Build a champ!

Milkmansound · Post by **Milkmansound** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 9:29 am

A friend of mine found a broken Fender Frontman 15 on the street and gave it to me to repair - rather than do that, I gutted the whole thing and I am building a point to point Champ into it.

Technically, its a Princeton because its got a tone knob.

I spent a few hours on sunday drilling out my 2" aluminum chassis and mounting the sockets and components. Last night I started putting components in and wiring.

Here are some pictures of where I am at - I am going to try and finish it off tonight! You can't see the cute little 8" Jensen speaker - I will post more pics as I go:

ubertar · Post by **ubertar** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 9:55 am

Awesome. I've always wanted to make a clone of my tweed champ. It looks so simple. The tricky part is finding the right transformers.

tubetapexfmr · Post by **tubetapexfmr** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 10:56 am

ubertar wrote:The tricky part is finding the right transformers.

You can get cheap, similar to original transformers from Triode Electronics or way better than stock from Mercury Magnetics. Both made in USA!

Nice work by the way.

Milkmansound · Post by **Milkmansound** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 3:47 pm

I am using mercury transformers for power and output.

Its a really simple circuit! All of the parts fit into a quart sized plastic takeout container that I got a noodle soup in.

My roommate builds amps and sold me all of the parts - I am using all new old stock carbon comp resistors, mercury iron, etc. We decided to go with the big can cap 20-20-100 to curb noise. I am really looking forward to hearing this little guy - I bet its going to be really loud for how little it is!

I've never built anything point to point before - usually I do solid state stuff on circuit boards. This is a lot of fun.

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 5:42 pm

I would love to build one of those. Scared of the tubes though! Need to get some more DIY under my belt. . .

Milkmansound · Post by **Milkmansound** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 10:51 pm

ok - the amp is done! It sounds amazing! We added some oomph to the midrange to give it extra crunch by the way of 2 20mfd caps, but otherwise its all stock.

Here are some more pics - when I get back from my tour I'll post some video or something so we can hear how it sounds.

All wired up:

This is the amp right after I finished wiring and put the chicken head knobs on:

Testing voltages - all good! 444.44VDC on the filter cap, and its pulling about 40mA while idle. Perfect!

Rear shot showing the little speaker:

All that noise from such a tiny amp!

tubetapexfmr · Post by **tubetapexfmr** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 8:29 am

Scared of the tubes though!

Don't be scarerd, just be careful. If you discharge your power supply caps and don't work on it while plugged in, you're all set!

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:10 am

I envy you being able to pull that off. Good job, man.

terryb · Post by **terryb** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:07 am

awesome job!
I've been itching to build a champ for a few months now just so I can begin exploring amp circuits. I've considered buying a kit, but that's like $400-500.

Milkmansound · Post by **Milkmansound** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:51 pm

Screw the kit - this cost $100!

You can use any old junk cabinet. Buy a peavey on craigslist and gut it.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 6:08 pm

Looks sweet!

germaniac · Post by **germaniac** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 11:26 am

Milkmansound wrote: Buy a peavey on craigslist and gut it.

Hey, don't be knocking my USA-made Peavey! Be patriotic and gut some Chinese POS. . . .

(BTW, NICE WORK!)

Milkmansound · Post by **Milkmansound** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:45 pm

ha!

no worries - I have a Peavey Session 400 that I use for pedal steel. Gorgeous sounding amp! Wouldn't touch it with a guitar though.

I retract my statement - find a *Behringer* amp and gut it

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:03 pm

Can you provide a BOM or something for how you pulled this off for $100? I kinda can't believe it. It looks like $20 worth of just knobs to me, but I'm not super versed in this stuff.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:28 am

Mojo Music supply has complete Champ kits including the box, chassis, innards, everything.

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Build a champ!

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