Orange County, CA - Forgotten Gear Restorations

[fdesalvo]

Hi, all!


Find me on Yelp or YouTube as Forgotten Gear Restorations. Total transparency into my process and skill set, backed up by 5-star ratings.

• Has your Champ lost its punch?
• Is your Super Reverb not sounding so… super?
• Is your Princeton Reverb flunking?
• Is your Marshall on the highway to hell?
• Does your vibrato thump and tick?
• Is your tube amp blowing fuses or suffering from scratchy controls?

I’m Frank, and I run Forgotten Gear Restorations, a small, professional shop focused on repair and restoration of ailing guitar amplifiers. I charge no bench fee for intake.

For the past 20 years I’ve focused on guitar amplification, with a concentration on vintage Fender, Marshall, Vox, Gibson, Lectrolab, and others. I’ve logged thousands of bench hours breathing new life into everything from budget sleepers to truly priceless amps, and I treat them all with the same level of care and professionalism.  I also enjoy working on newer Fenders such as Blues Juniors, Devilles, and the Hot Rod series. I know their weaknesses and common failure points, and I can implement solutions to help bulletproof them against future problems.

Turnaround time is fast. Most servicing is completed within one week or less, provided I don’t have to special-order an oddball part. Another thing that sets me apart is documentation: I perform a detailed analysis of your amp from input to output and provide photo and documentation of failed components before we move forward. You get your amp’s failed parts back in a labeled bag — not some random pile from another bench.

All services include, at minimum:

• Input and output jack cleaning and re-tensioning (as needed)
• Tube socket cleaning and re-tensioning (as needed)
• Potentiometer cleaning and lubrication
• Decontamination / cleaning of chassis and cabinet
• Bias check and adjustment (if applicable)
• Hardware check (mechanical integrity, mounting, etc.)
• Detailed assessment with immediate and future recommendations

I stock high-quality parts including vintage/NOS Allen-Bradley resistors, and capacitors from Mallory, Sprague, Vishay, CE, F&T, and more. No one goes deeper, cares more about making things right, or spends more time making sure it’s done right the first time. I take care of all the little things. I’m very responsive to email and text — reach out and let me know how I can help get your forgotten gear back up to spec.


Best regards,
Frank J. DeSalvo
Owner & Principal Engineer
Forgotten Gear Restorations
(323) 717-1975
forgottengearrestorations@gmail.com