Reviews Archive

“You’re the only one I trust with the good amps.”

“Blackie, you are my hero. My Marshall Bass Combo amp sounds so sweet thanks to you.”

“Blackie Pagano…got the message that it doesn’t have to look like you’re expecting. Exquisite design and craftsmanship.”

“Blackie has re-done three amps for me. A Pro, a Deluxe and an old 50’s Gibson that GE Smith tried to buy while it was in the shop. His repairs are legit. Took the silverface 70’s Pro and made it rage like a 60’s Blackface Twin…..Thanks Blackie, wish I still lived in NYC…”

“Blackie, the amp sings more than it ever has–you’re a legend!”

“BLACKIE IS A TOP NOTCH TECH & BUILDER! HIGHLY recommended FOR THOSE THAT LOVE THEIR AMPS OR WANT TO GET THE the best sound OUT OF THEM … SENOR PAGANO BUILT 2 INCREDIBLE “GRAIL” AMPS FOR MY BANDMATES (CHUCK COMPTON & DAMON “GATOR” BECKER) THEY immediately BECAME THEIR GO TO AMPS!”

“Blackie makes magic with tubes. He turned my Carvin (!) combo into a sleek beast.”

“Blackie has worked on my Audio Note Meishu SET, Jolida 502, 1962 Fender reverb tank, 1956 Fender Deluxe, and before that he built me a Deluxe-like amp. He is superb at his craft.”

“blackie is now on the wrong side of the country for me but you metro ny area folks can have your tube amps repaired by the best i have ever encountered…”

“Hey Blackie, just wanted to say thank you for getting my OR80 back in shape. Sounds grrreat! Finally! MUCH THANKS!!”

“Just got my Deluxe Reverb overhauled by amp genius Blackie Pagano! It sounds REALLY great, Blackie! Thanks!”

“I’ve got a number of friends for whom you’ve done repair work, and all couldn’t recommend you highly enough. My pal, Kevin Haley, out in LA, was in fact raving about you! Glad you’re back in NYC!”

“Blackie Pagano knows tube amps. No doubt about that. The guy is famous for fixing and creating amps. You must have him fix your gear. Just don’t bring him any busted solid state gear. You shouldn’t be playing that stuff anyhow.”

“Blackie used to fix my amps when he was still in NYC. He always did an incredible job. My amps never sounded better, I wish he’d move back to NY!”

“Blackie, the mojo has got some old dude phunk spilling out into the air waves…..It was made for tone……Sounds awesome……”

“FYI- Marshall Jubilee has been awesome… but I’m really in love with the Fender Pro-sonic again! nice job on both!”

“the man has brought many a dead amp to live and sing again! He did it for ME!”

“One of the best. I actively seek out anything he writes about amplification and learn more everytime.He is extremely helpful and personable on line for topics of discussion. Thanks for your expertise and sharing!”

“Blackie you are the best or you would be if we got to timeshare you back here in NYC sometimes. I hope you are visiting NYC soon, all three of my amplifiers need attention, but the BFDR is making bad noises and I won’t let anyone else touch her”

“Blackie is a nice man, knows his stuff, and does excellent work. What more could you ask for?”

“Just wanted to tell you thank you for getting all the work done on my 65′ bassman done so fast and so well! I ended up using it in the studio for all my rhythm guitar tracks, as well as our bass tracks and then lent it to the producer for two other bands to track guitars with. It held up perfect! You’ll have the 65′ back to mod shortly, my 59′ to maintenance and my other guitarist’s Jubilee for maintenance soon… You’re the man! Thanks much”

“One of the best amp doctors/gurus in LA.”

“Sounds killer, Blackie! Played it all night long. Fine work, as always.”

“Best tube amp repair in LA! Hands down!”

“I wish you were still in the neighborhood..or next door, even…all my amps need a doctor, and Blackie is the BEST!”

“Blackie’s work is great! he had my amp’s issue identified, repaired and re-tubed within a week. Don’t waste your time, go see Blackie!”

