Time Out New York

Date: 05.31.98

Publication: Time Out New York

Article: Check Out – The Big Fix

Open the silver-painted door to Blackie Pagano’s small shop on Ludlow Street, two blocks below Houston, and it’s clear you’re not at the Wiz anymore. Pagano’s specialty is vacuum-tube equipment. To the uninitiated, that means either decades-old amplifiers or high-end modern recording equipment. His store resembles a hipster hospital emergency room: All manner of baroque testing equipment lines the walls — metal boxes with illuminated displays, proves and meters, knobs and buttons, switches and sockets. Dressed in a black shirt and faded Levis, Pagano evokes a ‘50s guitar slinger rather than the beer-gutted solder monkey you might imagine. Six months ago, I brought in a ‘50s era amp (a rare Kay 504 flea-market score that, when turned on, sounded as if a colony of mice was clawing to get out of it.) For $175, Pagano completely overhauled it — he replaced all the caps and resistors and re-coned the speaker. He called me with an estimate before he started and apprised me of several options before he proceeded. To date, the work has held up perfectly under extreme playing. Now, in addition to repairing a wide array of audio equipment, Pagano also custom builds equipment. – JR