Ep. 60: "10 and Up"

The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons

Once again, guitar amp tech Skip Simmons is fielding your questions on all things tube amp.

This week's sponsors: Amplified Parts and Grez Guitars. Want to support the show? Be a part of our Patreon page.

Some of the topics discussed on this week's episode:

2:35 Skip gets a new knife (Carter Cutlery)

6:21 Restoring a 1961 Mercury Comet

9:13 Mathew Fitzwilliam’s book on Australia’s Goldentone amps (link)

21:24 What to do with a Masco MA-35 PA head, 7-series loctal tubes

29:40 The Bogen RP-1 Mic Pre-Amp

35:39 Keith Cary’s mic pre-amp / headphone hack

38:44 Early Fender Princeton GZ34 rectifier tube alternatives

45:11 Shielded wire vs. unshielded wire in the circuitry of old PA heads

50:23 Converting a Webcor reel-to-reel into a guitar amp

59:19 Keeping a vintage reverb tank alive (Gibson Maestro M216-RVT amp, MOD tank upgrade, shortening a vintage reverb spring)

1:08:51 Skip builds a Piper Cub model airplane

1:21:28 Speaker recone kits (link)

1:27:59 Proper tremolo speed / depth on a Fender 6G3

1:32:08 Klon pedals and outboard tube-driven overdrives

1:36:52 Is my Gibson GA-9 parallel single-ended?

1:44:01 Doing the Vibro Champ mod to a Stromberg Carlson Model 290, Doris Troy’s "What'cha Gonna Do About It" (link), and stuffed eggplant with crispy beef (link)

1:45:40 Mike enjoys the podcast (Mike's band: the 6L6s)

2:06:16 The Art of Basque Cooking by Clara Salaverria Perkins

Recorded on the morning of January 1, 2021, which explains a couple of possibly inebriated callers.

Coming soon: The Truth About Recording & Mixing with Johnny Sangster (Apple Podcasts link)

Have a topic for a future episode? Email or send us a voice memo to: [e-mail] or leave us a voicemail or text at 509-557-0848.

Be sure to check out the ever-growing Big Index of Truth About Vintage Amp topics to see if your amp questions have already been covered.