That really sucks, sorry to hear.
Those are some quality pieces, built to last, with a little love.
Just so you have the facts:
- It's almost guaranteed the volume pot was fine, a clean and cycling with deoxit would have probably sorted it out.
- You should probably demand that they either find your pot / anything else they lost, politely at first, but the way these things usually go, sadly it probably will involve you having to make a scene to get any kind of result. It's your call whether you want to be / can be that person or not. "It was already broken" is definitely not a valid excuse if they try that on, these are high quality parts. Some kind of compensation would be nice, but if it seems futile, just take what you can back and walk away.
- You can look for the pot on ebay, or buy a parts C-60 off ebay. The pot might be shared with some other C-series amps, someone here might be able to tell you, or you can check the P/N in the service manual on hifiengine (I'd check the C-40 and C-80). You could also contact user "avionic" on here as he may have a spare he could sell you.
- If your gear has never been restored since you bought it, then it's definitely worth recapping (at least the power amp, all except the big filter caps which are usually still good), along with removing the corrosive glue that was used back in this period. You can't measure most of the caps properly without removing them (at which point you'd just replace them anyway) so chances are your guy was just lazy.
- There are a handful of reputable techs on here, not sure if there's one near you though - I'd post a general question about that in solid state, once you have your gear back. The pot is not a common part so that's your first problem to solve. I'd also make a point to ask for an accurate time estimate for the work to be completed, as most guys have big queues. It'll save yourself going through this same drama again.
- If you are remotely competent with soldering and testing it's not all that hard to do the work yourself and there is a lot of information here and people who are happy to help, if you decide to go down that road.
If it makes you feel any better, this kind of thing is very common - most modern repair shops can't be bothered with this kind of work (and/or think it's not profitable enough) so make up some excuses while the gear sits around. My old man left his amp and turntable at a reputable shop here for just over a year (with nothing done on them, and a claim of "can't find parts") before I asked him to leave them with me instead. About two weeks of work on/off and both were singing again.
It's just how the times are these days, so grab your gear back (or as much of it as you can) and have another shot.
Welcome to AK
Just a little background on my C60,M60 combo. I was in the U.S.Marines in Japan in 1986 and purchased the stereo at the PX. I also purchased the matching timer and tuner. My dilemma is where do i go from here? Where do i find a good tech to do the reconditioning and where can I find parts for my equipment?
. Any help out there
