Quality Recommended Honest Service
Traditional Values with a high tech twist
Sickamps
Sickamps SickampsSickamps Traditional Values with a high tech twist
SickampsSickampsBaretel – Blackstar – Carr – DR Z – Fender – Hi Watt – Korg – Laney – Marshall – Mesa – Orange – Peavey – Randall – Roland – Swart – Trace Elliot – Vox – Yamaha
Crafted by a passion for electronics repair, live music and a mission to reduce electronic waste.
Sickamps repairs stage electronics to component level, saving cost, saving waste.
‘A transparent, green and efficient service’
Guitar Amp Repair, Electric Piano, DJ & PA Repair In Harlow Essex
Vintage electronics repair workshop in a modern world. EST 2009
Many companies sell you their wares of “we do everything” or your “one stop shop”. We’re not. Quite simply we’re not an everything repairer, and for good reasons, we’re not afraid to turn down repairs we don’t think are suitable for us to look at.
This saves the time wasted and disappointment by both you and us that we’re unable to repair something because we cannot guarantee a great service or value by promising to repair something we might not get 100% right. We get phone calls all the time where companies take months, and yet still are unable to repair equipment where they initially say yes yes yes.
We’re honest and genuine when it comes to repairs. It takes a lot to turn down business, but that reinforces our honest nature and approach. We want to give you a great experience and build a lasting relationship.
A small local company you can trust and feel safe to recommend knowing that we will give our best. Our reviews are a snippet of other people’s experiences. Our selling point aside from this website is that we don’t take out any additional advertising, paid for promotions or sponsored listings.
We don’t buy our way to being a business, we’re a genuine reliable solution for musicians built on recommendation.
Sickamps was set up many years ago. For two reasons. Firstly because Chris the main repairer is a passionate electronics person who has a background in sound, live events and event management, and secondly he was saddened by the amount of waste electronic equipment going to landfill, not recycled or companies not genuinely being interested about the environmental impact electronics has in modern society.
Realistically very little of low grade PCB circuit boards get properly recycled for their metals, the process to strip metals is toxic, expensive and requires a huge amount of resources, power and heat to achieve and for many recycling plants they’re just not interested as the cost is greater to salvage than to mine fresh.
When considering a typical circuit board that goes wrong, it’s not just the circuit board, it’s the plastic and wood enclosure, the foam and plastic buttons and decoration that then becomes waste. Imagine the fault was caused by just a tea spoon’s worth of components. Suddenly we go from multiple wasted materials non recyclable and going to landfill. The further purchase of another piece of equipment and more future waste. Instead an example of a 1970’s amplifier, repaired with about 4 components, the owner hasn’t needed to buy another amplifier for some 50 years, kept near zero landfill apart from about a sugar cube volume of electronics.
When we buy spares we buy in bulk to reduce wasted courier journeys for parts delivery, use quality parts which provide better life before needing to be replaced and operate with local organisations for recycling and spares.
You can read more about our approach to recycling, reducing and reusing as well as the pitfalls of the disposable society and buying cheap
Our view is that we’re not just a repair company. We’re there to ensure that the high standards and sounds are maintained exactly as to how the manufacturer designed and wanted, restoring pride and quality .
We only use high quality parts to ensure a quality repair and experience. Every repair is carried out using the same values and specifications available in the schematics, or physically comparing parts.
Fitting substandard parts means that the repair can fail sooner or make the equipment perform different, which is bad for you and us.
Sometimes we will turn down modifications if we think they go against that of what the manufacture wanted, it’s not fair to have a brand be misrepresented and that is where we stand proud for our brand and those that we repair for. We have a loyalty for our brands, ourselves and you the customer to provide the best service.
There are some things we cannot repair. This is either due to not being able to source parts, not having repair contracts or simply being uneconomical to repair due to the low cost of replacement.
Like the saying Jack of all Master of none, we chose the specialist path of stage electronics, this includes lighting, amplifiers PA and stage related equipment.
Things we do not repair include:
Items branded “Amazon” “Gear 4 Music” “Thomann” or other cheap retailer white label products
Musical Instruments
HI Fi / Home AV
white goods
Car audio
Most DJ all in one consoles
We will undertake specialist PCB repairs or small minor damages and alterations, but this is part of a project based repair where we simply use our soldering or reworking tools to complete a job.
You can read more of our limitations on repair by reading our article: equipment we do not repair
Based less than 3 miles from the Herts & Essex border in Harlow, Sickamps is perfectly located for easy access. With great intersecting roads and transport links including A414, A10, M11, Greater Abellio high speed London train you can be with us from Central London in 20 minutes, St Albans and Chelmsford in 40 minutes, Colchester, Cambridge and Luton in under an hour!
Some people may see a ticketing system as a cold fronted non caring customer interface used by large organisations to get lost in.
As a small business and in an effort to keep up with demand, we use a ticketing system. Our difference is that we use it as a tool to help speed up repairs and keep you informed at all times! The result, faster, good value and clear precise information at every step!
Communication is key
At every step you’ll get updated with an email or online ticket, from dropping off your amp, to when it’s on the bench, if we’re waiting for parts and to let you know it’s repaired.
We like visuals and the picture to the right is a typical day for us, much like a traffic light system we can easily see what is outstanding, what needs doing. Not only do we see the overall state, but you can too for your individual repair!
What does this mean for customer service?
As long as we have the parts and spares on the shelf we can generally repair most equipment within a week. If we can’t repair it you’ll know straight away that we’ve ordered parts or awaiting for manufacturer advice.
Fair to say they're not the cheapest out there,
but it stays fixed and you know they've missed nothing!
Sickamps Ltd
Unit 66 Greenway Business Centre,
Harlow Business Park
Harlow, Essex, CM19 5QE
EORI GB083565784000
(Visits by appointment only)
Guitar amplifier repair in Harlow, covering all of Essex and Hertfordshire as far across as St Albans, and the main towns of Stevenage, Letchworth and Royston. Electric piano repairs from Cambridge through Bishop’s Stortford, right the way down to Romford and across to Braintree. Musical stage electronic electronics repair for smaller towns Hitchin, Buntingford, Ongar, Welwyn Garden city, and closer into London including the London borough of Enfield
Prices on this website are given as a guide to assist you to budget, they are no to be taken as exact.
After a successful year of repairs we will shortly be shutting up and enjoying some down time. We want to thank you all for your business and support over the last year it has been one of our best on record!
Our ticketing system is still functional and we will try to accommodate true emergencies over the period where we can. While we are shut no work or repairs will occur. Web orders will be held until we return.
Important Dates:
Last drop offs for repair Thursday 14th December
Last collections from repair Wednesday 20th December
We will resume as normal Monday 8th January 2024
