i tried to schedule an appointment to drop off some amps. i went online and scheduled it in the calendar. i called them twice to confirm. the day before and the day of. i never heard from anyone. i do not think they are in business any more. read more

What can I say... despite all the rave reviews here, I feel pretty taken advantage of. I paid a premium price for a very simple mod and an am absolutely speechless. I had this work done to my Marshall BluesBreaker a while ago and just opened up the amp after tour... I have NEVER seen such sloppy work done on an amp. And I've seen a lot... I'll let the pictures do the talking .. the proof is in the pudding here. If you care about your amp, beware. Maybe it was an old tech, but still .. this is inexcusable, especially for a business that claims to be professional. read more

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These guys live and breathe tube amps. Their expertise and knowledge is so rare even in a big city like Los Angeles. Their custom all tube point to point amplifiers are pure tone monsters. I was lucky enough to find them online, Their gorgeous website says it all, they are serious in their craft. My 64 Fender Princeton Reverb needed an complete overhaul and I couldn't have found anyone more qualified than BlackVolt. Gio and George are the coolest and after meeting them I was convinced these guys are no joke, I highly recommend them. read more

Really happy with some basic maintenance Gio and crew did on a neglected tube amp of mine. It sounds better than ever after a thorough cleaning and biasing. That said, the basic maintenance took almost two months and communication was really difficult during that time (I.e., called several times and left messages with no response, no response to emails). Great work, but extremely slow and very bad communication. read more

Totally blown away by these guys. Real passion for what they do. Took time to look after my son and help with his search for an authentic amp from the 60s. Class act. read more

These guys ripped me off. There is a hustler vibe to the way they do business. They aren't really an amp repair shop. They charged me full price for a used speaker that failed on me two weeks later. They overcharged me on the work they did. Keep your distance. Unless you like to overpay. read more

Gio worked on my amp and brought it back to life. He's a super nice guy, personable, and knows his stuff when it comes to amps and guitars. The prices are fair and the turn around is reasonable. My amp sounds fantastic now and I couldn't be happier. Thanks Gio and team! read more

Had 2 amps worked on at Black Volt. Basically ruined one with terrible mods that I had to take somewhere else to fix....... THE FIX, They clearly had no idea what they were doing and the other amp they just threw in some old ass tubes and called it fixed..... which it wasn't!! Way too expensive for bad service and two months of waiting. Nice people but they have no business fixing amps. I have a feeling all these good reviews are not real. Beware!! read more

I agree with the previous reviewers. Gio's honesty deserves my 5 stars. I walked in with a damaged low-end subwoofer (12" Energy). After the diagnostic, Gio said it is repairable but the parts and labor costs may be just as much as a new sub of equivalent quality. He advised me to look for a new one instead of repairing it. I ended up giving the broken one to a buddy and i bought a new BIC F12 off Amazon. Great, honest customer service! read more

I was in the market for an amp to use in the studio. I found an Ampeg Superjet reissue and it was exactly the sound I was looking for but it had some microphonic issues with the tubes and the connection was cutting off the sound at high volumes. I called Gio of Black Hole (by way of referral) and told him the situation. He gave me some advice to consider on deciding to purchase the amp. I tried the amp again and made my purchase based on Gio's advice. I took it to his shop after buying the amp. He asked if I wanted to stay with him while he solved the problem. To make a long story short, I watched the whole process and he let me interrupt and ask questions and explained everything he did. The problem was resolved in about an hour. I cranked it at home and man does it sound incredible... Thanks Gio! read more

Great technician Worked on my amp while I waited Highly recommended I will definitely go there again read more

*DISCLAIMER: This is just my experience with the shop and my opinions on what happened. I am not trying to give any unnecessary hate towards the shop or hurt their credibility. I brought a pedal of mine to the shop around 3 months ago to get fixed. The physical foot switch had gotten stuck from a drink that had spilled on it at a gig I played. I am not very handy, so I figured it was smarter to go to a repair shop than try and open it up myself. I will say that when I got to the shop everyone was extremely nice and they made me feel secure that whatever the problem was, they would figure it out. I filled out my information and was told that I would get a call back regarding the details of fixing my pedal (price, length of the procedure, etc). A couple weeks had passed and I hadn't received a call back so I gave them a call and was told that they needed to get a specific part from the manufacturer to fix it, which is what I expected. I was told again that I would get a call back when they got a hold of the manufacturer just so that I knew how long it would take. A few more weeks go by, so about a month in total now and I never received a call so I tried calling back to get more information. I was then told basically the same thing, that they had to order a part and get hold of the manufacturer. About another month had passed and I had honestly forgotten about the pedal at this point because it had been over two months since I had dropped the pedal off. I was prepping for another gig and soon realized I had totally forgotten about the pedal. I gave them another call and was told that they weren't getting any response from the manufacturer, which is totally not their fault. I was told that they would keep trying and let me know. This is now 3 months and a week later and I called again. This time I was told that there is nothing they can do since the part they needed is only sold by the manufacturer, which I understand. I picked the pedal up from the shop and was on my way. Bringing the pedal home, my roommate and I ended up opening it up and was able to solve the problem in no time (after cleaning the inside of the pedal we were able to un-stick the foot switch). I don't understand why a repair shop would not have been able to see that they didn't need a new part to repair the pedal. It is such a simple fix and to me it seems like they did not even really look at what was wrong with the pedal. I know they have some big name clients that require a lot more time and resources, but I shouldn't be left waiting for three months without any response on what was going on. I would love to recommend the shop because everyone was really nice when I was finally able to talk to them, but after my experience I just can't. They seem like great people, but may be taking on more than they can handle. read more

