Sommatone Amplification

Bought a used guitar from Jimmy that he had done fret and wiring work on. I was so impressed with his work that I took the same guitar back to have the stock pups put back in. I can do pickup work, but his tech work is so damned clean that it was worth spending a few bucks just to keep things looking nice on an expensive guitar.
On top of that, he is a really friendly guy, a pretty damned good player himself, and after playing through one of the amps he builds, they are high on my list of new things to acquire in the future. Great find in Austin and someone I expect to be very busy going into the future.

Jimmy was very knowledgeable about amplifiers. He educated me on all the intricacies of my amplifier’s issues, tweaked a few things that weren’t issues but could become ones in the future, and did this all in the one hour I was there.
Amazingly fast turnaround, he had the speaker and tubes that I needed replaced, and he’s also a great guy to discuss anything Eric Johnson or Jimi Hendrix related!
Highly recommended.

Jimmy and staff at Sommatone Amplification are absolute master craftsmen in every sense of the word. Over the years, I have gone to Sommatone for everything from preamp installation to vintage instrument refrets to a complete bass build. The quality of work and the attention to detail are second to none. And the best part is that the staff at Sommatone are really great people to work with. A 5 star rating is not enough for Sommatone!

Jimmy Somma builds some of the best FRink’n Amps money can buy today !
I’m using the Slick 18 and the Overdrive 35 with trem build in .
check out Jimmy’s amps on my albs at

Miss having Jimmy here on the east coast — But i know TX with Love his stuff and so will you !!!
Rock Strong ‚
Bobby Dreher o

Jimmy has fixed many pieces of gear for me and he’s done so well that I don’t think I’ll be using anybody else anymore.
To start, I brought in my stratocaster for a set-​up and within a week it was done. My strat is my main instrument. They cleaned it thoroughly, adjusted the nut, string, and pickup heights, set the spring tension, cleaned the pots and jack out, and intonated the guitar. The guitar looked brand new, played beautifully, and sounded awesome.
I also brought my ’73 silverface twin in for a blackface mod. This project only took him a few days. The work he did was very clean and problem-​free and he had no problem showing me what he did. The old components were tucked away in the amp in a bag just in case I wanted them. The price was right and the amp sounded MUCH better.
I’ve brought many guitars to him since these two and I’ve noticed that Jimmy is very much a trustworthy perfectionist. He hasn’t EVER overcharged me, damaged my gear, or held on to my equipment for longer than he said. All my gear plays great now and I’m sounding much better than I ever did… Thanks Sommatone!

I’ve had four experiences with these guys. Very friendly and obviously competent for some things, but customer service is abysmal.
First time took I took an amp they kept it for 5 months, didn’t return calls on status. Finally got a hold of them, they told me they couldn’t fix, it «wasn’t their thing» (it was solid state…) Why couldn’t you just call to tell me that? Apologized somehat, offered a free guitar setup which they then didn’t follow up on.
Second time took an amp for recap job on a vintage tube amp. One month later, had to call for status. Good job.
Third time tried to get some pedals repaired. Again, weeks of waiting with no contact or update. Finally got pedals back: one was OK repair. One «we couldn’t do anything with.» What does that mean? You didn’t try? You don’t have the expertise? One, they fried a key component that is now unobtainable. So, though the pedal was functional but crippled before, now it’s useless. No compensation.
Fourth time took two tube amps for evaluation and service. (Why did I go back?) Asked for an estimate after initial evaluation. Never called. 6 months and various calls later finally got a call back. «Our computer system crashed and we lost all our customer records and phone #s.» Dude, I have PAPER copy of the receipt in your own handwriting with my phone number on it, don’t you? Still no estimate…
Finally got someone on the phone on a Friday, who gave an over-​the-​phone estimate, promised a follow up email and further call by Monday. I gave the go-​ahead to do one job at estimate price. No email, no call. A week later get a follow up call — amp is ready at $ 30 more than estimate and lets talk about the other one. Forget it, why would I let you do anything else? You can’t be trusted, I’ll find someone else to do the work…
After further telephone tag to ensure that they were in fact open so I could pick up the amp, basically had to make an appointment to do so. Arrived 10 minutes early: no one there. had to knock on the adjacent house door to find the owner. Amp fixed sort of OK, but still unexplained beating in tremelo circuit. Will I take it back? No way — I’d rather pay to have someone else really fix it than go through this BS anymore.
So, 6 months later, one amp sort of fixed, no apologies, no explanations, no compensation.
I get the impression that you sort of have to be «in the club» to get real
service out of these guys. They have a great reputation as amp builders and when they do actually do the work it can be good (although I would never take anything solid state to them…)
But with this level of customer service and disrespect, I would never call them for anything again.