Ep. 140: "Tiny Bits of Tingle"

Summary

Summary of The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons - Episode 140: "Tiny Bits of Tingle"

Release Date: November 5, 2024
Host: Skip Simmons
Podcast: The Fretboard Journal

In Episode 140 of The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons, titled "Tiny Bits of Tingle," Skip and host Jason delve into a myriad of topics ranging from local elections to detailed discussions on vintage guitar amplifiers. The episode, characterized by its blend of humor and technical insight, offers valuable information for guitar enthusiasts interested in amp restoration, repair, and collecting.

Opening Remarks and Lighthearted Politics

The episode begins with Skip addressing the listeners' concerns about upcoming local elections and propositions, assuring them that "in a couple weeks, everything's going to be just fine no matter what" (00:15). Jason and Skip exchange lighthearted banter about the impact of politics, setting a relaxed tone for the discussion ahead.

Skip: "Ny politics only nudges things, you know, a little of this way, little to that way... you're gonna have to get up and go to work." (00:45)

Current Projects and Amp Inventory

Skip discusses his current projects, highlighting a Charlie Christian EH150 amp he has for sale. He explains the modifications made, such as replacing the field coil with a regular speaker and adding a choke inside the amp, making it more accessible for collectors who prefer not to deal with field coils.

Skip: "This would be something to consider because you can just put any old speaker in there and that's the right way to do it." (02:36)

Jason inquires about the selling price, and Skip mentions these amps typically go for "a couple of grand," though modifications might reduce their value slightly. He emphasizes the availability of numerous amps in his inventory, catering to diverse collector interests.

Aztec Recording Studio and Networking in the Amp Community

Skip shares an anecdote about connecting with Dane Olson through Aztec Recording Studio in Loma Rica, California. This story underscores the collaborative spirit within the vintage amp community and the nostalgic connections that often emerge through shared interests.

Skip: "We'll see if he can remember... it's a really cool idea." (07:29)

Jason adds value by mentioning Sylvia Massey from Ashland, Oregon, highlighting her website (shopSylviaMassey.com) as a treasure trove for recording and guitar gear enthusiasts.

New Guitar Acquisitions and Modifications

The conversation shifts to Skip's latest guitar acquisition—a refinished red 66 Duosonic with a longer scale and upgraded components. He details the guitar's features, including a slab rosewood board and high-output single-coil pickups, expressing his satisfaction with its performance and reliability.

Skip: "I can leave it out on a stand and I've been using it. I love it and it stays in tune." (10:36)

Jason connects this discussion to Terry Foster from Emerald City Guitars, noting his extensive collection of vintage instruments and their contributions to the community.

Podcast and Fretboard Journal Updates

Jason provides updates on The Fretboard Journal, mentioning the upcoming 55th issue featuring Jim D'Addario and the planning of the 2025 Fretboard Summit in Chicago. Skip commends Jason's organizational skills, encouraging him to continue delivering quality content under tight deadlines.

Sponsorship Spotlights

The episode features segments dedicated to sponsors:

1. Emerald City Guitars: Jason highlights their expertise in high-end guitars and collaborative efforts with other musicians.

2. Amplified Parts: Skip praises their wide range of amp parts, including filter capacitors and light bulbs, essential for amp maintenance (21:20).

3. Grez Guitars: Jason introduces Barry from Grez Guitars, showcasing their new Grand Tour Carved Arch Top guitars and their participation in the Wood Wire and Volts showcase alongside other notable exhibitors.

Listener Questions and Technical Troubleshooting

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to addressing listener-submitted questions, providing detailed technical advice:

1. Vintage Amp Valuation and Restoration (Andy from Florida): Andy seeks advice on restoring a 1966 Princeton Reverb. Skip recommends testing original tubes and the power transformer, emphasizing safety and proper troubleshooting techniques.

   Skip: "Don't leave it with me. You have to test the tubes first rather than just... hoping." (39:29)

2. Reverb Driver Tubes and Bright Caps (Nate from Vermont and Marcelo from Italy): Nate inquires about reliable tubes for a 1975 Fender Princeton Reverb, while Marcelo discusses experimenting with bright caps and speaker-driven line-outs. Skip provides insights into tube selection and innovative amp modifications, encouraging experimentation within safe parameters.

   Skip: "I would generally prefer a regular old used American tube right there." (45:14)

3. Ampeg Speaker Replacement (Joe's Question): Joe asks about replacing a 15-inch speaker in an Ampeg Rocket 2 with a JBL D130 or K130 speaker. Skip advises on impedance considerations and physical fit to prevent damage.

   Skip: "I would say yes, in that situation, you'd be fine. So Ampeg, you can find eight ohm D130s." (67:13)

4. Rectifier Tube in Plush 3000G Amp (James from St. Louis): James seeks assistance with a Plush 3000G amp experiencing tremolo issues. Skip analyzes the description, suggesting probable causes related to the rectifier tube and offering troubleshooting steps.

   Skip: "First we got to figure out what the hell he's talking about with that rectifier tube." (61:03)

Safety Tips and Maintenance Advice

Throughout the Q&A segments, Skip emphasizes the importance of safety when working with vintage amps. He warns against DIY fixes without proper knowledge and encourages listeners to seek professional help when necessary.

Skip: "You do it at your own risk... have some skills and knowledge to really proceed forward in a good way." (41:28)

Closing Remarks and Future Episodes

In wrapping up, Skip reassures listeners about the continuity of the podcast post-election, promising more engaging content. He encourages ongoing participation through email queries and Patreon support, fostering a sense of community among vintage amp enthusiasts.

Skip: "I'm here for you. Bye." (68:35)

Key Takeaways

• Vintage Amp Restoration: Importance of authentic modifications and proper restoration techniques to maintain amp integrity and value.

• Community Connections: Building relationships within the amp community enhances knowledge sharing and collaborative projects.

• Technical Expertise: Detailed troubleshooting advice empowers listeners to maintain and modify their equipment safely.

• Sponsor Support: Highlighting sponsors underscores the interconnectedness of the vintage amp ecosystem, providing listeners with trusted resources.

Notable Quotes

• Skip on Politics: "You're gonna have to get up and go to work." (00:45)

• Skip on Amp Restorations: "You can just put any old speaker in there and that's the right way to do it." (02:36)

• Skip on Tube Selection: "I would generally prefer a regular old used American tube right there." (45:14)

• Skip on Safety: "You have to have some skills and knowledge to really proceed forward in a good way." (41:28)

Conclusion

Episode 140, "Tiny Bits of Tingle," offers a comprehensive exploration of vintage amplifiers, blending technical discussions with personal anecdotes and community stories. Skip Simmons and Jason provide a platform for guitar enthusiasts to deepen their understanding of amp maintenance and restoration, fostering a knowledgeable and engaged listener base.

For more insights and to participate in future episodes, listeners are encouraged to submit questions via [e-mail] and support the show through Patreon.

Transcript

[Skip]

Good morning.

[Jason]

Good morning. How are you?

[Skip]

I'm here. Are you excited about our election day Tava decision 24. A lot of people have asked me about the school board race, so we're gonna. And we're gonna break down the propositions. And you know, North Yuba Water District is hotly contested this year, so I feel we owe it to our listeners. No. Hell no. All I have to say about that is in a couple weeks, everything's going to be just fine no matter what.

[Jason]

Is it? Is it though?

[Skip]

Oh, absolutely. Politics only nudges things, you know, a little of this way, little to that way, little to this way. Nah. No, no, no, no. You're gonna have to get up and go to work. You're gonna have to get out. FJ. What is it, 53 now or something like that?

[Jason]

55.

