The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 162: "The Temple of Music" Mar 20, 2026

Show notes

Episode 162 of the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons tackles all of your questions about guitar tube amps! This week, we go deep on Canadian amps, tremolo tweaks, and tech tips. Plus: Rumors of a possible TAVA meetup at Skip's and a poetry slam!

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics. Use the discount code TAVA10MOD for a one-time, 10% discount on Mod Electronics orders at https://www.modelectronics.com. Usable on speakers, amp kits, pedal kits, reverb tanks, etc. Offer ends April 11, 2026.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:00 Skip has a cold 2:04 SF's The Fab Mab (Wikipedia), 1971 Guitar Player magazine advice; changing the vibrato speed on a Fender Super Reverb 8:42 The answer to last episode's baffler: The Canadian Standards Association; TAVA merch

11:30 Caveat emptor: A UTC output transformer; why is my reverb not working? 26:12 Lead dress 101

31:40 An amp sale/TAVA gathering at Skip's?

40:01 Harmony H410 and speaker impedance

44:10 Why is the tremolo on my 1969 Traynor YSR-1 Custom Reverb head not working and how can I slow it down?

50:38 Can you put variable capacitors in a guitar circuit?

53:11 Series filaments and a Berlant Concertone MCM-2; the Epiphone Rivoli EA-65 schematic

1:00:27 Gibson Falcon mods; whatever happened to the reissue Falcon?

1:07:24 Tech tip: Hammond 154M chokes (Amplified Parts link) 1:12:10 Guitarist Chuck Wayne 1:14:05 Spaghetti sauce with meat; getting Skip an iPhone; tremolo using bias modulation on the power tubes; the Ampeg Supereverb 1:22:21 Garnet amps and Kale; the Garnet Herzog 1:24:43 A listening room for Dynaco amps and Acoustic Research turntables

Want amp tech Skip Simmons' advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too. Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Ep. 161: "Tremolo Thursday" Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

Episode 161 of the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons tackles all of your questions about guitar tube amps.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:42 Phil Upchurch and 'What It's Like to Be a Musician'

3:25 On the Bench: A non-working outboard tremolo by Skip, a unique Massie trem circuit, putting trem in a Bassman 100, bias modulating tremolo

9:57 A TAVA giveaway (Thank you, Union Tube & Transistor and Exile!) 14:44 An Electro-Music Baffler, answered; a vintage Roberts electric mandolin; Tiny Moore; Bob Wills in Sacramento

25:12 Follow our Instagram page and help us get to 10,000 followers, the Garnet amp book (link), the Garnet Herzog

28:16 An amp tech for Guam

36:12 Working on a Johnson Celestion, why were some volume pots in front of the first tube? the best spare 6V6s to seek out

42:02 Talking Micro-Frets guitars on the Fretboard Journal Podcast (link)

43:13 Why is my Fender Super 60 so noisy?

49:30 A 1968 Fender Super Reverb with replaced transformers, using the extra secondaries? bias talk

56:03 Homemade salsa

59:19 Recommended reading: Proper Records' 'Hillbilly Boogie' box set (Amazon link)

1:00:33 Recommended watching: 'The Life We Have' (YouTube link, warning: it's a tear jerker) 1:01:46 The Webster-Chicago 166-1 vs. the Voice of Music 160 amp schematics; homemade chicken wings Want amp tech Skip Simmons' advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too. Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Ep. 160: "Some People Can't Stand an Unused Triode" Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

Episode 160 of the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons fields all of your questions about tube amps.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

1:09 Fishing and weather report, Tule fog 4:43 Skip's amp backlog 5:19 A West guitar amp with a Dynaco 454216 transformer, a paper plate breakfast hack 10:45 Our sponsors! 12:56 What's on Skip's bench: A 1950 Princeton, a White amplifier, a Tweed Deluxe AND a Vibrolux; Electromuse amps 14:39 The Lonesome Captain's music video (YouTube link) 17:31 A Webster-Chicago 166-1 with a post phase-inverter tone control 20:36 The Valco/National/Supro single 6V6 with reverb and tremolo 28:06 A Silvertone 1472 with replaced parts; terminal strip grounds 30:55 Two filter cap Princetons (link to TDPRI forum) 32:11 An original Garnet Session Man; modding a Masco ME-27; recommended reading 39:49 The Wood Wire & Volts show; the Benson Babylon (as mentioned on episode 158!) 44:16 Speaker impedance mismatch on a Danelectro amp and its effect on tone, Spanish rice, Goya pasta 50:21 Suggestions for an unused triode in a Geloso G226A amp 54:32 Bill Krinard's return?; Dr. Z's new, single-ended PhD amp; Emery Sound amps 57:18 A new speaker for my Traynor YGM-3?; Peavey amps; smoked pork tenderlions 1:03:35 Making a baby Leslie speaker at home and adding caps to filter out EMI/interference (check out more pics on our Patreon) 1:11:00 Getting spray paint off a grill cloth (3M Safest Stripper); fixing a Fender speaker baffle; and a cursed reverb unit 1:16:50 A Cunningham CX322 tube giveaway; Alembic stereo pre-amps, redux Note: Starting around minute 60, our Zoom connection went bad and Skip can be a little hard to hear. We tried to clean it up as best we could. Sorry! Want amp tech Skip Simmons' advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too. Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Ep. 159: "TAVA, Again...Exclamation Point" Jan 17, 2026

