Meazzi PA304 Stereo Echomatic

[BaronVonKale]

Heya everyone!

I recently bought a Meazzi PA304 Stereo Echomatic without really knowing what I was getting. I saw the ad, thought it looked cool and bought it, thinking it might be something for me to fiddle with in the boring winter evenings. Only after getting the unit home, I found enough information to decide that it'd be better to take it to a guru for a full service. It's got plenty of patina and gunk, but overall it's in pretty decent cosmetic condition. No blown caps, the motor moves when carefully rotated by hand and it's got some nice Mullard and RCA tubes in there. However, the wiring definitely needs work, and as it is, it's not in such a condition that I would go ahead and plug it in.

I already contacted the best tape delay guy I could find, who is known for his expertise with Meazzis and the like, and got a rough estimate on a full service. As I suspected, it's a bit steep. Too steep for me to keep it for myself, but not steep enough to not justify getting it back into it's glory. This is where I need your help, as I'm utterly clueless.

How much would you reckon would be a fair price for this unit either fully serviced, or as it is? It's located in Finland, so international shipping is a bit pricey, but absolutely possible. If it's of any help, here are some pictures:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1809705/meazzi.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1809705/meazzi1.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1809705/meazzi2.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1809705/meazzi3.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1809705/meazzi4.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1809705/meazzi5.jpg

I would hugely appreciate any thoughts and help. Thank you!

[keithmantle]

Hi Jarkko, have you contacted Amanda at www.Meazzi.org. ? She is a member on here under valvewhizz I think.

[BaronVonKale]

I haven't, thanks for the pointer! Didn't find any contact info on the website, but perhaps she'll find this topic and share some thoughts!

[keithmantle]

You can send her a pm, Amanda .

[BaronVonKale]

You can send her a pm, Amanda .

...and now I feel a little dumb. Thanks again!

[BaronVonKale]

Oh, and if it's of any significance, it came with the tower speakers in this photo:



I have no idea if the cabs are original, but the speakers inside (4 x 100W per speaker) look identical to the ones I found googling "meazzi speakers"

[shadowtonio]

hello,

This for me a wellknown factotum old valve model (304) Years ago i had this model in my collection.

see this demo from you tube, this is a modified one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5gB6xSjFXw


cheers, tonio

[BaronVonKale]

:D hello,

This for me a wellknown factotum old valve model (304) Years ago i had this model in my collection.

see this demo from you tube, this is a modified one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5gB6xSjFXw


cheers, tonio

Thank you very much Tonio, I'll check the demo as soon as I get home from work! Do you have any estimate on the value?

[Hank2k]

looks in good original condition, Amanda is definately the person to sort that out for you.

[BaronVonKale]

looks in good original condition, Amanda is definately the person to sort that out for you.

Yeah, I sent her a message!

As much as I'd want to keep this for myself, I really don't think I can afford or justify it. Shipping to the UK (insured and tracked) would be about 100£, and it's not a big deal if selling it to someone over there, but a bit too expensive if I'd ship it for servicing and then ship it back to me. I got in talks with the "local" (local including the whole country) Meazzi guru, and he was extremely helpful and knowledgeable, and also thought it looks pretty much original and shouldn't be a big deal to get it back to it's original glory. However, I'd really want this unit to go to someone who really appreciates it and puts it to good use, and after browsing this forum for a couple of hours, it seems you guys are exactly that. I guess that would leave me with these options:

1) Have the unit serviced by the local Meazzi wizard and sell it here in full working and calibrated condition
2) Make a deal for a fully working and serviced unit here and ship it directly to Amanda, pay for the servicing and leave it for the new owner to pick up
3) Sell it as is, leaving the restoration up to the new owner

However, I still have absolutely no clue of the value, so I'm not sure if it's even sensible in the first place. If the Meazzi is worth something like 500£ in full working condition, I'd probably be best off just keeping it anyway, figuring out a different way to pay the stacked bills and learn to play better