Welcome to
Crasno Electronics

Updates

What is Crasno, and who is in charge?

Crasno Electronics is a sole proprietorship in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, owned and operated by myself, Jesse Acorn. Here is what Crasno has to offer:

  • Repair of Electronics

    Especially vintage audio and musical devices, including analog keyboard instruments, vacuum-tube amplifiers, reel-to-reel tape recorders, and so on. See the Repairs page for my rates and policies, and details of what I typically do and do not work on.

  • Manufacturing of Electronics

    At the moment, all Crasno devices are designed and built to order. In the the Products section, you can see some of the things I have made, as well as details of my future plans. My aim is to make electronics of outstanding quality, with emphasis on utility, repairability, and beauty, the latter two qualities having been terribly neglected for decades now. I hope to carry on the best features of vintage electronics, while making use of high-quality new parts, and bringing forth designs never imagined in the golden age.

  • Sale of Electronics

    I am almost always selling things, such as musical keyboards, test equipment, and electronic components. Current listings can be found on eBay and Kijiji. I usually list smaller and more specialized items on eBay, while larger things with broader appeal are listed on Kijiji. If you see something on eBay that you are interested in, and you are local to Edmonton, contact me to arrange sale and pickup. As well, if you are looking for something that I don't have listed, but that is related to my areas of interest, feel free to inquire.

  • Source of Info

    I have written several articles about specific devices, as well as some on general topics. The Articles page is where to find these. As well, I have scanned and uploaded many books and manuals, especially relating to vacuum-tube-era electronic musical instruments. These can be found on the Document Scans page.

To give a brief bio, I have been interested in both electronics and music from a very young age. From three years old, I loved playing with tape recorders and phonographs; my generous and supportive parents provided me with a Lloyds all-in-one stereo, on which I frequently played and dubbed records, with Elvis, CCR, The Beatles, and the Kingston Trio being among my favorite artists. I started playing ukulele in the same year, and by age four, I was recording myself on reel-to-reel tape. Throughout my early years, I built numerous electronic projects for fun (including several crude electro-musical instruments), took apart many things to see how they were built, and collected lots of old audio equipment in varying states of disrepair. I always liked the old stuff best, since old things were physically most interesting; consider, for example, the spinning reels of tape recorders and the hot glowing tubes of amplifiers, which I still consider prime attractors. However, in those early days, if I wanted something repaired, I had to take it to a shop. By the late 2000s, there were very few local technicians willing to work on my "obsolete" things, and those who were willing had high rates, and I was often disappointed by their work.

So, around 2011, I decided to learn how to repair my own equipment. I started mostly with cheap reel-to-reels, then moved on to guitar and hi-fi amps, and eventually became proficient with vintage electronic keyboards, vacuum-tube radios, and many other things. Around the same time, I began learning electronic design. Hoping to expand my knowledge and meet like-minded people, I went into Electrical Engineering at the University of Alberta in 2014, focusing on analog audio- and music-related subjects in the few ways possible. In mid-2017, unsatisfied with the program and its typical careers, I decided to start my own business, splitting my last year's courses into two years in order to have time for my own projects and some jobs. In April 2019, I graduated from the EE program with distinction, finally free to completely focus on said business. As well, though I often don't have as much time for it as desired, I never left music behind; I still play ukulele on occasion, but drumset and keyboards are now my main instruments.

You may ask: "why the name Crasno?" Well, before deciding on a business name, I had already chosen saturated-red as my signature color, and had designed a logo with round first and last letters in mind. At the time, I was learning Russian, and one form of the Russian word for "red" is "красно", or transliterated... "crasno"! There you have it, but that's not quite all. More than a year later, it was pointed out to me that "crasno" is an anagram for "Acorns"! I felt rather foolish for not noticing earlier, but was glad to know of a second—and perhaps even stronger—reason for using the name.


Jesse Acorn—Founder and Proprietor—as seen in November 2020