“Hey man…just wanted to wish you a belated Happy New Year and to tell you the “Ampro” is a big hit here! This thing screams and it’s freaking folks out!! Kudos to you my friend! After using it awhile I’m thinking it’s worth doing the cosmetics so, if yer into it,I’ll bring it back in the next couple months…”

“Have a ’62 Deluxe that I bought in 1977. It came with an original JBL D120F. Had a solid Oak cabinet made for it, and Blackie fine-tuned the electronics. Sounds fantastic!”

“Hey Blackie, You did stunning work on my 100W Plexii with Mark Cameron mod a couple of years ago. Amp still works great!”

“tested my marshall today. 1/2 power switch is perfect at 4 ohms. like a new amp. thanks for the great work, maestro. the fender came out great, too. my neighbors love me. haha”

“Blackie: Hooked up the Super Champ to a 2-12 closed back Soldano cab. With my overdrive pedal, that thing sounds incredible!”

“blackie…my blues deluxe sounds great since you worked on it…off to borrego springs for three days of music…and couldn’t believe how much better my pedals sound with my strats…and my old martin with a dean markley is just the tone i have been looking for…thanks again for the great work…”

“Blackie: Thanks for making my Vox ac 30 sound like 1964 again. What a celestial sound! I used to use the “cut” control to manage the noise but now it doesn’t matter where it is set. Dead-quiet and harmonically rich. Your work reflects the art behind the science. Thanks again.”

“Props to you, Blackie !!! Not only are you the most accredited amp tech in the west (maybe the world), but this site and your pics have made it an amazing forum for those of us that appreciate the “Real Deal”. Thank You !!!”

“The Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp you looked after sounds great! Thanks again”

“Blackie does the best work I’ve ever had done on amp. I won’t take my amp to anyone else but him.”

“Epiphone Valve JR (if it can still be called that) fully modded, rodded & sittin’ pretty back New York City! Bell-like clean tone & balls-to-the-(apartment)-walls dirty at whisper low volumes…defies all earthly logic to be certain! Cosmetic upgrades are flawless, as expected. I bow to His High Holy Blackness!!”

“Blackie brought my old Marshall back to life, when nobody else even wanted to look at it. Love these guys.”

“Blackie! Rushed my Fender Deville 4-10 home, plugged in my DiPinto Galaxie 4 with a single high quality coiled cable and HOLY SHIT! That pentode/triode switch makes the Deville the amp I always wanted it to be and it’s STILL HELLA LOUD! Who’da thought “neutering” the beast would give it bigger balls? Everyone with a HRD should consider having this done. If only you could put in a switch that would make the amp 20 pounds lighter Thanks for the great work, you are a wizard!”

“The best amp and tube man in North America !!! #1”

“There are only a few folks that I would trust with my own amps and I am not even on my own list Blackie Pagano is at the top of a list that I won’t even add myself to”

“Once again, I gotta thank you, Blackie for the great service on my amp. I’ve been using it pretty heavily since it came back home. The power up is so gentle and it is so quiet now at idle that I can’t even tell it’s on; but it sounds great! THANK YOU!”

“She’s a screamer! My neighbors tell me they know when I’m playing…all their windows rattle. Great job Blackie, it’s nice to have her up and running again!”

“thanks for the repair Blackie, it sounds fantastic! cant wait to crank it at practice.”

“I can’t believe how much better my amp sounds now! I’m beside myself. Thanks Blackie!”

“BLACKIE!!! Got to blast the amp last night at the Troubadour. I’m serious when I say that it has never sounded so good. Forget what I said last October, it sounds better now! Roaring, hellacious overdriven tones, sweet cleans. Here’s a pic of my little Vicky in front of a Vox and a Marshall. Nothing little about the sound though.”

“My Twin Reverb II you did for me is sounding great! I did a session this last weekend with it and afterwards the engineer and asst walked in, went right up to it to get a closer look.”

“Thanks to you, my amp still works and sounds like an older Marshall should. I want to drop my 50W NMV marshall for a triode/pentode mod this week.”

“Amp sounds great! Thanks Blackie!”

“Blackie…thank U for your help! My amp sounds waaaaayyyyy better!”

