The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons

It's the 135th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all-things-tube amps. 

Want to be a part of our show? Just email us a question or voice memo to [email protected].

Some of the topics discussed this time around: 

1:24 Another hopeful story; Winters, California

7:44 The fifth-ever Fretboard Summit: Blake Mills, Adam Levy, vintage amps, new amps, 80 luthiers, JHS and so much more. www.fretboardsummit.org

13:25 One of the greatest boxes of all time: thanks, Ben from Chattanooga!

15:01 Lynn Wheelwright reaches out to Skip

16:33 The very first Standel amp; Tacoma, Washington's Guitar Maniacs 

18:53  Our sponsors: Emerald City Guitars (watch the Dumble video here), Amplified Parts, StewMac, and Grez Guitars. 

22:10 Thank you, John Ross

23:41 Gibson's GA-45 "Velvet Touch"; Terry Dobbs (Mr. Valco) https://valcoamp.com

27:32 The answer to Ep. 134's Baffler: A Tweed Vibrolux

31:44 A Body & Soul El Pato fuzz giveaway? https://www.instagram.com/bsinstruments/

34:00 The last remaining Big Boy locomotive is moving through California; Skip's hobo days  https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm

37:26 How to satisfy your customer when only one power tube needs to be replaced? CE Distribution; pimento cheese

47:04 A 5E3 build with too much Fender "bacon;" Ken Fischer

49:51 A Rickenbacker M11 with a 60 cycle hum out of V1

57:22 VHT Special Six, redux

1:03:51 A simple cocktail: A Boyhattan; bitters

1:05:15 The history of AIMS amps; 5 ohm amps; The Mosquito Supper Club's boiled shrimp (link)

1:13:34 The pronunciation police; modding a Silver Panel Fender Champ with a Magnatone 213 tone control

1:17:11 Elemental knowledge; California-built Vox amps; Clarkson's Farm

1:25:00 Is variable input impedance worth experimenting with? Bogen guitar amps

1:29:41 Is the two-prong hat offensive? Are fixed-bias amps more touch-sensitive? the phono input in old PAs; GM/IP on tubes

1:33:15 Recommended reading: The All-Music Guide  Recorded June 21, 2024.

It's the 134th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all-things-tube amp.  This week, we're joined by jazz guitarist Jonathan Stout where we talk EH-150s, field coil speakers and more! 

Want to be a part of our show? Just email us a question or voice memo to [email protected].

Some of the topics discussed this time around: 

1:23 Triple E jerky and freeze-dried ice cream (link) 2:36 Our sponsors: Emerald City Guitars, Amplified Parts, StewMac, and Grez Guitars.    6:06 What's on Skip's bench: An Electar Model M with 6N6 power tubes; a National Dobro amp with 2A3 power tubes 13:06 Skip has a Falcon for sale; Mumbo Gumbo 13:58 I put the electrolytic capacitor in backward on a 5F2A build; how coupling caps work; what to do with this Gregory Mark 1? 19:16 Natural year-round lemonade 20:21 How to fix the broken reverb on a vintage Gibson Falcon; open secondaries, someone needs to make a replacement Falcon transformer 22:20 What do you do if you need to replace a capacitor and its original part is different from the schematic? Steve Albini's Gear Dork Videos (Garnet, Samamp) 28:58 Special guest: Jonathan Stout (link)! Field coil speakers; traffic sounds; Gibson EH-150/185 amps; Vintage 47 amps (link);  Combs Guitars JJ-150 pedal (link); Quilter 101 heads; the evolution of amplifiers; Junior Barnard; the Echo Speaker jack on a Gibson EH-150, Knott's Berry Farm, Fender Tweed Pros; Marie Sharp's hot sauce; pizza stones; pizza tips 1:03:38 David Lindley; Jackson Browne; Greg Leisz on the FJ's Steel Podcast (link) 1:04:11 Revisiting the Ice Cube 1:06:39 Non-reverb Princeton love; the Brown Box voltage attenuator 1:08:21 This week's Baffler: What amazingly killer amp can you turn a non-reverb Princeton into? 1:08:49 Waiting for a ferry in Snowdonia; early mountain biking 1:14:46 A VHT Special 6 with a useless tone knob 1:18:45 6L6s in a Fender Deluxe Reverb; acceptable idle current range; Revere Ware; Cameo Copper Cleaner; Chuck roast instead of brisket; spicy Italian sausage in pasta sauce; Brussels sprouts; beer Special thanks to Tim Le Blanc for his help mixing this episode. Recorded May 24, 2024.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal. 

