champ style kits

[Guest]

ive searched a little bit and there seems to be a lot of different kits available for champ style amps. anyone have any good suggestions?

 

[soundguy]

my suggestion, unless for some reason you are really set on a champ, is to build a deluxe...

Mission amps puts together a good deluxe kit based on the 5E3 circuit. A champ is cool, but a 5E3 is something else...

Dave

 

[Bear]

The 5E3 is great, but can still be loud for some. I'd like that preamp section with a SE power section, but the PI might be part of the tone.

Allen Amps has an updated version of the Class Act kit.
http://www.allenamps.com/parts.html#5FCA

WeberVST has a Tweed Champ kit, and some variants. (The 5F2 should probably be good for a bit more headroom and more solid bass.)
https://weberspeakerscom.secure.powweb.com/store/kitord_r.htm

Marsh Amps is another vendor.
http://www.marshamps.com/kits.html

The Champ and the closely related tweed Princeton are pretty easy circuits, but can sound quite excellent. Most small SE amps by other makers of that era (Gibson, Gretsch, Supro, et al.) are pretty similar, almost all with the same tube complement. I haven't checked, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're all based on the same example circuits supplied by the tube vendors. For a step by step how-to for the 5F2 Princeton that doesn't require buying a kit, look at Steve Angela's DIY section:
http://www.angela.com/

Interesting variants: use an octal dual triode, like in earlier Champs and other tweed Fenders. Gerald Weber's first book is pretty good at cataloging all the revisions of the tweed era amps, so those schematics which he includes might spark something. Another variant is to use an EF-86 pentode input, as used on a bunch of old Vox amps. This tube wasn't used in the famed "Top Boost" preamp channel, but that doesn't mean it sucks at all - Matchless used a derivative of the older EF-86 circuit in the famed DC-30. CJenrick uses the EF-86 (I think) in an odd grid-leak bias arrangement that he really likes, and I think the info might even have made it to this site.

For general guitar amp DIY, www.firebottle.com/ampage is a good resource. although there are certainly some folks here who are game.

Bear

 

[Guest]

im gonna have to spend some time checking this sort of stuff out. i feel as unknowledgeable as i did when i first started looking at microphones.

are cabinets hard to build that look and sound good? are there any web sites for that kind fo stuff?

are things like reverb and tremolo hard to build into these sorts of amps?

 

[Gus]

I have made a champ style amp from an old tube SE pa amp. They are getting harder to find now.

 

[Bear]

[quote author="chikkenguy"]im gonna have to spend some time checking this sort of stuff out. i feel as unknowledgeable as i did when i first started looking at microphones.

are cabinets hard to build that look and sound good? are there any web sites for that kind fo stuff?

are things like reverb and tremolo hard to build into these sorts of amps?[/quote]

There is a cabinet building forum on the WeberVST website.

Reverb and trem aren't really Champ attributes, and part of the problem is that the usual topologies require a bit more circuit than that. There is one topology that does grab a little juice off the OT to drive a reverb pan, but there are many limitations to doing this. If you want just trem, you might look at the Vibro Champ, the tweed Tremolux, or the Vox AC-4, though I'm not aware of any kits available. There are some more blackface fender style kits, like Allen amps does derivatives, though Mojo does kits.

A cool alternative is to do a Fender style outboard reverb, or WeberVST does have that kit for reverb with tube vibrato, though I think that circuit might actually be a vibrato, instead of vibrato in the Fender sense. (Leo though pitch fluctuation was tremolo, volume fluctuation vibrato. Well, mostly.)

Bear

 

[Guest]

thanks. thats a good starting point.

 

[EZ81]

Also check out the P1 at www. ax84.com, a kit is available. Not very fender, though.

;Matthias

 

[soundguy]

jeff swanson just built me a cab that is great and was very affordable considering it was a totally custom job.

http://www.swansoncabinets.com/

Unless you are a wood person, I would suggest trying to purchase a prefab cab made by someone who knows what is going on, especially so if you plan on using your amp for recording. A cabinet holds a speaker which is one big vibration generator, if your dove joints arent right, the cab is gonna rattle and not flatter the recording and eventually, over time, fall apart. Dont be fooled by a champ, its still going to be loud, certainly loud enough to rattle apart a poorly made cab over time. I think a 5E3 is rated under 20 watts. An ampeg V4 is one of the loudest amps I have ever stood in front of. The 5E3 I built has no problem volume wise standing up next to the v4....

Champs sound cool, but kinda have "little" amp thing, even when you put them into a 4x12. I think weber makes a chasis, you can just throw it together on your own after that, there arent really many parts and certainly nothing esoteric about it. Hoffman amps is a great source for tidbits for making guitar amps and reasonably priced too.

dave