It was a complete failure (SHARP GF-9191)

[Old_Schooler]

After a long and hard battle, my technician gave up.
In October 2017 I bought a Sharp GF-9191 in great shape and with original and new operation manuals.
At first I thought the only problem was the change of belts and that the stereo would be back to plays like in the beginning.
I sent the stereo to a technician for a complete overhaul.
The belts were not the only problem.
Bassi and Trebble didn't work. It needed a new slider board.
I bought an used slider board from Japan, but when it arrives and mounted on the Sharp, it doesn't work a volume channel. The technician thinks needed a new slider board.
I spent so much money on this Sharp and at the end I failed.
Based on my inexperience I want to tell to all new collectors with little experience like me "You not to be in a hurry when buying a boombox".
I know all of us want to have a boombox, but when you're inexperienced, hurrying plays tricks on you.
I want to give you a summary about I spent on this Sharp without positive results.

Sharp GF-9191 - €. 168,50
Shipping cost from me to the technician - €. 18,50
Used slider board - €. 25,00
Cleaning and repair operations (not repair) - €. 200.00
Shipping cost from technician to me - €. 18,50

Total spent - €. 430.50

I am very disappointed for this situation. I think I'm finish to buy old stereo.
I started and finished collecting in few months.

 

[ford93]

Hey brother,

Try reaching out to our member "monchito" he hasn't been posting here lately, but maybe if you PM him he might answer.

I know you spent lots of $$$ but give it a try and I'm sorry to hear how this may have affected you in collecting boomboxes.

Don't give up!

 

[Reli]

So one of the volume sliders isn't working? As in, no sound on that side?

 

[Old_Schooler]

Hey brother,

Try reaching out to our member "monchito" he hasn't been posting here lately, but maybe if you PM him he might answer.

I know you spent lots of $$$ but give it a try and I'm sorry to hear how this may have affected you in collecting boomboxes.

Don't give up!

Thanks for the support, ford93.

So one of the volume sliders isn't working? As in, no sound on that side?

Hello Reli.
No sound on that side.
I have the video, but I'm not able to attach it here.
Now, my technician replaced again the slider board with the original one (NO bass ad treble).
For him is better to listen sound without bass and treble than listen sound in one side only.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Hey brother,

Try reaching out to our member "monchito" he hasn't been posting here lately, but maybe if you PM him he might answer.

I know you spent lots of $$$ but give it a try and I'm sorry to hear how this may have affected you in collecting boomboxes.

Don't give up!

Thanks for the support, ford93.

So one of the volume sliders isn't working? As in, no sound on that side?

Hello Reli.
No sound on that side.
I have the video, but I'm not able to attach it here.
Now, my technician replaced again the slider board with the original one (NO bass ad treble).
For him is better to listen sound without bass and treble than listen sound in one side only.

Where in Italy are you located? I have a really good technician located in Lago Patria, just north of Napoli

 

[Fatdog]

Chris to the rescue!! :vespa:

 

[Old_Schooler]

Hey brother,

Try reaching out to our member "monchito" he hasn't been posting here lately, but maybe if you PM him he might answer.

I know you spent lots of $$$ but give it a try and I'm sorry to hear how this may have affected you in collecting boomboxes.

Don't give up!

Thanks for the support, ford93.

So one of the volume sliders isn't working? As in, no sound on that side?

Hello Reli.
No sound on that side.
I have the video, but I'm not able to attach it here.
Now, my technician replaced again the slider board with the original one (NO bass ad treble).
For him is better to listen sound without bass and treble than listen sound in one side only.

Where in Italy are you located? I have a really good technician located in Lago Patria, just north of Napoli




I'm from Calabria.
I think the technician I sent my Sharp, is a good technician and if he tell me the problem is on the slider boards I have to believe in him, but in this moment I can't spend more money for it.
You know in Italy the repair and maintenance costs are very expensive.

 

[nikonfoo]

Ok so i am probably the guy who sold you the board
The guy in Japan
you sent the video but i couldnt see it
I have sent information on the speakers that your tech did not think ok for the 777
So this is not the first project you and your Mech have worked on
I really wonder of this guy
I tested this board before removing and all was fine
and if he was a really pro he would have been able to disassemble the pods and fix them that is something I would pay for
Not sure what he has done for his money
But i will refund you all your money for the board the whole $22 + $8 shipping
Im sorry that things turned out so bad
But really this is expensive if you ask a pro to fix
And im not sure if he is any better than most of us here
I think that it is not a hobby for people who cant attempt repairs themselves
its like an old car things go wrong and its half the fun kicking it and starting it again
I see it you have one board with bass treble
and one with volume problem
Why doesn't your tech remove from one board the good parts
or even if the sliders are the the problem there could be many other problems
which i explained when i sold you the board
when the (TEACH) says €. 200.00 for work when nothing is fixed I feel a worry
I hope he is trustworthy
I often help out with repairs but have never charged for something i have not repaired