[Skip]

55. Deadlines will still be there and, you know, it'll be fine. Okay. Anyway, decisions.

[Jason]

And if it's not, we'll continue to distract you and offer you amp advice, which hopefully.

[Skip]

Absolutely. Yes. And I have bunkers available for people who need to go underground for whatever reason.

[Jason]

That's great. I'll be over shortly.

[Skip]

Great. Fabulous. We did it. 9:00. Actually, you're going to have to carry it. I don't have a ton of notes. I didn't really know about this one until yesterday and then I forgot about it. Anyway, but we're here. How are you?

[Jason]

Nervous. Hanging in there. Busy as can be.

[Skip]

Don't be nervous.

[Jason]

Okay.

[Skip]

Is it cold there yet? Is it really cold?

[Jason]

Cold and wet. The kids who were trick or treating had a mostly dry Halloween, but now it's probably going to just rain until middle of March.

[Skip]

Forever.

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

Well, it's definitely. It appears that we're past the fire season. And don't forget the Paradise Fire was the first week of November. Right. And it was 90 degrees in the middle of the night, blasting wind. And so I'm getting ready to relax. Put away the hoses and stuff like that, which is good. Time for cornbread, chili, beans. Changing. Changing the diet. Right. You have to heat up that kale. Sure. Yeah. All right.

[Jason]

What's on your bench?

[Skip]

Didn't really think of it this way. Something for sale, which is a Charlie Christian. EH150. It's the model I like with the 6L 6s and the 6 SQ7s. Success Q7s. Yeah, that's the one. And for better or worse, it's had the field coil replaced with a regular speaker and a choke inside the amp, which is really the way to do it. Did you do that anybody? No, I didn't. It's been rebuilt reasonably pretty well, but not by me. But if somebody wanted a Charlie Christian amp and didn't want to have to deal with the fuel coil, this would be something to consider because you can just put any old speaker in there and that's the right way to do it because the field coil in those amps is part of the power supply. So you can take a choke small transformer and have it duplicate the action of the fuel coil inside the amp if you got room. And these amps do, it's. And now you don't have to worry about blowing up your old fuel coil. You could crank that thing play Stranglehold or something. I suppose so that was on the bench.

[Jason]

What, what's that going to sell for?

[Skip]

Those things are up to a couple of grand. This one pretty clean looking, but I think the non original speaker actually takes off the real value price wise. So probably not as much as a really nice one would be, you know, maybe, I don't know, less, a few hundred less than, than that. Of course, you know, at my house that smiling skips if it isn't below retail, don't leave it with me. You know, there's anybody can go on ebay or reverb and find stuff for whatever. You know, we have to have stuff cheaper.

[Jason]

At any one time. How much stuff do you have where it's not. You don't actually own it. It's just somebody saying you try to.

[Skip]

Sell this for me, I usually have less than 10, four or five things. You know, some are really long term, some are really, you know, limited appeal. Like maybe we'll see Larry Chung and he might want this crazy old dinosaur, you know. So I do have a lot of stuff that's not officially mine and that is, that can be a problem, especially right now. I probably have 25amps that are fixed that are just waiting for people to come and get. But I don't, but I don't press people and I have room sort of. But the shop's pretty packed with, with all kinds of crazy stuff that's waiting for people to come and get.

[Jason]

Okay. Yeah, lovely.

[Skip]

What about better, better save that one. Aztec Recording Studio in Loma Rica, California.

[Jason]

You've, you've mentioned this place before. What's going on with it?

[Skip]

Yeah. So Tava listener Mojo Larry, who has a big collection and has over the last year to keggers will know has been selling the good stuff my style. You know, if it's three grand. Well, how about 2400 know to musicians. And he called me and said he had a deluxe reverb blackface black panel. And I said, really? He goes, yeah, I want to get it to somebody cool. So I called a couple, two people. One was Bruce McMillan. He comes up a lot, smoking hot guitar player in that Joe Craven band and runs a couple music stores and has kids. I told him about it and he just instantly said, I know the guy, I'll have him call you. So this guy calls maybe 10 minutes later, after 15 minutes total, maybe from Mojo Larry calling me and he goes, my name's Dane Olson and I'm a friend. I've been a Chico, blah blah blah. I played in the Ralph Shine Band and that was the key. I said, wait a second, Ralph Shine? Because Ralph Sheinband album is the one that was recorded in Loma Rica at Aztec Recording Studio, where we don't. And of course we don't know where it is. But I got the record and there's a picture of Dana Olson at, you know, age 25 in like 1981 with the really long hair with the band and everything. And he just flipped. He goes, you've got that record. It was stolen, you know, and my apartment got broken into or something. Something, something. So at some point we're going to get him down here and we're going to give him the record that he was on cover and T shirts by Sylvia Massey, famous rock producer. Yeah, of course, yeah, they were from Chico. And I'm going to give him the record and then I'm going to see if he can remember through the fog. We're going to drive him around, you know, was it over there? Was it by the Lions Club?

[Jason]

Was it by town is not very big.

[Skip]

No, it's not even a town. It's a region. You know, it's like a couple of big country roads and a bunch of little roads in between. But we'll see if he can remember. But that was a long time ago and a lot of people knew who, who he was. I've mentioned him to some other people, like, oh yeah, that guy's really great. I think he was in some more well known bands than Ralph Shine after that Dane Olson. So hopefully we'll get a chance to, you know, I think it might, you know, I've been driving right by an old Silvertone amp and an Ampex tape deck, you know, for 12 years. I just need to know where. Not really, but be good to know and if it really was Just like an old abandoned building. You might ask around and say, is there any old junk in there?

[Jason]

Totally.

[Skip]

It's just, it's just. I mean, in your own little town you just got to check something like that out. So that's kind of fun. And I've been having an awful good time with that, that guitar I told you last time, right, that I bought.

[Jason]

You talked about your new guitar, your second guitar.

[Skip]

People just went, what? They looked at me like I had a third eye because I'm notoriously cheap to put a nicer to say it nicely. But like I said, there's more defenders than amps. And those guitars at the same volume as another guitar are louder sort of, you know, are they. You wanted to have a tone like a steel guitar without all the extra trashy resonances. And so they really, really cut. And of course my test guitar that I've been using since the dawn of time is the exact opposite. It just has all sorts of low end resonances and weird crap going on because it's a flat top guitar with a pickup screwed in the sound hole. And to give you an example, I did a harp style masco for a guy recently. Those have gotten expensive. And that's the acute tone control that I do on purpose for harmonica players so they can roll off that shrill high that they don't want. Well, now that I had that duo sonic, I plugged that thing into it and it was plenty bright enough for playing guitar through even though it had been modded, you know, for harp. So I'm justifying the expense as a, you know, intellectual exercise to do better fixing stuff, especially weird stuff like PA heads. And I think it's going to give me an example of what a sound that more normal people are likely to hear through the stuff I make. As opposed to my crazy guitar, right, which only weirdos have something like that, you know, a hollow guitar with a big old single coil in it. So anyway, I've been having a lot of fun with it and it was hard spending the money, $500. But she was going to give it to me, I think. Couldn't do that because I sold a bunch of stuff for, for this nice lady. And so sitting there next to the test guitar now is a refinished red 66 duosonic, which has the longer scale. I can't play those little short scale like music masters and stuff. And it's pretty cool. It has a slab rosewood board, not curved, which I thought ended in like 61 or 62, but if anybody knows anything about that Interesting. So Reef Place tuners replaced pickups. I think they're awfully hot compared to a normal Strat pickup. I think there's some sort of high output single coil type and refinished, but refinished a long time ago. Red. And it's kind of got a weird pinkish tint to it, but it still looks old and cool. So I can leave it out on a. On a stand and I've been using it. I love it and it stays in tune.

