Chris is an amazing tube amp guru that has serviced, repaired, and modded several old Marshalls for me over the years. He did an Arredondo mod on a 1976 50 watt Marshall that chugged, surgically serviced a 1980 Marshall 2204 modded by Todd Langner, and then turned a 1959 Filmosound Projector amp into a bluesy slide rock sounding little beast. Super nice guy too. I drive all the way from Sacramento to have work done on my amps by the best - CB Electronics read more

Unfortunately my experience with Chris was not a positive one. I have an intermittent amp noise and needed a speaker reconed. Recommend by Bananas I sent a video of the noise, then met and asked Chris to repair it. He said needed to look at the amp from nose to tail in order to fix the issue. When I picked it up I asked him what caused the noise and what was done to resolve it. He said he never heard the noise, but it was solved. He was really firm----he was an expert and it was fixed. I'm not calling into question the work he did. He replaced the tubes, repaired the speaker, and did some other things. Great! But how can you be sure a noise is fixed, if you never heard it? I'm in recording mode and guitar is my secondary instrument so I use it rarely. I used it about 3 times over the next 6 months and I heard the sound again but wasn't fast enough to get it recorded. 6 months after that I was able to. Yes it had been awhile, but it's an intermittent and the sound is identical to what it was before. If Chris had heard the noise, identified the cause, and replaced the part, I would believe it was something else. But that's not what happened and the sound is identical. Chris felt I should pay him again to do the same thing he did before. I asked if he might have overlooked something the first time and was told his work was "perfect". The suggestions that he might have overlooked something (delivered in a calm and respectful tone) did not go over well. We are all human. We all overlook things from time to time. His complete refusal to acknowledge that possibility is unreasonable. If he did fix it, I would expect the fix to last longer than 6 months. He kept saying emotions should be left out of the conversation which seemed out of left field. I totally agree. My mode was calm while he grew increasingly condescending and defensive. I pointed out his tone was becoming condescending and he actually said "oh wow...you're just like my ex-wife". Not sure why he brought his ex wife into the conversation but it was extremely unprofessional. I was being calm and respectful and there was no reason to make things personal. I'm a professional musician and have been going to Real Guitars/Gary Brauer for decades for guitar work. I can't say enough good things about Gary and his staff. Never once felt condescended to. Chris definitely did not treat me with the same level of respect I extended to him. At no point did I get angry or condescending, it's not my style. I hoped he would consider my viewpoint. I don't feel he did that. I told him I didn't feel good about my experience with him and left. He's probably great if nothing goes wrong, but handling difficult situations with grace shows true integrity. In my case Chris was unprofessional and unaccommodating. read more

The reverb on my old Fender tweed deluxe had gone out. A friend recommended Chris Barnett and said he was the best amp tech in the Bay Area. He repaired the reverb while we waited, and his price was very reasonable. read more

I purchased an original Peavey 5150 combo in 1993 and it has served me well. However, about 7 years ago the amp began with internal issues due to dropping the amp from about a foot. It sat dormant for a few years until someone recommended that I take the amp to Chris Barnett to look at the amp and repair it. Chris is way professional and up front let me know it would take about two months to get it back. Sure enough, Chris was methodical and went through each wire chain and the entire signal path. The end result is that my original Peavey 5150 combo sounds absolutely fantastic and extremely exciting to play again! Thank you very much for your service to the musicians community and helping me personally towards playing one of my most favorite amps! Teebs read more

I had the good fortune of having Chris recommended to me by a local music store and a good friend. My beloved amplifier was in need of an expert and my experience with Chris went beyond my expectations! Chris is not only exceptional experienced but he is fun to chat with and shares my child-like enthusiasm for all aspects of guitars and amplifiers! Look no further, Chris is your amp tech! read more

