135 episodes

Twice a month, guitar amp guru Skip Simmons fields your questions on vintage tube amp repair, restoration and collecting. Often hilarious and always insightful, it's like no other guitar podcast out there.

The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons Fretboard Journal

    • Music
    • 4.8 • 452 Ratings

Twice a month, guitar amp guru Skip Simmons fields your questions on vintage tube amp repair, restoration and collecting. Often hilarious and always insightful, it's like no other guitar podcast out there.

    "Sandy Soil"

    "Sandy Soil"

    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

    • 1 hr 48 min
    "America's Hat"

    "America's Hat"

    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

    • 1 hr 45 min
    Ep. 129: "Summer of the Comet"

    Ep. 129: "Summer of the Comet"

    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

    • 1 hr 17 min
    "The Smells Were Overwhelming"

    "The Smells Were Overwhelming"

    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

    • 1 hr 43 min
    "The Rogue Hoe"

    "The Rogue Hoe"

    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 podcast@fretboardjournal.com.
    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

    • 51 min
    Ep. 126: "They Do Eventually Die"

    Ep. 126: "They Do Eventually Die"

    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 podcast@fretboardjournal.com.
    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

    • 1 hr 40 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
452 Ratings

452 Ratings

Absinthe Lover ,

Practical amp repair advice from the trenches. And fun too!

I’ve been listening to this from the start. After years of sketchy advice from questionable books and the internet, it’s great to hear practical advice from someone who knows what they’re talking about and isn’t recommending questionable “upgrades.” Plus I enjoy hearing the side stories about life, food, goats and typewriters. Makes me feel like my side interests aren’t so eccentric. It takes a guy like Jason to get Skip to open up, and it’s great to witness. Keep fighting the good fight.

sdcnine ,

The Princeton Reverb of podcasts…simply perfect!

From the amp talk to the food talk and all the guest appearances, you’ll find this podcast to be simply amazing if you have any interest in old tube amps. Great no-nonsense knowledge and wonderful stories. Thanks TAVA!

lynchfactor ,

Exceptional source of real information

Best podcast about vintage tube amps, bar none, and one of the best sources of info (real, experience-based info, not uninformed opinion based and reading internet forums) on tube amplifiers in general, anywhere.

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