The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons

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It's the 170th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields all of your guitar amplification questions (or at least the ones involving tubes). 
 
Thank you to our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics. 
Some of the topics discussed this week:
:32 What's on Skip's Bench: A Voice of Music 8810

2:40 Jason's Fretboard Summit 2026 report (thanks, https://vintagetubeamplifiers.com!!)

10:13 Recommended reading: Willie Dixon's 'I Am the Blues,' 'Bo Diddley: Living Legend,' and 'Buzz Busby: Father of Washington DC Bluegrass' 

12:35 Is this Fender Super Champ safe to use?

20:06  Aotearoa New Zealand Amplifier History Project (support it here); New Zealand pop and punk; building guitars in the Congo (Fretboard Journal #56)

25:19 MusicMan HD130; Sun O))); a typewriter at the 2027 Summit?

33:34 Who made Rickenbacker amps? Talk to me about my Rickenbacker M11
41:14 Bix Beiderbecke's birthday (August 6); conversing with your amp heroes; frozen udon noodles and mushroom stock powder; Red Norvo's "In a Mist"; Donald Brosnac's 'Guitar Electronics for Musicians'

50:06 Warming up a two-pronged amp through a Variac; if a Jenson speaker has been reconed, can I stop worrying about its value? 

55:35 Listener recommendation: A cheap Amazon wall outlet meter (link)

57:36 Mark Bartel's prototype line-out interface (see Instagram pic!) 

58:24 The magic of purslane 

1:00:29 Why a vibrator? (on old DC amps/PAs)

1:04:19 The Savage Croaker amp; Bloodstone's "Natural High;" Mesa Boogie Mark I repairs and Jim Washburn
Want to be a part of the show? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

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

It's the 169th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields all of your tube amp and life questions. This week, returning guest Steve Soest joins us for a chat about the vintage days of vintage guitar buying; playing alongside Chuck Berry and Dick Dale; Leo Fender's dining habits; and more. 
Thank you to our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics. 
Some of the topics discussed this week:
:55 What's on Skip's Bench: A messed-up Masco MA-17
 
4:06 Special guest: Guitar and amp legend Steve Soest (Soest Guitars)! A meeting of the amp minds, Danelectro tales, Standel heads, David Lindley, G&L, consulting for Fender, Dick Dale tales, and so much more! 
 
1:16:25 A possessed Ampeg, redux 
 
1:18:26 Skip's Disney picks 
 
1:20:57 The Tone Quest Report 
 
1:22:58 Woodinville in the WSJ
 
1:24:43 Gain knob/master volume 101, cleaning Tolex 
1:34:02 Hollywood Bob's Bandmaster 
1:39:40 A fire near Skip's!? 
 
Want to be a part of the show? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

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

It's the long-awaited episode 168 of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields all of your tube amp and life questions. This week, we kick things off by interviewing one of Skip's clients, Sebastian from Vintage Inspired Pickups! Also: possessed Ampegs, shipping forecasts, and Fender repairs and so much more. 
Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics. 
Some of the topics discussed this week:
:00 Special Guest: Sebastian Gruenberg of Vintage Inspired Pickups (link); molecular biology; winding pickups, making potentiometers; cryo-tuning magnets; Emerald City Guitars; Gibsonette input jack ground issues; and more!

30:57 What's on Skip's bench: Magnatones; a Sears 40XL Danelectro; Traynors

34:07 Jonathan Richman, charming singer-songwriter and stone mason

36:17 An early National Dobro amp for sale; where's Larry Chung?

38:51 The Fretboard Summit, August 20-22 in Chicago (register here); this year @vintagetubeamplifiers is bringing out a bunch of old & rare amps along with various other contributors/listeners! 

39:50 A kitchen cleaning tip, Dutch ovens, Skip's typewriter repair
44:07 Optocoupler repair in a classic Fender
45:57 The BBC's Shipping Forecast (link: https://www.bbc.com/weather/coast-and-sea/shipping-forecast) 
48:54 Rattlesnake Milk's 'Midnight Train', quick Asian rice, and TAVA buzzwords
50:54 Output tubes for Skip's Mega Champ amp build (Champ with Soursound transformers)
54:38 A demonic Ampeg B-18N 
59:04 A new caster for my 1966 Fender Pro Reverb, 'The Magnificent Charlie Parker' compilation; homemade gumbo; Mike Watt 
1:06:12 What should I do with this Masco A-10 project? using a Hammond 166M12 as a Variac; do old black metal pre-amp tubes like the 6SJ7 have glass inside? 
1:12:02 A tie story; how can I slow down the tremolo on my modded Silvertone 1484?
 
1:17:46 Gourmet dog treats 
 
Want to be a part of the show? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

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

It's the 167th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields all of your tube amp and life questions. 
Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics. 
Some of the topics discussed this week:
:00 Skip's refrigerator dies (but lives!), taking the train to the Chicago Fretboard Summit, electronica band Chessie 
10:09 The LA vintage guitar show
13:52 'The Angel's Share' movie
16:18 Our sponsors and a great 2026 Fretboard Summit amp giveaway (thanks, Andy!)
19:19 A non-tech tip: Silverface control panel amps with peeling film
21:59 What's on Skip's bench: Magnatone amps; an early Dickerson amp; using a Trace Elliot Velocette shell for a tube amp build
26:38 How long would it take Skip to build a tube amp (on a game show)?
28:31 Starting an amp repair business, redux (Ahuntsic Amplification https://amplificationahuntsic.ca/homepage-en)
32:45 Solder Smoke Absorber Remover (Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3QPSuv6)
36:16 Modding a Silvertone Powermaster PA for guitar, dogbone resistors, 6J7 tubes
45:21 Novak hybrid guitars; did I fry my transformer?; AI Skip; cooking with duck
53:51 What to do with my dad's 1959 Gretsch 6161 Electromatic Twin amp?; Uncle Doug on TAVA?
1:00:05 Serge Gainsbourg with a bunch of smoking kids (https://youtu.be/unYu22Ign1E?si=VkCNtOaDbloJqh63)
1:01:03 Warehouse speakers for a 1976 Silverface Vibro Champ (Instagram: @cwg_guitars)
 
Want to be a part of the show? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.
Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Before talking amps, we talk life! Longtime friend of the show John Vanderslice (Tiny Telephone) joins us to talk about moving to the Netherlands, the life of an expat, the equipment that he moved to Europe (and didn't), staying curious with your gear, and so much more.
Around 50 minutes in, we get the answer to last episode's Baffler, field various questions and do the usual TAVA amp troubleshooting.
Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics. 
Some of the topics discussed this week:
:00 Special guest: John Vanderslice!
50:28 Our sponsors!
51:47 What's on Skip's bench: A Supro Galaxy
1:01:19 The O.W. Appleton guitar (link) 
1:02:33 The answer to episode 155's baffler: Two types of hum
1:07:03 The high and low power switch on a Music Man HD150
1:10:34 How can I swap the speaker on my 1949 Spiegel 79-C, pre-heating cast iron
1:14:35 Ranch Style beans, Herdez guacamole salsa, Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 mic-pre, Peavey Valverb, using an iso cabinet, using both jacks in a Princeton
1:24:37 Terry Foster at the 2026 Fretboard Summit 
1:26:11 How many speakers can a Silverface Champ drive safely? Why did Fender keep changing the Princeton schematic?
1:31:13 Skip at the Fretboard Summit? 
Want to be a part of the show? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.
Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.