Want to support our show? Join our Patreon!

It's the 133rd episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all-things-tube amp! 

Want to be a part of our show? Just email us a question or voice memo to [email protected].

Some of the topics discussed: 

1:14 Skip's 1950 Ferguson tractor, the Truth About Lawn Mowers

7:28 A zebra on the loose in Washington State

9:30: This week's sponsors: Emerald City Guitars, Amplified Parts, StewMac, and Grez Guitars. 12:28  Grez Guitars sends Skip Quique Gomez & Little Charles Baty's Cookin' At Greaseland   16:51 What's on Skip's bench? A 1953 Fender Tweed Pro that needed nearly a complete rebuild   24:14 One solution for the multiple Pignose-amp quandary from ep. 132: Radial Engineering's Shotgun 4-Channel Amp Driver (Amazon link); 100 Vintage Hawaiian Songs (Spotify link)   30:35 Tom Gunterman's lithium battery pack picks from ep. 132, prunes   33:51 RIP Gerald Weber (Kendrick Amplifiers) 35:56 Book recommendation: 'The Birth of Loud' (Amazon link) 37:39 Jason has a jdflyback handblown tube amp! (YouTube link)   40:19 A Fender Vibrochamp that doesn't like my Les Paul, volume-dropping   45:11 Anything worth rescuing from old tube car radios?   48:55 A 1569 Altec power amplifier for guitars? Grange Hall and self-published cookbooks   53:30 A Music Man 115RP with a broken reverb   59:17 An update on last episode's 1972 Fender Princeton Reverb, a homemade signal tracer (based on this Kley De Jong video); 'Designing Tube Preamps for Guitar and Bass' by Merlin Blencowe (Amazon link); tahini; 'Servicing by Signal Tracing' by John F. Rider   1:04:24 Why can't I pry this tone pot off of my Harmony H-200?   1:07:10 What does using a tube pre-amp unit in front of your guitar amp actually do? Tube swapping a 6V6 or 6L6 (note: we'll get back to this next week)   1:14:09 Skip's handiwork on the new Taylor Swift album? (Instagram link)    1:17:24 Making a closed cabinet for my Fender Princeton   1:21:19 Are amp techs divas? 

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal. 

Want to support our show? Join our Patreon!

No guests or special theme this week...just an all-new, old-school episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all-things-tube amp. 

Want to be a part of our show? Just email us a question or voice memo to [email protected].

Some of the topics discussed: 

1:31 What's on Skip's workbench: Valco amps with a resistor and a normal speaker instead of a field coil

3:46 This week's sponsors: Emerald City Guitars, Amplified Parts, Stringjoy, StewMac, Izotope, and Grez Guitars.

5:04 Thrift store: Revere Ware 8:01 What's the deal with this Leslie Model 18 circuit 15:41 Daisy chaining four Pignose amps to a backpack, tuna salad 20:46 What to do with these orange capacitors? Vacuum Tube Valley, Mexican Martinis 25:38 Skip has a nice mono hi-fi speaker cabinet for sale 27:07 Do speakers ever go out phase on their own? 28:32 Fender Princeton Reverb vs. Tremolux gain stages 31:22 The truth about vintage Sano amps (gumbo recipe found here) 35:47 Seventh-grade Skip; the glider that never touched down 40:11 A source for El Pato in Australia (link: productdistribution.com.au) 41:16 Ampeg Jets and Rockets "with the knobs that point straight up" 43:04 Spotlight on Paradise, California 48:32 Powered vintage speakers, El Pato chili 

53:05 Film cap orientation hack and the EH Hum Eliminator/Debugger 

58:35 Spotlight on glue 

1:03:04 The joys of using lithium-ion batteries onstage to power your tube amps 

1:09:43 A 1972 Princeton Reverb that doesn't like a wireless transmitter; a simple fish recipe 

1:16:11 How do the dual rectifiers work in the Angela Super Single Ended amp 

1:19:17 Rainier beer 

1:21:21 Claude Thornhill Orchestra

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal. 

