View Full Version : Los Angeles: Oldest TV shop is closing 11-1


kx250rider
09-28-2012, 10:22 AM
This is a really hard thing to write, as I have an attachment to this TV repair shop in West Los Angeles, where I started my TV repair "career" in 1980 after school at age 13. I learned everything I know from Bob Chavez, owner since 1979. The shop was founded as Radio Analysis Group in 1936, and was the west coast factory repair shop for E H Scott, among others. They became the #1 sales & service shop for Zenith, and later became the exclusive Sylvania dealership in the 1970s.

32 years ago, I walked in the door of that shop, hoping to earn $2 for an hour to restock the tube caddies, and write the tube reorder list. Last night, I walked through the same door, and onto the same carpet (albeit faded and patched with tape), and made a list of things that Bob wants me to dispose of for him. There are no antiques, as I procured all that stuff during the 80s, but there are some manuals and various 1970s audio pieces, etc etc. Hundreds of flat panel TVs and VCRs, DVD players, etc., but again, nothing collectible.

Here are a few things that might interest people here:

Sams 1000 through 2800 (approx), in metal file cabinets

RCA factory manuals in RCA binders; CTC-12 through current

Magnavox, Zenith, Sony and Mitsubishi in binders (1970s-2010s)

Some 1960s-70s test equipment

Also there are LOTS of 1980s-90s parts for TVs & VCRs, etc


He has about 250 unclaimed (not working) flat panel TVs, which he will sell for 18 cents/pound to the e-scrap if no takers. That boils down to about $35 ea average for 40" flat panel sets. I bet he'd take a lot less than that, if someone buys & takes all for cash on the spot. None of them are working, but some have good panels and bad boards, and vice-versa.
_____________________________________

Please understand that I'm posting this with confidence that I can trust my fellow AK members, not to swarm Bob with phone calls asking if he has a certain item, as he has NO TIME to do anything but pack and plan. He does not have time to pack and ship anything, even if someone makes a "generous offer" to pay for the shipping and hassle. He's a nice guy, and he likely WOULD go spend time on stuff you ask about, and that's why I'm asking you not to... Thank you for your respect of this situation in cooperating :thmbsp:

Call him and make an appointment to go with your truck, and I hope some of that stuff will find good homes. He needs any funds he can get, but he knows none of that stuff is worth much of anything, so any fair offer will be accepted. The more stuff, or better yet the entire contents of the building, the better the price.

The shop is located on Pico Blvd near the 405 & 10 Fwys, and he's usually open 11-5 M-F, and sometimes Sat by appt. (310) 559-6700. Tell Bob that Charles posted this, and I hope to hear of some mutually good results!

Again, this is a good faith posting, and I am trusting my fellow AKers to use good ethics and good will.

Charles

Note to mods: I'm not involved in any part of the sale or giveaway of any or all items in that shop; no commissions no kickbacks. Just helping a friend, and this is certainly non-profit for anyone.

kx250rider
10-20-2012, 12:10 PM
Bump: 2 weeks left... Sams in file cabinets still there, and hundreds of manuals in binders for audio, vcr, camera, etc from the 70s-90s. Dumpster arrives some time next week!

Modules for 70s color TVs, boxes of remotes, misc. junk will go to the dump if not claimed. I took all the test equipment for a nominal price, and I hope someone will rescue some of those Sams and manuals. I can't.

Anyone?

Charles

ctc17
10-20-2012, 01:06 PM
Ill try and get up there next week. I have 90% of those sams but I guess I could get them, I would like the rca manuals.

I have been doing some side work for a local shop thats in the exact same same situation. I think he made $50 last month....

Dan Starnes
10-20-2012, 03:52 PM
All good things come to an end. But it is sad. Best of luck to your friend.

waltchan
10-20-2012, 06:15 PM
Bump: 2 weeks left... Sams in file cabinets still there, and hundreds of manuals in binders for audio, vcr, camera, etc from the 70s-90s. Dumpster arrives some time next week!

Modules for 70s color TVs, boxes of remotes, misc. junk will go to the dump if not claimed. I took all the test equipment for a nominal price, and I hope someone will rescue some of those Sams and manuals. I can't.

Anyone?