[Jason]

You know who would know about that guitar?

[Skip]

Yeah, I do. That guy who has the huge collection of student vendors going way back into the 50s. Right, that guy. Well, that has all.

[Jason]

I was going to say one of our sponsors, Emerald City Guitars.

[Skip]

Oh yeah, they'd know too, huh?

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

I was thinking about that guy who was in FJ who had his fab collection of like music masters and duosonics and stuff like that going way back into the 50s. Foster.

[Jason]

Terry Foster. Yeah, he's contributing magazine. Yeah.

[Skip]

So that's that. Yeah. How about you? Except for rain.

[Jason]

Well, we're jumping around all over the place, but I do you mentioned Sylvia Massey in reference to the Aztec recording studio?

[Skip]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jason]

Sylvia's up in Ashland, Oregon now and has an incredible website that has got some of the weird stuff we've talked about over the years like a western electric amplifier for, you know, from the 20s. She's always like buying and selling stuff. So she's kind of got some sort of private museum of recording gear and guitar gear up there. And if anyone hasn't checked out her. Her site, it's shop Sylvia Massey dot com. There's wild stuff. It'd probably be fun just to go to visit wherever all this stuff is held too.

[Skip]

And she had a time where she engineered a bunch of big old. Oh, Grammys rock and roll records. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what I thought.

[Jason]

Yeah. Well, yeah, so check that stuff out. I'll include a link.

[Skip]

Yeah, good. Listen, she also. I went to the town of Weed.

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

California. No jokes please. It's a beautiful mountain town up. Up off of I5 and Old Downtown with a great big old empty giant movie theater. And she tried to have a recording studio there for a few years. And when I went there you could tell that something had happened. But I think it. I think the problem was it was just too hard to get people there because you're talking about driving. There's no fly until Weed unless you got like a little Cessna or something. And I think it was just a little too inaccessible. But it was a really cool idea. And apparently there was a year or so where crazy musicians were hanging out in this really square town of Weed. Despite the name, it's, you know, Loggers and Ranchers is very country. And I imagine that was quite the scene there for a little while. But in California, believe it or not, there's towns all over the place that have completely abandoned downtowns and the smart towns, say. And I bet she got something like this a great deal, you know, like, hey, would you fix up this movie theater? No, we won't charge you a million dollars for it. How about if you just start fixing it up? I mean, any sort of business in some of these little places is better than nothing. And even though y'all think it's super crowded here, there's a bunch of little towns that are just some fast food out by the freeway. But the. The old, you know, Elks Club and the bar and the grocery store and all that stuff. Completely empty anyway.

[Jason]

Yeah, completely veering. Well, Ashland, where Sylvia is now, is bustling at the seams and, oh, well, Ashland, very popular. But weed, yes, on the other side, probably hard for our global listenership to picture this, but a lot of California is just farming, whether it's olive trees or further down south, lettuce or. Or whatever. But when you are around Weed, the big monument or the big focal point is Mount Shasta is right there, this giant volcano with snow on top.

[Skip]

So it's something. One of our other friends I know has a B and B, and if you reach out to me, I can let you know. He has two houses on a piece of property just to the north of Mount Shasta. So when you get up in the morning, it's. It's right there, man. And let me tell you, it is. Yeah. You could just sit in a chair and look at Mount Shasta all day long. It's just, like, too much. And it's very high, high desert. Like, there's not a whole lot of dirt there. It's just volcanic rock from all the times that Mount Lassen, Mount Shasta, I mean, spewed rocks everywhere. And he's got a really cool little thing. He's got a guitar and an amp and the BNB house, which is a ways from his house, so he doesn't have to interact with people. You know, they just come and stay and quiet and stars. Oh, my goodness. You didn't say Northern California is trees and mountains, like pine trees. All the valley doesn't, you know, start till you get down to, like, Red Bluff And Chico. But after that, it is mountainous and not very many people. Not super cheap to live. But if you're willing to live 20 miles from a store, you're certainly not talking about the kind of real estate prices that people associate with California. Totally.

[Jason]

Well, up here in Seattle I'm working on our 55th issue is about to mail to everybody. [e-mail] if you haven't yet, I did a big story on Jim Daddario, the founder of Daddario Strings, which is a crazy story. I think a lot of of you will enjoy it. And we are also plotting our 2025 fretboard summit in Chicago, which will be August 21st to 23rd, 2025 at the Oldtown School of Folk Music.

[Skip]

Once again, you barely recovered.

[Jason]

I didn't recover. I'm already getting flooded with requests from exhibitors and sponsors and people who want to talk about stuff and. And some people who want to play and I tried.

[Skip]

That's good, though.

[Jason]

Yeah, it's.

[Skip]

It's great to know if I gave a crap. Yeah. No. What if no one called?

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

So I don't know.

[Jason]

So that's going on.

[Skip]

Good luck with that. You obviously are used to just. You're obviously very disciplined and you can start working on something months and months and months before you have to. And also you've done a million times because publishing, it has to be done by midnight and it's 11 and you're doing it right. Like, like, I'm sure.

[Jason]

I wish I were like that. I think I'm a little sloppier than that, but I'm trying.

[Skip]

You've been known to do things at the last minute, but also be really organized about them. So, yeah, just pat yourself on the back. I'm sure you're going to pull it. Pull another one of those things together and it's going to be even groovier.

[Jason]

This will be the 20th anniversary of the Fretboard Journal 2025. So it's crazy.

[Skip]

All right.

[Jason]

I tried to segue into our sponsor corner a few minutes ago. I. I failed miserably. But Emerald City Guitars sponsoring the podcast, once again, they could talk all about your Fender. I just had Trevor Boone from Emerald City on the Fretboard Journal podcast. Check that out. He talks about all. I mean, we talk about the uber high end guitar market. We talk about how the hell you ship a dumble amplifier that costs as much as a house in rural California.

[Skip]

You don't.

[Jason]

And we talk about a lot of. No, you do. You have, like, a crate made. You have, like this, like, shipping art.

[Skip]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. One time I found a Leslie that was hand built by Don Leslie.

[Jason]

Okay.

[Skip]

Right. And it had western electric stuff in it. It was at a thrift store in Sacramento. And thanks to the late, great Earl Yarrow, I kind of figured out what it was. And Keith Carey, local guitar repair man, he found out. He ended up with it. But when it finally sold. No. Someone drives up to your house in a car or a van or whatever, and they pick it up and they put it in their car and they take it to where it's supposed to be. That's how you ship a Dumble. It costs a lot, and those kind of people have to be bonded, but that's how you do it. And I wouldn't put that thing in a crate for nothing. Well, maybe I guess I could and would. And then you could get it on some big old truck. Well, like the truck that brought the motorcycle up for you, you know, some sort of custom shipping thing like that. But if it was me, I'd just say road trip, and I would take it there, keep it in my handcuff it to me like Blues Brothers with the briefcase. You know, we.

[Jason]

We talk a little bit about this during our conversation, but. Yeah, check out that podcast. There are sites that do this thing where a guy shows up. Usually it's a guy. Sometimes it's not in a sprinter van or a flatbed truck or whatever you need. There are, like, bidding auction sites as well. So it's a whole professionals.

[Skip]

Yeah. Remember when the baby goats came here and that guy just drove straight through from, like, Kansas? Only slept like six hours once and six hours again or something like that. But the product gets there in absolutely perfect condition without him ever even leaving the, you know, the van, except to go to the bathroom a couple times, you know, Crazy. But it's a trained professional who knows. Who knows where to stop. Like little Charlie on the road, you know, he knew how far he could go. And if you remember talking about that, the baby goats were in a little van, not in a trailer with, you know, banging along out there in the. No, they were just, like in their jammies inside van with this guy. And that's what you'd want your Dumble to be in as well, right? Just totally safe.

