Fretboard Journal



Portland, Oregon-based musicians Eric Skye and Jonah Sissoyev join us this week to talk about Jonah’s beautiful new EP, ‘A Place Called Nowhere.’

The EP’s origin story begins with Jonah asking Eric, an acclaimed fingerstyle guitarist and Santa Cruz Guitar Co. signature model artist, for guitar lessons. Once he heard Jonah’s songs, Eric offered to produce and record this project.

During our chat, we hear all about their collaboration, Eric’s recording techniques (including some DIY home recording advice), the Stew-Mac kit guitar that Jonah built for himself, and so much more.

Listen to Jonah’s EP here:
https://jonahsissoyev.hearnow.com/a-place-called-nowhere

Follow Eric: https://www.instagram.com/eric.skye.guitar/

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Register today: https://fretboardsummit.org

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

Mike & Mike’s Substack: https://mmguitarbar.substack.com 

The post Podcast 540: Jonah Sissoyev & Eric Skye first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Episode 161 of the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons tackles all of your questions about guitar tube amps.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars; and Amplified Parts / Mod Electronics. Use the discount code TAVA10MOD for a one-time, 10% discount on Mod Electronics orders at https://www.modelectronics.com. Usable on speakers, amp kits, pedal kits, reverb tanks, etc. Offer ends April 11, 2026.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

:42 Phil Upchurch and ‘What It’s Like to Be a Musician’

3:25 On the Bench: A non-working outboard tremolo by Skip, a unique Massie trem circuit, putting trem in a Bassman 100, bias modulating tremolo

9:57 A TAVA giveaway (Thank you, Union Tube & Transistor and Exile!)

14:44 An Electro-Music Baffler, answered; a vintage Roberts electric mandolin; Tiny Moore; Bob Wills in Sacramento

25:12 Follow our Instagram page and help us get to 10,000 followers, the Garnet amp book (link), the Garnet Herzog

28:16 An amp tech for Guam

36:12 Working on a Johnson Celestion, why were some volume pots in front of the first tube? the best spare 6V6s to seek out

42:02 Talking Micro-Frets guitars on the Fretboard Journal Podcast (link)

43:13 Why is my Fender Super 60 so noisy?

49:30 A 1968 Fender Super Reverb with replaced transformers, using the extra secondaries? bias talk

56:03 Homemade salsa

59:19 Recommended reading: Proper Records’ ‘Hillbilly Boogie’ box set (Amazon link)

1:00:33 Recommended watching: ‘The Life We Have’ (YouTube link, warning: it’s a tear jerker)

1:01:46 The Webster-Chicago 166-1 vs. the Voice of Music 160 amp schematics; homemade chicken wings

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 podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Win these shirts (details around minute 10)…   

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 161 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



For Episode 111, I’m joined by highly respected guitar builder Raymond Kraut.

Ray shares why he’s embraced unconventional sound ports while staying true to his traditional tone, how his porting designs have evolved over time, and what he’s learned through real-world testing.

We also dive into Ray’s Derrio Wood Company, which sources and supplies desert ironwood and other unique tonewoods. Ray talks about what makes desert ironwood so special, its tonal character, and why it’s becoming an exciting alternative for guitar builders.

Links
https://www.derriowoodco.com/

The post Luthier on Luthier: Raymond Kraut first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Acclaimed vintage guitar repairperson Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) joins the Fretboard Journal Podcast once again.

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Register today: https://fretboardsummit.org

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

Mike & Mike’s Substack: https://mmguitarbar.substack.com

The post Podcast 539: Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) Returns first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Fretboard Journal contributor Seth Lorinczi joins us this week to talk about the rise and fall of Micro-Frets, the upstart electric guitar brand launched in the late 1960s.

Seth penned a lengthy story on Micro-Frets for our magazine’s 58th issue (available now), and we talk about the brand’s launch in Maryland, its unique offerings, the short-lived attempt to revive the company, and so much more.

We also talk about Seth’s history in the DC punk scene, his writing projects, and the impact psychedelic therapy has had on his life.

Follow Seth here: https://www.sethlorinczi.com/

Get issue 58 of the FJ (with Seth’s Micro-Frets story) here.