“Blackie, Thanks for the work on the amp. It is KILLIN’! The “self noise” that I heard before is all gone. As a matter of fact I think you lowered the noise floor in general. Input 1 has more gain than I remember it having when it left here. . . . .That’s awesome. I can’t say enough about how it sounds now. I just did a session in NY with two Allesandro amps (english and blue pit) and I would put this Vox proudly in the room with them. Thanks again man.”

“I received the amp yesterday, with new weber speakers, and I can say Blackie’s work is second to none. I am in love again. It sounds like a real amp. I love the fact that he gives me a detailed invoice of EVERYTHING he replaced… if you need SERIOUS work done, I would recommend Blackie in a hearbeat.”

“Thx for the great work on my earth superbass!”

“Blackie, The amp sounds great, I really like the new speaker and the tube combo sounds great. This sounds like a Super Blues Jr. III! Now it is a Blackie Blues Jr.”

“Fender Vibrolux Reverb Circa 1972 – My holy grail of tone which has been blackfaced electronically and cosmetically. I can never recommend these vintage Fenders enough, but they must be thoroughly gone over by a high level amp technician… I highly recommend Blackie Pagano!”

“My fender red-knob Twin has too many features but you made it sound great man! Couldn’t be happier. The clean channel sounds so good when you push it hard and the overdrive is nice and dirty. I can finally make use of this thing after it sat in my shed for 7 years. Thanks a ton!”

“Blackie did a great job fixing my ’74 Champ Amp. The amp was not functioning when I took it to him — a tube had arced over. He replaced a number of parts and got the amp back up and running. The real surprise was how awesome the amp sounds. Better than it ever sounded before (shimmering tones) and super quiet at idle. He is busy — so you’ll need to pay a rush fee if you need an amp fast. I wasn’t in a rush and I wanted the job done right. Price seemed reasonable — a number of parts / changes made with just an hour of bench time.”

“Blackie…this amp has never sounded better. No Mud! The tremolo is even distinct. Compared to when I had the speakers and chassis wired correctly in the past, this amp now grinds and CHIMES! I think it square waves around 60 watts clean. Thank you for your expertise.”

“Took my old Marshall plexi to three other techs and it never came back right, then I found Blackie. Fast, cost effective, great staff and understood my issues right away. Got the amp back and it sounds better than ever. I’ve taken my old Mosfet, a Pignose and my Fender Twin Reverb in for tuneups and they’ve all come back better than new. This is the best place in LA for amp repair by far.”

“Blackie rodded n modded an Epiphone Valve JR to boutique quality for a fraction of the price of a comparable piece…best sounding recording amp ever, hands down! Two thumbs up !!!”

“I had built a Fender Deluxe Reverb clone from the Hoffman design. It was my first build. When I finished, it wasn’t working. After checking and rechecking every joint, I knew I needed to find an amp tech. I’d spent a year slowly putting this thing together from scratch, and the last thing I wanted was to hand it off to someone who would take less than the utmost care with my project. After going through a list of L.A. techs and reading reviews and interviews, I decided to go with Blackie Pagano. In reading a couple of interviews on his website, I noticed his sensibilities seemed to match mine. And I could tell his passion was amplifiers, plain and simple. It wasn’t just a job, it was his lifestyle. I called Blackie and he was immediately confident that he could find the problem in short order. He spent a good amount of time walking me through potential issues.”

“Blackie is a genius. He has that rare intangible of skill & gift. Impeccable ears, mad tech skills, & cool aesthetics. I’m fortunate to own his Grand Champion amp. Go to his website and take a look at the pictures. It sounds better than it looks & isn’t THAT what THIS is all about? Go ahead, buy that yard sale amp. Have no fear. Blackie will bring it back to life and make it better than new. That’s why I love the guy. You walk in a customer and walk out a friend. He’s the best.”

“Blackie is tops, a master at diagnosing the ills of a given piece of gear, and a pleasure to work with.”

“had a little 5 watt amp that was not working, very little sound coming out. I wanted to get it working but did not know anyone. I found Blackie with a google search and he was only blocks from where I worked. He knows his stuff and had the little amp working in no time. he does have a back order of work. But it he gets it done right. Any vintage amp owners with problems should bring them here.”

