By James Chevrette
Mike Schultz of Johnston, Rhode Island entered the amplifier restoration business by chasing down the retro gear he couldn’t afford as a kid. Since 2006, his business, Old School Car Audio Restorations (O.S.C.A.R.), has been refinishing car audio amplifiers through in-house powder coating, repair, and silk screening as a labor of love.
Business has been steadily growing since launch, but it really kicked in during the pandemic. Schultz noticed Facebook Groups heating up with vintage amplifiers hitting the market, most in rough condition. Over the last several years, he also observed automotive enthusiasts building retro-themed vehicles and collectors seeking the pieces of car audio history they never could afford when they were young.
Rockford Fosgate’s black textured powder coat finish proved to be the most challenging to replicate. Schultz worked with local suppliers to recreate the distinctive finishes found on classic nineties amplifiers, learning through trial and error. O.S.C.A.R. will restore any pre-2000 amplifier from any manufacturer, but the company specializes in pre-2000 Rockford Fosgate products.
Schultz has amassed what he describes as the largest private Rockford Fosgate collection in the world, spanning from Jim Fosgate’s first amplifier in 1973 through every piece the company produced up to 2000. That collection caught the attention of the company itself. O.S.C.A.R. is now the only private company licensed to use the Rockford Fosgate logo and branding on restoration work.
We reached out to Rockford Fosgate to find out why a small company from Rhode Island would be granted permission to use the Rockford Fosgate intellectual property for restorations. Eric Russell of Rockford said: “Michael Shultz is restoring these products to their factory specifications, making it possible for the next generation of car audio enthusiasts to enjoy these products for a second, and sometimes even a third, life. He does this out of a labor of love, and wants to spread his passion for these products to others.”
The partnership evolved further when Rockford Fosgate began collaborating Schultz on company history. With the brand dating to the early seventies, institutional knowledge is scarce. Schultz has effectively become a curator of Rockford Fosgate heritage and has completed restorations for industry legends Mark Fukuda and Wayne Harris.
Old School Car Audio Restorations offers complete amplifier restorations including new packaging, testing and full restoration for Rockford Fosgate amplifiers. A recent example is a completed restoration of a Rockford Fosgate Punch 40 DSM amplifier. (See below).
For customers considering restoration, Schultz estimates a fee of three to five hundred dollars for a small amplifier that includes deep cleaning, capacitor replacement, and full amplifier inspection.
Photo taken from the O.S.C.A.R. Facebook Page (recent post “Punch 40 DSM and Punch 45HD, Fully restored inside and out!”). It includes new emblems, new powdercoat, a fully reworked board, rebirth certificate with dyno test results using the DAMORE Ad-1, custom silkscreened box with laser cut inserts. It includes the OEM hardware kit that would have been supplied by RF in the box with your amp. These are NOS and included with full restorations only! They also include the set screws for all terminals, end cap specialty socket head screws, mounting screws and Allen head wrenches for both sizes needed.
Call us at MMATS, we still repair them for a flat rate of $200.00. Some are 30 years old! “We gave birth to it, we can still repair it”!
Man… Flashback… what we were able to do with a single Rockford Fosgate Punch 45!
IYKYK.
Even the old Rockford “Peanut” could drive a bunch of drivers… It wasn’t the best sound but they were loud and inexpensive.
Very cool. I wonder if you could have fixed my old original MMATS amplifiers?
We definitely can do all brands from the 80’s and 90’s!