Also mentioned: Steve Melkisethian on the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast: https://www.fretboardjournal.com/podcasts/the-truth-about-vintage-amps-ep-38-with-special-guest-steve-melkisethian/

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Register today: https://fretboardsummit.org

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

Mike & Mike’s Substack: https://mmguitarbar.substack.com

Seth Lorinczi photo: Cheryl Juetten

The post Podcast 538: The Story of Micro-Frets Guitars with Seth Lorinczi first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Episode 160 of the Truth About Vintage Amps Podcast, where amp tech Skip Simmons fields all of your questions about tube amps.

Thank our sponsors: Grez Guitars; Emerald City Guitars and Amplified Parts.

Some of the topics discussed this week:

1:09 Fishing and weather report, Tule fog

4:43 Skip’s amp backlog

5:19 A West guitar amp with a Dynaco 454216 transformer, a paper plate breakfast hack

10:45 Our sponsors!

12:56 What’s on Skip’s bench: A 1950 Princeton, a White amplifier, a Tweed Deluxe AND a Vibrolux; Electromuse amps

14:39 The Lonesome Captain’s music video (YouTube link)

17:31 A Webster-Chicago 166-1 with a post phase-inverter tone control

20:36 The Valco/National/Supro single 6V6 with reverb and tremolo

28:06 A Silvertone 1472 with replaced parts; terminal strip grounds

30:55 Two filter cap Princetons (link to TDPRI forum)

32:11 An original Garnet Session Man; modding a Masco ME-27; recommended reading

39:49 The Wood Wire & Volts show; the Benson Babylon (as mentioned on episode 158!)

44:16 Speaker impedance mismatch on a Danelectro amp and its effect on tone, Spanish rice, Goya pasta

50:21 Suggestions for an unused triode in a Geloso G226A amp

54:32 Bill Krinard’s return?; Dr. Z’s new, single-ended PhD amp; Emery Sound amps

57:18 A new speaker for my Traynor YGM-3?; Peavey amps; smoked pork tenderlions

1:03:35 Making a baby Leslie speaker at home and adding caps to filter out EMI/interference (check out more pics on our Patreon)

1:11:00 Getting spray paint off a grill cloth (3M Safest Stripper); fixing a Fender speaker baffle; and a cursed reverb unit

1:16:50 A Cunningham CX322 tube giveaway; Alembic stereo pre-amps, redux

Note: Starting around minute 60, our Zoom connection went bad and Skip can be a little hard to hear. We tried to clean it up as best we could. Sorry!

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 podcast@fretboardjournal.com! Include a photo, too.

Want to support the show? Join our Patreon page to get to the front of the advice line, see exclusive pics, the occasional video and more.

Hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons and co-hosted/produced by Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal.

Above and below: Listener Bruce’s West combo, with a Dynaco transformer. 

The post The Truth About Vintage Amps, Ep. 160 first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



In what has become an annual tradition, Evan Gluck (NY Guitar Repair) hosted a guitar repair roundtable at the 2025 Fretboard Summit. This year, he brought Ceil Thompson (StewMac); TJ Thompson (Pro Luthier Tools); Mamie Minch (Brooklyn Lutherie); and Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) onstage.

It’s an insightful (and often hilarious) talk about the realities of running a guitar repair business. Very quickly, these five guitar repair experts go deep on customers, the surprise revelations they’ve had in their careers; the tasks (and people) they avoid; and much more.

Give it a listen. It may just make you a better customer the next time your guitar needs to be repaired.

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Register today: https://fretboardsummit.org

Our 58th issue of the Fretboard Journal is now mailing. Subscribe here to get it.

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

Mike & Mike’s Substack: https://mmguitarbar.substack.com

The post Podcast 537: The 2025 Fretboard Summit Guitar Repair Panel first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



On this episode of Luthier on Luthier, I’m joined by guitar maker Ben Wilborn. Based in Reno, Nevada, Ben brings a musician’s perspective to his designs, drawing on his background in performance and composition to build instruments that are focused on tone.

For episode 110, Ben shares the origins of his business and discusses how his instruments have evolved through prototype testing, data collection, and hands-on experience at the bench.

https://www.wilbornguitars.com

Luthier on Luthier is hosted by Michael Bashkin of Bashkin Guitars and brought to you by the Fretboard Journal. This episode is sponsored by the Looth Group, Dream Guitars and StewMac.

Want to support Luthier on Luthier? Join our Patreon to get access to exclusive photos and content from Michael and his builds.

The post Luthier on Luthier: Ben Wilborn first appeared on Fretboard Journal.



