Kendrick Repair Services

I sent my 1960 tweed Princeton in for a general checkup. Here's what was done:
Replaced some capacitors
Replaced tube sockets
Replaced volume and tone potentiometers
Changed power cable to grounded type
Installed NOS American tubes
Covered inside of back panel w/ foil for shielding purposes
Touched up grounds

The amp now sounds great with my Strat. It sounded good before, but it's much better now. The tone is extremely rich throughout the amplifier's range.
Kendrick did a great job of improving the sound quality of my Princeton.

I feel like I can trust this amp and it is much more reliable than before thanks to the repairs.

As others have said, the customer support is amazing. Gerald will take a look at your amp for free and personally call you with an estimate. You will learn something about tube amps from talking to him. He answered all of my emails promptly and was always friendly.

I would definitely have another amp repaired by Kendrick. They're maybe slightly more expensive than a local tech, but the customer service and quality of work are worth it, and honestly, I was surprised it wasn't more expensive given Kendrick's reputation. My only problem is that I live in Ohio and shipping to and from Texas could potentially add quite a bit to the total cost.

I sent my 73 Silverface Twin Reverb to Gerald and Dan at Kendrick a few years back to be "blackfaced". I bought this amp new after cleaning restrooms all summer at a state park when I was 18. It came with a pair of JBL-branded K120s, casters, and cover and cost all of $620 at Leo's Music in Berkeley.Most expensive item I'd ever owned at the time and I'm real glad I hung on to it. These can be picked up cheaply now (remember, these are PTP wired!) and not too expensively converted to BF specs.A real workhorse and it has served me well for many years.Not feature-rich by today's standards but I am a straight tone kind of a guy so I don't mind.

I play Fenders and was strictly a Tele man for many years. Now I am a Strat addict. I also had a 335 for a while but sold it. Now I have the 66 Tele, a few Strats, and a $400 Tokai LP copy that I couldn't resist. What a bargain!Back to the Twin:The MV was never my favorite thing. It has a push-pull switch in a rotary pot arrangement and it didn't really work as one would have hoped.Really fizzy and nasty. I was glad to see it go! Having aluminum dust cap JBLs and playing a Tele you can imagine how screechy it could get. To get real tube saturation it had to be turned up to 7 which is beyond the threshold of pain in a small club.I grew up on Mike Bloomfield and so I dug it for what it was but always wanted to get that overdriven early Clapton thing at will but never really could. You would be hard pressed to find a more powerful 'clean' amp, though.At Kendrick, the guys changed a bunch of parts and castrated the awful Master Volume feature and sent me back a fire breathing monster amp. The overall wattage seems to have dropped but I like it better now.I don't need 100+ watts in my living room!Dan called me a few times to ask questions about my personal tone tastes and was always super polite and extremely knowledgable. I had them spare no expense and with shipping both ways the total came to about $700 as I recall. That seems like a lot but now I have a totally tricked-out one of a kind PTP amp that gets wicked tone at more realistic volumes. They did something to the tremolo, too, and it sounds 100% better than stock. I don't use trem much but I want it swampy when I do and this gets it.After I got the BF'ed chassis back I sold the JBLs and sought out a couple of those old alnice EV/SRO "coffee can" 12" spkrs. I had swapped them in to my amp from a friend's Twin once when my JBLs were blown by an idiot who plugged a Rhodes into my amp. I always liked the clarity and smooth top end of the SROs so now I have a pair in the Twin and it sounds just awesome.It also weighs 3,000 pounds now but it stays at home so I don't care.The amp is quieter at idle and does not run as hot, either. I swapped in a full NOS set of pre-amp tubes, too. First I went all NOS Mullard but it was too dark so Gerald suggested I go with JJs or NOS American. I chose the latter as I have a pile of NOS tubes here and it made a huge difference.The amp is also much more pedal-friendly now.

I don't gig any more but I am confident this amp is just as reliable, if not more so, as it has always been. Fenders are known for their durability and this amp has a whole new lease on life now.

