New life and quality. Let’s put an end to the “unpresentables”.
In my workshop I build handcrafted devices with CE marking, certified, safe and guaranteed. From today, if you want to purchase one of my products, you can take advantage of an exclusive service: trade-in and transformation of existing devices.
Scrapping
If you own one of those many small amplifiers or preamps built by amateur hobbyists or pseudo-companies selling on online bazaars and Facebook (the ones I call “the unpresentables”), you can bring them to me.
- Even if they don’t work, I accept them as partial payment toward the purchase of one of my CE-compliant devices.
- The discount is evaluated case by case, based on recoverable parts (tubes, components, small hardware).
- The goal is to remove from circulation non-compliant, potentially dangerous, and low-quality devices, dismantling them and salvaging what can be reused.
- The recovery of components reduces waste and also has a positive environmental impact.
- Non-reusable parts are disposed of in compliance with current WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) regulations.
The trade-in takes place exclusively as partial payment for the purchase of one of my new devices. The products collected are not repaired or put back into circulation, but completely disassembled for the recovery of reusable parts; the rest is disposed of in compliance with WEEE regulations.
Component and tube trade-in
Do you have spare tubes or components you don’t use?
I accept them as trade-in, always with a discount on the purchase of one of my devices.
Transformation
Starting from any device provided by the customer (not collected as waste but delivered for trade-in or processing), even the most battered:
- I completely dismantle it and salvage everything reusable (chassis, connectors, mechanical parts…).
- On the chassis or base material I create a completely new device, certified and guaranteed.
- The savings for the customer come from what was possible to salvage from the old device and the labor saved in chassis production.
The resulting devices are not simple modifications: they are new projects, built according to current safety standards and CE certified.
I have already carried out such transformations for models such as Tone Stowe, Anansi, Nyx Aeterna, Merlòtto: the final result has nothing to do with the original object except for some recovered structural parts.
Some Examples…
Nyx Aeterna – Single Ended 2A3
Built starting from the chassis of a Chinese amplifier that did not satisfy the customer, completely rebuilt with a new design, new circuitry, and high-quality components. The result is a refined, certified, and guaranteed device, with no technical connection to the starting point.
 |
 |
Anansi – Single Ended Parallel of KT150 in Triode
Created starting from a pre-existing handcrafted device that did not satisfy the owner, completely redesigned and rebuilt with a single-ended parallel KT150 triode design. New circuitry, selected components, and craftsmanship construction for a powerful, musical, and certified amplifier, with no technical link to the original project.
 |
 |
Tone Stove
A device left unused for years after a failure and abandonment in a cellar, brought back to life with a completely new design. Total reconstruction, selected components, and meticulous finishing for a reliable, high-performance, certified result, with no technical link to the original.
 |
 |
Merlòtto
Born from a real “unpresentable”, built by a total incompetent and sold on Facebook under the table as if it were high-end hi-fi… in reality it was the pinnacle of junk. A deceptive and technically disastrous product, dismantled piece by piece and rebuilt from scratch. The result is a functional, solid amplifier with excellent sound, almost a work of art: the demonstration that, as De André sang, “flowers are born from shit”.
 |
 |
Service advantages:
- Save on the purchase of a new high-end handcrafted device.
- Help eliminate dangerous or poor-quality devices from the market.
- Recovery and reuse of materials: less waste, more sustainability.
- Get a safe, certified, and guaranteed product.
Legal notice
- Devices collected are dismantled and not put back into circulation.
- All transformations result in a new product bearing the SB-LAB brand, CE certified and guaranteed in compliance with current regulations.
- Non-reusable parts are disposed of in accordance with WEEE laws.
I do not carry out collection or disposal of electrical/electronic equipment on behalf of third parties. Collection only takes place within the scope of an agreed sale or transformation. Every device collected is dismantled and deprived of any possibility of reuse, except for the recovery of reusable parts. Non-reusable parts are disposed of in compliance with current regulations.