Chokes, scalloped potatoes, Monoprice amps, phase inverters, and more! It’s the 88th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps.
This week’s episode is sponsored by Jupiter Condenser Co., Amplified Parts and Grez Guitars. You can also use the discount code FRET10 to save 10% off your Izotope purchase and, if you head over to BED|STÜ shoes and use the discount code FRETXBS, you’ll save 20% off your BED|STÜ order and help support the FJ.
Support us on Patreon.com for added content and the occasional surprise.
Some of the topics discussed this week:
2:31 Before you start charging people to fix amps…
5:57 RIP listener Bill Eldred; happy birthday, Clayton
7:04 John Vanderslice’s new podcast, ‘Keep the Dream Alive’
9:09 Skip’s music recommendation: Brave Combo
10:24 economycandy.com for all your vintage candy needs
12:02 Live taping of the TAVA’s 100th episode at the 2022 Fretboard Summit? (Chicago, August 25-27)
13:22 Skip sounds like Jerry Garcia, redux; Jerry Garcia Funny Story (YouTube link); what to do with a busted Monoprice Stage Right 15-watt, 12″ combo?
20:35 How did Fender circuits get named? El Pato red enchilada sauce (in the big can)
24:36 Tweed Deluxe vs. Ampeg M-12, redux; replacement reverb tank for a Gibson Falcons (4FB3D1B)
27:02 Chokes: What are they, why and more? henrys; scalloped potatoes
34:34 A Cromwell lap steel and matching amp; pre-servicing an amp to clean out pests, etc. before you send it to a tech; more scalloped potatoes; Aleene’s Tacky Glue
39:34 Recovering old cloth-covered wire; Otis Amps on the Sonic Artifacts Podcast
43:18 Boutique builders: Vintage 47 amps (link); Swart amps; Dr. Z; BC amps (link)
46:53 Kalamazoo Reverb 12 revisited; 5E3 vs. 6G3 (Deluxe) schematics
50:01 Phase inverters in the 6G3, 5E3 and Ampeg M-12 amps
51:02 A typewriter baffler from listener Bob K.
54:25 Phase issues with different sized speakers?; using a 9v battery to test the phase of a speaker; Nashville Amp Works
58:49 The Beginner’s Corner for Tone Geeks, by Marty from the Oregon Coast; Sarno Music Solutions Earth Drive pedal (link); Neil Young’s ‘Live Rust’; non-alcoholic hoppy water
1:11:30 The Ampro combo amp revisited
1:15:33 Recommended reading: the Ampeg book, the Gibson amp book
1:16:54 The TAVA Angela Super Single Ended amp group build… happening soon (we hope)!
1:18:27 Simple recipes: Cast Iron Roast Chicken (link), Herb Salad (link); an Ampeg flip-top B-15 with replaced coupling capacitors; Cornell Dubilier capacitors, mylar versus polyester; Johnnie Taylor “It’s Your Thing”
1:33:52 Recommended sources for good resistors and caps for new builds; Skip still has a TEAC a7010 reel-to-reel tape deck available
1:40:32 A circuit for weirdos: Epiphone EA-70 with tube compression
1:41:10 Recommended reading: Trustee from the Tool Room
The Truth About Vintage Amps is hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons. Co-hosted and produced by the Fretboard Journal’s Jason Verlinde.
Email or send us a voice memo to: podcast@fretboardjournal.com or leave us a voicemail or text at 509-557-0848. And don’t forget to share the show with friends.
Want to see all the former topics discussed on the TAVA Podcast? Click here for all the show notes on one page.
Above: Cromwell amp and lap steel, courtesy of Joe aka Lightcrustdoughboy.