Neil Shapiro
Early Years:
My interest in electronics goes back to my childhood in the early 1960’s, when, inspired by an older cousin of mine who was very much into the hobby, I decided to get myself a soldering iron and start experimenting myself.
I eventually began to focus my interest on vintage radios and amplifiers of all sorts. By the time I was ready for high school in 1968, I decided I wanted to study tech, so I took a 5-year high school tech course, which led to a 5-year electrical engineering course at the University of Waterloo.
Working for The Hammond Organ Company:
During my time at Waterloo, I spent two of my off-semesters working as a technician at the Hammond Organ company located in Toronto. This was the distribution centre for all of Canada. All of the Hammonds made in Chicago, and also the economy ones made overseas first came to this centre, where it was my task to test each one thoroughly for any defects and perform repairs (and any required modifications for the Canadian market) before the organ was shipped to the dealer. I tested and repaired literally hundreds of organs from the lowly entry level VS-100 model right up to the famous B3, the Concord, Regent, H100 series, and even the stadium X66.
I’ve Been Around Guitar and PA Amplifiers Almost My Whole Life:
I took up playing drums in 1965 and quickly joined my first band. I’ve been performing on drums right up to this day, so I’ve been around guitar and PA amplifiers constantly. My bandmates through the years all knew that I was into electronics, so I was always the one, even to this day, called upon when their gear, whether guitar amps, PA amps, keyboards, and effects units required some kind of service.
Restoration:
All through the years I have collected and restored vintage radios, (see my sister website: radiorestoration.ca) which taught me much about the special ins and outs of restoring vintage equipment. I have been called upon a number of times over the years to restore rather than just repair vintage musical amplifiers and other related gear to their former glory, and can do this for you if you so wish it for your most favorite or cherished item.