Fingerstyle guitar authority John Stropes joins us this week to talk all about his new two-volume book featuring transcriptions of every track on Leo Kottke’s monumental ‘6 & 12 String Guitar’ album!

Get the book here: https://www.stropes.com/product/leo-kottke-6-and-12-string-guitar-a-companion-by-john-stropes-and-benjamin-kammin/

During our chat, we hear about Stropes love for fingerstyle, how the Old Town School of Folk Music (home of the Fretboard Summit) shaped his playing, collaborating with Kottke and Michael Hedges, and so much more.

Our 58th issue of the Fretboard Journal is now mailing. Subscribe here to get it.

Our next Fretboard Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. https://fretboardsummit.org

We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).

Stringjoy Strings: https://stringjoy.com

Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com

Mike & Mike’s Substack: https://mmguitarbar.substack.com

The post Podcast 535: John Stropes first appeared on Fretboard Journal.

Touring musicians often bond over simple things: Favorite restaurants, hotel hacks, inside jokes, or a good book.

When Tyler Ramsey and Carl Broemel first met on the road over a decade ago (Tyler was in Band of Horses; Carl is in My Morning Jacket), they connected over a shared love for instrumental guitar records. “Isn’t it fun to find an old reissue of a cool guitar record that has a bunch of mystery to it?” Broemel asks. “There’s a mysterious guy who only made one record and it’s from the ‘70s and then he went off and he was a carpenter or whatever. I love that mystery.”

Having played together over the ensuing years, Ramsey and Broemel have just released Celestun, their first duo record. During the COVID lockdown, they exchanged tracks back and forth through the internet. When restrictions were lifted, they recorded the remaining parts at Broemel’s Nashville studio.

Like some of those mysterious private press recordings they love, it’s a throwback of sorts, a beautifully subdued record of intricate guitar interplay, a soundtrack for a movie that doesn’t exist. The tracks with vocals – “Nevermind,” “Flying Things,” and “Sail Away” – evoke a bit of a Topanga Canyon vibe, but listen closely and you’ll hear another big influence, bluegrass great Clarence White.

Fretboard Journal: When did you guys first meet?

Tyler Ramsey: Back when I played in Band of Horses, we opened some shows for My Morning Jacket. I’m not even sure how many shows, maybe 10 shows? So we got to know each other a little bit then, but not a ton. I was trying to stay out of their way most of the time! And then we reconnected. Carl was coming through town here while touring.

It was [Broemel’s 2018 solo album] Wished Out.  His backing band was Steeleism from Nashville and I went to go see him play and we talked afterwards. That’s when the little spark of like, “Hey, we should try and do something together at some point.”

We ended up just booking a tour together before we even had a chance to really know what was going to happen. It happened just quickly. It worked out pretty good.

FJ: And was that tour more singer-songwriter song-based or did you know what you were getting into with the instrumentals?

TR: The plan was we’d play on each other’s songs. We’d go back and forth between Carl’s songs and my songs and accompany each other and sing harmonies. We brought a bunch of different instruments out. I basically just drove to Nashville to Carl’s place and we rehearsed for maybe a day or two and then hit the road with all of our stuff. It was pretty magical.

Carl Broemel: We were already playing “Elizabeth Brown,” one of the songs on Celestun. That became part of the show. We also started doing a flatpicking bluegrass thing just to make the show have more variety.

The album was spawned from those things, trying instrumentals and being like, “Hey, every song doesn’t need to have vocals.” And it was fun to play.

FJ: Carl, on one of your Instagram posts you talk about Tompkins Square records. Were you listening to that sort of music – John Fahey, Robbie Basho, etc. – before you and Tyler collaborated?

CB: A little bit. Tyler was opening my eyes to it. He’s more steeped in that genre than I am. One of my favorite acoustic guitar players is Clarence White. I love Clarence White. He’s the guy that I’ve studied the most and tried to learn his approach to the acoustic guitar, which is crazy. To me, he’s like Eddie Van Halen. I love Eddie Van Halen as much as I love Clarence White as much as I love Nick Drake.

TR: I’ve known Tompkins Square for a long time. For my first-ever solo self-released, self-titled solo record, I went up to New York City and met [Tompkins Square founder Josh Rosenthal] at a record store. I was really gunning for that record to maybe come out with him. So we met and I handed him some copies of this CD that I had burned myself. He liked it, but he didn’t put it out. We’ve stayed friends over the years.