 

[Northerner]

Yikes that’s an expensive fail! I’m afraid I wouldn’t have put that much effort into a common box. I would’ve just scrapped it for parts and tried again. Really feel for you though, not a good outcome :-(

 

[Old_Schooler]

Ok so i am probably the guy who sold you the board
The guy in Japan
you sent the video but i couldnt see it
I have sent information on the speakers that your tech did not think ok for the 777
So this is not the first project you and your Mech have worked on
I really wonder of this guy
I tested this board before removing and all was fine
and if he was a really pro he would have been able to disassemble the pods and fix them that is something I would pay for
Not sure what he has done for his money
But i will refund you all your money for the board
Im sorry that things turned out so bad
But really this is expensive if you ask a pro to fix
And im not sure if he is any better than most of us here
I think that it is not a hobby for people who cant attempt repairs themselves
its like an old car things go wrong and its half the fun kicking it and starting it again
I see it you have one board with bass treble
and one with volume problem
Why doesn't your tech remove from one board the good parts
or even if the sliders are the the problem there could be many other problems
which i explained when i sold you the board
when the (TEACH) says €. 200.00 for work when nothing is fixed I feel a worry
I hope he is trustworthy
I often help out with repairs but have never charged for something i have not repaired

Hello nikonfoo, yes I'm.
I have two boombox in two different technician.
I'm not an expert and I don't know if the technician has done all the possible tests.
I hope so.
Now I would like to try to find another slider board, but I'm not economically ready to spend other money to repair it. I hope in future or try to find a cheap technician near to me. I don't want more to ship my boombox around Italy.
I asked him if he can remove from one board the good parts and replace them on the other board, but he replied that is not possible.

 

[Superduper]

So, one slider board has no bass/treble. The other one has bad volume. Why couldn’t he swap the working controls onto the same board? We do that all the time. Surely your “tech” has the ability to do that? If the only thing he is capable of is switching boards, then he’s not a technician. And if he’s capable of that but didn’t do it, instead sending a customer off dissatisfied & 200E poorer, then you shouldn’t go to him anymore.

 

[Northerner]

Yep we swap components like sliders around all the time and I’m certainly no tech

 

[Hisrudeness]

Maybe it won’t be a complete failure. It sounds like your technician is not very experienced or proficient with audio equipment.
Keep all the bits and pieces and revisit at a later time. There are still electrical engineers in Italy. Chris (Lasonic) has a decent one and so does Samovar. Keep your eyes open for a very cheap parts box and there might still be a satisfactory ending to this story.

 

[floyd]

at this point I mean you got nothing left to lose so you might as well spend a few bucks on a soldiering iron and give it a shot if nothing else you can practice on this box for the next one lol.

 

[Superduper]

at this point I mean you got nothing left to lose so you might as well spend a few bucks on a soldiering iron and give it a shot if nothing else you can practice on this box for the next one lol.

No, no no. Don't get a soldering iron. Let a "real tech" do it, or send it to someone with some experience. Those sliders are difficult to remove properly and you do need a bit of soldering experience to get the hang of doing it without damaging the circuit board traces. I have a slider PCB here that was given to me by another member to use for parts. All of the PCB traces on the board where the previous owner/hacker took a soldering iron to have all been lifted or vaporized or torn off and missing. It's the worse case of soldering/desoldering I've ever seen.

 

[Old_Schooler]

So, one slider board has no bass/treble. The other one has bad volume. Why couldn’t he swap the working controls onto the same board? We do that all the time. Surely your “tech” has the ability to do that? If the only thing he is capable of is switching boards, then he’s not a technician. And if he’s capable of that but didn’t do it, instead sending a customer off dissatisfied & 200E poorer, then you shouldn’t go to him anymore.

Your thought is correct.
I thought the same thing and I asked him. He replied it's not possible.
I don't know if he said so for not let me spend more money.
When I will receive the boombox I will evaluate what to do but without spending a lot of money.

 

[floyd]

forget what I said lol.

 

[Superduper]

So, one slider board has no bass/treble. The other one has bad volume. Why couldn’t he swap the working controls onto the same board? We do that all the time. Surely your “tech” has the ability to do that? If the only thing he is capable of is switching boards, then he’s not a technician. And if he’s capable of that but didn’t do it, instead sending a customer off dissatisfied & 200E poorer, then you shouldn’t go to him anymore.

Your thought is correct.
I thought the same thing and I asked him. He replied it's not possible.
I don't know if he said so for not let me spend more money.
When I will receive the boombox I will evaluate what to do but without spending a lot of money.

Well, it's definitely possible. The JVC has similar slide controls that always go bad. I have repaired so many I have lost count. In every case, all of the controls are first removed from the board, then disassembled and rebuilt, and then reinstalled. And I don't charge 200E, maybe 1/3 of that and still, folks think that is a lot of money but it is a lot of work.