[Jason]

Yeah. But maybe away from the livestock.

[Skip]

Thank you.

[Jason]

Yeah. Go follow Emerald City Guitars, Everybody. Follow their YouTube channel. It's incredible. Amplified parts sponsoring the show again. A lot of you have asked me when's the next amplified parts sale. I can tell you now that for the month of November, their Jensen speakers are all 15 off. You got to use the coupon code gen 1, 5, 24 when you check out. They also have pedal kits. They've got so many of the parts that we talk about on this show, Skip. You're always ordering from them.

[Skip]

Yes, I use an awful lot of certain things. Filter capacitors and coupling capacitors and things like, you know, the light bulb. You know, a number 47 bulb. You only have two. I have to have like 20 because I just go through stuff like that. So, yes, absolutely.

[Jason]

Tell them the truth about vintage amp sent you. And then last but definitely not least, our first sponsor, Grez Guitars. He's got the new grand tour guitar, the carved arch top. I mean, Barry at Grez is the guy. He can make a beautiful, solid body guitar. He's got the R.C. allen molds. If you want a cool classic rockabilly arch top, he's gonna be at the or. He's a big part of the small builders showcase taking place called Wood wire and Volts over the same weekend as Nam in Anaheim, California. Curtis Novak will be there. Satellite amp will be there as well.

[Skip]

So anti Nam. I like it.

[Jason]

It's the rogue.

[Skip]

It's the rogue Nam.

[Jason]

Yeah. What if the Nam police show up and try to shut it down? That would be fun.

[Skip]

Take your. Bring your barricades and your gas mask.

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

No, I don't get heated. I'm not. I'm not worried. But yes, there he is. The guy. He is a guy. I will say that.

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

What can you say? He just keeps. I'm always amazed. How do you. How do you enter a market that's just flooded to the gills and somehow carve yourself out a little niche in.

[Jason]

That he's done it.

[Skip]

Possible.

[Jason]

Yep. And then we have a patreon for this show. If you want to get to the front of the line, if you want to get some cool outtake bonus content, if you want to connect with Skipper, I. I'll include a link to that in the show notes. It's a great way to support the show, support what we're up to and the way this show works. And we've done this now for apparently 140 episodes. You send your questions in or a voice memo that you record on your smartphone to podcast fretboardjournal.com and then skip answers as many questions as we can get through in an hour or an hour and a half. You want to just field Some questions.

[Skip]

More like an hour. I told somebody no sooner than 10:15. Who's bringing up some amps?

[Jason]

Perfect.

[Skip]

I will just start with. There are still amps under a thousand dollars. You don't. I mean, you have to be patient and you have to know what you're doing. But the guy with the BNB in the shadow of Mount Shasta, he's. He scored an old Alamo with reverb and tremolo, like in the threes. 375 or something, plus like $100 to ship it. It's old and cool. It's got a little hum that I haven't quite figured out how to fix yet. You know, some of that stuff can be a little bit challenging to fix. But there's Ampegs and Alamos and certain Gibsons are still, you know, undervalued. I haven't, I haven't seen a lot of falcons lately, but I know they're out there.

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

And so I would just say don't sit around dreaming about some $4,000 thing, by the way.

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

The COVID the pandemic price boost has been deflated. You know, in a few more years, we'll be able to look back and see the little line going up and down on the chart. The 2024 price guide has things like Princeton Reverbs and Deluxe reverbs that almost double what it had the year before. 23. But now it's back down. And I think that 2024 price guide was done at such a time that was right at the peak of the prices and now isn't really all that accurate. Deluxe reverb, I think it showed seven grand for a black panel one and nobody's getting that. And the same for the tweeds. They were way up there for a while, but now they've leveled out. So don't pay red wine drinking pandemic spend and prices, they've come down. And of course, on reverb and ebay and places like that, a lot of those amps that are sitting there at those prices have been for sale for a year. So don't. Don't be a chump. Okay, I'm ready for a question.

[Jason]

Okay, before we get to the questions, you were talking about amp bargains. The one thing that I've Learned from doing 139 of these so far with you is if you're looking at a cheap tube amp, you've. The main thing, if you have never heard of it before, is making sure there are two transformers in there.

[Skip]

Yeah, that it's not so dinky that, yeah, it's barely likely to be fun. In fact, the opposite. I mean, if you want a deal, it's the big amps. I saw a super reverb black panel that was new. It had the original tubes in it. You know how rare that is for a 66 Fender? By the way it used, it had Telefunk and 12 AT7s in it. Factory $2,000. If it had been a Princeton reverb or deluxe reverb it, I would have been fighting people off for way more than that. So the deals are in the big amps. And then like you said, the very smallest amps you got to be pretty careful with. I say if it sounds good, if you can go to one of, go to our sponsor, go to a guitar show, play something. If, if it, if it's fun and it rocks and it's affordable, go for it. If it sounds crappy, you might run it by me to see just what it might take to repair. You know, I know not everybody lives by me. I'm always looking for a chassis that comes out of the cabinet of a combo amp real easy. Because an amp that's all hardwired, it has a bunch of different chassis and a bunch of wires connecting it all together. That's hard to get out of the wood. And the whole key to sending me something is to not send the speaker. You know, we don't want that. It just adds too much weight. So be on the lookout. Another good sleeper, Those silver tone twin 12s, like the heads that sit on the cabinets. The amps, the amps are great and, and they really rock. And they usually aren't that hard to fix. And by the way, I've just fixed one recently that the tremolo in those amps uses an opto coupler like Fender does, where there's a bulb that flashes on a light dependent resistor and that's how it couples the oscillations. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, that stuff was missing and just out of. Give it a try, I put a regular Fender one in there from our sponsors at Amplified Parts. Yes, work great, work great. So if you have a twin 12 that the oscillator is working, in other words, you can see the voltage pulsing, but it's not doing the tremolo thing. Okay, you can put a Fender optocoupler in there because believe me, there's no, there's no place to buy the silver tone one. It's, you know, really silver tone only, you know, kind of this crazy looking thing. But the Fender one worked great and those amps rock. The reverb never works and if it does, it works crappy. But the tremolo is good and they, they sound cool like a big loud fender. And they're still pretty darn affordable, especially just ahead. You don't have to necessarily have the matching cabinet. Right? But yeah, yeah, and watch out for the ones with four 6L6s because remember, they have two output transformers. You can't run those in with one speaker. They always have to have two speakers or he'll blow it up. All right, next.

[Jason]

Okay, in our last episode you talked about the Alembic branded preamp. The Alembic champ. We got some follow ups on that. I'll just read one of them. This is from listener Mike for anyone interested in exploring the alembic preamp that Skip talked about. That replicates a Fender showman style preamp that can be sent to any power amp of your choice. There are a few pedals available that bridge the pedal and tube amplifier word worlds. They are less expensive options than sourcing an original Alembic. Both companies are using a power Mosfet in lieu of power transformers to supply the plus 200 volts to the 12 AX7 tubes. So these are not starved plate designs commonly found in other tube based preamps. The first company is Frog Pedals out of Kansas City. They were brought to my attention from one of Josh Scott's JHS pedal shows where Addison plays bass through this alembic style preamp pedal. Frog Pedals no longer has the fully built pedal listed on their site but offers inexpensive PCBs for a DIY build. I'll include a link to their site. That's cool. Second company has DIY pcbs as well as fully built pedals. This is called Sushi Box fx. The letters FX Sushi Box FX Com. His Alembic inspired preamp pedal is the Underground accelerator while his DIY PCB based on the Alembic is the particle accelerator. He has a variety of other tube based preamp designs based on everything from Ampeg, Soldano High Watt and Matchless designs. All of them use the IRF740 400 volt power MOSFET to deliver high voltage using a standard 12 volt DC wall wart power supply. And then he has a quick weeknight dinner for that.