“When stopping by Blackie’s office, it was a little easy to get lost, especially coming from the valley. Just make sure to take the 110 North and hit that exit on Downtown 6th street and don’t get back on to the 110! Anyways, now that I’m going a bit off tangent I’d like to get back to the subject. Took my Orange Rockerverb 100 in 2 days ago and Blackie told me turn around for an amp was about 6 weeks. And judging from all the amps in his office, it was very understandable. I did the rush delivery considering I had a gig tonight and got it back within time. I tested the amp today and it is considerably louder and crisper sounding than before. I’m not going to say I didn’t pay a lot. It was obvious from the start why he has so much business, he’s the best techie in Los Angeles and he will probably be my go to guy for the years to come.”

“cranked up my Marshall JCM2000 last Friday afternoon to set mic pre levels for recording. I struck my first chord and pop! the sound instantly disappeared (no noise… nothing). The power was still on, so I figured it might be a tube issue. Blackie followed through. I got my amp back tonight (one business day turnaround). I went home and jammed with it in the studio, and it sounds great. Plus, Blackie offers a 90 day warranty on his repairs: I feel pretty comfortable with that in mind. On top of that, Blackie is an incredibly personable guy; very gracious. He offered to clean the pots on my Les Paul for free if I wanted to stop by… My impression is that he is very professional, holds to a high standard of excellence, and is downright likable. I’m looking forward to doing business with him in the future.”

“I bought a Dynakit St-70 hi-fi amplifier a year ago through Ebay. It was in original factory wired condition and sounded great. When it developed problems, I consulted Blackie. He was able to diagnose, fix and return my amp to me in one day. He also was very easy to talk to and was very informative. This amp is my “daily driver” and I have grown attached to the sweet listening experience it provides me. At first, I had a lot of anxiety about turning it over to someone to get it fixed. I was happy that expedited service was offered; and, after all was said and done, I experienced no stress whatsoever working with Blackie. He’ll give you the straight talk and he won’t waste your time.”

“The level of service you get from Blackie is what I call “Commitment To Excellence” level service. Blackie has worked on almost all of my over 25 amps over the years and It’s always a pleasure to stop by his shop. It’s Los Angeles’ luck to have Blackie. Us NY’ers miss him.”

“My experiences with Blackie: 1. 2. Most techs, no matter how good they are, usually get your amp back to you in several increments of “I’ll have it for you in a couple of days.” 3. He was VERY communicative with me the entire time he had my amp on the bench. This too is uncommon. He actually called me twice during the process, and then promptly returned a call when I called him in the evening with a question. 4. He seemed genuinely interested in the amp, and in getting it to perform to its potential. 5. He was a cool guy to deal with and to talk to. Smart, worldly, articulate. Obviously this is subjective, but it matters to me. 6. *** IMPORTANT*** The amp, now back from Blackie’s shop, is sounding and performing better than ever!!! Blackie aggressively promotes his business, and as such, I can see some people being turned off by this.”

“I never feel compelled to write reviews but Mr. Blackie Pagano is a true scholar and a gentleman. I brought him four vintage Fenders over the last three weeks and each one came back sounding better than ever. A vintage component here and matched tube there brought these amps to peak performance in sound and feel. These amps are now part of a total instrument that is a combination of great electric guitar plugged into a hand tuned living and breathing vintage amp. Blackie brought it all back to me and my guitars. No hype, no bull, Blackie just delivers every time. Furthermore, I have had many more amps serviced by Blackie Pagano including Tweeds, Blackface, Silverface, and most recently, a Vox AC15HTVH. All came back to me dramatically improved. The Vox, in particular, that has a reputation for being extremely noisy is as quiet as church mouse and just sings.”

“I am not familiar with any service providers who have enjoy a good reputation as universally as Blackie Pagano. My own experience was no exception. Blackie has impressed me as a true master of his craft, and a nice person on top of that. In short: whether you have a vintage heirloom, or just need to get better performance out of your every-day rig (or both), if you really care what your amp sounds like, you owe it to yourself to bring it to Blackie. Since 2004, I’ve been the proud owner of a ’65 Deluxe Reverb blackface. When I first got it, it was barely working. It powered up, but oscillated so badly it couldn’t consistently produce sound. So, I had a restoration done by another tech (no names mentioned). The result with the other tech was disappointing. In my living room, it was okay, but not exceptional.”