My guitar path has been that kind of [fingerstyle] music. I came across a Michael Hedges cassette in some random New Age store in Brentwood, Tennessee and my mom bought it for me.

And then my uncle gave me a copy of Leo Kottke’s A Shout Toward Noon with Guitar Music on the other side of the cassette. From there, it was all in, finding all this weird stuff. Josh at Tompkins Square is great at digging stuff up and the compilations he puts together are good starting points for finding whole catalogs of people that I wouldn’t have known about.

FJ: Fingerstyle comes in many forms, from Michael Hedges to Kottke to Robbie Basho’s sprawling output and more. Tyler, what style do you gravitate towards?

TR: I gravitate towards more concise, composed lyrical instrumentals. Composition is part of what I try to do with it. I love sitting around and I could play for an hour just noodling on a theme or whatever, trying to play a raga-y kind of thing, but that’s not normally what I present to people that would want to come see me play. I’d rather play a concise, written out, or not technically written out, but a little composed piece of music. I do a lot of alternate tunings as well, so that always leads to new territory and stuff.

FJ: Did you record Celestun at Carl’s studio?

TR: We did. I think the first thing that was the song, “Celestun.” I recorded it here at my place and sent it to him. It was unplanned, but he sent back his pass over the top of it, and then all of a sudden, we were like, “Oh, let’s do this.”

CB: Yeah. Half the record we did in the same room and half was during the pandemic, long distance. He sent me “Celestun” and I sat with it. It made me realize that sometimes sitting with something and working on it for a while and getting the arrangement right is really cool. Also, doing things live is also a great way to record, as well, and we can do both. It was really a unique experience to get “Celestun” and listen to it a bunch of times and just sit with a guitar, try to play along to it, come back to it the next day, try to beat that, maybe do a couple edits here and there.

So I was learning where he left space for me to elaborate or just accompany. I really love that mindset. Should I step out? Do I need to accompany?

I think we both do that naturally and we’re trying to build that skill as we play more and more together. Then, he sent me “Elizabeth Brown” and I sent him one. Thankfully, things were wrapping up with the pandemic and we were able to schedule a time to get together. Originally, it was all going to be instrumentals. We didn’t even know we’re going to release it.

It was just something to do. It’s cool for me being in the music business for this long and strip things back and just start over again. Guitars, no equipment, no tour, no expectations, nothing.

FJ: I have to imagine that it was a lot easier to make spaces for each other when you finally were in the same room for the second half of songs?

CB: Oh, yeah. And then it does become a live action back and forth, stepping up or accompanying. We sat and played “Sail Away” front to back and that was it. I was like, “Wow, this is taking way less time. This is amazing.”

TR: My recording technique is based on my limitations. As a person who can operate any kind of recording program, I end up doing everything front-to-back mostly. If I’m recording a guitar piece, it’s like “press” and “record” on a tape recorder. I don’t even know how to go back and edit. If I don’t get it right, I have to do it over again.

What I was sending Carl might’ve taken me 15 passes, but finally, I got it right. And then when he was talking about filling in the spaces or leaving the spaces in the songs, it was fun to get them back. How much they were elevated by Carl’s playing just blew me away and made me so happy. Everything we’ve passed back and forth has come back better, elevated by us joining forces.

FJ: What kind of guitars did you use for this effort?

TR: My favorite acoustic guitar is a Harmony H162. I believe it’s from the ’50s, from [luthier and conversion guru] Scott Baxendale…

CB: I have two of them, too. Scott got his hooks in me when he had his store in Athens, Georgia. If you walked in there, you left with a guitar because they’re so inviting…these old beat-up instruments, but he makes them so you can actually use them. I have three of his guitars.

TR: Carl’s to blame for me having three of his guitars as well. When we did that first tour together, Carl was letting me use one of his Baxendale conversion guitars and I absolutely fell in love with it. Then we got done with that tour and somehow I accidentally ended up in Athens on my way back from a tour and stopped by Scott’s shop. I was like, “I’m getting one of these.” So that’s the one that I was just talking about.

FJ: How do you separate the sound of two acoustic guitars in a duo setting?

TR: They’re different styles. I think mine’s the H162. It’s a small body, like a 000. Do you have two of the [Roy] Smecks, Carl?

