SF Champ lost headroom

[kurisurokku]

Hi everyone, I'm pretty new to amp troubleshooting and brand new to this forum, so bear with me .

I'm having a problem with my Silverface Fender Champ that I can't seem to find an answer for. I know that Champs are not known for their headroom, but it seems that I have almost completely lost my clean sounds from mine.

I used to very happy with the clean tone of my Champ, it used to begin to break up at around 5, and it sounded great clean or overdriven. I would use it for practicing mostly jazz, keep it around 3 or 4 and then crank it once in a while when I could. I noticed a while ago that it was starting to get a bit dirty, particularly when playing complex chords like M13's and so on, even when it's at 3 volume. Also, when I turn it up a bit, the overdriven sound is not as musical as it used to be, sit sounds a fair bit harsher.

Here's what I tried:
* I tried different guitars (some single coil, some humbucker) and it didn't seem to make a difference
* I tried some different tubes and it sounded a bit different but still seemed to lack that clean sound
* I just did a recap (everything but the filter cap). This was not meant to fix the headroom problem, just 'cause I had the parts and it was time to do it.

I'm not trying to make my Champ into a clean-machine, I just want that nice clean low volume tone back. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[acorkos]

check the resistors connected to pins 4 and 8 of your 6V6...make sure they are not open or shorted. and check the 100k plate resistors on pins 1 and 6 of the 12ax7


http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/schem/ch...764_layout.gif

[kurisurokku]

Thanks for the reply, acorkos. I got in there and checked all of the resistor values, they were all fine. I put in a different (newer) 6V6 and played it for a bit, and it sounded better. I didn't get to turn it up much because I live in an apartment, and it was midnight ;-). But I think maybe it was the power tube, I'll be able to check it more tonight.