“Blackie is amazing. I had Blackie bring an old magnatone amp back from furniture land. I got the amp way back when. I pushed it and it actually lit on blue fire. So it got retired. When Blackie came to LA I took it over to see if it could be repaired. Man o man did it get repaired. A new speaker,tubes, and a transformer later it soooooooooo good. He also informed me that these old amps are powered straight to power tube(easily killing you if plugged in incorrectly). I highly recommend, Blackie is the man.”

“Look… you have one reason to have Blackie work on your amp; to get the sound you always wanted from it. I was fortunate enough years ago to buy an early 70’s Silverface Vibrolux, it sounded pretty good, but never really great. I had a guy mod it in the late 90’s and it sounded better, but was still missing that sound I was hearing in my head. Finally I discovered Tubesville and dropped the amp off and put it in Blackie’s capable hands. Whoa, when I got it back I was stunned; he had retubed the amp with carefully hand matched tubes, had replaced and tweaked the reverb, and the vibrato just was spot on. He even rewired the speaker harness with heavy-duty high quality cloth covered wire. Leo Fender would be proud even, and Link Wray, Poison Ivy, and Dwayne Eddie would be jealous if they heard it! It was everything I could want in a Vibrolux!”

“I’ve been using Blackie’s services for a few years now. I would not trust anyone other than Blackie with my amps. He does great work, he’s trustworthy, incredibly knowledgeable, and he stands behind his work. Plus he can diagnose and fix any problem your amp could possibly have. On top of all that, he’s always been there when I’ve needed him, even if it was a phone call from a show when my amp was making some unexpected weird noise. I’ve recommended him to all of my guitarist friends and will continue to do so.”

“Wow…Blackie is as good as it gets when it comes to repairing, building and/or modifying tube driven amplifiers…his knowledge and work ethic is unparalleled… I can’t possibly say enough about my experiences dealing with this talented dude other than that if you have any need to have work done on a tube amp or other device or want to have a custom amp built THIS is the place to go…so many world class musicians use his services and he has been featured numerous times in many of the world’s top audio and guitar publications..”

“Best tube Tech in Los Angeles… Works on HiFi and Guitar amps. In my case, a vintage Scott tube stereo. Amazing workmanship, knowledge and a personal investment in his repairs. He went above and beyond in my case to make absolutely sure my system was making my ears happy even with the possibility that it might be a component upstream of the amp. I’ll never go to anyone else. His custom builds are pretty impressive… I have no experience here, but you have to get a look at these things. He has an eye as well as an ear.”

“I have a ’62 Fender Concert amp which was in good shape but, being nearly 50 years old and having had no maintenance done to it ever, it was in need of a tune up and some TLC (new caps and power cable, etc.). I’d heard and read all the raves about Blackie and after having some bad experiences with amp techs in my area (San Francisco) I thought I’d make a vacation of it and give him a try. I’m glad I did. First of all, he’s communicative and helpful, which even in good techs, be they guitar or amp, it tough to come by. He says what he does and does what he says, which is a huge deal. I got so sick of dropping off my amp somewhere, being told it would be ready in a week, and then not having my calls returned after two. Then, a month later, I get a call saying it’s done, though not the way I’d asked, and then having it not work. This happens too much.”

“Blackie is the best! Ever since he left NY I dont know where to take my amps. We even considered driving our repairs across country on tour so we could make sure our amps sounded good. We miss him in NY, but our loss is LA’s gain. Enjoy!”

“i have brought my amps to blackie a bunch of times. every time, he repaired and maintained them well, and quickly. i’m a working musician, rely on these amps onstage, and he has always taken good care of them for me.”

“I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with getting my amp (or pretty much any gear ever) fixed but I found Blackie and got hooked up fat. My amp sounds better than ever. Plus, the 4 huge aquariums full of dead tubes in his place are awesome.”