[Skip]

Does he work for one of those? Does he work for one of those pedal companies?

[Jason]

No, I don't think so. He's just really in the. In the world here for a Quick weeknight dinner that we enjoy and can be made vegan style should you choose. Here is a Boboli based Mexican pizza. Preheat the oven to 450Fahrenheit for our global audience. Take a par cooked Boboli crust and put it on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread an entire 16 ounce can of refried beans as a base as evenly as possible. Use 2 to 3 tablespoons of a mild hot sauce on top of the beans and spread evenly. Something like tapatio or podcast favorite. El Pado is perfect. Add a layer of grated cheddar or vegan cheese. Top with sliced black olives, diced green onion and a sliced amount of jalapeno or serrano peppers of your heat level. Top with a small amount of grated cheddar to lock the topping in once melted. Finally, sprinkle top with black pepper, Mexican oregano and ground cumin and place on the center rack of your preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes, checking and rotating after the first 10 minutes. After removing from the oven. I recently discovered letting it sit for five minutes on a cooling rack does wonders for the crust to stay crisp, cut, serve and enjoy it. Sounds kind of weird, but we end up making this more often than we would care to admit. That is from Mike in Portland.

[Skip]

That's pretty solid Mexican pizza. Or like a giant quesadilla in the oven with the pizza thing crust. Yeah. When you take out the pie you want to cool it quick. I put it on wood with cornmeal and I move it around a lot so it cools off because that makes it give it a little bit better texture on the crust. But that sounds pretty good. Yeah. Now on that. But, but is but the pedal thing.

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

All that's interesting but it doesn't really have anything to do with what I was talking about.

[Jason]

What after I read all that.

[Skip]

Yeah, not really. So I mean, you know, I mean there's. There's a thing. That's the thing. That is the thing. And then other stuff where they, where they simulate or get the same kind of sound in a different way is is beautiful. You know that's fine. He mentioned starve plate load. That's. So when you want to make something with tubes in it and you want it to run like an old thing with tubes in it. You got to have. You got to plug that sucker into the wall. It has to have a power transformer and a power supply but bunch of heavy energy consuming junk that you don't need with a stomp box with a 9 volt battery in it. Right. But that's really what it takes to get a tube amp to run like it. Or a tube pedal. We're saying to run like that tube would run in an actual amp. And the, the alembic one did. Part of the reason why I liked it so much is it was, it was self affirming. They did it like I do it, which is a big old power supply. Just like an amp would have. Power transformer, filter caps, all this stuff. I think the B plus in that thing is probably more like 3 or 400 volts. You know, it's, it's up there just like a regular amp would be. And what they did was they just exactly copied a classic Fender preamp non reverb, just the volume treble middle base like you'd see on a showman, for instance. And they built that circuit, two of them in this one, in this one space rack by mounting the tube sideways. Now it does have a very long skinny printed circuit board inside, inside there with all the parts. But it's like an old Marshall. All the stuff you break is not on the printed circuit board. It's all switchcraft, heavy duty, you know, like it has big old pots and big quarter inch jacks that all bolted to the chassis, but really well made. And it's unlikely that it would ever have to be in the landfill. And it still works perfect from 1974. So there. It's just, it's interesting. It wasn't groundbreaking. Schematically. It's not anything really interesting because Fender had been doing that forever. The interesting thing was saying, well, Jerry Garcia, you could plug into this. And now we could just have as many Macintoshes and 212 cabinets as you want. And it still is going to sound pretty much like a Fender, which I bet it would. So. Yeah, good. I'm glad, I'm glad the preamp that, that mob brought the guitar that I bought. They, they were great. I had a husband, ex husband and wife, still best friends. Had been, hadn't been married in years. Lived far away from each other. Both music musicians. He brought that. And there's a Princeton reverb and old Champ and the red guitar. And it was just a love fest.

[Jason]

Wow. We got to get them on the show. Relationship advice.

[Skip]

Yeah, they were fun.

[Jason]

Okay. Dr. David over in Hawaii wants you all to know and you especially skip that. You can buy WD40 by the gallon. That was it. He included a photo from some sort of automotive store where.

[Skip]

Well, I, I start my day with a shot glass full of WD40.

[Jason]

Yeah, yeah, okay.

[Skip]

Good knowledge. You can also get it, David. You can also get it with this flexible spout snorkel thing. Snorkel? You know, you used to just have a red rigid tube that you could use for pinpoint, but now there's some that have a bendable one, and that is. That thing's pretty handy, I have to say.

[Jason]

How would you get the gallon into the aerosol can? You can't.

[Skip]

No, you just. You just.

[Jason]

You just spray it like pesticide or something.

[Skip]

What you do, there are some that would take a vintage typewriter and soak it, the whole thing, in a bunch of something like WD40 or kerosene or something, in order to clean every little bit of it, right? Then blow it off with compressed air. I don't know, Del. VD40. Snake oil. Fact or fiction. You can live without it, but it isn't garbage when it's used properly. It's still one of the best cleaners going. Love that stuff on tube sockets. And I've rescued many, many, many, many a potentiometer with that stuff. And it does not gum up and make everything worse than it ever was before. That's some sort of crazy, you know, Internet myth, like crocodiles in the sewer or something. Because you think I know, right? I mean, I've seen pots that I did decades ago, and the only time you have a problem is if you left it in some sort of containerized space where it would just sit there like, and not. And not drain out or dissolve. And I often clean with contact cleaner and compressed air afterwards to make sure that that doesn't happen. But it still is a very good cleaner. And, man, does it help not to have to drop 20 bucks on a little tiny can of something that doesn't really work any better. Just saying.

[Jason]

All right, how are we doing, folks? Are we doing well at distracting you from the election? I hope we are. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and keep those questions coming.

[Skip]

And there's going to be another podcast after the election that's going to be just like this. We're just going to blah, blah, blah about crazy stuff that interests us. And life will go on, I guarantee you.

[Jason]

Okay, I know life will go on. All right, this is from Andy.

[Skip]

Will it be. Will it be underground?

[Jason]

This is. Hey, speaking of which, Andy in the swamps of Florida. Subject line 66 Princeton Reverb. I recently acquired a 1966 Princeton Reverb from a guy who had it under his bed for decades. The amp made sound but didn't sound as incredible as it should have. Weak and fuzzy would be my best descriptors as this was well before the creation of this podcast and all the knowledge that came with it. I somewhat reg regretfully took it to a local tech. He replaced the power transformer and put new tubes in it and alas, I had a great sounding amp. Since listening to so many Tava episodes, I'm wondering if any of that needed to be done to bring the amp back to its former glory. He thankfully returned the original power transformer and RCA tubes. Here are my questions Would it be advisable or worthwhile to have this transformer and tubes tested and put back into the amp if functional? What about just putting the original tubes back in and leaving the replace transformer again? The amp sounds great as it is currently, but I can't help but wonder what it would sound like with the original components. Thanks for all you do with the podcast. I've listened since the beginning and look forward to every new episode that is from Andy.