CB: No, one’s a Sovereign, like the Jimmy Page acoustic. And the other one is the Roy Smeck model. It’s interesting. We recorded one song on the record where we did it around one microphone and that was just supposed to be a demo. We were like, “You know what’s amazing? I can’t tell who’s doing what.”

To me, I want to make one big guitar. I don’t want it to be like, “Oh, that’s definitely Carl and that’s definitely Tyler.” I’m like, “Fuck it. Everything’s blending together.”

FJ: Do you know what Baxendale did to modify these old Harmonys for you?

CB: I believe he resets the neck and re-frets the guitars usually and then he re-braces the insides. And then he puts a K&K pickup in there, which I like because I never have to worry about the battery.

For me, instruments are a funny thing. I would love to have a vintage Martin. I have an old Gibson small acoustic because it’s great. But for what we’re doing, these guitars seem to work. They’re interesting sounding. You can’t put your finger on it. They don’t sound necessarily like a Gibson or a Martin. They’re in between. They’re a little rough and ready and I like that about these guitars.

FJ: And how did you record them? What microphone did you use or did it change from track to track?

CB: When we were together, we used KM84s and I think Tyler recorded some of his stuff which was a [Shure] SM57. I would record with a ribbon mic to have a slightly different sound, but that’s basically it.

TR: I’ve got a couple of the mics, but once again, I’m not a proper engineer and this isn’t a proper studio, but I’m able to capture things that are passable. So, yeah, the 57 and I’m not even sure what else.

CB: A lot of the songs ended up going on to my four-track. We didn’t record to the four-track most of the time, but I did dump stuff on and off of there to try to achieve a little bit of that lost acoustic guitar record sound.

I really enjoy what tape does to an acoustic guitar. A lot of times people talk about recording the tape and it’s all about the low end and the bass and the drums. For me, it’s all about the acoustic guitar sound because the very highest part of the acoustic guitar sometimes is irritating to me. And if I put it on cassette, it gets a little mangled up there and I think that’s how we’re supposed to hear it, honestly. Either in-person or off a cassette to me is how you’re supposed to hear an acoustic guitar.

FJ: I love that you guys were just doing this to get through the pandemic. At what point did you know you had an album?

TR: That’s a good question. We had a few things that we started out with. Then, we were like, “Well, let’s just finish, round it out.” But it’s wild because this is the easiest album I’ve ever made in my life. The songs are definitely challenging, but the whole process of making the album just breezed by in this really relaxed way. It just felt like no effort to me.

FJ: And are you guys still trading songs back and forth like before?

CB: There are a couple already in the folder, a couple demos. I’m just stoked.

FJ: Carl, you were talking about Clarence White. Who are your living acoustic guitar heroes?

CB: I just got hip to Cameron Knowler. There’s a playlist of stuff that Tyler made that’s amazing, but Clarence is really my guiding light. Once I started trying learning bass intro to flatpicking and then I heard him do it, I was like, “I really like his approach to it.” He made all these cool little tapes for his students that are amazing to listen to. So I’m trying to slim down who I’m studying. I’m studying Clarence and Eddie Van Halen right now. That’s my thing.

FJ: You could spend the rest of your life doing that.

CB: Exactly. It’s fun to play “Hot for Teacher” and then “Black Mountain Rag.” They’re both great. I’m accepting myself that I am an ’80s rock guy. We just played some metal songs on tour and I was like, “Man, I’m feeling real comfortable right now.” And so I can’t deny that that’s part of who I am, so I’m leaning into that nowadays.

FJ: What about you, Tyler? Who are you listening to?

TR: I definitely have been following Cameron on social media for a while and really enjoying what he’s doing, but I tend to go backwards a little bit. I still will put on Michael Hedges’ Breakfast in the Field or those Leo Kottke records. I’m fully embracing my New Age nerd status.

I still have a huge love for country blues and ragtime, too. I spent a lot of time learning Mississippi John Hurt stuff.

FJ: Well, you did it. Even with your differing music tastes, you made a really cool, mostly instrumental acoustic guitar record. It’s almost unheard of to pull that off.

CB: Yeah, we were joking with someone else that we made the record we knew no one wanted, but we wanted to do. When I play with Tyler, I feel that spark and that challenge always and I get energy out of it. I’m just excited for people to hear the album and they can make what they want out of it.

Listen to Celestun here.

The post Interview: Tyler Ramsey and My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel on ‘Celestun’ first appeared on Fretboard Journal.