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: podcast@fretboardjournal.com or, better yet, leave us a voicemail at 509-557-0848. Include a photo of your amp if you can.
Some of the topics discussed on this episode:
2:40 Jason brings home a Marshall Mercury
13:40 Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders
17:47 A request for a deeper dive into the Fender Champ schematic
24:34 Skip sells his Fender Tremolux head; an Ampex 960 reel-to-reel for free
27:45 Pat Boone’s recording console
30:45 Putting a VU meter in a Champ?
34:10 Truth About Vintage Amps shirts update: Shipped!
34:34 This week’s sponsor: Grez Guitars
37:20 More soldering advice
38:42 Scratchy pot tips (spoiler alert: WD-40)
41:43 An ’80s Fender Concert
47:08 A Vibroluxe Reverb versus Deluxe Reverb and the sonic difference between 10″ and 12″ speakers
57:25 Ray Massie’s The Vibe amp
59:30 18-watt Marshalls and a listener’s clone attempt using a Rauland PA amp platform
1:06:34 A 1955 Tweed Bassman with nearly all-new parts
1:10:32 When to replace drifted resistors
1:12:30 Converting a Fender PA-100 into a guitar amp
1:14:16 How many watts from a 6L6?
1:17:40 The Vingtor amp from Norway (and fixing a tremolo)
1:23:53 More Champ kit tips (wiring tube sockets)
1:25:22 A proposed Skip certification program
1:26:52 Coffee advice (Amazon link for the lazy)
1:29:40 Soap advice (Amazon link for the lazy)
1:31:50 Getting a 1965 Fender Princeton Reverb reissue rewired by Alessandro
1:37:45 Bad solder joints and troubleshooting a DIY 5F1 that stopped behaving
Special thanks to the presenting sponsors of the Fretboard Journal: Gibson, Martin and Carter Vintage Guitars.
If you’re enjoying this podcast, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and don’t forget to share it with friends.
Vingtor amp photo above via listener Erik G. in Norway.
