Check out this repair bill on a sx-1980

In the service receipt - that's a lot of money for 1 (one) transistor, no wonder the whole service cost that much.

EDIT:
Looking again maybe that is a whole output transistor assembly? (from a donor unit?) in which case maybe about right.
 
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Nice looking unit. Not surprised at the service bill. Worth it to keep a classic running.
 
I'd be worried about either buying it from a seller who manage to fry something three separate times in relatively short order, or having been "serviced" by a tech who kept returning it with problems not solved.
 
Ive spent that much on having my SX-1250 rebuilt.

For a total rebuild, and in the hands of the right Tech with knowledge, skill and rock-solid reputation, its money well spent.
 
I'd say the parts markups are out of line. They were happy enough to state that there were Nichicon Muse caps, but that doesn't say a whole lot. W/O knowing the values/ratings/part numbers for the caps, resistors, and Qs, it seems that there's at least a 200-300% markup going on. Seems high to me, but maybe that's standard.
 
I have seen similar markups on computer repair invoices. I would guess this is standard procedure as a small business is difficult to keep alive.
 
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/ele/4639011204.html

I'm not saying anything. I don't do this for a living but I thought the bill would be interesting for review.

This is a good example as to why it doesn't pay to spot repair some of these old rigs. After three trips to the shop and more than a 1000 dollar later, it's likely the owner is just trying to get the thing out of his or her life, before its time to stick more money into it. Based on what has been done (or rather hasn't been done) this unit will see a repair bench yet again before too long.
 
For $3000 you could probably "build" your own model if you knew what you were doing. glen65 has a point above!

cnh2
 
I couldn't tell the hourly rate from the invoices. Looks like maybe $25 or $50/hr on 2, $35/hr on the third.
 
This is a good example as to why it doesn't pay to spot repair some of these old rigs. After three trips to the shop and more than a 1000 dollar later, it's likely the owner is just trying to get the thing out of his or her life, before its time to stick more money into it. Based on what has been done (or rather hasn't been done) this unit will see a repair bench yet again before too long.

Vintage gear is almost a Catch-22 when it comes to repairs and repair techs. Though i'm not a tech, i imagine that you don't want a unit to keep coming back to you since it looks like you don't know what you're doing. You also don't want to have to track down obscure future issues when time is money if the customer only wants the issue he's having at the time fixed. At the same time, it's got to be a tough sell to tell someone they really should have a complete rebuild for X dollars.

So, what happens... We try to fix things ourselves to save some money, most of the time successfully, but then another tech goes out of business, so there's fewer options when there is a really tough problem. Vicious cycle.
 
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