Ep. 14: "I'll Do the Jokes"

The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons

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.

Want to support the show? We now have Truth About Vintage Amps t-shirts available for pre-order.

Special thanks to our sponsors: Grez Guitars, Martin, Gibson and Carter Vintage.

Submit your guitar amp questions to Skip here: [e-mail] or by leaving us a voicemail or text at 509-557-0848.

Some of the topics discussed on this episode:

2:18 We have Truth About Vintage T-shirts (support the show) 5:33 This week’s sponsors: Grez Guitars, Gibson, Martin and Carter Vintage 6:29 The Epiphone version of a Gibson Falcon 9:00 More cooking tips with Skip 12:12 Skip can’t find his schematic 12:30 Thrifty Leo 14:12 More music tips: Bix Beiderbecke, Ned Boynton 18:00 Skip’s looking for someone to recone field coil speakers 19:35 Skip talks about his Champ mods, once more 24:45 The final Baffler 28:06 Correction re: Guitar Center’s return policy 29:28 A listener with an interesting way to use an electric amp with an acoustic guitar 33:27 The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound 37:12 Skip’s test guitar and cheap British amp recommendations 43:00 Skip’s test cabinet 45:15 A 1968 Fender Pro Reverb with a delayed vibrato 47:32 What’s a tone stack? 51:15 Pinpointing the buzz on a Silverface Fender Princeton 54:35 Class A, Class A/B and single-ended power tube arrangements 59:17 Tips on looking at vintage Gibson amps 1:02:48 A listener fixes his own Gibson Discoverer Tremolo 1:08:00 The triode mode used on high-powered amps 1:14:01 A brief chat about Dumble 1:18:44 A mid-60s Epiphone Galaxy that’s won’t turn off 1:20:23 Salvaging parts from a heavily modified Blackface Fender Bassman 1:24:30 Discussing changes on an early 1969 Fender Twin Reverb 1:29:50 Making homebrew amps sound less civil 1:33:11 Making a late ’50s Sylvania powered speaker amp work better as a guitar amp 1:42:12 Modding PA heads to work for guitars