Want to support our show? Join our Patreon!

Illustrator/musician/underground comix legend Robert Armstrong (Mickey Rat, Couch Potato, the Cheap Suit Serenaders!) joins Skip and Jason this week for a very special installment of the Truth About Vintage Amps. 

Want to support our show? Join our Patreon! 

Some of the topics discussed: 

1:38 NOS military-grade green pilot light jewels from Gary Economy (Instagram); leave us an Apple Podcasts review and take a screenshot to enter to win one!; 5879 tubes

3:03 Where is George? (Danger UXB on eBay)

4:48 Rick Estrin and Dennis Gruenling's harmonica workshop, March 16 (link)

6:43 This week's sponsors: Emerald City Guitars; Amplified Parts; Izotope; Stringjoy Strings; and Grez Guitars.  Ordering from StewMac? Use this affiliate link to help us out! 

11:26 The 2024 Fretboard Summit, August 23-25 (link)

11:49 What's on Skip's bench: A PA head; blown power transformers

13:44 A discount on Eric Daw's amazing Solid Sound guitar wiring book (use TAVA when you check out): https://www.solidsoundbook.com/

16:19 Taming the bass frequency on your amplifier

23:15 Resistors: What does Skip use?

27:27 Special guest: Illustrator/musician/friend/Mickey Rat & Couch Potato-inventor/record collector Robert Armstong (link)! Early Hawaiian guitar recordings; growing up in Fender country but gravitating towards the banjo; Coulter guitars; Hugo Ernst guitars; John DeLapp guitars; playing saw on the 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' soundtrack; animator Ward Kimball; 'Man in Space' (YouTube link); not working at Disneyland; seeing David Lindley at the Topanga Banjo & Fiddle contest; coining the term "Couch Potato;" Bob's tweed Fender Deluxe; Supro Dual Tones; Pee Wee's Playhouse; playing with Sourdough Slim; sheepherder conventions; touring Japan; Ben Pollack's "Two Tickets to Georgia" (YouTube link); playing 78 records today; Al Dodge

1:38:10 John Sebastian gets his dad's PA head back; a Disneyland tube PA

It's a very special, all-Canadian episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps podcast, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amp repair! This week, we have special guests Calvin McCormick (Hiwatt) and Mike Watson of The 6L6s along for the ride.  

Reminder: You should join our Patreon.

Some of the topics discussed: 

1:06 Jason heads to the Phoenix MIM Museum (link); the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota (link); the American Banjo Museum (link)

3:20 This week's sponsors: Emerald City Guitars, Amplified Parts, Izotope, Stringjoy Strings, and Grez Guitars.

6:05 Canadian amp builders worth following: Gary Economy (Instagram) & Lo-Fi Electronic Instruments (Instagram); Stromberg-Carlson 207; Pepco Riviera 725; Lifco Cobra Mark 2; how to make an amp less bass-y; Frazey Ford's "U Kin B the Sun" (YouTube)

13:10 The Velvet Touch

14:31 Our Facebook group (link); how did Skip first notice Johnson and Soundmaster amps?

20:18 Garnet quirks: What's up with the tone stack on this Garnet Revolution II?

23:22 Ted Weber speakers, field coil reconing

23:51 Niagra Falls

25:01 All things poutine; Suuns (link)

30:25 Special guest: Calvin McCormick of Hiwatt! (link)

53:01 Regional Canadian foods: Ketchup chips, coffee crisp, beaver tales, peameal bacon on a kaiser, Newfoundland Screech; the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist

58:23 Outside foil cap orientation on Soundmasters; DC leakage in grid leak bias input caps

1:03:10 The Kahayan 8x4 Selector (link)

1:05:30 What's the deal with this Soundmaster 086 schematic?