[Skip]

Well mm, it would take some skills and knowledge to move forward at this point. Yes, you could take those old tubes and put them back in there, but sure would be nice to know one of them wasn't shorted. You know, the tech could have been a guy that said hey, these tubes are bad. You know, see the big X I put on them? Or he could just be a guy that that read on the Internet that you have to replace the tubes all the time and just bottom or I hate to say it, but a lot of places make money selling tubes. I don't, but a lot of places do. So at my house we'd test the 6V6s and make sure that they work. Then we'd put them in the amp. Princeton Reverbs don't have a bias adjustment. They they are fixed bias and they do have a negative voltage supply, but they don't have a little potentiometer in there to adjust it. So check the fuse. Princeton Reverb shouldn't be more than a one ampere fuse. And then put those 6v6s in there and if it sounds great, fine. But if if it blows a fuse or smoke starts pouring out of it, then not so hot. And it would be nice to test the tubes first rather than just, you know, you're walking blind into the room there with your hands out in front of you hoping now the power transformer. Techno dogs will know if you hook a power transformer up to the wall voltage and nothing else is connected to the power Transformer, it doesn't draw very much current at all, hardly any. So I would take that power transformer, I'd put it on the bench, I'd twist on some leads from some old power cord, I plug it into my variac, and I'd start turning the variac up. If the, if the current meter or wattage meter that a lot of them use starts going, then you know you got a bad power transformer case. Close. Right.

[Jason]

So I rarely feel like we should have a disclaimer that we're not responsible for anyone's safety on this show. But that device, I think, warrants it, maybe.

[Skip]

Well, I said at the beginning you'd have to have some skills and knowledge to really proceed forward in a good way.

[Jason]

You know, say that.

[Skip]

I did say that. So that's how a tech would do it. That's not how you would do it. I think in the case, in this case, I think save the stuff, play the amp, enjoy it. Let's revisit it in a year. Maybe you found a good tube tester at a yard sale, and we could start thinking about testing those 6v6s for shorts before you put them back in your amp. How about that? And variac, they're. They're everywhere. 40, 50, $60 brand new current meters just, I mean, I know they're junk compared to like the ones I use, but so what? I mean, your average person doesn't need an old fancy one, but almost all y'all need an inexpensive 110 volts. Like your amp was made to run on like the brown box does, right? But slow warmup got an amp you left for a year. I know you guys have amps that you've left for a year. Amp is left for a year. You got the slow warmup thing going on, right? And you got a way to monitor current. Make sure that put in some new power tubes. And holy moly, that thing's using a lot more electricity than it was before. You know, you got a problem. So bariacs have become accessible to all. And if you're going to go buy another weird pedal or some rare tube for a hundred dollars instead of one of those, you got to check yourself because most of us who have especially older stuff really could use that. The benefit of running it on 110, which is what all the old stuff was made to run on anyway, is pretty dramatic, especially if you have a really hot running amp. Well, there's another thing. If you've got one of those amps from the 70s and 80s that just naturally, you know, they thought you were going to replace the power tubes every six months with mullards like Dynaco, hi Fi stuff. They just ran them really hot. Well, back that voltage down with your affordable variac and you're not going to have to replace tubes every six months. Yeah, which is handy, especially since new old stock Muller DL34s for your stereo. 70 Dynaco are what, like two or three hundred dollars each?

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

We have to face reality here. Next.

[Jason]

Okay. Everything recommended here you do at your own risk, everybody. Last last week, I couldn't figure out how to get voice memos to play. Could never figure it out. Let's see if one of our voice memos works today. This is from listener Nate.

[C]

Hey, Jason and Skip Nate in Vermont here had a question today about reverb driver tubes. So I've been working on this 1975 Fender Princeton reverb. And it was making this sort of sounding bad. The sound was kind of cutting out when you hit a big chord or something. And not right. Even with the reverb all the way down, it was doing this. But I did track it down to V2, which is the reverb driver tube had a bad 12 at 7. It's like a new production ECC 81 in there. Changed it out. And that problem is fine now. But just curious, I found, you know, that, you know, it seems like they run the tube really hard in that position. And I found it's a little finicky which tube you choose to put in there. So I'm just wondering if Skip has found a new production tube that he likes that's been reliable in that position and. Or would you like to see an old tube in there, if possible? I definitely have at least a handful of old 12 at 7. So good use, tested tube, good option for that spot. Curious on your thoughts.

[Skip]

Thanks. Okay, Fender amps with reverb use a 12 8T7 as a preamp tube as well as a bunch of 12 AX7s. And that sucker gets hot compared to the other ones. You can, you can touch the other ones after they've been on for five minutes. But you touch that, that reverb driver tube and you're going to go, ow, ow, ow. Because it's basically a little power tube. Both sides are paralleled so it's like a single triode, but they're doubled up. And that's what drives that reverb transformer, which is basically like a little amp. Which reminds me, I wonder if you came off of that Reverb transformer. And instead of sending a signal to the tank like it normally would, I wonder if that would drive a little tiny speaker because, you know, a reverb tank was made to simulate a speaker because all that reverb, the early stuff, was speaker driven. So experimenters today see what happens if you can get a little tiny speaker to be driven by that reverb transformer.

[Jason]

Wow.

[Skip]

Wow. I wonder if that would work. Anyway, the Chinese 12ax7 and 12at7, while poo pooed at their introduction, are good and, and, and normal sounding. I would generally prefer a regular old used American tube right there. Something that can handle a lot of current because it runs hot. And I wouldn't say they're a weak link in Fenders. It's not like you have to replace that tube yearly or anything. But when I was picking a 1287, I'd be looking for. I like those old military blue and green ink Sylvania's and GE's and stuff from the 70s and 80s. Those are going to be fine. Lovely. And will. And will that reverb transformer drive a little tiny speaker? I hope somebody gets out there and tries that.

[Jason]

Let's. Let's get some videos submitted to [e-mail] if you're hooking up the transformer to your wall socket. If you're doing the speaker. Yeah, any of this stuff standing in.

[Skip]

The kiddie pool barefoot, please.

[Jason]

No, yeah, we actually. Here's a. Here's a great segue. Subject line 2 Prong shock in the studio this is from listener Sean. Hey Jason. Skip. Thought I'd share a funny little story from the studio this past weekend that was fortunately harmless. But perhaps a word of caution to the wise. I was live tracking some songs with a trio for my next record. We were all in the same room with some isolation baffles between players. I used acoustic into an AKG pencil shaped condenser mic on the first two songs. But for the third I would play my Jazz Master into a 60s black panel vibro champ that was set up in the closet for isolation. We paused to swap guitars and tune while the engineer set up the amp in the closet. While running through the tune together before hitting record, my fret hand hit the AKG while simultaneously fretting a cord. It clung to it and nerves shot through my hand with a small stinging sensation. I was able to pull away after maybe two to three seconds. Probably less. Possibly less. It took us a few minutes to figure out what happened. We left the AKG Live. And the Vibro Champ was still a two prong plug. So I guess I completed the grounding circuit between my guitar strings, the microphone, and the amp. Fortunately, it just left my hand with a little sting and nerve shooting through it for 15 minutes or so. I guess the lesson is if you're going to have a two prong amp, you should know it in those kinds of setups. Take care and thanks for the rad podcast. That's Sean Marshall.

[Skip]

I bet you that if somebody had walked over to that Vibro Champ and unplugged it and turned it over and stuck it back in, in other words, reversed the AC polarity of the amp, then it wouldn't happen. Then it wouldn't happened. My. My favorite old guy tip is high E string. Leave it an inch long. Don't snip it right next to the post, but give yourself an inch. You just touch that thing, that string to something else. Another amp, the microphone, the mic stand, you know, the other guy's guitar. And if there's a polarity issue, you'll see it and hear it. It's like it's. You can. You can just sense that there's, you know, voltage there. So in other words, what old guys do is they just tested for it first. That's the super quick tap on the microphone while you're holding your guitar with the other hand. Right. That's why you see old guys doing that. And if it. If they can feel the tingle, they know they need to flip the polarity of something. Of course, once you got a grounded cord on the amp, you can't flip the polarity. But if it's plugged into a grounded socket, you're never going to get that big old shock. You're just going to get tiny little bits of tingle. Right?

