It’s the 95th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps! Despite some technical / Zoom difficulties, Skip and Jason talk about replacement transformers, smoking Earthsound amps, bias, and 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.
Some of the topics discussed this week:
1:32 Econco, the giant tube rebuilding place in Woodland, California (link); h/t www.reelaudio.net
3:16 Cordless yard tools
4:31 What’s on Skip’s bench: A Charlie Christian-style amp head for Todd Clinesmith; John Munnerlyn’s Magnatone-inspired guitars, the power transformer from a blonde Tremolux head; blue molded caps
9:56 The Truth About Vintage Amps Patreon page (link); congrats to Patreon supporter Josh F. for winning the Body and Soul fuzz pedal (Body and Soul on Instagram)
14:18 Nate the syrup guy’s 1965 Vibro Champ, redux; inverse feedback; reversing the primary leads on the power transformer
20:31 Beginner’s Corner: Cathode bias vs. fixed bias vs. grid bias
25:07 Find this guy: Ham operator Armond Noble, the Kon-Tiki, World Radio News
27:00 A 1964 Fender Super Reverb with a strange volume taper
30:57 A tuxedo Princeton going to the Los Angeles Guitar Show
31:45 Mid-’60s Ampeg B-18N with a weird noise and a single glowing power tube that fixes itself with the standby switch
37:32 A loose rectifier tube in a 1968 Fender Deluxe Reverb
41:32 Fumes from soldering
43:35 Fixing the polarity at a local dive bar
50:38 The goat murder trial is over
53:25 Sourcing the washer behind the jewel light on a Silverface Champ
58:04 Schematics for a Webster TP12-1 PA, making a Blackstar cleaner by swapping the pre-amp tube
1:03:44 A smoking 1973 Earthsound amp
1:11:20 A Harmony H400 combo up for grabs; the Fender Bantam Bass schematic
1:15:09 Replacement output transformers for Fender Champs, Princetons, and Deluxes; rewinding output transformers
1:26:37 Literary recommendation: ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies’ by Jared Diamond
Submit your amp questions, recipes and life hacks to the podcast via podcast@fretboardjournal.com and don’t forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.
The Truth About Vintage Amps is hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons. Co-hosted and produced by the Fretboard Journal’s Jason Verlinde.
Want to see all the former topics discussed on the TAVA Podcast? Click here for all the show notes on one page.
Above: A “tuxedo” Princeton, recently serviced by Skip.
