It’s the 138th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all-things-tube amps!
This week, we pay tribute to Angela Instruments founder and former guest Steve Melkisethian (1950-2024); talk resistors and transformers; catch up on the 2024 Fretboard Summit; and much more.
Want to be a part of our show? Just email us a question or voice memo to podcast@fretboardjournal.com.
Don’t forget, we have a Patreon page. Join us to get show updates and get to the front of the question line.
Some of the topics discussed this time around:
:58 R.I.P. Nick Gravenites (Electric Flag, Mike Bloomfield)
3:08 Our sponsors: Amplified Parts, Emerald City Guitars, and Grez Guitars. (Watch Emerald City Guitars’ Fretboard Summit video here.)
5:32 The 2024 Fretboard Summit in a nutshell
10:29 R.I.P Steve Melkisethian (Angela Instrument); read our tribute here
18:42 R.I.P. Stephen Fitzstephens, member of our Kegger Facebook group
19:18 What was Skip listening to as a kid?
22:08 Skip’s Music vintage gear headed to auction
24:42 When to use old, mismatched resistors?
26:39 The 2003 interview in Vacuum Tube Valley with Steve Carr (PDF link)
27:41 Removing surface rust from transformers
30:27 A 1964 Ampeg Reverberocket that pops when you turn it off
31:10 You all need a Variac
33:03 A pig farm mini-baffler; Papa Murphy’s in a Weber grill
36:56 Dropping the B+ with a solid state rectifier
39:47 Flattening a Fender eyelet board, redux; how to flatten a ‘70s Fender grill cloth frame?
42:52 Aux phono input on a tube amp; replacing plastic knobs; movie recommendation: ‘As It Is In Heaven’
46:48 An original 1963 Fender Vibroverb in the UK with a switchable voltage panel; John Kelly amps; Rainer Ptacek
52:33 How to select an output transformer for an amp when you don’t know its specs
1:00:55 The wrong tube in Danelectro amplifiers (12AU6 vs 12AV6)
1:04:02 What’s on Skip’s bench? An Alamo amp; kudos to Larry Chung
1:05:43 Recommended reading: ‘The Feather Thief’ (Amazon link); TAVA listener and winemaker William Downie (link)
1:10:36 Using Meguiar’s Convertible Top Cleaner to clean up a Premier amp
1:11:35 A Pepco Riviera 725; Frazey Ford
1:14:04 Posters by Serifs & Whiskey (link)
1:15:10 Blossom Valley Foods’ Pepper Plant sauce (link)
1:15:37 Fixing a reverb tank by changing the transducer; Fender’s specific use of European tubes
Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.
Photos: Scenes from the Isle of Wight, courtesy of listener Stu. A 1963 Vibroverb with a multi-voltage selector; the Round the Island Yacht race; and a 50-watt John Kelly amp.
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