[Jason]

It's a tingle.

[Skip]

Tiny Bits of Tingle. That's the name of my new art rock band. That's a single from. That's my next 45 tiny bits of Tingle.

[Jason]

I love it. Okay, so we're gonna do a couple more because I know you've got stuff to do and.

[Skip]

Yeah, we got. We got 20 minutes.

[Jason]

Yeah, that's like two questions, though, the way this show runs. Keep the questions coming. [e-mail] Join our Patreon. Get to the front line. This is from Marcelo.

[Skip]

Oh, I know him.

[D]

Hi, Jason and Skip. It's Marcelo from Italy. I've been listening to the podcast since episode zero, and since then, I just bought too much stuff from Skip. It's but one of his amps has become my number one. It's the Stromberg Carson with the two 807s. And I'm also the proud owner of this sound master single ended of which Skip talked about in the podcast in one of the latest podcasts. Anyway, I have a question for Skip and it's. Is there a practical range of bright cap values with which I can experiment with my amps? So yes, this is the question. And then I have a recommendation or, you know, just an idea to make use of the speaker driven lineup that Skip taught us. I built it, I guess two years ago right now. And it's. I used it a lot of times with small amps to bring up their volume. But lately, you know, it occurred to me that it could be used also to make use of some other stuff that you're not using. Like I had a spare 2 by 12 which I was not carrying around because it was heavy and you know, sometimes it's just too much. And so I disconnected one speaker. I hooked up the speaker ribbon lineup to that speaker. From the speaker driven lineup. I went into a river pedal and then into an inexpensive small class D power amp. In my case, I used more baby bomb. It's Chinese stuff, you know, it costs like 80 bucks. And from there you go to the second speaker. And so you could add reverb with a dedicated speaker that's just post amp. So it's, it's a great way to add reverb to an amp which doesn't have one. And you could also do the same thing if you have two single 12 cabs instead of a two by 12. There are a lot of other tricks that you can do with this thing. Like, you know, having a short delay with some random modulation gives a very, very nice double tracking style stuff color to your sound. So anyway, this is something that I've done and I really enjoyed, so I thought I'd share with you. Thanks for the podcast, for the journal, for everything and keep the episodes coming. Thanks, guys. Cheers.

[Skip]

Marcello. Yeah, I always feel like the ugly American. I can't speak Italian, but he can. Sure he can speak English.

[Jason]

He's spoke it well. And it's a. It's sad that we finally get an Italian on the show and we don't get any food tips. All of our food comes from Americans.

[Skip]

If he was gonna say a food tip a, you might not have the ingredients, but you better listen up because that's where food is a lot more important than it is here. Good food. Yes, he Has Stromberg Carlson that we converted to 807s. And he didn't explain it maybe the best, but what he's talking about doing is one of his amps has a speaker driven line out. And so besides the speaker that the amp is driving, you can come out of that speaker driven line out and go into another amp or the PA or a recording device while he's coming out of it and going through some crazy effects and then into just a budget amp and a speaker. And so it gives them like an effects channel. He's got a 212 cabinet. One speaker is hooked directly to the sound master, single ended. And then the line out, the speaker driven line out from that amp goes through effects and then to another inexpensive amp and the other 12. And now you've got like this wet, dry thing going on, right? So just one more fun thing you can do with the speaker driven line out. I also suggest people make it in a little metal box with this with a jack and alligator clips. And you can use it with any of your vintage amps without actually getting in there and soldering on. Because all you have to do is clip the alligator clips to the speaker leads, you know, right on the speaker, and then you've got the speaker driven line out available. And if anybody's doing any recording, home recording, amateur recording, even decent recording, you got to have that. You can always have a direct signal that sounds like headphones, you know, right inside your ear. And that's not necessarily what you want the sound to sound like on the finished product, but it sure is nice to have that available. So direct, a mix of a microphone and a direct have been used in recording since the dawn of time. The direct is how you get that nice tight click, click, click. And the microphone is, is how you get it to sound like you're in a room with some musicians, you know?

[Jason]

Sure.

[Skip]

You know, Rudy Van Gelder supposedly recorded all the Hammond organ. He's the bop groove jazz engineer of all time, Rudy Van Gelder. And he mic'd the, the hand, the Leslie, but he had the direct. The bass go direct. And when you listen to the records, they sound very airy and cool like a Leslie, but the bass is really thick, you know, accurate. And I, I've read that that's one of the things he did was take a direct signal off just the bass speaker. And you can bet he did it with some simple little thing like that. So. All right, next, did.

[Jason]

Was there another question there about a bright cap or something?

[Skip]

Oh, oh, oh, yes, Bright Cap. That's one. That's the one you put on when you want to feel smarter. I got my bright cap on. Yes, I've got my bright cap on today. Ask me any question you want. No, it's a small capacitor that soldered to a volume control to alter the frequency response of guitar of amps and Telecasters have them too. So the sound comes up to the volume control and frequencies above a certain spot go by the volume control unattenuated. So if the volume controls on 2, the highs are on 10. It makes the thing sound bright and all. A lot of Fenders have them. They're on a switch on a twin reverb or super reverb. Says right. Deluxe reverbs have them, but they don't give you a switch. It's just soldered on the pod. And I would say a usable range would be fifty to a thousand Tyco Farads. And I'll also say that the reason why a lot of old Marshalls are unplayable for most people is because one channel has a bright cap of 5,000 hyco farad. And that's why you turn that volume control up. It's just insanely loud and bright because a huge bunch of the frequencies aren't being attenuated by the volume pot. That's why Marshalls are unplayable. If they had put a switch on that thing, there'd be a million more people who love Marshalls. Because if you disconnect it, it sounds way more like a regular normal amp instead of screeching highs and just screaming right bright cap.

[Jason]

James writes subject line plush 3000G tubes and trim. Huge hello to Skip and Jason. My sobriety, education and professional life are constantly aided by you and your show.

[Skip]

Wow.

[Jason]

At 48, I now find myself being a part time guitar tech in two bands and about to sign up for Bruce Ignater's ant building classes while I tinker with building pedals. Before Tava Jhs and Uncle Doug, I was all about bourbon, rye and port. Now I'm all about Dhar Melian and Penfold Simmons too. Of course. I recently acquired a plush 3000G logging truck with whopping 6.6L 6GC power section and less a mystery. It came with three 12 AX7s and an unlabeled rectifier tube. But something is not right. The symptom, the tremolo effect doesn't work. And when the trem intensity pot is turned below 5, the guitar signal cuts completely and the amp falls silent. My problem? No schematics are available online, and the forums yield varied opinions on what the circuit is based off of. Twin mace, trainer, et cetera. After applying the standard Simmons service Steps trademark method, I was left with assuming there's a bad pot, bad unseen ground, or wrong tube. Apparently, most plush amps are a mystery, so any help unearthing the schematic or passing along official knowledge would be greatly appreciated. Food tip if El Pado is what you really think about when you think about restaurant salsa, then chili sauce is really what you think about when you think about fancy restaurant ketchup. It's sitting silently next to the ketchup on shelves, unsuspecting and full of that flavor and consistency you only get in those fancy joints. Ketchup's exciting and more attractive cousin chili sauce. I. I didn't understand any of that. Dibs on deluxe amplifications. First amp in a bottle. Warm regards, James in St. Louis.

[Skip]

Ah, James. You and me, we usually need a drink after the podcast. Not we don't need a drink.

