Wickham Audio

09/18/2026

ASME member for probably 20 years. Came in handy a few times over the years designing custom mechanical/electrical machinery.

09/11/2026

Wickham Audio is celebrating 48 years in business this year...there will be follow up posts thru out the remainder of this year. I completed my first repair on a TV in 1978....I have EST 1981 on the business cards because that is the year I was granted a dealer net 30 days open account with a parts supplier in Columbus. Some of this is a long read...and since some of these documents are no longer in word, the typos and other issues are still in and not corrected. Enjoy

08/04/2026

Based on serial number this most likely a 1954 or 1955 Fender DeLuxe, serial -02563, chassis 5E3. Missing vintage chicken head k**b, missing vintage power tubes, shorted vintage 5Y3 rectifier, 1-faulty electrolytic (so far), incorrect power switch, incorrect power light, missing vintage tube shields. Some hack was in this thing more than once during its time on earth. I was correcting the power transformer wiring and I concluded there was a missing black wire. Removed the power transformer, removed the end bells and found a lone winding. I soldered a black wire to that winding put it all back together and it actually powered up and the amp is delivering 12 watts rms into 8 ohms. WOW...kind of a fun project....now that it is working..Ha...Customer has the upper and lower panels...Not sure if he has the original speaker or not.

07/13/2026

Customer:
Thanks again for jumping on that SVT so quick. We had big 4th of July party / jam session at the house yesterday and it fu***ng RULES. My good friend’s 14 year old son took up bass a couple years ago and we had him plug into the SVT first and give it the beans. He’s never played through a rig like that at full volume and the look on that kids face was equal parts fear and enjoyment. And he got to jam with a solid drummer and a great guitarist for the first time ever. That little dude is locked in for life now thanks to you Pete!
Wickham Audio:
The story above is what this repair is all about...it is all about a future fellow bass player coming up the ranks. This is an Ampeg SVT "Classic"...burnt wires, faulty jacks, resoldered poor solder joints, set bias....all the 6550 Russian power tubes tested so leaky in the Hickok 539B its a wonder it didnt blow fuses....I also repaired a tear in the Tolex left by somebody prior to my involvement. Sometimes I get so involved with the repair I neglect to take more pictures...there is no time for that. Ha

06/29/2026

This just in....PreSonus SL-32S in for factory authorized service....new out-of-the-box channels 17 thru 32 were playing a song with 4 chords (D.E.A.D). removed bottom panel, found ribbon connectors not fully inserted from left control surface pcb assy to the right control surface pcb assy...after fully inserting the ribbon cable and re-assembling everything from the bottom cover/panel I was able to set the mixer up for the first time on channels 17 thru 32...I put the console into "Mardi-Gras" mode so as to verify all the lights and faders work now.

05/23/2026

MCS series products...We have 2 in for repair...this 3275 is working again now. I waited to see if we could bring it back to life before making 2- "switch caps" that were missing when the unit arrived. I collect k**bs and switch caps but did not have these...No problem...I just made 2 on my lathe...I have used that lathe for soooo many projects over the years....Cannot imagine my life and my little business without my lathe and bench top milling machine. The 2-switch caps I made are not exactly like the only remaining original one but as my British friends and I say they are "close enough for the girls we go out with".

05/05/2026

Wickham Audio....Factory authorized service center for virtually everybody who is anybody in the Music Industry (M-I).....Recently added PreSonus and Supro (Bond Audio) to the line up.

05/05/2026

04/23/2026

Fender "Twin Amp"...power tubes get very hot when in 1/4 power setting of toggle switch...found 1/2 of the toggle switch has shorted contacts...(mark in red with a sharpie) probably welded from arcing ? Dead short when toggle is in either position...WOW. I dont recall ever having this happen before.

02/26/2026

Wickham Audio. Pedals and microphones are not always worthy of repair but that does not mean we wont repair them. Testing the Shure SM57 after the cartridge/element was replaced confirming I wired the mic in phase...after completion of the MXR micro amp repair on the scope I then played guitar thru the pedal into an amp as a sanity check.....NEXT