1:11:31 Slowing down the trem on a Traynor Custom Reverb YSR-1; Kevin O'Connor's books; Pepco amps

1:17:51 Reducing the noise on the Fretboard Summit Microtone pre-amp; Traynor YGM-3; El Pato chicken

1:23:07 Special guest: Mike Watson of the 6L6s; Lifco amps; Keil Amps; the Velvetone amp; Turner amps; Swampdonkey amps; amps with 6Y6 power tubes; Acrosound

1:43:23 Jimi Hendrix on a Marshall amp

Love the show? We have a Patreon where you can support us, get to the front of the line with questions, and get exclusive bonus content and surprises: 

https://www.patreon.com/vintageamps

Welcome to ep. 129 of the Truth About Vintage Amps podcast, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amp repair.

This week, it's an (almost) all-Fender episode! Reminder: You should join our Patreon. Some of the topics discussed:  :44 Jason goes to the NAMM Show

4:20 Skip is fixing his 1961 Comet

9:04 What's on Skip's bench: Three Fender Concerts; 5C1 Fender Champ circuits; a 5-watt Oahu with a 40-watt transformer; a silver panel Fender Champ for sale at Skip's

14:27 This week's sponsors: Emerald City Guitars, Amplified Parts, Izotope, and Grez Guitars.

20:36 Ceriatone amps; Divided by Thirteen Amplification gets acquired by Two-Rock

25:20 The art of drawing your own schematic; Robert Kidney's 'Jackleg'

29:56 Increasing gain on a Fender Princeton AA964

33:02 Isolated input/output jacks

35:45 A 1979 Fender Vibrolux with warped MDF baffle board, baffle replacement; good goo wood hardener

42:53 Should I recone the CTS alnico speakers on my rusty Fender Super Reverb or get new speakers? Slovakian Bwoop; Solfood's hot pepper sauce (link)

51:37 Why do my tubes have this crusty stuff around the base? Don Pepino pizza sauce; The Mob Run Pizzerias of NYC, N-Men: The Untold Story (link); Lake Berryessa's glory hole; Ben Harper (redux)

59:07 Help me understand why a tube amplifier needs a load?

1:03:11 The all-Fender episode

1:05:09 What's a good cheap alternative to the Fender Musicmaster I am looking at? Ampegs

1:09:20 Tweed Princeton kit woes … new Champ speaker

Love the show? We have a Patreon where you can support us, get to the front of the line with questions, and get exclusive bonus content and surprises: 

https://www.patreon.com/vintageamps

Welcome to episode 128 of the Truth About Vintage Amps podcast, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amp repair.

The first hour of this show probably belongs on our Patreon, but I'm feeling generous and sharing it with everyone. Reminder: You should join our Patreon. (The amp questions kick in around 49 minutes.) 2:10 Skip goes to the Bay Area Guitar Show: Fancy Gibson ukes, a Martin 00-28, lots of amps, a shopworn Grez, Jimboys Tacos, the bar on San Clemente Island (Yelp), pupusas

33:46 Gibson reissues the Falcon (link)

40:03 Skip fixes a refrigerator

43:51 Skip loses his dentist and finds Trader Joe's; musician/illustrator Robert Armstrong (link)

48:52 A 1961 Harmony H322 bass amp that isn't loud enough

53:38 A vintage Gibson Falcon with a flickering pilot light; D-cell batteries

56:18 Using a thermistor to slowly ramp up voltage on old amps, the new Toyota Landcruiser

59:17 Do you want to be an old car guy? Skip's 1961 Mercury Comet; Jason needs a body shop

1:04:17 My house's dimmer switches are driving me nuts

1:07:47 Why did Fender change the plate resistors on the Bassman?

1:11:44 Using the signal from just before the phase inverter on a push-pull amp to drive another amp

1:15:31 Skip sees a bobcat

1:15:58 Draw differences between matched pairs of the same tubes

1:20:41 Distortion on the Normal channel vs Vibrato channel on vintage Fender amps

1:23:51 How to expand the volume range on a Masco PA; the Necromancer cocktail recipe; Groove Tube tube adapters

1:31:22 A low-watt amp for bedroom playing; power-adjusting amps; music recommendation: Issa Juma And Super Wanyika's 'World Defeats the Grandfathers'

1:36:39 A push-pull output transformer in a single-ended amp

Our sponsors: Emerald City Guitars, Amplified Parts, Stringjoy Strings, Izotope, and Grez Guitars.