[Jason]

Isn't Penfold alcohol? Is Penfold a human.

[Skip]

What do I know? What. I don't know what Penfold is. I had to let that. I just had to gloss over that. But I know what chili sauce is, and it is by the ketchup in certain places, and it is like a spicy hot ketchup. And I think that I've. I used to have it as a kid. We used to. There was one dish that you always had to have that with. Anyway, might want to try that if you're looking for a. For a condiment for your vegetables or something. You know, it's one of those sauces that you could eat rocks if it had that stuff on there. Right. So, yeah, I'm already wrapped up in chili sauce.

[Jason]

Okay. What was the sobriety thing? I just got to get out of the way here. Penfold. Ra. Penfold wrote a book on amplifiers, but there's also Penfold wine, which was confusing me. James, congratulations on your sobriety. The plush 3000G tube. He's trying to figure out what.

[Skip]

Here we go.

[Jason]

Yeah.

[Skip]

First of all, there was something in there about a rectifier tube.

[Jason]

Yes.

[Skip]

Well, if you can't figure out if you have a rectifier tube or not, and if you do what tube it should be, you just better put that aside for a while, because that's just absolute stone basics.

[Jason]

Well, no. So he knows. He knows it's a rectifier tube. He doesn't know what it is. I've never seen three 12 AX7s and an unlabeled rectifier tube.

[Skip]

Okay, I think we got a mistake here. A. Not that I've seen a million plush amps, but I don't think there's any plush amps that have a rectifier tube. And if you had an amp with six 6L6s, you're talking about something that's maybe up in the 100 to 150 watt range. A single rectifier tube could never do that. You'd have to have, like 2 or 3 GZ34s to. To do that. So I think he's mistaking what's going on there with that rectifier tube, and he just flew over that to the problem of the tremolo. So first we got to figure out what the hell he's talking about with the rectifier tube. Then we're just basically stuck with troubleshooting tremolo. Right? Not the easiest thing in the world. But I will remind you that unless someone has changed the parts on an amp, you have the schematic. You're just too lazy to look at. To look at it, you know, what's this tube doing? Where's this grid go? What's the cathode? How does this tremolo work? Does it have an optocoupler thing that flashes? Just all these questions would have to be answered. And I would welcome a call from Mr. Plush in the daytime with the amp in front of him so we can ask some hard questions about it.

[Jason]

Okay.

[Skip]

How's that?

[Jason]

That sounded great.

[Skip]

Pretty good.

[Jason]

Yeah. I still don't understand the El Pado chili sauce metaphor, but that's okay.

[Skip]

He's just free association, just like we do. Sort of.

[Jason]

Kind of just.

[Skip]

He's just letting it roll, man.

[Jason]

I've been holding this one till the end. Larry Chung.

[Skip]

Ah, the great Larry chung.

[Jason]

Subject line. 1950s rollin transformer. You've seen this one? It was. It was emailed to you.

[Skip]

Yeah.

[Jason]

Dear Skip and Jason, just starting to restore this late 40s, early 50s Roland Lyric Model 1615, 6V6PP. And I noticed these markings on the output transformer. The inside of the amp is just as it left the factory, much to my satisfaction. Skip, have you ever seen These quote unquote FB quote unquote S quote unquote FTAPs before? I'm assuming there's some sort of feedback, but they show no continuity to the rest of the output taps. They also read 22.5 Ohms Connected Together. Perhaps A separate bias voltage a la Fender. I'm curious, what do you think? That's from our friend Larry Chung in San Francisco, California, who didn't know which.

[Skip]

End of the soldering iron even got hot a few years back and now has done a nice job restoring and.

[Jason]

Hopefully listener of the decade.

[Skip]

I think the guy just like a single gent, let's just say for anybody who thinks, wow, I should have done that, no, you had to go to work and take care of the family and stuff. But this guy's just. He's just one of those guys that's just super dedicated and he's done so many amps. And by the way, he didn't let not knowing Jack stop him when he first got started. He'd come up and I'd go, fool, what are you doing here? You got like three tires on this car instead of four. But he didn't let that stop him. He just kept going and he kept learning. He sent pictures of an old ancient transformer where it's mounted sideways, and if you look inside the amp, there's a bunch of solder terminals instead of just a bunch of wires coming out. And he's talking about how some of these terminals are marked but don't appear to be in the circuit. I looked at it and it's pretty plain to me that that power transformer was used for a whole bunch of different things. And that that particular amp that he has just doesn't use those taps. And yes, it probably to do with a bias supply or inverse feedback or something like that. Oh, wait, not bias supply. He's talking about output transformer. So probably had something to do with inverse feedback or even connecting up a really weird value speaker, like 500 ohms to the output transformer, something like that. So he forward that picture to the kernel and see and just show that. And also, I wouldn't worry about it for too long unless I. Unless I couldn't tell how it was supposed to be. If you look at a solder joint lug thing and there's never been anything soldered to it, then I wouldn't even wonder what all the little letters meant for very long. I'd just be fixing the amp and getting that out the door. But the experimenter wanting to know what really is going on with those two taps in an output transformer. It's all about speaker impedance or inverse feedback.

[Jason]

Yep, lovely.

[Skip]

We'll end on Larry Chung.

[Jason]

Larry, keep them coming. You keep this podcast so much fun. And I'll share the photos. Not only to the Facebook group, but also to our Instagram page, which hopefully you're all following.

[Skip]

He brought the book about the guy that stole all the rare feathers to make. To make salmon flies.

[Jason]

Oh, that was from Larry.

[Skip]

Okay. Feather thief. That's. That's some deep stuff. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jason]

All right, we'll end on this one. It'll be easy. Maybe. Joe, subject line, Ampeg speaker. I've got an Ampeg Rocket 2 with a modified cabinet for a 15 inch speaker. I'd like to change to a JBL D130 or K130, but before I do, I want to ask if the same 200 up or down in ohms for Fender amps applies to vintage blue. Check Ampegs. That's from Joe.

[Skip]

I would say yes, in that. In that situation, you'd be fine. So Ampeg, you can find eight ohm D130s. And by the way, a lot of old D130s that say 16 ohm on them. If you put an ohmmeter on them, they're really eight. So I don't really think that'd be an issue. I just want to make sure that you don't get it all in there. Put the amp in and find out that the tubes hit the magnet. That's the killer. You know, the physical layout of the thing. Just mock that up first and then you won't have any problem.

[Jason]

Thanks, Joe. Thanks, Skip.

[Skip]

Yeah, Charlie Christian amp with a regular speaker. That's interesting. Oh, and there's a. There's a trainer studio mate which is two EL84s and four 8s. Yes. And again and for sale. And there's still a lot of amps that aren't thousands of dollars. And thanks to all our sponsors and thanks for everybody listening. And believe me, post election, we'll have our post election countdown. Everything will be just the same. So maybe that school board seat might change, but you're still gonna have to get up and go to work. Jason, you're gonna have to start working on number 56 and fretboard summit number 20. Whatever the heck. You won't have time for any sort of disaster. You're just gonna have to get to work.

[Jason]

Okay.

[Skip]

Thanks, brother.

[Jason]

Thanks, Skip.

[Skip]

I'm convinced. You'll see I'm right.

[Jason]

Yeah, all right.

[Skip]

All that stuff. I was hoping there'd be some sort of crisis so I wouldn't have to, you know, mow the yard again or something, but it's pretty unlikely. Probably still gonna have to just get up and take care of business. Like we will in a few more weeks, right?

[Jason]

Yes. Keep the questions coming. Thanks, everybody.

[Skip]

Thanks, everyone. I'm here for you. Bye.