Show notes

Episode 159 of the Truth About Vintage Amps: Beans, two-prong ASMR, peeling diodes (and faceplates) and more!

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts. And honarary mention to Rancho Gordo beans.

Some of the topics discussed this week: 1:32 Rancho Gordo beans in the WSJ, corn sticks 8:13 What's on Skip's bench: All the early Fender Princetons; a baffler! 11:20 Our sponsors: and (unofficially) Rancho Gordo beans 15:15: What should I do with this extra Bell Sound 2122-C hi-fi amp?; hear the TAVA All-Stars: Bob Armstong, Keith Cary, Charles Batey, Leff Jeffries (YouTube link, audio only) 25:20 How can I remove and save my tube chart when I replace the baffle? 30:09 Comparing a 5F2A kit schematic to the original; cargamanto beans (see below)

40:34 What does Skip always replace? Sello Rojo coffee; Lustre Craft pots 47:48 A Tweed Vibrolux with rusty faceplate; WEST amps transformers? 55:48 A broken, yet soothing two-prong plug question; Stephen King's 'It' 1:01:57 Are the diodes in my Premier B-220 Custom Bass amp okay? Can Switchcraft jacks go bad? 1:10:50 Real death caps; Fantastic Fungi 1:13:05 Kraft dinner; replacement transformers for 50-watt Rickenbackers; WD-40 for joint pain

1:19:28 Homemade (mostly) pizza hacks Danny G's carmanto bean recipe INGREDIENTS: 1 can cargamanto beans rinsed and drained avocado oil in the pan 1⁄4 green pepper chopped 1⁄2 yellow onion diced 2 garlic cloves minced 1 can El Pato hot tomato sauce 1⁄2 tsp. cumin 1⁄2 tsp. paprika salt & pepper to taste Heat oil in the pan Add pepper, onion, garlic Saute for about 5 minutes until softened Stir in the beans, El Pato, cumin, paprika Season with salt and pepper Add 1 cup water or broth Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer Reduce for about 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally to preferred consistency Serve over rice with some avocado or sour cream This is great as is, but carnivores may want to add some meat. Living in the Polish neighborhood that I do, I first sliced up and browned some fresh made Kielbasa from the local smokery and put it aside before softening the veggies in the fond, then adding it back again during the simmering process. Multicultural chef's kiss. - Danny

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Ep. 158: "Not Just Living in Their Mom's Basement" Dec 24, 2025

Show notes

Episode 158: Chris Benson of Benson amps and Bryan Sours of Soursound transformers make their long-awaited returns to the Truth About Vintage Amps. Why? They want to tell us all about the logging truck of an amp they are currently building, a 700-watt(!) all-tube beast dubbed Babylon! The Babylon will feature 14 KT88 tubes, 16 total speakers, three knobs, and two power cords. It's literally the most powerful tube amp they could make without requiring a dryer outlet.

Check our Instagram for a sneak peek at the creation.

https://www.bensonamps.com/ https://soursound.com/ and honorable mention to... https://bottosbbq.com/ Hear the Babylon in person at the 2026 Wood, Wire & Volts festival (or anywhere within a mile or two radius of the show). https://www.woodwirevolts.com/

Deep cuts: Bryan's first appearance on our show can be found here (it's pretty epic) and Chris originally appeared on our 30th episode.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts. And happy holidays to all of our listeners and Patreon members for their support! We'll be back in 2026.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Ep. 157: "Coyote and Deer" Dec 18, 2025

Show notes

It's the 157th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:42 Atmospheric rivers

3:52 Skip's appearance at the Bay Area Guitar Show (Jan 10-11, link)

8:46 Fretboard Journal 58 (coming soon!) 9:57 Unsung electronics hero (and possible con man) Lee De Forest (read his memoir here); power conditioners 17:44 Skip's new trail cam 20:47 One man's trash: Repurposing the square capacitor/resistor found in a Gibson GA-19 RVT/Falcon