Charles
Any more of the VCRs and are they still here? Where is the shop located? I can be here on Monday.

bgadow
10-20-2012, 11:10 PM
Sad, we will someday soon see the last of these shops close. Tomorrow I go to pick up the remnants of yet another shop. The gentleman passed away before I knew about him. I need to speak with his widow and take lots of notes about his business. I like to document these things and plan on turning it into a webpage at some point, just listing a bio for all of the local repairmen...a tribute page, I guess.

ctc17
10-20-2012, 11:28 PM
I went and got the sams, gave the guy $80. Something I really cant afford/need right now but don't want them to go in the trash.
Talked to him for a bit, another victim of the disposable society. Its a really sad situation thats going on all over the place.
This once superpower empire is fading into a post industrial 3rd world distribution point for cheap Chinese garbage and low paying unskilled jobs.

ctc17
10-20-2012, 11:31 PM
Ohh...
He has a really bitchen 50s working Philco refrigerator and Coke machine in there he wants gone.

We took so pictures and are going to put it on craigslist for him.

Dude111
10-21-2012, 05:18 AM
Very sad,i am so sorry buddy :(

kx250rider
10-21-2012, 10:43 AM
Very glad to hear that some things were rescued!!! I thought about that fridge, and I bet it still has a bottle of hot sauce of mine in there, from when I worked there through dinnertime every Wednesday from '80 to about '83. Dan- I'm sure that $80 was fine, as it's much better than paying $80 for dumping costs...

AFAIK, there are a lot of VHS VCRs, DVD & CD players, and stereo stuff (nothing vintage or valuable except for a couple of badly parted-out 70s Marantz units), still there. No repairable Betamaxes though... I checked.

Charles

waltchan
10-21-2012, 03:54 PM
AFAIK, there are a lot of VHS VCRs, DVD & CD players, and stereo stuff (nothing vintage or valuable except for a couple of badly parted-out 70s Marantz units), still there. No repairable Betamaxes though... I checked.

Charles
Where's the exact address? I'll go check them out on my way to work tommorow. Need some parts of course.

kx250rider
10-22-2012, 10:45 AM
Where's the exact address? I'll go check them out on my way to work tommorow. Need some parts of course.

It's best to call Bob and see when is a good time. He's not there any regular hours... (310) 559-6700

Charles

DavGoodlin
10-22-2012, 02:02 PM
I bought a trailer load of stuff from a retired TV guy's estate in Buffalo a few months back.
It was transported hundreds of miles down to S.E. PA after I wrote and mailed a check for $225, sight unseen. The amount of 1946-54 Sams, Wallace TelAides and factory books alone made it worth what I paid.
I felt it was worth taking what others had left behind. I am still sorting through it and finding all kinds of intersting treasures.

Except for a shop in York with an Admiral Sign, there are none left in this area, even their signs that stayed up long after are now gone.

You're doing a great deed Charles!

ctc17
10-28-2012, 10:45 AM
I really dont promote my own videos because I tend to be so annoying. I stopped by Harvey's tv yesterday to make a short documentary more for the owner and my own experience, what came out was fairly interesting.

We had posted the fridge and coke machine on craigslist last week, when I arrived yesterday a buyer was grinding the owner on the price:no:

If you see anything in the video you like, make contact early in the week.

http://youtu.be/yrPVu3OfV18

lnx64
10-28-2012, 11:33 AM
I wish I was local. If I could find a SAMs for my tv that would be great. I got a SAMs for the hitachi in my sig but not the Samsung.

kx250rider
10-28-2012, 12:16 PM
CTC-17, Thanks for doing that! I didn't know anyone to tell about the coke machine, but I do know that there is a case of Aspen (the forgotten apple-soda), which I stocked in that machine in about '83. I strongly suggest NOT drinking it!!!!


Charles

Reece
10-28-2012, 02:04 PM
Thanks for the video. So sad to see the shop disappear but it's one of the last of the breed.

AUdubon5425
10-28-2012, 04:17 PM
You ought to get that Fisher receiver on the shelf at 6:02 in the movie - should be a nice quality little unit.

ctc17
10-28-2012, 07:15 PM
You ought to get that Fisher receiver on the shelf at 6:02 in the movie - should be a nice quality little unit.

Yea i got dibs on that. That was the receiver we had when I was growing up. Its a customers though

waltchan
10-30-2012, 10:55 PM
What's left....It's closing tomorrow?

kx250rider
10-31-2012, 09:43 AM
What's left....It's closing tomorrow?

