Fender Champ

[indysmith]

The reissues have a totally different circuit, and sound thinner and buzzier and noisier (sound okay on cleans, but the breakup doesn't please me so much).
For this reason I've been looking for a cheap (really cheap!) old one or a reissue faithful to the original circuit, but they're all SO expensive.
This is annoying as I've seen pictures of the circuit and it's sooo simple; literally like 20 components! If i can't get someone at Uni to show me how to build one, does anyone know of anyone making an old champ clone on the cheap?

Also - if you're an amp builder could you PM me a quote or just post one on here for a little tweed champ clone at discount student/internet acquaintance rates ;)

[dave_mc]

i was thinking of making one too. bear in mind this is my time-frame, i've also been thinking of modding my Valve Junior more or less since I got it, and that's about 2 years ago... :lol:

[Twinfan]

Indy - this may help you.

I bought an Epiphone Valve Junior a couple of years ago but I was never truly happy with the tone.  The circuit is a bit naff.  So I got Martin at Martamp to tweak it for me.  He changed the output transformer and tweaked the basic circuit as best he could, plus I swapped the speaker for a Celestion Super 8.  It was OK, but still a bit ragged.  It was limited by the standard circuit of the Valve Junior.

So...............

One trip to Martin and I now have a winter project which consists of:

* Valve Junior Combo box
* Celestion Super 8 speaker
* Valve Junior chassis, stripped of the circuit board and new valve socket holes added
* A Ceriatone Tweed Champ circuit board
* A bunch of parts - valve sockets, nuts, bolts, valve caps, cable etc
* A soldering iron and some fresh solder
* A circuit diagram

That's one route you could take, using a Valve Junior or the Harley Benton equivalent from Thomann, and some parts/diagrams from Ceriatone (plus other sources).

Other than that, you could contact Nik at Ceriatone directly for a quote on a Champ combo.  He's going to be the cheapest 'fully built' option:

http://www.ceriatone.com/productSubPages/AC5F1Champ/AC5F1ChampComplete.htm

[indysmith]

i was thinking of making one too. bear in mind this is my time-frame, i've also been thinking of modding my Valve Junior more or less since I got it, and that's about 2 years ago... :lol:

:P
I just really REALLY can't figure out why nobody makes a reissue!
I don't know that much about amp-building, but going by pictures of the circuit and similarly-priced competition, i'd assume it'd be easy to get a nice champ combo out on sale for less than £100 a pop. It'd be a truly great sounding amp that anyone could afford. You'd sell MILLIONS to beginners and experienced players alike.

[indysmith]

Twinfan your project sounds like exactly the sort of thing I'm interested in!
I'll PM Martin when I figure out my money situation.

[badgermark]

I found a layout online, and would love to try building it. Just need to find some parts and try not to kill myself!

[FernandoDuarte]

http://www.drtube.com/guitamp.htm#Fender
http://www.schematicheaven.com/fender.htm

Get someone to build for you...

EDIT: didn't see the Twinfan post before post mine :lol:
This kit is already ready to work, Twin? like solded...

[dave_mc]

:P
I just really REALLY can't figure out why nobody makes a reissue!
I don't know that much about amp-building, but going by pictures of the circuit and similarly-priced competition, i'd assume it'd be easy to get a nice champ combo out on sale for less than £100 a pop. It'd be a truly great sounding amp that anyone could afford. You'd sell MILLIONS to beginners and experienced players alike.

probably because you couldn't make one for £100, and also because they know that they can get the people who know/care about the original circuit to pay £700 for one, so they will...

[indysmith]

:P
I just really REALLY can't figure out why nobody makes a reissue!
I don't know that much about amp-building, but going by pictures of the circuit and similarly-priced competition, i'd assume it'd be easy to get a nice champ combo out on sale for less than £100 a pop. It'd be a truly great sounding amp that anyone could afford. You'd sell MILLIONS to beginners and experienced players alike.

probably because you couldn't make one for £100, and also because they know that they can get the people who know/care about the original circuit to pay £700 for one, so they will...

They manage to get the current reissue/butcher Champion 600 out there for just over £100 and it has a load more components in it; I doubt the old circuit would be much more expensive to produce than the one they've got going in now.
And people who know/care about the original circuit won't pay £700 if they have any sense. The fact that I know about it means that I've found out that a small-ish company named Ceriatone are selling high quality completed Champs for £170 and making profit! £700's a rip

[tomjackson]

Guitar Amp Builder do a single ended 6v6 amp for about £150.  It's basically a champ with a tonestack but I'm sure they could advise how to install a tonestack defeat.  It costs about £150.  You can then get a flat pack cab of the internet or Torres UK.  Or just keep it as a head.

In fact Torres do a champ kit for about £300 but I'm not sure what it's like....

Indysmith, I share your frustration, the best sounding amps are often the simple ones with only a few quality components and makers are charging the earth for them!

[Twinfan]

It's just business boys, just business.

[HTH AMPS]

Dave's suggestion is probably the best route to take.  I'd replace the OT on the VJ as it's pretty shitee - a Hammond 125ASE would be a suitable and cheap replacement.  Or, there are a number of options from ebay sellers - triode electronics sell some nice OTs wound in the US and the prices are good.  To stay in the UK, VVT Transformers have decent enough prices, however I've not tried their stuff yet (looks nice quality though).

You'd need to punch the chassis to mount the 6V6 socket, but you can buy chassis-punches on ebay for under £20.00

You can get Fender layouts on The Fender Amp Field Guide site, and plenty of places offer Tweed Champ eyelet boards.

I'd take on the work, but I'd want £75.00 in my pocket to do it on top of the cost of parts - theres a fair bit of work in it.

My advice would be to tackle it yourself if you can follow a schematic.

[FernandoDuarte]

Dumb question: What is OT and VJ? transformers?

[FELINEGUITARS]

For a little more power I would look seriously at the Cornell Romany (or it's predecessor - The Stinger)
Runs on a 6L6 single ended class A rather than the 6V6 and gives about 10w
Has a way decent 10" Jensen speaker too and decent valves
Extra controls - Vol, bass and treble and cool/cooking switch (EQ bypass that adds lots of gain)
Does bothblackface and tweed tones
Works great with pedals

I'm selling one in Seconds Out

[FELINEGUITARS]

You couldn't do a champ for £100 unless it was really cheaply made
£100 in a shop =£56 from the distributor= £36 from he manufacturer
Cost of speaker, chassis, trannies, valves, box & covering etc
Dont forget wages for staff, factory rent, electricity and shipping costs, taxes etc
Cant be done.

However a night in the student bar
5 pints =£15+
repeat daily/weekly - adds up quickly

Remember - Really good amp can last a lifetime!