Champ Pix!!!

[pbradt]

I still have to install its new speaker (arriving Tuesday) and maybe a bright cap on the #1 input, the Champ is finito.

Check it out. Feel free to snipe about how crappy the board is. ;)

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/champ-controls.jpg

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/champ-board.jpg

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/champtele.jpg

[TRandy16]

Check it out. Feel free to snipe about how crappy the board is. ;)


Not from me big guy. My first thought was that you did a heck of a nice job.

Very cool amp!

[Lanceaman]

cool, I wanna make one.

[pbradt]

cool, I wanna make one.If you do, PM me, I know a few things you can do to make 'em better. I learned a lot building this (my first build).

[derek_32999]

Crap, I am gonna have to finish my kit. Why dont you post what you learned to make them better? It sure would help me out! Also, if you could post some more clips of the wiring of the tube sockets and in/out jacks and pots? Where did you get that kit from?

[Dave C]

Your Champ looks like a Champ in my book. Looks real good, hope it sounds even better. What speaker ya waitin' for ?
Far be it from me to snipe on your board....if it works good it is good and you already know what you did well and what you could improve anyway.......and it's all knowledge to take with you to your next build.......hmmm , maybe a 5E3 ?
Good Job,
Dave C

[adlibmusic]

pbradt - that looks great!!! way better than this ratty old thing I have.....

Old Champ9 (http://adlibmusic.net/57champ/champ9.jpg)
Old Champ1 (http://adlibmusic.net/57champ/champ1.jpg)

:D

[pbradt]

pbradt - that looks great!!! way better than this ratty old thing I have.....

Old Champ9 (http://adlibmusic.net/57champ/champ9.jpg)
Old Champ1 (http://adlibmusic.net/57champ/champ1.jpg)

:DAre you kidding? Yours is BEAUTIFUL! I bet it sounds great, too!

As old as those electrolytics are, you may want to consider re-capping. Those look like originals.


Great amp, man!

[adlibmusic]

Are you kidding? Yours is BEAUTIFUL! I bet it sounds great, too!

As old as those electrolytics are, you may want to consider re-capping. Those look like originals.


Great amp, man!
Thanks. I'd bet most of the electronics are original. I got this amp in 1970. It was my first amp when I started playing. I got it and a '58 Les Paul Jr., which I don't have anymore, by trading a Hurst 4-speed floor shifter....

[pbradt]

Crap, I am gonna have to finish my kit. Why dont you post what you learned to make them better? It sure would help me out! Also, if you could post some more clips of the wiring of the tube sockets and in/out jacks and pots? Where did you get that kit from?Marsh Amps. Mike helped me over the phone a lot. The printed instructions were pretty marginal for me. I'd like to see someone do a real step-by-step.

The speaker I have coming is a Jensen RI P8R. I'd buy an Eminence if they made an 8" Alnico, but they don't. I'll hook my iPod up to it, face it into my bed , turn it up and run it for about eight hours. It'll be nice and broken in after that. ;)

I'll do you one better than that, I'll post everything I learned (all I can remember after working on cars, one of my least favorite things to do)

Before building, make sure you have all the parts. I didn't get a power cord. If you have two tables, lay your parts out on one and your board and tools on the other.

A digital multimeter is a good idea. I have a $20 Radio Shack model that served me fine. Some will say you need a $300 Fluke but they're full of ****. Back in the '50s, all they had was analog and those amps sounded pretty damn good.

Measure the resistance of each resistor, don't use color coding. Bend the tangs and get the resistors and wires into place, one component at a time. I started on the right and worked left. Solder the wires to the tube sockets as you go. I didn't and paid an emotional price (frustration) for it.

When you're placing the wires on the back of the board, tape them down until you're done soldering. I DIDN'T do that and the cussing factor went up by an order of magnitude. I was dumb enough to think of it after the board was finished.

You can solder grounds or bolt them to tube socket hold-downs and power-transformer hold-downs. In a larger chassis, I'd simply mount a few grounding lugs (with about three terminals per) and solder all ground to those. It's important to NOT ground different sections of the amp at the same place, as this will introduce noise Power supply grounds to the power transformer, output to the octal socket for the 6V6, preamp to the 9-pin hold-downs.

I don't know if this is a great grounding scheme, it's probably not, but the amp is pretty quiet. Even with a 75-watt gun, I couldn't get the chassis hot enough to solder.

One thing to know is the 5F1 champ does not call for a capacitor on the far right resistor, even though the 5E1 does. Get the cap. This is a mistake on the part of Fender way back when. Even if you're not using a Weber kit, go to their site and D/L their wiring diagram. It's much better, easier to read and calls for a cap on that part of the circuit.

When I first fired mine up, it was VERY dark. Like the tone knob was on about 3, on the guitar. I spoke with Curt Emery (my amp tech for several years, www.emerysound.com (http://www.emerysound.com)) who suggested trying several values of cap as the difference would be subtle, not gross. I settled on a 4.7uf electrolytic (has to be electrolytic) and I'll see how it sounds with the RI Jensen P8R I have coming. If it's still darker than I like I'll put a bright cap on the volume control, like a DR has .

I asked for Mallory 150 coupling caps on the advice of a friend. He said they sound better. Marsh exchanged them with no upcharge so it was a wash.

One other thing - if I ever do this again, I won't buy a kit, I'll just go to Hoffman and buy the chassis, caps, and resistors, and hardware, Mojo for the cabinet, fuseholder, pilot lamp (NOS) and misc. parts, JMI music for Mercury Magnetics transformers and JJ tubes. I'll get a board from turretboards.com. No more eyelets for me.

If you have questions, fire away, but if you're not a gear pager, PM me, as once the Gear Page is back up, I'll be over there. I'm not a PRS guy, I'm a http://www.guitarpete.net/images/tele.jpg guy.

[derek_32999]

+1 on the weber wiring diagram. It kinda confused me at first, cause mojo's wiring diagram was different, but it is all better now. How does your tele sound through that sucker? That is what I bought mine for.

[pbradt]

+1 on the weber wiring diagram. It kinda confused me at first, cause mojo's wiring diagram was different, but it is all better now. How does your tele sound through that sucker? That is what I bought mine for.Can't *really* say for sure because I'm getting a new speaker for it. however, I did plug it into one of the 10" speakers in my 4x10 Bassman and it was freakin GODLIKE with my Tele.

Maybe still just a tad dark but the Jensen speaker may fix that. If it doesn't, a 150pf ceramic cap on the volume pot will brighten it up just fine.