Ep. 101: "One Piece at a Time"

The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons

Episode 101 of TAVA: Gain, flux, gochujang and more!

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 and don't forget to get a subscription to Jason's magazine, the Fretboard Journal (link).

Some of the topics discussed this week:

12:00 Building a 5F1, Little Charlie's Spanish Rice and the impact of TAVA

14:13 Listener Mitch's landline USB phone!; weirdest thing found in amps; frozen kale crumbles; Angela caps; gochujang spice

21:00 Do EL84s sound different after being on for a half hour?

23:27 What's the difference between volume and gain?

25:47 The Trainwreck Type-3 master volume, redux

27:34 Tad's Bell & Howell amp; maple syrup from New Hampshire

28:24 Clean flux or leave it on?

29:55 An Australian barn find: A 1960 Moody 17/12 amp; fixing silkscreening on a control panel; a 9-pin triode pentode (6BL8); Dynaco ST-70 amps; adding avocado to vegemite toast

35:56 A barn find Filmosound; what to do when starting up a long-dormant amp, checking capacitors for ECR

47:22 Electrolytic bypass caps on preamp tubes

51:50 Frozen fruit instead of ice cubes in cocktails

52:33 A silverface Fender amp with a conductive part board; moisture in a part board?

58:57 Does anyone like amps with combination fixed and cathode bias?

1:01:56 Buying a 1960s Gretsch 6152 as your first vintage amp

1:05:54 What's the difference between all the input jacks on a 6G2 Princeton vs a 5F11 Vibrolux

1:07:04 Book recommendation: Please Kill Me: The Uncensored History of Punk (Amazon link); music recommendation: 'Balsams' by Chuck Johnson (Bandcamp link); the trem circuit in a Victoria Victorilux

1:13:05 Yank, the Army Weekly magazine

1:15:11 Bill Orcutt's Music for Four Guitars (Bandcamp, FJ Podcast appearance)

1:16:12 Rust on transformers and how it affects performance, eddy currents, Plush amps, Metal Rescue

1:20:17 A Stromberg Signet 22 PA head converted into a two-EL84 Matchless DC-30 that makes lightsaber sounds

1:26:54 The typewriters of the Beat poets; the Beat Museum in SF (link)

1:30:12 An Eico 950 Capacitor Tester 1:35:44 Brew 102 beer Submit your amp questions, recipes and life hacks to the podcast via [e-mail] and don't forget to share the show with friends on social media.