Twice a month, guitar amp guru Skip Simmons fields your questions on tube amp buying, restoration and repair. Co-hosted by the Fretboard Journal’s Jason Verlinde.
Submit your guitar amp questions to Skip here: fretboardjournal@gmail.com or by leaving us a voicemail or text at 509-557-0848.
Want to support the show? You can now order your very own Truth About Vintage Amps t-shirt. Pick from one of three styles! Reserve yours before July 31, 2019.
Some of the topics discussed on this episode:
2:40 New goats!
5:34 The search for good amp repair people (introduce yourself!)
8:10 Music pick of the week: Thee Lakesiders
9:00 New sponsor: the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery
10:15 Cooking on amps: Hot dogs and the tale of Leslie West’s meatball sub (thanks, Greg!)
12:37 An answer to last week’s Baffler
13:44 Digging deeper into the Fender 5E1 Champ schematic
17:07 Skip’s stir fry recipe
23:27 A listener searches for a vintage tube amp book [Update: It can be found online here.]
28:03 New shirt ideas; working on tube AM radios
35:32 Quieting the ticking tremolo of a Silverface Fender Deluxe Reverb
44:20 Evaluating a 1966 Epiphone Pacemaker and a National Studio 10
50:13 The tonal and volume difference between 10 and 12-inch speakers
53:20 A 1965 Ampeg Reverberocket GS-12R transformed by a replacement vintage Alnico speaker
56:20 Low-watt alternatives for a Marshall lover
1:01:51 The “thing” that Fender Bandmasters do
1:08 Pros/cons of pulling the V1 tube on two-channel Blackface amps
1:12:08 A ’65 Pro Reverb with a splashing reverb noise
1:17:08 Joshua Yenne’s Falcon shootout: https://youtu.be/I16kPtGSAFw
1:17:46 A listener avoids a bad amp trade thanks to Skip
1:24:50 Skip’s take on a kit 5E3/5E5 Proluxe
1:28:35 A sag resistor to make a Fender Pro Jr. sound squishier
1:31:32 Another music pick: Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You”
Special thanks to the presenting sponsors of the Fretboard Journal: Gibson, Martinand Carter Vintage Guitars.
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