It’s the 93rd episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps! Strain relief, stubborn Champs (and Randalls!), blanched kale with sunflower seeds, and plenty more.
This week’s episode is sponsored by Calton Cases, Jupiter Condenser Co., Amplified Parts and Grez Guitars. You can also use the discount code FRET10 to save 10% off your Izotope purchase.
Support us on Patreon.com for added content and the occasional surprise. This month, we’ll be giving away a handmade pedal to one lucky patron!
Some of the topics discussed this week:
:50 Amplified Parts now carries PSVANE tubes; tube brands
6:51 Nate’s maple syrup
7:50 Garrett Hongo’s ‘The Perfect Sound’ (Amazon link)
10:19 A Silverface Champ, Little Charlie’s Spanish rice, Trustee from the Tool Room, the novels of Charles Portis, the Kalamazoo KEA’s unique push-pull circuit
17:06 Making the two channels of a reissue Fender Vibroverb in-phase; learning soldering as a blind person (link: https://lighthouse-sf.org/tag/soldering/)
24:56 Putting a few select vintage parts in a new Princeton 5F2A clone
31:35 @nocoastsaint’s tractor tire-as-speaker-cabinet experiment (Instagram link)
32:52 The Fretboard Journal, TAVA, Doug Sewall’s amplifiers (Wampus Cat), getting rid of intermittent noise by moving an amp, cheap surge protectors, Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder’s ‘Get On Board’
43:01 A 1965 Fender Vibro Champ that’s with a squeal on its vibrato, Capacitor Wizards, bypass cap orientation
48:11 A new transformer for a Victor projector amplifier and matching speaker
50:25 Overheating parts during soldering, using a heat sink?
53:38 The MTS modular tube preamp system
55:53 Strain relief bushing tips, Pro’s Kit, blanched kale with toasted sunflower seeds, madsenamps.com giveaway (coming soon)
1:01:51 A stiff 5E8A clone with two game changing mods
1:06:13 A reissue tweed Champ that sputters for 30 seconds every time its turned on
1:08:12 A Randall Century 3000 solid state amp that decides to change its own volume
1:11:00 What to source for a cheap but defective 1965 Gibson skylark GA5
1:16:22 Music recommendation: Jim Hall & Paul Desmond
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 Nate’s 1965 Fender Vibro Champ.
