It’s the 121st episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amp.
This week, we’re joined by a true amplification visionary, Jim Kelley of Jim Kelley Amplifiers!
Don’t forget we now have a Patreon if you’d like to support the show featuring weekly installments of what’s on Skip’s bench, random eBay finds, and surprise content: https://www.patreon.com/vintageamps
Some of the topics discussed in this episode:
5:31 What’s on Skip’s bench: A Bogen mixer from the 1940s
6:35 What to do with a vintage MTI Tubes overdrive preamp stompbox?
10:02 What’s the deal with Fender Ultra Linear amps?
14:33 Australia’s National Vintage Guitar Show (link, October 7-9, 2023); the Amigo Bay Area Guitar Show in January (link; Skip will be there!)
17:26 Repurposing old power transformers
22:16 Jazz guitarist Peter Bernstein; Russell Malone; Adam Levy; RIP Sammy Ash
23:17 A “brown” Deluxe that needed repair from San Quentin State Prison!
25:56 What to do with a 1973 Fender Princeton Reverb ground switch?
28:39 Special guest: Jim Kelley! 4x6V6s, plate voltages, Fortune Amps, Line, using a great reference speaker; Dumble; the Kelley prototype head at Emerald City Guitars; Jim’s preferred parts; Vince Gill
1:26:00 Tubes for a Marathon amp clone
1:27:50 Building a point-to-point wired amp inside of a PCB Vox AC15VR chassis
Our sponsors are Emerald City Guitars, Amplified Parts, and Grez Guitars.
Recorded September 20, 2023.
Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.
Submit your amp questions, recipes, and life hacks to podcast@fretboardjournal.com and don’t forget to share the show with friends on social media.
If you want to see all the topics we’ve covered since our first episode in one extremely long web page (great for searching), just click here.
Above: Dave in Calgary’s Rhein Sound Systems PA.
