ground point, resulting in a low level crackling noise. Jim was able to identify this and fix it, then found leaky caps and took care of the whole thing at a very reasonable rate. It sounds better than I could have imagined. He also helped me out with a tube issue on my SVT-CL, pointed to possible options and we worked out a very satisfactory solution. Very satisfied and I'll always trust my amps to Jim. read more