Interview with Amp Tech Skip Simmons

Join me, and Mark Overman (from the Masco Chronicles), for a shop tour and interview with tube amp master repairman, customizer, and builder, Skip Simmons. Skip is widely known as the one who started the trend of modifying classic Masco (and similar brands) tube P.A. heads for use by blues harmonica players (Little Walter was famously known for gigging with a Masco). He’s worked with, and built amps for, a large list of today’s great players (Kim Wilson, Rick Estrin, and Gary Smith to name but a few). I personally perform and record with heads he’s restored and modified (on the "It Takes Three CD," I used them exclusively). We start our tour in his warehouse, looking at the cool vintage stuff destined to be restored someday, and end up with an interview in his repair shop.

To find out more about Skip, visit his website SkipSimmonsAmps.com. To subscribe to his highly-popular podcast, hosted by the Fretboard Journal’s Jason Verlinde, visit https://www.fretboardjournal.com/podcasts/the-truth-about-tube-amps-ep.-1

This interview was recorded in 2014, and has been on the site within the "Masco Chronicles" series since then, but I wanted to pull it out and feature it, to make sure that everyone sees it. Everything we talk about in this interview is still current, and salient to harmonica players.