The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons

Episode 158: Chris Benson of Benson amps and Bryan Sours of Soursound transformers make their long-awaited returns to the Truth About Vintage Amps. Why? They want to tell us all about the logging truck of an amp they are currently building, a 700-watt(!) all-tube beast dubbed Babylon! The Babylon will feature 14 KT88 tubes, 16 total speakers, three knobs, and two power cords. It's literally the most powerful tube amp they could make without requiring a dryer outlet. Check our Instagram for a sneak peek at the creation.  https://www.bensonamps.com/ https://soursound.com/ and honorable mention to... https://bottosbbq.com/ Hear the Babylon in person at the 2026 Wood, Wire & Volts festival (or anywhere within a mile or two radius of the show). https://www.woodwirevolts.com/ Deep cuts: Bryan's first appearance on our show can be found here (it's pretty epic) and Chris originally appeared on our 30th episode.  Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts. And happy holidays to all of our listeners and Patreon members for their support! We'll be back in 2026.  Want amp tech Skip Simmons' advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to [email protected]! Include a photo, too. Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal. 

It's the 157th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps.   Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts  Some of the topics discussed this week:  :42 Atmospheric rivers 3:52 Skip's appearance at the Bay Area Guitar Show (Jan 10-11, link) 8:46 Fretboard Journal 58 (coming soon!) 9:57 Unsung electronics hero (and possible con man) Lee De Forest (read his memoir here); power conditioners 17:44 Skip's new trail cam 20:47 One man's trash: Repurposing the square capacitor/resistor found in a Gibson GA-19 RVT/Falcon 22:44 What's on Skip's Bench: A clean early 1969 SF Fender Vibro Champ with a trem that didn't want to go slow; an Ampeg J-20 29:11 Advice on an amp road trip (New Orleans, Phoenix, LA, and Denver) 34:25 What's louder: Two 50-watt halves or one full 100-watt stack of amps 37:29 Using the potentiometers in hi-fi speaker units from the 1950s; the Christmas Jug Band; ukuleles 42:10 What's up with this Winson combo amp? EL84s vs 7189s; garlic bread; Roy Buchanan's The Messiah Will Come Again (YouTube link); Roy Clark and Joe Pass; Van Morrison's "You Are My Sunshine;" The Fretboard Journal's You Are My Sunshine project (link) 50:29 Gigging a 1947 Fender Deluxe 5A3, Brookwood leather 55:40 6L6s in Deluxe Reverbs and Princetons? wild mushrooms 1:00:43 Are all trebles created equal? 1:05:38 Greetings from Canada; Slow Horses (redux); Life on the Line featuring John Travolta (Wikipedia link); chicken curry 1:13:26 Questions re: a Knight 93SX670 PA amp and the phono wiring 1:17:23 WD-40 musings 1:19:33 Just completed my Mojotone Tweed Princeton kit, but what's with this hum? 1:22:50 An RCA MI12155 PA head with no output; Chuck Prophet; Mosquito Coast cocktails; recommended book: 'The Night Train to Nashville' (Amazon link) 1:26:40 The Whole Earth Catalog; Stewart Brand (Amazon link) 1:30:30 Vacuum Tube Valley Want amp tech Skip Simmons' advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to [email protected]! Include a photo, too.  Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.  Don't forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.  

It's the 156th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps. This week: Special guest Jack Weston joins us with a great Allman Brothers story.  Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts  Some of the topics discussed this week:  :43 What's on Skip's Bench: a Fender Princeton with reversed input jacks 5:41 Special Guest: Jack Weston, author of 'The Allman Brothers Band: Classic Memorabilia, 1969-1976' (Amazon link) 46:17 The Magnatone Triplex; ultralinear output stages, redux; Bob Wills' The Tiffany Transcriptions 47:35 Raising kids and running a small business; tractor rollovers 51:13 A cooking baffler: Potatoes cooked in resin 52:30 Will my Airline 9003 amp kill me? 55:11 Traynor YGL-3A amps 56:43 Is it possible for a fuse to blow when the amp is fine? Best-case scenarios for a speaker mismatch? Jerry Portnoy's autobiography, 'Dancing with Muddy' (Amazon link) 1:03:02 Movie recommendations: Come See Me in the Good Light; The Lost Bus 1:05:28 The greatest Thanksgiving side dish of all-time? A corn-bread concoction; the 2026 Fretboard Summit (www.fretboardsummit.org); the TAVA Cookbook (Dropbox link) 1:07:37 Good goo: Oxalic acid/wood bleach (Amazon link); Permalac sealer 1:10:43 Using a 6SL7 as a long tail pair 1:13:03 Amps made with 6N2P pre-amp tubes and 6N6P power tubes? Ashen amps 1:15:16 The resurrection of Australia's GoldenTone amps? https://goldentone.com.au/ 1:18:39 What should I do with this West Mini IR combo amp? 1:23:37 Hopefulness and despair with a reissue Twin Reverb and a Silverface Champ 1:31:06 What should I do with my Wilcox Gay Recordio recorder 1:38:31 A Califone SP-30 powered speaker; chili  Want amp tech Skip Simmons' advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to [email protected]! Include a photo, too.  Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.  Don't forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.  

