Starting out with a Champ

[yodaeatsfishstx]

So i'm about to buy the parts for my first build and I'm wondering, based on other people's experiences, what is a better way to go for a kit, weber or mojotone?


also, if i grab this

Mojo Amp Kits » z5550001 Tweed Champ Style Small Parts Kit (Caps, Resistors, Screws, Etc.)

will these transformers work?

More Info for item P-T290AX

More Info for item P-T1750C

any other first timer advice would be great! thanks!

[JHow]

I can't compare, because I haven't bought a complete kit from mojotone, though I have bought stuff from them and like them. I found weber okay as kits, but, as with anything you have to know what you are up to. I think the real advantage of a kit lies in the shipping cost. If yousource things from a lot of different places, then you pay more.

To your questions, the transformers you reference will work. If I might suggest some other alternatives, I used musical power supplies OT8SE and OT10SE, which in my view offer more wattage (also extra taps for 4 ohm, 8 ohm, 16 ohm speakers nad taps for primaries if you run other than 6v6 output tube) for less money and sound decent to my ear. I have no relationship with them and am not endorsing them, other than to say that they worked fine for me. Really, with the kit your biggest question on the transformer is will the PT physicallly fit the hole in the chassis. For the OT, it is less critical, but will the holes for the bolts line up? On the OT8SE and the weber 5F2A chassis, the answer is, they do.

[dchang0]

Mojotone is better quality than Weber, IME. My Weber PR kit had bad tube sockets on day one and the tolex peeled off in about a year.

My next build will probably be a 5F1 Champ from Marsh Amps. Marsh's kit may be better than Mojo's. It certainly comes with nice upgrade options.

[Topper]

I have built a Mojotone 5F1 Champ kit and a Weber Re-vibe kit. Both kits were complete with enclosures. Both included upgrades to the capacitors. The Mojotone was just excellent quality with no issues whatsoever. The Weber kit had a few parts that I upgraded on my own (pots, knobs, reverb panel). The Re-vibe was a more difficult build because of the tight space and there are a lot more components and little issues to work out, but overall I am super pleased with the final unit. I would say Mojo is just a little bit better quality than the Weber but both are recommended. Both sound great and look great.

[dchang0]

Yeah, I had to upgrade some of the Weber parts too.

Oh, one other thing: Weber's kits have different dimensions than the original Fender amps. For instance, they were forced to change the chassis and front plate so that the pots are spaced very differently than the original Fender. But there are other subtler differences such as a slightly taller baffle on my 6A14 kit. It seems that most of their clones have been modified just enough to prevent people from building clones and reselling them as the real deal.

But that means you'll have to go back to them for replacement baffles instead of being able to buy true-to-original baffles from any other supplier. So even if you have no intention of building fake Fender amps for resale, you'll find it better to go with other kits than Weber.

[Casey4s]

I scratch built my 5F1 builds, but the MoJo parts kit looks good and the hammonds are a good choice. I used a different OT so I could use an 8 ohm 10" sleaker. All you need is a chassis, cabinet and speaker.

Good luck with your build