origins in vintage electronics…
As a child I always had a fascination with vintage electronics. My dad used to own a TV and Video shop, and apparently did an electronics course at college. We used to scavenge old radios, turntables and computers we found on the street and get them to work.
From computers, to telephones, to televisions I started working on them myself with my dad helping me. I remember one time, as a 6 year old I flipped the 230/110v switch on a computer power supply… BANG!
At school I made use of the Design and Technology electronics chap. I would bring in projects to solder together… he thought I was mad. Old bits of radio I made work… what he didn’t know was I would plug them in, and show my classmates!
in my mid teens I sold repaired vintage apple laptops on eBay, whilst helping my dad who at that point was director of a electronics charity called ECO Computers. “The dungeon”, where there were all sorts of genuinely rare computers, which were donated to be given back to the community or used to setup internet cafés. After secondary school I worked there for a year or so. Cash in hand jobs. 50 quid a week was a lot especially since I got to take home lots of goodies… sadly most of it got destroyed, after they shut up the site. I did plan on saving some gear which I put to a corner, but another staff member told the scrap man to take the lot… rare SGI Win NT computers… old apple stuff… the lot!
Off to college I went, still working for ECO but also studying a music production diploma. I later left the job as the writing on the wall became obvious. Old C2D computers simply weren’t powerful enough and users simply didn’t want them anymore… wouldn’t even pay 20 quid for a fully upgraded laptop, with a licensed copy of then Windows 10 from memory.
During the last year of college I started taking my electronics work more seriously. I built a keytar, keyboard synth, and a huge valve amplifier. I still have bits of the keytar somewhere… the valve amp ended up at my friend Harry, who owned a farm. New years 2017 I think… never saw it again. Parts of the synth was robbed for different projects. I’m pleased to say these build projects, plus the awfully silly recorded music we performed with my college mates left me with 3 distinctions!
Professionally working Restoring Vintage Electronics
Off to Uni I went for 3 years. It was fantastic. Lived with amazing housemates who are life long mates. They put up with my weird electronics hobby. The crap I used to come home with… it became common knowledge on campus I repaired this old stuff. Suddenly I had people bringing me guitar amps to repair, microphones, making leads for people.
The Uni also asked me to take a look at a few bits of equipment they couldn’t get going, an old Hammond organ, powered speakers. By far my most exciting achievement was my lecturer asking if I could repair her husbands vintage mini car radio. I did a few jobs for him, nice chap. I complained to the tech department that the old mixing consoles didn’t work correctly, after seeing a technician come and just replace a fuse in its external PSU as a quick fix… as well as complained to the chairman of the uni directly… the very next day I had over an hour long chat with the head of the repair department who admitted they simply did not have the time and resources to repair equipment properly nor did they have the staff who were trained properly… I offered my services. I had a huge 32 channel mixing console in our living room for a month whilst I slowly rebuilt it… and they paid me!
Just like college, I built a synth as an end of term project at uni. My lecturers loved it. I even laughingly included photos of it on fire after a component failed as part of evidence in my progress diary. I was invited to show the synth to the whole class. It was amazing. One of the highest grades I got for an assignment and I am incredibly proud of it. I still have it though it’s in need of repair. Perhaps one day.
By now I was operating in Guilford repairing from my uni bedroom and making hundreds of pounds every other week. It was great! Lots of fun. When I moved back home, I built my workshop, and got to work there. That’s where I’ve been ever since.
I have restored and repaired car dash boards, audio amps, turntables, toasters… vintage televisions monitors, even door bells for people across the globe. It’s insane to think people think so highly of me, they are willing to send their items cross country. Makes me incredibly proud. These days I do call-outs too. I’ve been nipping up and down the UK doing service work to old arcade monitors, and minor repair work. It’s a nice earner when work is quiet or when you want to get out of the workshop. I also offer electrical PAT services.
Soon it’ll be time to move to a shop. Nothing is properly planned but a few more years, if my health doesn’t decline any further, that’s the dream anyway.
Ed Mullard
Mullard Repairs