22:44 What's on Skip's Bench: A clean early 1969 SF Fender Vibro Champ with a trem that didn't want to go slow; an Ampeg J-20

29:11 Advice on an amp road trip (New Orleans, Phoenix, LA, and Denver)

34:25 What's louder: Two 50-watt halves or one full 100-watt stack of amps

37:29 Using the potentiometers in hi-fi speaker units from the 1950s; the Christmas Jug Band; ukuleles

42:10 What's up with this Winson combo amp? EL84s vs 7189s; garlic bread; Roy Buchanan's The Messiah Will Come Again (YouTube link); Roy Clark and Joe Pass; Van Morrison's "You Are My Sunshine;" The Fretboard Journal's You Are My Sunshine project (link)

50:29 Gigging a 1947 Fender Deluxe 5A3, Brookwood leather 55:40 6L6s in Deluxe Reverbs and Princetons? wild mushrooms 1:00:43 Are all trebles created equal? 1:05:38 Greetings from Canada; Slow Horses (redux); Life on the Line featuring John Travolta (Wikipedia link); chicken curry 1:13:26 Questions re: a Knight 93SX670 PA amp and the phono wiring 1:17:23 WD-40 musings 1:19:33 Just completed my Mojotone Tweed Princeton kit, but what's with this hum? 1:22:50 An RCA MI12155 PA head with no output; Chuck Prophet; Mosquito Coast cocktails; recommended book: 'The Night Train to Nashville' (Amazon link) 1:26:40 The Whole Earth Catalog; Stewart Brand (Amazon link) 1:30:30 Vacuum Tube Valley

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Don't forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.

Ep. 156: "A Hoop and a Stick" Nov 26, 2025

Show notes

It's the 156th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps. This week: Special guest Jack Weston joins us with a great Allman Brothers story.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:43 What's on Skip's Bench: a Fender Princeton with reversed input jacks 5:41 Special Guest: Jack Weston, author of 'The Allman Brothers Band: Classic Memorabilia, 1969-1976' (Amazon link) 46:17 The Magnatone Triplex; ultralinear output stages, redux; Bob Wills' The Tiffany Transcriptions

47:35 Raising kids and running a small business; tractor rollovers

51:13 A cooking baffler: Potatoes cooked in resin

52:30 Will my Airline 9003 amp kill me?

55:11 Traynor YGL-3A amps

56:43 Is it possible for a fuse to blow when the amp is fine? Best-case scenarios for a speaker mismatch? Jerry Portnoy's autobiography, 'Dancing with Muddy' (Amazon link)

1:03:02 Movie recommendations: Come See Me in the Good Light; The Lost Bus

1:05:28 The greatest Thanksgiving side dish of all-time? A corn-bread concoction; the 2026 Fretboard Summit (www.fretboardsummit.org); the TAVA Cookbook (Dropbox link) 1:07:37 Good goo: Oxalic acid/wood bleach (Amazon link); Permalac sealer 1:10:43 Using a 6SL7 as a long tail pair 1:13:03 Amps made with 6N2P pre-amp tubes and 6N6P power tubes? Ashen amps 1:15:16 The resurrection of Australia's GoldenTone amps? https://goldentone.com.au/ 1:18:39 What should I do with this West Mini IR combo amp? 1:23:37 Hopefulness and despair with a reissue Twin Reverb and a Silverface Champ 1:31:06 What should I do with my Wilcox Gay Recordio recorder 1:38:31 A Califone SP-30 powered speaker; chili

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Don't forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.

Ep. 155: "Realistic Carnival" Nov 01, 2025

Show notes

It's the 155th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps. This week: Barn finds, lost dogs, an extra-grounded Jason (amp pun intended) and more!

Some of the topics discussed this week:

1:05 Skip gets the new Fretboard Journal (link); do banjos belong in the Fretboard Journal?

5:16 Recommended music: Ned Boynton's 'The North Beach Sound;' The No-Mads (nomadsband.com)

7:54 Our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts (and Mr. Microphone)

18:12 What's on Skip's bench: A Bogen GA-5; a Realistic Carnival; Masco C-6; 6AQ5 tubes

22:53 A listener baffler, answered (speaker re-coning); Vintage 47 amps (link)

26:18 Skip's ep. 154 baffler, answered: What does Skip do when he's modding the second input of a Fender Champ? Supro Spectators

32:51 New Accutronics reverb tanks by Revisit (link)

34:52 What's the low input doing in a Marshall JCM800; green chile on everything

39:20 Lowering the B+ on a 1971 Fender Bassman 10 project; ultralinear transformers; cactus salad

48:43 The long-awaited dog story

51:35 Colin Hay's "Overkill" with Choir! Choir! Choir! (YouTube link); Traynor amps

54:52 Should I treat the pitting on a Soundmaster 600 PA?

