Been to mang raul's place yesterday afternoon para paayus sana yung effect pedal ko. Its a long trip from the south to Sampaloc and traffic was heavy. Mang Raul checks my effect pedal and shows me this beautiful fender tweed showman amp head he was fixing. After looking up to my pedal. He showed me the problem and he told me to buy the part from a dealer in manila.
He didn't charge me with anything. After checking my pedal and we talk for almost an hour about Amps, amps, custom amps Famous people he knew in the music business and some customers who are in a way interestingly funny. Kinamusta din nya yung amps na pinagawa ko before. Some of the stories we talked about killed my GAS for those ''famous amps'', that I was looking forward to buying in the future, He said amps that has a wrong route or wiring, same type of circuitboard and has durability issues and I'm glad I asked him. I was now looking forward to ask him to make me an amp with my own personal specs and can be a clone of a famous amp. That's just me, Famous brands have that retail value to sell with if you want to sell them. That's good but if you want to keep your personal amp for your personal use and don't have any plans of selling it, I guess customized amp heads are one way to go. But he also told me what famous amps are worth the buy.
Mang Raul is the the very best amp technician in the country. Even rockstars ask him a lot to maintain their amps. He has a cool sense of humor, very witty and very humble. It was a fun afternoon kahapon. Too bad its just a short time, Because he has a very very tight schedule on repairs and home services. I'm looking forward to coming back soon. I want to try his old school vox head and the jazz chorus he has at home
For those who are asking Mang Raul's number: 09176431323. Text him first and wait for his reply before asking his house if you want to visit him. Like I said he is a busy man, even at weekends.