He's still going to be there for a few days, but not long. Officially today is it, but the haul-away is planned for next week, as Saturday Bob is getting friends & family with trucks together to take all the tools, office & business stuff home. I'll probably go again Monday or Tuesday and pick up flatbed load of unclaimed customer's sets and store them for Bob 'til they're timed out and can be junked without Bob getting in trouble.

Charles

MK1234Tfan
10-31-2012, 12:20 PM
So sad. We had 2 shops in our town that seemed to go out late 90's early 2000's. Then again I live in a small town. Crazy how he doesn't get more LCD's etc. You should ask him if he can do some video's on repairing CRT tv's as well as flat screens for those of us who want to learn and not just throw stuff away like the rest. What to look for and how to test certain things etc. Just a thought.

ctc17
10-31-2012, 01:14 PM
So sad. We had 2 shops in our town that seemed to go out late 90's early 2000's. Then again I live in a small town. Crazy how he doesn't get more LCD's etc. You should ask him if he can do some video's on repairing CRT tv's as well as flat screens for those of us who want to learn and not just throw stuff away like the rest. What to look for and how to test certain things etc. Just a thought.

I have over 200 videos, most of them are repairing old color tube tvs.

bob anderson has a youtube channel where he restores vintage tvs

radiotvphononut has a youtube channel where he repairs all kinds of stuff.

On and on and on. Its all out there for crt sets.

But as said in the last 20 seconds of this video, everything is not bad capacitors and most everything needs correct diagnostics.
As far as flat screens, I dont know if anyone is really fixing those. They change boards or leave the tv at the shop and never pick it up.

MK1234Tfan
10-31-2012, 01:26 PM
That's cool. do you have a link to your youtube channel? I have been subscribed to Bob for a while now and he does some really awesome stuff! I have a 90's TV I've been trying to fix for the longest time just to fix it and learn and it has the weirdest symptom. TV wouldn't turn on. Replaced a burned diode. Then it came on with vertical collapse. Fixed that and now it has a rainbow of colors on the CRT and kind of a shadow at the top of the screen and the power light blinks constantly. I'm pulling what's left of my hair out over this thing! But anyways the guy that owned the shop seems like a really nice guy and maybe something out there electronic is worth repair to people than just buying a new one. You just have to find out what it is.

ctc17
10-31-2012, 04:37 PM
Sounds like a degaussing problem, fairly common problem usually easy to fix. Maybe cracked solder joints on the thermistor.

I usually dont save anything that new, I try and find creative ways to destroy modern plastic sets and make videos of them dieing.

You should start a detailed thread with pictures of you set and the problem, you will get good advice.

www.youtube.com/user/shango066

MK1234Tfan
10-31-2012, 05:51 PM
Ya definitely not needing degaussed. It's more of a weird color bar pattern. Very strange. I think I just may make a thread. Thanks for your channel link.

Dude111
11-04-2012, 06:54 PM
Thanks for the video. So sad to see the shop disappear but it's one of the last of the breed.I think its terribly sad almost everyone has turned thier backs on this better technology!!

mpatoray
11-04-2012, 08:41 PM
Yes it is sad to see a GOOD repair shop go under, there is a BAD one here in Youngstown I would like to see go under....

MK1234Tfan;

As CTC-17 said there are lots of us out there that try and repair this stuff. And some of us put up videos on Youtube. I have made a few myself but have also had great help form the members of this board and others.

http://www.youtube.com/mspysu79

Being a child of the 90's there is a lot of stuff on my channel form the 80-90's

Matt

kx250rider
11-05-2012, 11:46 AM
I should make a video of a CRT setup job "made easy" on a roundie color set. I've done so many of them for about 35 years, and it's something that is hard to describe in writing, and even harder to understand and do; having just read about it in a book. I had it down to about 5 minutes for a complete purity, convergence, gray scale procedure on any delta gun set. Lots of easy little tricks & short cuts to a near-perfect job. I also got fairly good at doing dynamic convergence on Mitsubishi projection sets, which used to scare even the best techs sometimes when they had to replace deflection yokes and CRTs. I could do one of those from scratch in about 30 minutes (including scoping the peak DC on the G1 (a MUST in order to prevent killing the tubes in a month).

I'll do that when I get a chance...

Charles

ctc17
11-05-2012, 02:10 PM
I kinda did that in this video http://youtu.be/1AWG61TAIHg
If you can deal with 34 minutes of me.

I would love to do a color tv setup with 2 cameras , one from the back and one front split screen. That would show what is being turned and the effect. Just need to figure out how to do it in the editor.