I hate to even write this review... Chris seems like a really nice guy. But I just don't want someone else to run into this issue, so I'm going to write about it. I got an amp serviced by Chris a couple of years ago. I asked for the power filter caps to be changed, and to change the very frayed power cord, also just give the amp a general health check. Chris had my amp for six weeks. I had to drive out to Marin from Oakland. When I arrived, I saw immediately that the frayed cord had not been changed... Curious, I thought, because this is obviously a dangerous wire. I paid $250. Even the receipt said "change power cord" but it had not been done. Aside from the bad power cord, the amp hasn't worked right since. I don't have the energy to bring it back, wait another six weeks and possibly not have the work properly done again. I will take the amp down to LA and have it properly repaired. read more

Hands down. The best in the Bay. Genius tech. Warmest personality. Fairest prices. Honest as can be. I've been taking my guitars, amps, pedals, echoplex etc. to him for over 10 years now and have recommended him to every musician I know... And a great musician on top of it all! Highly recommended.... Lee B. read more

I have been taking my amps and guitars to Chris for over 15 years now. He used to be in Oakland but now he is in the north bay; I am still in Oakland but he is worth the trip. His shop is exactly how'd you'd expect an electronics genius' shop to be - floor-to-ceiling parts, parts and more parts. The amp I brought him last month was sandwiched between Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted's amps, if that says anything. amplifier amp guitar repair repairs mods modifications electronics read more

I have to agree with all the other reviews. Chris is very professional, competent, and really pleasant to be around. My Deluxe Reverb had never worked properly from the day I bought it. Crackling, loss of power etc.... it finally started blowing fuses. I brought it to Chris. He found a couple assembly errors that caused the rectifier to malfunction as well as compromised two other tubes. Brought everything up to speed and spec at very a reasonable price and on time as promised. The amp has never sounded better. Also,I was fortunate enough to have the chance to play a couple of his guitars while I was at his shop. I now know who I'll be going to for guitar work. The set up and sound of his personal Strat ( with a super fat tele neck) was perfect, fast and fun. Chris is a god-send for guitar and amp problems, or just simple upgrades and consulting. Highly recommended. I'll be back. read more

Chris was fantastic. I dropped in with a sick Taylor, he totally understood the problem with its electronics, fixed it in minutes and charged me so little I had to pay him more. Great guy, great service. read more

I'm writing this review because of the ridiculous review I read before it. I have had MANY amps repaired by Chris. I've had a fender vibrolux '66. A fender blackface twin '66. I had a new fender reverb head modded to sounds like an older Vibrolux. The man is a wizard. These are difficult pieces to work with, and they end up sounding amazing after he has worked for him. I feel very lucky to have found him in the bay area. He also happens to work with more famous bay area musicians that you can imagine. He's super humble and would never ask for a review because he honestly doesn't need them. Locals all know who he is. This guy is the best locally. Thank you Chris for keeping the music alive read more

Chris Barnett is the man! I've known him about 8 years, and he's super reliable, great rates on repair, and has good rates. He's even looked at some of my stuff with small problems and told me what to do, free of charge. Last time I took my Mesa Boogie 400+ and dual Rectifier heads to him, he had them up and running better than ever at great prices. Whenever anything I have breaks down, I'm heading over to him. read more

My first visit to Chris. I have two Echoplexes that needed to be fixed in time for a recording session. Chris repaired them both, with a great turnaround time and reasonable price. He obviously has a deep love and knowledge of his craft. I'll be taking a Princeton up to him next for some custom mods. Thanks Chris! ^^ read more

Chris is the guy! I contacted him because I had a burnt terminal on a CNC stepper motor controller that needed some special attention and high temperature solder because of the current it carried. Chris had the right stuff - repaired it that day! It's working great. read more

I have a Fender Tweed Edge 12 watt amp which developed problems, a crackling noise from the speaker. When I picked up the amp Chris demonstrated it and it sounded even better than when I bought it. He told me the amp was based on a 1959 model and he just happened to have a 1959 in for repair. After the first hour playing through it today I am amazed at the improvement in tone and nuance; it is the best sounding guitar amp in my experience thanks to the skills of Chris. No need for pedals now to have a superb tone. And the charges were very reasonable. read more