It’s the 90th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps! John Smith serves us a chorizo lasagna dish; we hear the demented sounds your tubes are making on their own; the answer to last week’s baffler and much more.

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:

4:57 What’s in a blue molded cap?

6:17 Our Patreon page and a Patreon-only giveaway

8:14 The Ep. 89 Fender Chris Stapleton amp baffler answered

13:03 Burning Spear, Marysville postcards, and electric trains

13:55 Beginner’s corner: Basic servicing on a Traynor YBA-1 and a 1968 Fender Deluxe Reverb; Alex Shultz’s ‘Think About It’

18:27 A Peavey Classic 30 with a sibilant buzz

23:11 Why are vacuum tubes called valves; eggs with smoked paprika

26:35 Grez guitars; a 1978 Deluxe Reverb with a microphonic channel 1

33:07 Rewinding transformers: worth it?

37:33 A Fender Musicmaster bass in Daphne blue up for grabs; a memorial for Little Charlie

39:47 A blackface Fender Vibrochamp with a bad hum; artificial center taps and various other mods; Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five (YouTube link); Weller 8200 for chassis ground connections?; Weller 550

48:42 The sound coming out of your tubes; Universal Audio OX; Steven Spielberg’s Duel

54:05 Thanks, AmpsAmps

55:13 Two Craigslist finds: Cutting the cord on a free Hammond M-111 and a what to do with an empty 2000 Fender Twin Reverb shell

1:00:51 Steel players and their quest for more headroom; overdriven steel artifacts; tips and tricks for getting more headroom from an amp

1:06:39 John Smith finds tube amp happiness with Benson Nathan Junior; chorizo lasagna (with El Pato); watch John Smith on That Pedal Show (YouTube link)

1:10:50 Has Skip ever been shocked?, signal bleed on a PA amp; Jeff Healey’s trumpet playing

1:14:51 The most sought after Masco PA heads

1:20:56 Turning a Knight 93-360 into an octal Gibson GA-20s and what to do with the phono input?

1:25:25 Speaker efficiency and sensitivity

1:28:26 Why new crock pots suck

1:31:03 Filter cap changes on classic Marshall circuits

1:37:26 Theoretical circuit splicing

1:40:26 How does Skip desolder a connection?

1:42:38 Making Filmosounds safe, Cheesy Hammy Eggy

1:46:52 More good goo: S&F Smothered Cajun sauce (link)

1:48:38 A microphonic 1966 Fender Bassman head; can high humidity make a fiberboard conductive? leaving an amp on to dry it out

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: Listener Geoffrey micing his Marshall’s tubes; below: the Cheesy Hammy Eggy of Joe Halliday (Hello Sailor Effects).