1:00:17 Lab Series amps

1:03:39 Smoke-damaged MusicMan HD-130

1:09:20 The dangers of old tractors (and drawbridges)

1:15:34 Modifying the power section of a Twin Reverb for lower volume playing; fixing a Filmosound 385 with hum; Evan Crafts (Instagram)

1:21:26 TAVA listener spotlight: Children's book author Matt James! (Order his new book, The One About the Blackbird (Amazon link)

1:23:56 How to raise kids and run a small business; Mae Ploy curry paste

1:31:16 Barn finds: Spring-loaded input jacks; a 1947 Fender Princeton amp and matching lap steel

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Don't forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.

Ep. 154: "Compromise the Windings" Oct 17, 2025

Show notes

It's the 154th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:42 Skip is back on the Ferguson TO-35 tractor; Roy Clark & Joe Pass

7:04 What's on Skip's bench: A Marshall Plexi Super Bass, Marshall bright caps, the Pet Shop Boys

11:43 Our sponsors Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts; more Fender Champ mods; a Champ gain input baffler; Soursound transformers

23:51 200 more power cords; IEC hijinks; Steve Soest

28:13 A 1954 Fender Tweed Twins and the low-powered versus high-powered Twins; Tweed Pros; Fender Champion 600 amps

31:49 A Lafayette PA with ECL82 tubes (watch on Instagram)

33:45 A 1960s Airline 62-9021A amp; how to tell a Supro/Valco from a Danelctro amp

37:33 Skip's advice for a future repair business; liability insurance; the Boilermaker; the amp that couldn't be fixed

49:06 A listener-submitted baffler: A Supro that needed a speaker recone?

52:29 What should I do with my new Knight 93350 PA head?

58:03 Should I build a 6G4 or a 6G4A in this Northern Electric PA-20 with six pre-amp sockets?

1:04:28 Wiring a Danelectro DS-100 speaker output for use with other cabs

1:11:10 Recommended media: The Birth of Loud; The Sweeney; Taggart

1:12:52 Burning up chokes in a Princeton Reverb

1:14:13 Listers on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-wAqplQAo

1:15:18 ESR meters and ceviche

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Don't forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.

Ep. 153: "A C in Chemistry" Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

It's the 153rd episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps and Skip is having a happy day fielding your amp questions. From cleaning tweed to Magnatone varistors and all points in between, it's 90 minutes of tube amp knowledge, laughs, and some serious California trivia.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

1:27: The 2025 Fretboard Summit; the importance of repair tags

6:55: Thanks for the mangos, John! And a food preservation tip

8:30: Our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts!

14:15 What's on Skip's bench? 60 amps in August; great Loma Rica deals; far out tubes

23:29 The big TV tubes in Standel amps (6DQ6 tubes, regulator tubes)

25:49 Skip's near-death experience; The Edwin Hawkins Singers' "O Happy Day" (YouTube)

31:05 Colman's Hot Mustard

31:49 A giant yard sale in Dixon

34:23 More TAVA t-shirts; whatever happened to Jason's Honda Scrambler?

38:04 An antique radio museum in Marysville, California

41:38 Calculating output transformer primary impedance

47:37 Cleaning tweed

49:58 Replacing the varistors in Magnatone/Americana amps; luthier Ken Bebensee; North San Juan, California; the Malakoff Diggins

56:53 Going to Guitar Center, a Gibson GA-20...or was it? Sierra Nevada Brewing Oktoberfest beer

1:01:20 The Rustic Kegger community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/tavapodcast

1:02:51 El Pato in Alaska

1:03:41 Fender Tone Ring cabinets

1:05:54 A brown 1962 Fender Super with an 8516 transformer from a TV-front Super

1:11:01 Building a shell for a Falcon chassis

1:12:55 Building a Deluxe 5E3 clone in Brazil

1:20:17 Verellen's solid-state Octal tube (link); how power attenuators work; Benson's Monarch Plus power scaling

1:24:41 Recommended music: Texas Alexander & Lonnie Johnson's "Crossroads" (YouTube); KZFR; Julian Lage; Bill Frisell

1:26:19 Noel Boggs and his Day Sleepers' "Steelin Home" (YouTube)

1:27:16 Recommended reading: The RCA RC-30 tube manual (Amplified Parts link); California's two Sebastopols

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Don't forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.

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