About Purgasound

Hi, my name is Brent Purgason and I am an electronics service technician, amplifier restorer and builder, and overall vintage tube amp enthusiast. Mainly Marshalls if you couldn't tell.

I've been nerding out on this stuff for decades now and so much valuable information has been lost when forums close down or websites go away. I got my start into this field by engaging with people in online forums and I'd like to give back by compiling as much information as I can and featuring it on this site.

I run a private repair shop west of Richmond, Virginia which specializes in vintage restorations, recovering, electronics repair and stringed instrument repair. It's not open to the public but we accept drop offs by appointment only and accept shipped items. I have other endeavors that keep me busy so its always best we communicate what you need before dropping anything off as I stay pretty busy here.

As far as the Marshall obsession. First off, its all about the sound. Second, Randy Robinson told me when I joined my first rock and roll band; "You need to get a tuner, but more importantly you need a Les Paul and a Marshall". He was absolutely right. Once I really started learning Ramones, Motorhead and Zeke riffs I was hooked.

I started with a couple of heads, an '87 2204 and an '82 2203 (both of which are still gigging to this day) and would slowly find others as I could afford them. I had a few touring gigs and each one was an excuse to spruce up the rig. The more you play, the more things break and in my town there was really only two people growing up that knew how to work on stuff. One guy was always about to retire and the other always seemed too backed up. I had to learn how to fix my own stuff to survive so I found a whole community in places like the Plexi Palace and the MarshallForum which helped me get started and I'll always be grateful for the many friends I made along the way.

Fast forward many years later and I would end up performing as Pustulus Maximus in GWAR for 11 years. It was one hell of a ride. During that time I scoured every mom and pop shop and pawn shop across North America and Europe for busted Marshalls and was on Marketplace and Craigslist every day trying to find a sweet deal. Then one day Lemmy Kilmister from Motorhead passed away and it ignited my drive to try and recreate the classic Motorhead backline, loaded with 4x15's! Some people buy boats or ride motorcycles. I like amps and guitars! There are far worse things to be addicted to.

Nowadays most of my work is undoing mods and returning these classic amps to stock. As NOS parts availability is dwindling its getting harder to achieve but even if period correct parts aren't available I still get exciting bringing these old amps back to life and getting them to sound as best as they possibly can.

When I'm not in my workshop I'm either running a construction company or on tour with my band U.S. Bastards. I don't sleep a whole lot...

Thanks for checking out the site and I hope you find something useful.