I have some old, obscure, very high end amplified speakers that were not working. I took them to George Meyer in Santa Monica and they charged $75 to look at them- after having them a few days they said it could be very expensive to fix etc. I took the one I had left at George's and tried it at home- it worked. They had not even tried it and they charged me $75!! Gio at Black Volt was AWESOME! He went through these speakers with a fine tooth comb and checked every transistor, resistor, capacitor.....everything!! He did not quit!! He was able to have a mid range rebuilt which took persistence on his part- he found a tweeter that is a perfect sound match! The speaker that Gio repaired now sounds better than the one he used for reference!!! He even painted the bases of both speakers. I am beyond thrilled with the commitment, the results and the price!! I could not bear to part with these great speakers and Gio was able to revive the broken one to better than new and without schematics (they are unavailable- we both looked). A true professional that is humble and easy to work with???? Yes please!!! He is also a musician so he knows quality sound and workmanship and puts a real passion into his work. I highly, highly recommend Black Volt Amplification!! read more

Gio is simply the best. He just met me and didn't even question working on a Saturday night until 10:30pm. That's unheard of customer service. He's very thorough and fair. He writes out everything he does to your amp or cab and explains everything to you. He really knows gear and you can tell it's his passion. That's the kind of dude I want working on my amp. He's also got 2 dogs that are pretty rad. And a lot of parts in stock including vintage/new tubes and speakers. My stress level is 100% lower now that I've found black volt amplification. He fixed my cab while I waited on a Saturday night. Same day turn around is unheard of. Thanks for your hard work Gio. It will not go unrecognized. Black volt is highly recommended. read more

Great guy, great service! Super knowledgable! I brought in my marshal dsl combo, my fender vibrolux, and a UA-6176 channel strip. Gio took great care of them and even did the service on the 6176 in front of me so I could take it back to my studio that day. He also has a stash of some great vintage tube options to swap out the newer, less colorful stock ones. read more

Before I write this review, I'll letcha know that I don't know Gio. I live only one street away from him in Silver Lake, but through some weird circumstances I had only talked with him on the phone and emailed (through Yelp, BTW) about my bass amp and some work that it needed. Also went to a cool music festival he puts on... did all that without meeting him (not his fault). Anyhow, I dropped my amp off with his wife. It was a small job and Gio kept it that way... didn't give some BS diagnosis, just took my word for what was going on, opened it up and fixed what wasn't working. Basically it needed a good interior cleaning (pots,etc.) and to reconnect some gone to crap solder points after a 15+ years of being a workhorse for me. He did all that, accepted payment over the phone (I was out of state) and was cool with my buddy coming over to pick it up for me. Plugged in and cranked it up and it sounds probably better than it ever has for me as I bought it used. Excellent work. I've since then met him and he's a great guy! I look forward to taking my vintage Peavy 400 Series bass amp to him when/if I'm able to get it from Texas to LA. read more

Amazing service, Gio is a great guy. I showed up without an appointment and Gio was able to diagnose and fix the problem with my Fender Twin Reverb Reissue in under an hour. Don't have a bad thing to say about Black Volt and will be recommending them to every musician I know. read more

Great team ! Just scored some beautiful vintage tubes for my amp, Gio is super knowledgeable guy and without a doubt i'll be be visiting him again! read more

I wish I could give six stars. Gio at Black Volt Amplification is the man to go to for your guitar amp woes. I had a Deluxe Reverb quit on me at rehearsal, a few days before a gig, and Gio diagnosed the problem immediately, and got it up and running so fast, that I picked it up that night. Ladies and Gentlemen, this never happens. Not with your car at the mechanic, not with anything. He also gave me a detailed readout for each tube that he tested in the amp, for future reference. No amp repairman has ever done THAT, in my long experience. He also saved an amp that I was ready to give up on: a lower-end solid state little guy that just sounded like a horrible ice pick in the eardrum. Gio managed to mod it to bring it close to a decent tube amp, which was a minor miracle. He also builds his own custom amps, and I wouldn't be surprised if they don't become supremely collectible in the next few years. The man knows everything about amplifiers, vintage to modern. Oh, and he's also a super nice guy. Gio is your man. read more

Best damn amp repairs I've ever had without a doubt, both in terms of accessibility to the process and overall quality of the services offered! Gio has worked on two of my AC30s, both vintage and newer, and put them both in outstanding performance condition with correct fuses, upgraded NOS tubes, a tone circuit re-voicing after a transformer change, etc. He's one of the few techs in town that will allow the customer to attend the surgery to see what's inside your amp and exactly what he does to repair it - all in one trip to his shop! Yes - there are service appointments - though you can still do the drop-off thing depending on the circumstances. Gio loves his work and it really shows! As a vintage amp fanatic he was also able to tell me what year the speakers in my '61 were made and by whom. His list of rock star clients is growing by the day as is the reputation of his line of cool looking vintage style amps. (Oh, and if you need to hear your amp at full volume you can crank it to your heart's content in his comfortable air conditioned sound isolation booth complete with a live drummer in many cases at no extra charge. It don't git no better that that! Tell Gio and Curran Geoffrey James sent you! :) read more