I am a Kendrick convert. I have a Black Gold 15 that I absolutely love, I use only Kendrick strings, and Gerald turned me on to the best cables ever, the Klotz La Grange with Neutrik ends. The thing about being a Kendrick customer is the level of personal attention, generosity,KNOWLEDGE, and concern is unsurpassed. I haven't had the dough to buy anything other than strings for the last couple of years but Gerald is always willing to talk tone and let me tap his vast knowledge of all things tonal and tubular.

I am 52 and starting breaking strings on my brother's Tele when I was 11. All the years I played pro, I was perpetually broke and could barely afford strings. I have more than made up for it the last 10 years and have a pile of cool s**t now. The Kendrick Black Gold 15 amp (see my H-C review) accepts any of several power tubes and self-biases. I can even run dissimilar power tubes for a customized tone. That amp kicked off an obsession with tone and a chronic case of gear acquisition syndrome but I am nearly in remission now. I can't recommend Kendrick highly enough and it was well worth the extra hassle of pulling the chassis and shipping it. I would rather do that and have the work done RIGHT than take my amp to the local ham fisted 'techs' and save a couple bucks and get a lousy result.

1965 Fender Champ Blackface Amp.
Styles: Rock / Blues.
Mods: Added Line In. Added Headphone In(8 Ohms).
Mods: Toggle Switch - Black Face to 50's Tweed.
Mods: Toggle Switch - Feedback On/Off.
Added new caps. Added larger Kendrick Transformer. Added Kendrick 8" Speaker (8 Ohms).
Use it to practice/record in my project recording studio.
Plenty of power!! Great TONE!!!

Rock / blues.
Gives you vintage raw crunch with just guitar (Tele/w 85 EMG's).
Great TONE!!! No noise. Settings: 2-5+ (Tweed is louder than BF).
Sounds: Tweed (+/-) Presence; Blackface (+/-)Presence.
Distortion depends on input vol. Blues Rock crunch.

Depend on it? Yes!! It was modded by Gerald Weber at Kendrick Amps, Texas.

Very Friendly. Great people.

15 Years / Producer / Engineer.
If it were stolen, I wouldn't want to be the thief when caught.
Love about it: the mods respect and build up the BF/Tweed character.
Excellent amp and mods by Gerald Weber / Kendrick Amps.

This was a mod of a 1970's fender champ and i also had them put in a kendrick transformer and general maintenance

The amp sounds great and i think the kendrick transformer is very dynamic

Seems very reliable. Some people complain because they blow a tube - please if yout going to act like a obsessed guitarist you really should'nt call and complain about a tube -- hec they only cost a few bucks and the obviously don;t make them. A previous review is strange and it sheds a little bad and unfair criticism.

Wow - Dan was great . It was nice to talk to somebody who really knows what there talking about. hec the amp guru himself emails me!

For other guitarist who are looking to mod or maintain there amps i would highly recommend kendrick. I am a picky guitarist who loves to complain - but they really did a super job. I would encourage the upgrade of the transformer to theirs. very dynamic. - i also got the tweed mod which was also awesome

I had the boys modify a late 70's JMF Spectra 30 for harmonica after reading the arcticle published in Vintage Guitar mag, reading both of Gerald's books, and concluding that they know what's going on. It is a class A/B with 2 6V6s, 12AX7s, solid state rectifier.

I used a Blues Blaster, but lately have been using a dynamic mic I constructed out of a flashlight head. It is a weaker mic which allows me to totally crank the volume for some very sweet, full tones, very deep, but with plenty of bark on demand. I have my cake and eat it too. I am very satisfied with the tone of the amp.

I sold my other amp, so this is my only ticket other than a rolled up piece of cardboard. I've used it for 3 months now with no complaints. The mods he does actually makes the tubes run cooler anyway, so I see this lasting a long, long time.

I am very tech oriented and inquisitive, and felt like the engineer was beating around the bush when I would quiz him, but they don't want to reveal all their secrets I'm sure, They were very courteous however, and Gerald always answers my emails the same day. He sent me plans for no cost to build a power attenuator, when he sells them for a pretty penny. It worked perfectly allowing me to reduce the volume of the amp considerably, without losing any tone whatsoever

1963 Fender Vibrolux (Brownface) restoration. This was originally a brown Tolex 1 X 10 combo amp (with "vibrato" but no reverb) that a previous owner had modified into a head. I bought it from a friend for $250 including a custom 2 X 12 cab. It sounded great but still had the original power and rectifier tubes. 12AX7's had been replaced with some funky RadioShack tubes, probably '70's vintage. Had almost certainly never been seviced. Wanted to get it back to "like new" or better.

