I've wanted to learn how to fix vintage electronics (reel

>>1113850
ask the guy if he is willing to teach you

other than that, prepare to make a small fortune out of a large one

>>1113860
Any books or resources you could reccomend?

>>1113860
>ask the guy if he is willing to teach you
FUCK THAT, LET'S DO THIS IN THE MOST DIFFICULT MANNER POSSIBLE

>>1114046
the service manual for each and every piece of kit you want to fix

>>1114046
>>1114110

hifiengine

>>1113850
the reason those shop don't exist anymore is because it's cheaper to get a new one than to fix the old one, if it's so old as to have no modern equivalent to buy then there isn't enough demand for anyone to make a living fixing them.

if you love randomly fixing things and don't have the proper autism to do it naturally you could go get an electrical engineering degree, but then your time would be vastly too valuable to be fixing cassette players other than for fun.

At this very moment you can start watching some good youtube channels. They won't teach you how to repair everything, but how to take things apart and make the best of it. You will also see what the right attitude when repairing things is and what mistakes not to make. Remember, keep your dick in a vice.

AvE
bigclivedotcom
Techmoan

>>1113850
Talk to that guy in your town, maybe he's willing to teach you some stuff and when he retires maybe you can take over some of his equiptment. Depending on if he's cool maybe he'll even wants to keep teaching you stuff or helping you out after he's retired. I don't know how old he is, but people in that bussiness are generally quite passionate on what they're doing and have been doing it for decades. Maybe he's happy that a younger person will keep working on that kind of stuff after he's retired.

Also, you can learn a lot by just buying some cheap electronics in thrift shops, taking them apart to see how they work.

Of course it all depends on how old and how broken the device is. Some tape recorders are good to go after a throrough clean up and lubing up all moving parts. Others might have burnt resitors or more challenging problems, but there's lots of info to be found on forums regarding that stuff.

But if I was you I'd start with getting to know the retiring guy and just simply DOING stuff. Buy cheap shit, and try to refurbish it. Simply by dissasembly and reassembly you can learn a whole lot.

>>1114136
This.

I had a buddy do this with TV/Electronics repair.

Was really into it. Went to a small TV repair shop that stayed in business by doing dish installs. Told the guy he was interested in doing TV and electronics repairs. Guy hired him as a dish installer but showed him how to repair shit when he didn't have any installs to do. Trained him over a few years.

Worked out really well for the old guy too because he was planning on retiring and got to slowly transition into it instead of setting a firm date.

Eventually the old guy retired fully, but was able to keep his business and made my buddy manager. The old guy has offered to sell the business to my buddy, and he likely will buy it in the next year or so.

>>1113850
Here's the problem. People dig out their cool shit that their Dad had, but because the American Dream is dead, they can't afford to pay you to fix it. So half of your space fills up with equipment that you diagnosed and called them with an estimated cost/awaiting approval or pickup.

The other half of your space fills up with stuff you repaired and now are waiting for people to pick up.

And somewhere in there you need to work on repairing said equipment and answer the phone every two minutes with customers calling you to see if their repair is finished, then "ding ding" another time waster broke Millenial walks in the door expecting a tour, telling you how cool it is, that they want to learn how to repair electronics some day and that they have this old stereo from their Dad that they wonder if you could fix...

While the dream of having a shop is cool, it's sometimes better to keep it a hobby, purchase known top of the line brands and models and repair then sell on Craigslist to fund the hobby.

>>1114056
this is basically every thread on /diy/

>>1114056
>>1113860
Already asked the guy.

He said he would have a few years back but he plans on retiring in a year, but that if I had any questions I could call him.

He also took my numner down in case he hears of anyone who could teach me.

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>>1114225
Well I have no aspirations of having a shop or business that takes up the bulk of my time.

I am primarily a musician so I would like to repair such items for studio purposes as well as a casual source of income since not many people know how to fix cassette or reel to reel.

>>1114253
what kind of shitty resolve is this

go buy some shitty old electronics and fix them to show him you are in fact interested

and dont take no for an answer, if hes retiring in a year, that means hes still working for a year,

hes probably just being tsun as shit being old. grind him down until he actually does retire

>>1114253
Sounds like you're giving up quite easy man
Either go for it 100% or just don't do it.

>>1114916
>harass an old man
fuck you too

>>1114654
>>1114916
Hey yeah.

You guys are right

I went out today and bought a broken ps-10, two faulty tape players and a broken speak n spell.

Going to spend part of every day figuring it out.

Should I call him when I encounter an issue I don't comprehend, or go in to his actual shop?

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>>1113850
I fix a lot of old electronics and have taught workshops on it; although I don't do valve stuff very much; mostly 80s tech.

Start by ruling out anything simple like corroded battery terminals or a busted transformer with a multimeter. If the device is portable there's a good chance it broke because somebody dropped it or battery acid leaked in and corroded stuff. Look for cracks/corrosion on the PCB. Bridge them with solder by scraping away the solder mask. Sometimes you can't see the damage so use a multimeter to check that all the points that look like they're supposed to be connected actually are.

Vacuum tubes need to be replaced occasionally. They're usually in sockets to make this easier.

I don't run into the capacitor plague as much as other problems, but look for any bulging electrolytic capacitors anyway.

There's often a fuse soldered right onto the PCB somewhere. Check that power can go through it and replace if not. If it keeps breaking look for a short circuit.

Potentiometers can develop dead spots. Spray with contact cleaner or replace.

>>1115496
Bad contacts in relays and switches are also a very common issue.

>>1115420
>and a broken speak n spell.
That's a piece of gold you've found. You can sell it on Ebay for a few hundred if you get it working and follow a circuit bending tutorial.

>>1113850
If you really wanted to do it you wouldnt be here asking questions, you'd be doing it. Nobody accomplishes anything by sitting back and asking for directions with no intentions of going anywhere. You have an infinite number of resources at your fingertips from people who pursue your niche business venture as a hobby. If you cant figure out where to learn from you cant find info on these well documented subjects you wont find the problem with whatever you need to fix.

Get a book on electrical theory. Find something you want from days past, find a schematic, make a list of the parts in the schematic, and build it.

Find something you want to be able to repair when its in working order.l, take pieces out of the circuit and see how it affects it.

Learn to read schematics, learn how to use a multimeter, then itll just be tedious till you fogure out what youre doing.

>>1114225
That's why after a month-2 weeks with no contact, you either throw that shit in the trash, or sell it yourself, or keep it if it's worth it. My coworkers have received between the two of them a 4k TV, two regular 46" TVs, 6 desktops, and an iPod, while I got a desktop for my parents and both a regular laptop which I use for school and a previous model year desktop replacement. The PS3s I sold for about 100$ each. Our policy is a month, which I feel is too long, but I'm not the boss.

>>1115420
Your own choice, but going to his shop you'll have more chance to talk about some other stuff with him, getting random advice you'll never get on the phone and getting to know the guy more.

>>1115983
I'm doing both.

Theres a slightly younger guy who fixes valve amps, cassette decks and guitar effects pedals who is willing to teach me.

I could do that then swing by the older guys workshop at the end of every week.

>>1116071
just dont be a dick and dont waste his time, you gotta build up street cred with him, then bam, all the old man secrets

Be careful that this old guy is ok. I have pretty much lived the dream, or so it would look to you BUT the old guy is now going senile and has no life to retire to. We don't make money and its going to take the forced sale of his assets to pay off the unpaid wages. Then there is the pedo factor and the homo factor. Not very nice to be around. He has almost no friends because of this. Be careful anon and don't become me.