What do you charge for repairing pedals?

[Sensei Tim]

Lately i've had a number of inquiries on repairing pedals.

I am always a bit leery when it comes to this because even tho 99% of the time it's something simple, there's that 1% of the time where you spend hours trying to debug it only to end up exactly where you started.

For those of you who do repair work, do you charge an hourly shop fee and if you fix it in 15min you charge the 1hr fee + parts?

trying to figure out what the best/fairest way is to go about this..

[ξεναγος νεκροπολης]

generally i go this way

charging by hour.

plus

3x the cost of the parts
( and i think that this can go higher cause we all know how much time you need to learn/make mistakes/learn by your mistakes/track/find/wait for a specific component)

SO....

if there is a part difficult to source, then that would definitely increase the total cost.

[Sensei Tim]

For sure if it's sourcing NOS parts and stuff it adds to the cost.

I just don't know what normal shop rates are like...

I've been thinking that I charge by the hour, with a 1 hr minimum fee regardless of the outcome.. like if i spend the time figuring out the problem and then the customer decides it's not worth fixing, they still owe me for my time....

[Ciaran Haslett]

I'm just a guy who knows some stuff and has the balls to get stuck in and give it a go.  I find that people come to me because I'm not a shop, therefore they think I'm cheaper! It's only when I do the job correctly they realise I'm worth the money I charge and you build a good rep....and repeat business.

I do it this way, and this only works for me as the music scene where I'm from is pretty tight.  I offer to diagnose the problem for free.  If i need parts I get the customer to pay for them in advance, including shipping.  That way I'm not out of pocket if they don't like my final repair price or I can't fix it.  Not really reassuring for a customer but again...I'm not a shop!  I have a full time job already...and I've just given you a free diagnosis.

Once I find the problem and I'm happy I can fix it, I estimate the cost based on how long it took me to get there and ask the customer if its OK to proceed.  If they're happy then I repair it, they come in, I get paid and they get their pedal/guitar/amp whatever.

If they're not happy then I return the item for free and let them know that future diagnoses will NOT be free.  If they have a problem with that then that's not the kind of person I want to help.

Again I must stress that I do repairs on the side among a music scene I've been involved with for years so I'm not too concerned with offending anyone as we all know each other, friend of friends etc.  This may not suit you.

Lastly...how much you charge is really a reflection on how much you think you're worth.  The reason someone came to you for a repair is because they know you spend hours learning your craft.  You've broken more things and learned from it than you've fixed.  You aren't intimidated by what you see inside, voltage, the tools, the jargon etc etc.

[Frank_NH]

With guitar repairs, you can spend a good $50 - $100 dollars on a fret leveling/set up.  This is justified since the price of the guitar may be may hundreds of dollars (maybe a lot more).  With pedals, I suppose you would have to scale the repair cost with the replacement cost for the pedal.  I can see fixing a vintage Ibanez tube screamer which may go for a couple hundred on eBay, but would you fix a Joyo pedal?  Maybe the Joyo has some sentimental value to the individual, in which case I can see fixing it.  But if the replacement cost is $40?  Just get a new one!

I like Ciaran's approach - diagnose for free (well, free for the first visit or two), pay if want it fixed.

[Sensei Tim]

That's usually what i tell people, Frank.

If it's a cheapo commercial pedal then it's not really worth spending the money to fix and you'll be ahead if you just replace it.

on the other hand,  If it's an hour that you spend fixing a pedal for $20 or $40 vs an hour that you spend building something that you can sell for $100+, which would you go for?

[Frank_NH]

I have to admit trolling eBay for dead pedals hoping to get something that's just a simple 9V battery wire.  Haven't pulled the trigger yet...  It's amazing though that some people want $50 for a modern MXR pedal that's not working!  

[motterpaul]

I generally ask about $50 to fix a pedal. I arrived at that price after visiting a local shop that pays an outside tech a $60 minimum just to look at a pedal. He does the repair and then tells the shop how much he wants for it. The shops adds more to that (so I guess they make about $80).

I have had a few customers come by - for one guy I modded his Boss Distortion (added LED, changed 9v adaptor, did a "Brent Mason" upgrade). I only charged him $60.

On another pedal where the problem was just moving a trimpot (to get rid of some noise) I did not charge him.

I built him a custom pedal based on a well-known circuit (but with his choice of IC  & diodes) for $60.

Another guy had a broken solder joint on the DC power input jack (because he stepped on the cable going in) (on a TC voice effect). All I had to was re-solder the part to the board. I asked him for $50 as my minimum and he was perfectly happy (he tipped me $10). Part of it was that I told him what had happened and said "next time you can do it yourself." _ I think the point is that he could not get it fixed elsewhere and it was over $200 used to replace it, so he was happy to have it working again.

It is amazing that most fixes are much easier than you would think. You do have to be careful, though, not to do any damage. You can end up owing the client the cost of the pedal.

I have also found that pedal makers are often VERY happy to help you troubleshoot a problem. I got great feedback from Love Pedal and Morley.

[rocket88]

i've done what Ciaran does. free to diagnose, charge up front for the parts if they want to fix, and about $50-60 an hour. honestly though, i try to avoid doing pedal repairs, because it can be a slippery slope if it's not one you built. if you fix it, give it back, and the customer claims it sounds different then before the repair, or shortly after it stops working they can claim you didn't fix it and demand you do it again for free. it can be a big headache that i try to avoid. i'll mod a commercial pedal.

my dad's a repair man, and i've seen some of the bs people try to pull first hand, so long story short for the most part i really won't fix a pedal unless i built it or i know the person. just not worth the issues that can show up.