1972 Fender Champ project

[ron vogel]

I recently got fed up messing around with my tone...and started searching for a clean, vintage Fender.

I picked up this '72 Champ off craigslist for a mere $200...but clean it was not...in fact it looked brown, like it was sitting under a porch for 30 years! It worked, but was in poor shape.

I disassembled the amp and got to work on it. I wiped down the inside/outside of the cabinet with a sponge and water. Then a mild scrub brush and thinned out soft scrub. I repainted the baffle and inside of the cab with flat black, and got a repop of the tube chart (there was practically just a corner left of the original).

The original speaker is blown, and the basket is rusted pretty well. I put a Weber alnico in it (s version).

I rubbed the tolex with vasoline, and let it set for about a week before wiping off the excess. It is still pretty shiny in some of the pics, but it will take a month to settle back down. Vasoline does wonders to old plastics/rubber. Gives it back the essential oils it needs to look newer.

I cleaned up the Fender badge, and added new hardware.

I decided to pull the old board, pots, cord, and jacks. I got a nice turret board, and selected the caps/resistors I thought would be best for what I was looking for out of the amp. Rewired the whole deal, and used the original tubes.

Worked the first flip of the new switch with no issues. Nice and quiet. I almost forgot the beauty of the 'Tele twang. This amp has such a detailed and crisp high-end without being icepicky.

Can't wait to hear it once it's all broken/burned in, it sounds fantastic already!

I wish I could find a replacement control plate for it, but all that seems available are the blackface ones.

I bagged and tagged all the original parts, but this amps a keeper!

[pchilson]

Wow! Nice job.
Did you replace the screws and trim rings for the back panels and if so where did you get them?

[ron vogel]

I got them from McMaster, and I replaced them all with stainless. If you need some shoot me a PM...I have many sizes; these are a #6 screw. It'll save you from having to buy 100+ of them.

[Gunny]

Nice restoration job inside and out. I'd recommend resoldering the 6V6 bias cathode capacitor to create an air gap between it and the resistor. The cathode resistor gets really hot and cooks the life out of the cap. When that happens the output volume will drop off.
I've seen the (white, original) cap split open like a hot dog bun from the heat. When I measured its capacitance there was none!

[ron vogel]

I'll see if I can come up with a solution for that, thanks for the info. I left a little gap on all of them, but not too much. I am getting a little hum, but nothing too bad. I have the heater wires laying on the chassis, and plan on elevating them. Also, I used a cap can with 20/20/20/40uf...I can probably use the 40uf on the filter caps to get rid of the rest of the hum, but used the 20's to keep the original design. When I was taking the original parts out, there was an extra ceramic cap going arcross 2 terminals on the 6V6 not in the schematic. I'm assuming this was a CBS mod done for the Silverface models. I left it out, but curious if anyone knows what it's for?

I have a few leftovers from the Champ build and put them up on my ebay store if anyone is interested...plus the other geeky crap I tend to acquire...lol
Fogelsang Studio items - Get great deals on Tubes, Amplifier Parts items on eBay Stores!

[bigsmitty]

Yes the cap on the 6v6 was a CBS mod to help prevent oscillations, and it is on the CBS schematic.

[bob p]

Like Gunny said, the 6V6 cathode resistor tends to cook the cathode cap. I think its probably the most common failiure mode in Champs, so its a good idea to space them as far apart as you can.

[madkatb]

Liked your comment about the Vaseline on the tolex. I've been using carpet cleaner, the kind that foams, to get rid of the worst of the grunge and then rubbing in dubbin (didn't have any Vaseline at the time I first did it) and wiping it down. Works well but I'll try the Vaseline. Brake cleaner spray works well on the chassis and doesn't appear to harm anything.
You did a great job on that restoration!

[ron vogel]

Thanks, I didn't think of brake cleaner. I used 0000 steel wool and Pledge multi-surface cleaner. The last chassis I did, well; I sandblasted it to bare metal. A local shop copper, then triple nickel plated it for me...it looked brand new! (best part is the shop foreman had a guitar player son, and did it pro bono)

I wanted to keep the factory stampings, so a mild cleaner was all I used...a little tip though: The pledge is milder than water! I use it to clean old tubes. I can get them clean w/o removing the silkscreen (but you still have to keep a light touch)

[ron vogel]

A little bump here. Working on a recording, and just got a bunch of the Electric guitars done on. I used the Champ, and my '95 Am Std Tele for all of it, except some "dive bomb" guitar at the end, where I used my old Epiphone into the Champ dimed.

Signal chain was a Shure SM57 on the grille, and a Audio Technica AT4050 a few inches back. I used a few different mic'ing techniques when I was going for certain tones. I used a modded Cry-Baby on a few tracks, but that's it for the basics. I'm just using the mic pre's in my Mackie onyx satellite. I have a phaser on a few tracks for effects in my recording system (Sonar 8), and the usual delays/reverb to create space.

It's the work up so far, still need to add the horns and vocals before I mix it. Please note; this is just a rough mix so far!
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[AllenBradley]

"Armor All" is another great tolex cleaner / restorer.

[martyi]

Hey Ron...I just picked up a 71 Fender Champ. I like the job you did on it. I'm going to have to do a cap job. Where did you get the parts?
thanks.

[ron vogel]

Most of the stuff I got from Mouser or digikey.

Funny you should mention...the amp just crapped out on me, and I'm trying to diagnose it. Volume started dropping with power chord strikes, then it just got quiet (this happened over the course of a week). I just put in a hyeboer OT, and no change.

[Gunny]

My first task for troubleshooting those symptoms would be to drop in a new 6V6.

[ron vogel]

Replaced all the tubes, tried different speakers, didn't fix it. When it's turned off it gets loud then shuts down...I'm stumped. Everything but the PT is new now, so something went south. Just don't know a good place to start checking.