VoM 160 / 5E3 / Champ II?

[dream_of_sky]

I have a VM 160 that I converted to a 5E3 & want to try something new.

Anyone tried the rivera designed champ ii ckt?

treb, bass, master, right tube complement, small enough to fit in VM chassis using pt-to-pt wiring.

I was thinking of keeping the tube rect & cathode bias from my current build. If its too squishy i'll change it.

i have high output dimarzio SDs which i can parallel, but i'm wondering if the champ ii preamp might have trouble staying clean with the extra gain stage in there. Any experience with this preamp & humbuckers?

[txstrat]

Hello to the forum.
I built one and it's a great (little) amp. Mine has cathode bias too and it makes the amp sound smoother than fixed bias. Jensen C10Q.
I added a mid control pot (25k, not 10k) to dial in even more midrange when the mid boost is switched on. Great boogie like sounds.
Loud enough for rehearsals or club gigs with a straight drummer.

The amp stays clean (mid boost off) up to 4 on the dial and starts to growl from there. Full open you get a great sustain. With mid boost on it starts to grind earlier.

This amp is absolutely versatile and great sounding. To add even more versatility you could add a switch for the third gain stage to switch it in and out the circuit.
That would give you a standard BF preamp with only two 12AX7 stages with a switchable third stage for lead sounds.

I higly recommend this circuit.

[dream_of_sky]

good to know you had success with cathode bias. Less to change.

couple of curiosities..

on that circuit are all pots audio taper 'cept for master? i read that fender used all linear since early 80, but that may be an amazing internet fact.

also, did you check diffs with super champ clean chl? perhaps little tweaks to give a cleaner lower gain tone. might go there instead of adding switching.

[txstrat]

The audio taper pots react smoother all over the adjustment range . The change in value is not as abrupt as with a linear pot on the first half of the whole way. Therefore they are easier to set IMHO.

The channel of the Super Champ is basically the same with the exception, that a 6C10 tube (three triodes in one housing) is used for third gain stage, reverb recovery and PI. The values of the triodes in a 6C10 are quite the same as in a 12AX7. If at all, the difference in tone would be subtle.

If you go for clean I'd suggest to leave the third gain stage OFF the circuit. That way the amp will provide more clean headroom (mid pot not over 5 on the dial). Unless you crank the amp and get power amp saturation.

You could switch the third stage in for lead tones and versatility, anyway.