The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 109

Episode 109: A long stretch of amp troubleshooting, but much to talk about, including a new puppy, the realities of vintage guitar shows, grandmothers getting run over by reindeer, and ferrite beads.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:34 Meet Junior

5:59 Skip’s report from the 2023 Bay Area Amigos Guitar Show; dr Elmo buys a Grez (wikipedia link); the dangers of parking at a food stand

23:26 This week’s sponsors: Grez Guitars; Amplified Parts (Hammond products are currently on sale!); Iztotope (use Fret10 as discount code); and our Patreon patrons.

24:38 Listener Nate sends Skip a signed copy of Jack Darr’s book

26:01 Why do we twist the wires?, a 5U4 rectifier in a 1965 Deluxe Reverb, “Heartworn Highways”

35:02 Repairing a broken grounded plug

37:49 Seamless Joe from Italy, “Nature Boy” (Wikipedia link)

44:39 A super reverb with dying tremolo

48:20 Interference from 5G cell towers and ferrite beads

52:14 Got the sticker back on an old Fender footswitch

53:51 Tone stack improvement on a Harmony 420

59:42 Transformers for a 5C1 Champ build; suffocate or not suffocate

1:06:53 An EL84 Filmosound with a humming transformer

1:09:08 Junior has an accident

1:09:45 Why doesn’t my Knight 93-320 PA head have a fuse?

1:11:32 Actual Lumberjack Stories on Odd Lots (Apple Podcasts link)

1:12:06 A Teisco/Checkmate/Northland Baffin III

1:15:35 Why does my Magnasync Moviola 1800 crackle angrily when I touch my guitar?

1:18:29 Toots & the Maytals cover “Country Roads Take Me Home” (YouTube link)

1:20:06 Why is my bass man’s anode voltage so high with this GZ34 tube?

1:22:33 Dolly Sinatra’s pasta sauce (Edit: Duquesne is a town in PA, not a PA…stupid autocorrect!)

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There is a huge index page with almost all of the previous topics we covered in our first 108 episodes which can be found here.

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The Truth About Vintage Amps is hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons. Co-hosted and produced by the fretboard journal’is Jason Verlinde.

Above and below: David Northland Baffin III listener.