In 2003, Empeg Repair was set up to take over the repair of Empeg Mk1, Mk2 and 2A (RioCar) player units,
following the buyout of Rio/SonicBlue by DNNA. At the time of the buyout, DNNA declined to continue support
for the car player units.
This would have left a significant number of owners without repairs access and no spare parts. All remaining
parts and units were to be scrapped.
I had previously been working as the support engineer for Rio for car players up to this point, and was
told that the service would be stopping, leaving me redundant. I was offered the chance to obtain the
remaining spares before disposal and decided to continue this work on a part-time, hobby basis.
Around this time, I was involved in a protracted and difficult divorce alongside a period of extended
unemployment. Although I managed to continue with limited repair activities and spares sales, I was not
as well-placed to do the work as previously: I also found it more difficult to organise and run the empeg
meets in 2004 and 2005.
I was re-employed in the UK at the beginning of 2005 and re-located to the UK. I decided that I would continue
carry out repair activities and in 2005 was more active in taking on work.
However, since that time, my personal circumstances and health have meant that I have been doing less and
less repair work on empegs. The time was not there: the concentration and health was not there. It has simply
not been practical or possible to do the work effectively - it's a hobby and remains such, rather than
a business. Hence, it is somewhat dependent on personal factors for me to do the work.
I mistakenly took on several repairs to badly damaged units, which have not been completed after quite long
periods of time (in some cases, more than a year). I am extremely embarrassed about this, and intend to rectify
the situation as soon as I can. I will be contacting the owners of these units to discuss the situation.
It's not going to be possible, at least in the foreseeable future, to take on any repair work with any
reasonable chance of it being completed quickly. The majority of repairs are usually heavy-damage and require
many hours of work to sort them out. I just don't have the hours. I am currently involved in a course of
study to improve my chances of future employment and try to get my career back on course: this must of course
come first, sad to say.
The stocks of spares that I have tend to be specialised, and usually used in a repair. The majority of electronic
components used in the designs are still commercially available, but require an experienced engineer to carry
out a repair - even just diagnosing faults requires and engineer and there is really only myself, Patrick
Arnold (the original designer), Mark Lord and Stuart (Eutronics) doing this. Patrick is not able to offer
repair services.
This does not really leave the average user in an especially good position, and I am aware that the number of
users is gradually dwindling over time, partly due to damage to working players. I have always worked on the
basis of keeping players going and not scrapping them: this statement seems to say otherwise.
For the moment, I must no longer accept repair work until all outstanding work is completed and devices have
been returned to their owners. I will continue to supply spares where possible. What happens after I have
completed this work depends on my personal circumstances.
I will try to keep you all posted about what is happening with empeg Repair.
I would welcome your comments or suggestions, so please contact me by email (see the home page) to let me
know what you think.
©2008