It's the 155th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps. This week: Barn finds, lost dogs, an extra-grounded Jason (amp pun intended) and more!   Some of the topics discussed this week:  1:05 Skip gets the new Fretboard Journal (link); do banjos belong in the Fretboard Journal? 5:16 Recommended music: Ned Boynton's 'The North Beach Sound;' The No-Mads (nomadsband.com) 7:54 Our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts (and Mr. Microphone) 18:12 What's on Skip's bench: A Bogen GA-5; a Realistic Carnival; Masco C-6; 6AQ5 tubes 22:53 A listener baffler, answered (speaker re-coning); Vintage 47 amps (link) 26:18 Skip's ep. 154 baffler, answered: What does Skip do when he's modding the second input of a Fender Champ? Supro Spectators 32:51 New Accutronics reverb tanks by Revisit (link)   34:52 What's the low input doing in a Marshall JCM800; green chile on everything 39:20 Lowering the B+ on a 1971 Fender Bassman 10 project; ultralinear transformers; cactus salad 48:43 The long-awaited dog story 51:35 Colin Hay's "Overkill" with Choir! Choir! Choir! (YouTube link); Traynor amps 54:52 Should I treat the pitting on a Soundmaster 600 PA? 1:00:17 Lab Series amps 1:03:39 Smoke-damaged MusicMan HD-130   1:09:20 The dangers of old tractors (and drawbridges) 1:15:34 Modifying the power section of a Twin Reverb for lower volume playing; fixing a Filmosound 385 with hum; Evan Crafts (Instagram) 1:21:26 TAVA listener spotlight: Children's book author Matt James! (Order his new book, The One About the Blackbird (Amazon link) 1:23:56 How to raise kids and run a small business; Mae Ploy curry paste  1:31:16 Barn finds: Spring-loaded input jacks; a 1947 Fender Princeton amp and matching lap steel  Want amp tech Skip Simmons' advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to [email protected]! Include a photo, too.  Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.  Don't forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.  

It's the 154th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps, the call-in show where amp tech Skip Simmons fields your questions on all things tube amps.   Some of the topics discussed this week:  :42 Skip is back on the Ferguson TO-35 tractor; Roy Clark & Joe Pass 7:04 What's on Skip's bench: A Marshall Plexi Super Bass, Marshall bright caps, the Pet Shop Boys 11:43 Our sponsors Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts; more Fender Champ mods; a Champ gain input baffler; Soursound transformers 23:51 200 more power cords; IEC hijinks; Steve Soest  28:13 A 1954 Fender Tweed Twins and the low-powered versus high-powered Twins; Tweed Pros; Fender Champion 600 amps 31:49 A Lafayette PA with ECL82 tubes (watch on Instagram) 33:45 A 1960s Airline 62-9021A amp; how to tell a Supro/Valco from a Danelctro amp 37:33 Skip's advice for a future repair business; liability insurance; the Boilermaker; the amp that couldn't be fixed 49:06 A listener-submitted baffler: A Supro that needed a speaker recone? 52:29 What should I do with my new Knight 93350 PA head?  58:03 Should I build a 6G4 or a 6G4A in this Northern Electric PA-20 with six pre-amp sockets? 1:04:28 Wiring a Danelectro DS-100 speaker output for use with other cabs 1:11:10 Recommended media: The Birth of Loud; The Sweeney; Taggart 1:12:52 Burning up chokes in a Princeton Reverb 1:14:13 Listers on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-wAqplQAo 1:15:18 ESR meters and ceviche Want amp tech Skip Simmons' advice on your DIY guitar amp projects? Want to share your top secret family recipe? Need relationship advice? Join us by sending your voice memo or written questions to [email protected]! Include a photo, too.  Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.  Don't forget, we have a Patreon page. Support the show, get behind-the-scenes updates and get to the front of the line with your questions.