TLDR This place barely answers the phone. They are totally unresponsive. They don't keep their…read moreword, and they don't call back. I can't comprehend how there aren't more bad reviews, considering a friend of mine who works at a local guitar shop told me I should have avoided this place like the plague, and that I'm not alone in my experience.
I've really tried not to get to this point that I have to trash this business, but its been three months since I dropped off my amp, and I still haven't gotten a straight answer on whether it can even be fixed.
I dropped off a Fender Rumble 200 with a bad pre-amp circuit board with them in December on a Sunday, after he made me wait outside for 10 minutes in the cold. Inside the shop was a haphazard mess, resembling what you might imagine seeing on an episode of hoarders, but for guitar amps. My interaction with the repair guy was pretty awkward. I'm awkward too so its whatever.
He told me he had a spare circuit board from a Fender Rumble 500 in stock that would fit my amp, and that it would take him just a few hours labor to run a trace and swap out the board. For some reason, I interpreted that as I would pick up the amp later that day. When I hadn't heard from them near closing time, I called. Later I would learn it was shocking he answered on the first try. He told me he hadn't even looked at the amp yet, but he would get to it next week.
Next week rolled past and no call. I waited patiently for another week, and then called them several times, and most of the time he never answered. I left voice mails but they were never returned. When I did get him on the phone, he mumbled something about being totally swamped, but he would look at the amp and call me back tomorrow. He never did.
Fast forward two months, I call him, he answers, and to my surprise he has some news. The trace on the amp showed one of the other boards needed to be replaced too, but the repair would probably be more expensive that I was willing to spend. Otherwise, he probably had one of those boards in stock too, but he'll need to do further testing, if I was really committed to fix it.
I informed him I only paid $100 for the amp, and that I am willing to put several hundred more into the repair, considering a new Fender Rumble 200 costs around $600. He told me he would look further into it and get back to me.
Its now March, and I haven't heard anything. Periodically when I happen to remember I even own the amp, I call and they don't answer. So, I give up.
I only wanted this extra bass amp for my band mate who has been coming over to my tiny office to jam for the past three months, while our drummer was on an overseas trip. Our drummer returned, and we're back in the studio with our big boy amps. I have no need for a practice amp anymore.
Arcane Amplifiers, if you're reading this, go ahead and keep my amp. Its my understanding that its incredibly difficult to find replacement parts for a Fender Rumble, and most repair places won't even consider fixing them. Maybe the parts of my amp might help some other poor soul who gets duped into buying a broken one like I did. I'll just consider it a lesson learned, and in return for your services, I'm leaving you this review. Have a nice day.
