Services
Uncompromising care for legendary gear, across every piece of the signal chain.
Whatever its age or warranty status, your gear gets the same care: a real diagnosis, the right parts, and nothing leaves our bench until it’s right. Most of our work is customer-paid repair and restoration for consoles and premium equipment from Solid State Logic, AMS Neve, Focusrite and virtually every premium brand.
Brands we service
- Solid State Logic
- AMS Neve
- Focusrite
- SPL
- Martin Audio
- Alcons Audio
- Antelope Audio
- and virtually every premium brand
01 / Consoles
Console repair & restoration
Consoles are the heart of our work. Since our first large-format console, an SSL 9080J, in 2016, we have repaired, restored and maintained large-format desks from Solid State Logic, AMS Neve, Focusrite and other premium makers.
- Fault diagnosis and repair on channel, bus and master sections
- Restoration of vintage desks: re-capping, switches, pots and wiring
- Maintenance and recalibration
- On-site service when a console can’t travel
In the early years of Thermal Relief Design, we also designed console interface wiring, for AMS Neve Capricorn consoles at The Hit Factory, Right Track Recording and Chung King Studios in New York, and AMS Neve 55 Series consoles at KIRO TV-7 Seattle and WBNS TV-10 Columbus.
02 / Outboard
Outboard & signal processing
Preamps, equalizers, dynamics and converters from the finest makers, serviced to factory specification. Every unit is diagnosed properly, repaired with the right parts, and measured against the manufacturer’s specification before it leaves our bench.
Capacitors, pots and switches are the usual suspects in premium outboard as it ages. We replace what has worn, not what is convenient, and we never call a unit finished until it measures and sounds right.
Custom design and modification work is available on request.
Focusrite specialists
Focusrite ISA, Red & Blue Series
Thermal Relief Design has a long history of repairing and servicing Focusrite’s ISA, Red Series and Blue Series outboard. As an authorized Focusrite service center, and the team that decommissioned Focusrite Studio Console No. 005 in South Africa, we know these designs from the module up.
An ISA, a Red or a Blue unit was built to a standard few designs have matched, and it deserves to be serviced to the same standard. Our ISA restorations follow one method, every time:
- Re-capping. Each unit is measured for level and frequency response against factory specification. Where it falls short, every electrolytic capacitor is replaced with the exact same value, upgraded from 85°C to 105°C rated parts for a longer life.
- Pots. Every pot is turned individually while we monitor on an oscilloscope and headphones. At any trace of scratchiness or signal loss it is replaced with a new conductive-plastic part to factory specification. Cleaning is not a cure; replacement is.
- Switches. Cracked push switches are replaced with current EAO parts and matching caps. Worn blue ELMA rotary switches, the usual cause of intermittent level drops, distortion and noise, are replaced with Grayhill switches.
- Switch looms. On the ISA 110, 115, 130 and 131, the original wiring has no slack to reach new switches. Rather than splice on extensions, we build new looms in original-specification British wire, dressed with rubber Hellermann sleeves instead of heat-shrink, so the work looks as if it left the factory that way.
From the Focusrite bench
Before and after
It takes longer than a quick clean-up, and it costs more. It is also the difference between a unit that simply works and one that measures, sounds and looks the way it did when it left the factory.
Every genuine Focusrite part we fit is sourced from the UK.
Every Red and Blue Series unit receives full service, shaped by its actual fault and its owner’s needs rather than a fixed menu of jobs.
A note on sleeving: the original Hellermann sleeving corrodes with age, so wherever possible Thermal Relief Design removes it and replaces it with heat shrink.
03 / On-site
On-site service
When the equipment can’t come to the bench, we bring the bench to it. Thermal Relief Design has traveled as far as South Africa to decommission Focusrite Studio Console No. 005 and bring it back to the USA.
Other gear is considered case by case. Just ask.
Authorized
Service
We are also an authorized service center for SPL, Martin Audio, Alcons Audio, Antelope Audio and Focusrite. Warranty service for other manufacturers is also available. Please enquire.
Rates & policies
Rates
Every repair begins with a real diagnosis, and every estimate is built on it. These are our current rates.
Bench fee
$200
Non-refundable. Covers diagnosis, and is applied toward the repair if you approve the estimate.
Bench labor
$200 / hr
Outboard, processors and other equipment on our bench.
Large-format console labor
$250 / hr
Repair, restoration and maintenance of large-format consoles.
On-site service
$2,400 / day
Per technician, plus travel.
Rush service
1.5× labor
Subject to availability.
Repair guarantee
90 days
On the work we perform.
On time
Great gear deserves patience. Our bench is rarely quiet, and every piece that comes through it gets our full attention, never a rushed hand. We work as quickly as the craft allows, but we will never trade quality for speed. When a session is on the line and time truly can’t wait, ask about our rush service.
How repairs work
Bench fee
Non-warranty repairs require the non-refundable $200 bench fee before diagnosis. If you approve the estimate, it is applied to the repair cost.
Estimates
Ask for an estimate, or approve repair up to an amount you choose. Pre-approving an amount keeps your unit on the bench and is the fastest route back to you.
No fault found
We exhaust every avenue to find and recreate a fault. If none can be found, a $200.00 bench charge applies.
Please arrange collection or return shipping promptly once we let you know your equipment is ready. As set out in our repair terms, equipment left more than 45 days after notice of completion becomes the property of Thermal Relief Design.
Next step
Start a Repair
Tell us about your gear and what it’s doing. We’ll take it from there.