Love the show? We have a Patreon where you can support us, get to the front of the line with questions, and get exclusive bonus content and surprises: 

https://www.patreon.com/vintageamps

We're closing out 2023 with special guest Bill Krinard of Two Rock! 

https://www.two-rock.com

I won't even attempt to annotate this episode but Bill joins us at 5:36 and fields a bunch of listener-submitted questions on transformers with dissimilar primary windings; Two-Rock's design process; how he uses oscilloscopes; Ampegs; Filmosound mods; potentiometers; harmonic content; and more. 

Want to be a part of our show? Submit your question or voice memo to [email protected].

Our sponsors: Emerald City Guitars, Amplified Parts, Stringjoy Strings, and Grez Guitars

Love the show? We have a Patreon where you can support us, get to the front of the line with questions, and get exclusive bonus content and surprises: 

https://www.patreon.com/vintageamps

Transformer talk, spaghetti carbonara, goat horn jazz, and more transformer talk...it's the 126th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps! Want to be a part of our show? Submit your question or voice memo to [email protected].

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:48 Skip types out a tube chart

3:16 This week's sponsors: Emerald City Guitars, Amplified Parts, Stringjoy Strings, and Grez Guitars; the art of bargaining at a guitar show; the Bay Area Vintage Guitar Show; Premier and Alamo amps

7:43 A Marshall Major PA-200 head at Emerald City (link)

11:48 What's on Skip's bench: an RCA PA head; Bill Krinard's return to the podcast?

15:08 RIP Earl Yarrow & Shep the dog

18:26 Junior Bonner

21:40 More Earl Yarrow

23:50 Brandy and soda

24:30 What to use in my Princeton Reverb clone: A Soursound 12-watt transformer or a Hammond 14-watt?

28:01 What to do with one single can of El Pato; avant-garde guitarist Havard Skaset; Los Pericos Quadradas chips (link); Norwegian goat horn player Karl Seglem's "Mytevegar" (Bandcamp)

33:23 Help my humming Vintage 47 Mini

37:52 What to do with a 1964 Magnatone 401, one-to-three input transformer, how to not get shocked

42:43 Should we be burning-in our amps after repairs?

46:21 Converting a Bogen MO30 to a Fender Pro circuit

51:44 Recording a tube amp at low volume by pulling the phase inverter

53:21 1952/1953 Fender Tweed Deluxes with low gain instrument jacks, input impedance

55:44 Armadillo Amp Works cabinets

56:20 Is this serviced 1970 Fender Bassman head still a Fender Bassman? gifting a tweed Bassman to your nephew

1:01:25 Thanks for the TAVA show notes; what's the deal with my one-knob, early 1960s Gibson Skylark GA-5?

1:06:50 What output transformer to use on my Trainwreck clone? Dynaco transformers

1:09:03 Heritage Auctions' typewriter sale (link)

1:10:49 Spaghetti carbonara; gutting a Peavey VTX Heritage 130 to build a bass amp with an ultra-linear transformer; Sunn amps

1:14:40 The magic of Soundmasters; Sacramento ska band Filibuster; how a family of amps can basically have the same pre-amp circuitry; 807s vs. 6L6s or EL34s

1:24:43 Thoughts on the 2024 Vintage Guitar Price Guide

1:27:57 What could cause DC voltage to build up on the grid of a power tube aside from leaky coupling caps

1:35:10 Shoutout to the Fender greats: Richard Smith, Bruce Zinky, Lynn Wheelwright, Terry Foster; a circuit baffler of sorts! 

1:37:47 Spaghetti carbonara & Los Pericos Quadradas redux

Love the show? We have a Patreon where you can support it and get exclusive bonus content and surprises: 

https://www.patreon.com/vintageamps