Mike is my hero. So I am a bit biased for sure! Having been involved in aviation, auto-industry, military, business and medicine now I understand the distinct difference of multiple audiences. I also can see things from multiple perspectives other than just my own. You can have one message and tailor it specifically for the audience in question with out flip flopping or being wrong etc.
A lot of people I do not know if it is because of a false sense of frugality or because they are just want to do what must be done to flip a device seem to go cheap. By cheap I mean they only want you to repair or replace what must be replaced to restore an item to normal functioning. You see this sort of thing a lot at the OEM warranty level where a company like GM will have a dealership replace a single piston on an engine even on a high end car like a top of the range Corvette or Cadillac . Few people outside of an OEM or Dealership would even wast the time to replace just one piston the cost savings for them just is not their compared to long term risk of further damage.
If a radio is headed to ebay I am sure again even if it is high end people want to do as little as possible to maximize their profit margin.
To me down time with out a device counts, shipping counts, and I hate paying for bench time twice if I can avoid it. On that same note every-time you repair a radio yo do not need to replace ever part in the radio. At some point you have to go on experience and decide best practice. If my power regulators are gray from aging and heat soak and my lights are flickering I hope my tech replaces them but if they look like new and the output is stable and with in spec why replace them? If I send a radio off to be recapped or aligned I would not expect them to replace the voltage regulators or audio IC if they are still good?
I do not know that I would call Super Snake a restoration shop more of a modification shop. He seldom put's them back to the way the factory built them. He definitely is not a repair shop or diagnostic shop more of a resto-mod shop. He is more of a board swapper, cap and component replacement shop. I like the guy but he is not on the same level as Mike. If it is anything more than an "untied shoe lace" to quote my wife in electronic guise SuperSnake will have to stumble upon it by random parts swapping.
Mike on the other hand is the real deal he is a total professional and a master of his craft of multiple crafts in fact. Mike has the knowledge and ability to design his own gear, build his own gear, repair other peoples gear. He can and does machine his own parts in house on a mill and lathe. He is a shooter, diesel mechanic, electronic repair facility and so much more. Not only can Mike diagnose a problem he can walk other through the skill teaching them how to do the same.
I just recapped a radio and I did not replace anything other than lytics. I did not even realign it yet I will need to send it out for that. On air it sounds great and appears to be on freq. and to be honest since I just replaced the caps I would not expect it to be that far out. I did not touch the voltage regulators or the audio ic anything else. I did not lube anything or re-grease any of the transistors. If I send it to Mike for an alignment and he does that and 6 months later one of my voltage regulators goes bad why would I blame Mike for that? Heck brand new radio's fail all the time.
I do think SS has a different clientele than Mike has and that alone justifies the difference in opinion. Is it prudent to do the ac/dc voltage regulators in a 40-50 year old Cobra 2000 base station at the same time that you recap it? Probably is prudent! Is it necessary or always best practice prob. not! Given what SS charges for his limited service I would expect it. He strikes me as the type that would pad a bill a bit and do things that are not needed but also will not hurt to do. Is it "cheap insurance" or is it "bill padding"???
Based on just these two guys video's not taking into account the huge gap in knowledge and skill between the two men I doubt they would get along well on a deserted island and my money would be on Mike to survive and thrive. Very foolish of Tim to take a jab at a true professional when they where not being personal just giving their professional opinion. From what SS said Mike was not being rude or mean or unprofessional at all and was in no way negative. According to Tim Mike said to a customer "No your not being ripped off but it is not needed or necessary."
I fail to understand why Tim would feel so slighted or wronged by this?!?! I normally stick up for Tim but this is a bit to Jerry Springier or Day Time Soap Opera-ish for me! LOL