Dan and Gerald did a cap job, replaced the transformer, re-tubed, added a 3-prong power cord and basically brought the electronics back to life. Parasitic oscillation was eliminated. Then Kendrick built me a new cab from their antique barnwood pine. I had them cover it with blond Tolex like the high-end combos of the early 60's, along with oxblood cloth and a vintage type "dog bone" handle. White knobs. It looks so beautiful I almost weep every time I look at it. It's even better when I turn it on and plug in! These amps have very touch sensitive ditortion when cranked. Tone is awesome.I lay Strats, Teles and a Les Paul through it. All sound amazing, but prefer the Strats with this amp. It is very loud for 40 watts. Excellent sound when turned down for practicing at home as well.

Have not gigged with this amp, and probably would not for fear of theft, not break downs. These are relatively rare amps and therefore quite valuable. I use it every day at home at both high and low volumes - no reliability worries.

Dan and Gerald were great to work with, repair and restoration went very well and was done in a timely manner. They were very easy to contact throughout the process and I never felt as if it was a bother for them to spend sometimes considerable lengths of time on the phone with me.

I have been playing for over 35 years. Play many styles but prefer alt-country and blues. Own a couple of Telecasters, 3 Strats, an LP custom and too many others to list. My other main amp is a Fender Bassman '59 reissue. This amp is irreplaceable. If it were stolen I would have to track down the culprit and personally castrate them! I love the sound and vibe of this restored gem! It easily compares with any boutique hand made amp in its class! I highly recommend Kendrick for repairs and service - these guys are top-notch!

I sent in a Silver face Super Reverb which was GIVEN to me as parts in several boxes. The guy who gave it to me had received it in the same condition. Neither of us had much of an idea what the thing originally sounded like. I just knew that I wanted a vintage Fender sound. I talked to Gerald Weber, owner, over the phone. He listened to me and concluded that the amp would need a couple transformers and a cap job, and he suggested modifying the circuit to 1965 Black Face specs.
I had practically no experience with the inner workings of tube amps but he was able to explain everything down to my level. I'm telling you, after taking another amp to be worked on by a local "amp guru" THREE TIMES JUST TO FIX A SHORT ON THE INPUT JACK I immediately picked up on the fact that this guy knows what he is doing (of course I found out later that he writes a regular column in Vintage Guitar Magazine) and that he cares about getting people to the tone that they want. Extremely friendly. Extremely helpful. I packed the chassis up and sent it across the country to Texas and actually felt MUCH better about it than leaving it across town with the local tech.

Once my amp arrived and they had dug into it, several options began to present themselves. Dan the engineer called me and we began a dialog about the tone in my head which would ultimately conclude some 10-15 phone calls later. I've spent HOURS on the phone with this guy talking transformers (their boutique replacement trannies are hand wound), capacitors, resistor values, plate voltages, etc and how these components react within the system. I CAN'T EVEN GET 10 SOLID MINUTES WITH THE LOCAL TECH IF I GO TO THE STORE IN PERSON AND BULLY MY WAY INTO THE REPAIR SHOP. I'm telling you, if this is Texas hospitality, I'm ready for a one-way ticket. I've spoken with four or five guys there (no answering machine or voice mail to wade through, BONUS!) and they are all super people. Good folks.

Now, as to workmanship. First of all, read my lips: NO BENCH FEE. They only charge for parts and labor and in my case this was quite meaningful. This particular Super was late 70s and kind of a wierd version: 70watts into 2ohms with an ultra-linear output transformer that would have been very clean, more like a twin. The clean clean didn't sound attractive to me. I wanted some tube girth. But its a rare amp so they had to go in and anlazye the circuit and make calculations in order to come up with a plan to make it more Superish. Plus, there were myriad parasitic oscillations to be dealt with. I know Dan must have spent hours on this, but they just charged me the standard BF mod fee. I feel like I got a TREMENDOUS VALUE.

Everything was done just like they said it would be and they were very accomodating in the process (including handling a credit card denial with the utmost finesse and also the billing in a discrete manner--hey, my wife doesn't have to know everything, does she?) They made me a DEAL on some tubes which allowed me to get up and playing about a month earlier than planned. I've had several local players come by and they were ASTOUNDED by the sweet tone. And it blows away my buddy's 65 Concert. This amp is miles away from its original circuit, and it absolutely just SINGS. I'm running home from work every night so I can get in that 17 minutes of jam time at full volume before the wife gets home. Whats weird is that after years of playing modern hi gain distortion amps, my playing style is mutating before my eyes. I'm actually coming close to pulling off those SRV licks that I abandoned years ago.
The only negative I can think of with Kendrick is that there is a waiting list. But for a small upcharge you can cut in line, so thats not a drastic problem. My honest opinion is that old tube amps CAN and SHOULD last more than one lifetime. What is a couple of weeks of downtime for repairs/modification over the 100yr life of a killer tone beast?

I just had my fairly new, 15w, 1x10" Harp Pro amplifier gone over and "tweaked" by Gerald Weber at Kendrick Amps, and what started out as a wonderful little amplifier voiced for harmonica is now a truly AWESOME harp amp.

A few months ago, in Vintage Guitar magazine, I ran across Gerald's piece on building the "perfect" harp amp. I was so impressed with his apparent understanding of what, electronically, goes into making a GREAT harp amp, I decided to give him a shot at applying his mods to mine.

Although Weber is not one to share his amp secrets in more detail than he did in his magazine article, I do know he changed several of the caps, 1/4" inputs, and the transformer with a custom-made one. The result was twice the tone and volume capabilities of the original amp, with the same amazing feedback rejection. You would never imagine a small, Champ-like amp could have the tone and punch this little beast cranks out NOW... and, I thought it sounded pretty good to begin with!

I found Weber and others at the Kendrick "ranch" to be extremely helpful and thorough in their explanations of everything they were doing to my amp, including the costs. Communication was never an issue. They took care of my mods and had the amp back to me within a few short weeks, despite the extremely heavy business Kendrick continues to enjoy.

Although Kendrick sells their own beautiful harmonica amp (for roughly $2K), you might consider letting Gerald do the mods to your existing tube amp to make it sound "right" for harp. I know I am glad I did. It was worth every penny.

Please check out my review (and others) of the Spirit Amps "Harp Pro" here on Harmony Central.

I sent my tweed deluxe to these flim-flam men from the lone star state and was appalled at their lame/rudeness. I sent it in for routine service after being conned by the books and hype. I got my amp back, plugged in the tubes and they BLEW up with great fanfare. This is a whole long story that ends badly with a 'pusonal fone call from jerold' where he told me to piss off basically-all because they couldn't fix my amp. I think that this bunch of hoodlums should be ignored.

less than zero

I had my old Deluxe Reverb worked on this past summer. Basically they "blackfaced" my amp,re-capped,and replaced some bad tubes etc. I am now the proud owner of a great sounding Deluxe and would heartily recommend other Fender amp owners to use Kendrick as the ultimate way to bring those fine old amps back to life! Knowledgeable people and courteous service are a tough combination to beat. When you get your amp back, you'll instantly know why so many try to emulate Leo's work.

I can honestly say that Kendrick is the Best place to have your Fender amp repaired. They quoted me $600.00 dollars for repairs to my 66 Twin Reverb and the bill came out to $498. They re-coned the 67 eminence speakers, fixed all kinds of screwed up wiring in the amp, re-capped it, and I am not lying when I say that this is the biggest, baddest, Twin Reverb in the state of Texas. When I took it in, I wanted to buy replacement speakers, Gerald said he would re-cone mine, and if I didn't like them, he would exchange them for whatever I wanted. A no-loss deak to say the least! The only negative is that the job took 14 more days than expected, but who cares? Not me. It was a small price to pay for such a great return. SW.

I play "REAL" country. I play a relic no-cater with Rio-Grande pick-ups installed. the amp is suited just fine, we talked about my needs and expectations before ANY work was done

I need to buy new tubes but it is my fault, not theirs!

A service repairmen gave me his home number! Top that!