“not only is he easy on the eyes, ears and wallet, he knows what he is talking about, and i have 20 years with the same tech before i moved!! GO BLACKIE!”

“Thank you again (so much) for fixing my Minuteman, Blackie! It sounds better than ever. Now, to buy better pedals… and a spare set of ears…”

“Cheers to my favorite evil genius amp wizard.”

“Blackie took an old Silvertone Amp that I got at a garage sale and turned it into a beautiful tone machine that has become an invaluable piece of my musical arsenal. He is at the top of his game and gets better every day. Nobody can do it better.”

“I 100% recommend Blackie and Tubesville.”

“Blackie thanks for bringing my 1972 Silverface Vibrolux Reverb back to it’s “badass blackface tone”. The amp really speaks for itself, I appreciate your attention to detail… killer sound from those tubes etc!!”

“My amp sounds fantastic, Blackie. Thank you! You are a genius and a gentleman.”

“Thanks, Blackie, for running my ’66 black face Vibrolux Reverb through your amp spa and making it as hot as ever.”

“Thanks for the killer work dude! The Orange is back in action and growling!”

“AHHHHH! 6 DEElicious watts of FENDERIFIC tone! the SWEETEST tremolo ever. STUDIO HEAVEN and mic it up for a gig! My Introduction to Mr. Pagano was when he Brought MY 73 vibro champ back from the dead after someone blew it up @ a recording session in NY. I am forever in your debt, mr Pagano…”

“My very beat-up, but very awesome 1965 Fender Super Reverb was blissfully restored to its former glory by the talented Blackie Pagano. For musicians and hi-fi fans looking for a true engineering artist, he puts the same love, focus, and attention to detail into his art for every client, rock star or not.”

“Just a quick note to thank you for your work on the Dynaco Stereo 70. It has never sounded this good — accurate, dynamic, clear, open, and engaging, with great tone. It has made the system sound better than ever.”

“I just got my ’65 Gretsch 6152 back from Blackie. It was DOA when I brought it in and after some work on the speaker, some new electronic bits, a tube, and final servicing prior to delivery, she’s humming sweet sounds again. It’s rockin’. I highly recommend Blackie for all your amp work.”

“You don’t want to be killin’ time futzin’ with your amp if it’s on the fritz. Leave it to Blackie. He’s been down in the trenches in the dangerous world of amp repair for years — a pro’s pro. Wish I sent my ’63 Vibroverb reissue for a freshenin’ up before he left for the left coast.”

“My tech now is Blackie Pagano, here in Los Angeles. Honest, reliable, super knowledgeable, and his pricing is fair and reasonable. Not a gouger. An all-around straight shooter.”

“You worked on my Fender Deluxe Reverb around 10 years ago when you were in downtown Manhattan. Still sounds great.”

“Once again, I gotta thank you, Blackie, for the great service on my amp. I’ve been using it pretty heavily since it came back home. The power-up is so gentle, and it is so quiet now at idle that I can’t even tell it’s on — but it sounds great.”

“Picked up my 1960 AC-15 from you last night. I knew it was supposed to sound amazing, but it didn’t when I first got it — and now it is freakin’ terrific. Thanks, Blackie.”

“Glad you’re back. Had several amps in, always top notch work, and my amps never sounded better.”

“He helped me tremendously years ago with my Marshall amp. The tone he got from my amp was nothing like any other amps I have tried.”

“You made my Fender 75 sing and repaired the transformer damaged in shipping on my Mesa 22.”

“Blackie was the guy in NYC. When he left, NYC had no one really great to work on stuff.”

“The best of the best has returned. Blackie is the real deal. So glad you’re back, Blackie.”

“Blackie provides an excellent amp service. I highly recommend him for all of your tube amplification needs.”

“Blackie’s work is top notch. I highly recommend him for any of your amp needs.”

“Blackie saved one of my amps from devastation. Glad you’re back.”

“10/10 would recommend Blackie. I’ll definitely be back.”

“Blackie always did right by me.”

“Gioachino Blackie Pagano is the absolute best. Word.”