I think Clyde is terrified that if it were to happen to him, he would
be unable to discern the difference....

Taken from that point of view, his reaction is pretty obvious. But if
it is not fraud, it certainly treads on the knife's edge of fraud.

Now, 'fixed' is a strange word, and I haven't any idea what AUS$200
translates in off-the-shelf buying power these days, but speaking for
myself, I would have told the owner that he had a choice... a 'fix'
that would give him an operating pair of amps, or a restoration that
would have given him what I _expect_ he thinks he paid for, but at a
much higher price. If he did not ask you to explain the difference,
well and good. If he did, and you did in accordance with his direct
instructions, also well and good.

But, I will also state that if he discovers the deception (and that it
is) at _any_ point in the future, you are 100% obligated to provide him
with a repair up to his full and initial expectations, and at no
additional cost, not merely refund his money. By letting him get out of
your shop with those amps and withuout full-disclosure, that is exactly
where you are on the ethics scale.

Keep one other mechanical item in mind. Tube amps clip pretty softly,
solid-state amps do not. What what happens if he changes the
application and drives your kluge to clipping? Just a thought. You
understand that you have given him an infinite warranty against even
his own potential for idiocy AND against any damage to other equipment
real or imagined that is touched by this amp.

So, what happens if he pulls out a tube or three? Will the amp still
play? That *just* might get him to question what is actually going on.

And, after all that, was it worth it?

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA