Ep. 97: "Do I Want the Red or the Gold?"

The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons

Are we really running out of vacuum tubes? This week, special guest Thomas Cravener of Amplified Parts joins us to talk about the 2022 new tube shortage, plus a lot more.

Reserve a new TAVA t-shirt here.

This week's episode is sponsored by Calton Cases, Jupiter Condenser Co., Amplified Parts and Grez Guitars. You can also use the discount code FRET10 to save 10% off your Izotope purchase.

Support us on Patreon.com for added content and the occasional surprise. One of our patrons will win a Hello Sailor Fuzz Face this month!

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:27 A cool guy's Traynor and tube stuff from the Forest Service in Chester, California

1:47 A '60s Heathkit IG-5237 still sealed in the box (stereo FM signal generator)

4:07 The Fretboard Journal's 50th issue, the Fretboard Summit in Chicago, the legacy of Dumble

10:08 This week's sponsors: Amplified Parts, Calton Cases, and Jupiter Condenser Co.

11:12 This month's Patreon giveaway: A Fuzz Face from Hello Sailor! Effects

13:17 Fire season in Northern California

14:53 An Ampeg B-12XY with an internal 5-watt amp for speaker-driven reverb, Guild Thunderbird amps

18:26 Reserve your new TAVA t-shirt (link)

19:26 Tube naming, revisited

20:41 Last episode's smoking Earthsound Research G-2000... fixed?; more fuse talk

23:34 Skip explains his WD-40 stance; Red Green

27:53 Kevin from Ohio, eBay score Patreon perks, EIA codes

32:49 Special guest: Thomas Cravener, V.P. Sales and Marketing at Amplified Parts: Russian/Chinese tube supply; Amplified Parts is still buying/selling NOS tubes; Psvane tubes; building Mallory Capacitors (YouTube link)

56:59 Gibson GA-8; do I need a matched set of 6V6s in a parallel single-ended amp?

1:02:34 Using alcohol in cooking; kale as shoe repair

1:05:57 Building a Masco Audiosphere A-8 off the schematic (6V6 or 6L6)

1:10:15 Jupiter caps at Amplified Parts; the low acceptable DC voltage on leaky coupling caps

1:12:57 A Flot-A-Tone with a howling problem

1:15:36 A Masco head from the 50/50 Club gets reunited with its cab

1:18:00 Trying to match the dynamics and distortion of an Ampeg B-25 and a Marshall Plexi clone; post-power inverter master volume mods, buying pedals off Amazon

1:23:51 What would Skip buy: A silver-paneled Princeton Reverb, a high-quality clone, or a new hand-wired one from Fender?

1:27:20 Howling Flot-A-Tone revisited, 6SC7 tubes

1:27:10 1966 Fender Pro Reverb with a big increase in plate voltage right after using the standby switch; standby switch 101; GZ34 vs 5U4 rectifier tubes; roasted potatoes

1:37:29 Taming the treble on a Marshall Mercury (we'll attach the schematic to the fretboardjournal.com show notes page so you can see what we're discussing)

1:42:16 Skip's learning curve: Did he work on ultra-collectible amps when he was still starting out? a '53 Tweed Deluxe with no original parts; William Penn and His Pals' "Swami" (YouTube link)

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