Pics of my Champ head (finally).

JohnnyCrash · May 10th, 2006, 02:18 AM

Finally got my hands on a digital camera. The picture quality SUCKS, but still, even a butchered tweed cab a little blurry from a poor photographer's eye (mine) always still looks good to me :)

The front:

Yeah, I know I'm slamming the tube's plates with high voltage without letting them warm up without any Standby switch (and with a faster voltage throwing SS rectifier)... but, it's a Champ, I've got to retain the primitive simplicity :)

The back:

I got a 3 way impedance switch for my speaker output, and a "High/Low Power" mode switch for changing the bias for either a 6V6, or a 6L6 or EL34 power tube.

It's got a 10 watt output transformer. It's got a JJ 6L6 power tube in it on this picture, as well as an ElectroHarmonix 12AX7 preamp tube.

I got more pics of different stuff in my user's galleries, just don't laugh at how ugly I look in em!

JohnnyCrash · May 10th, 2006, 02:24 AM

Oh, and I'll probably put a metal grill or some sort of protective back panel on her, I just don't know which one would look cooler.

JohnnyCrash · May 10th, 2006, 05:16 AM

Now to "field test" this thing at next band rehearsal...

I doubt a 10 watter could do gigs, but at home it is LOUD as h e l l, so you never know!!

Now to build a pine home for my 5D8 tweed Twin and finish my TS808 Tubescreamer clone.

WITH THE TUBES:
6V6 - raunchy "bulldog" tone. Johnny B Goode to the bone. Likes P90s.

6L6 - tons of bass, nice and big sounding. Both bright and bassy. Likes my Les Pauls or Telecasters.

EL34 - smooth midrange. Good for classic rock with less bass and brightness than the 6L6.

CLEAN:
Sounds great. A little compressed due to it's headroom, but depending on the power tube used and volume setting, you can get bright crystal clear to warm and full.

DIRTY:
Every tube sounds awesome in this thing! Balls to the wall. The feedback this thing gets is so cool sounding. Adds nice power tube saturated sustain for blues or rock. The reason Champs are prefered for "home crankers" is for it's fat overdrive.

For home recording it's a Jekyl and Hyde - great cleans or big dirty, all in one amp.

bluehonky · May 10th, 2006, 09:29 AM

Finally! The suspense has been killing me!

They look great, man. Great job. Makes me want to give it a try and get one of those kits. I'm just afraid that if I start with a champ, I won't be able to stop.

Again, great job on you builds.

Sidney Vicious · May 10th, 2006, 09:34 AM

That thing looks very cool. 8)

Your design? That is unreal!

Congratulations!

(edited to ask: Are you Slash and Kirchen gigantic? or is Jim Marshall really short? LOL)

getbent · May 10th, 2006, 11:04 AM

muy bien! it is multo groovy looking amigo!

JohnnyCrash · May 10th, 2006, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sidney Vicious

(edited to ask: Are you Slash and Kirchen gigantic? or is Jim Marshall really short? LOL)

HAHA, Jim was sitting down.

I take terrible photos... half of em I looked homeless (haircut?), in the other half I've got a dumb look on my face!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sidney Vicious

Your design? That is unreal!

It's pretty much just a standard tweed circuit Champ, except I modded it a little bit:
I used a 10watt multitapped OT for switchable 4, 8, or 16 ohm cabs and more headroom (especially with a 6L6 or EL34)... and it's got a selectable Cathdode bias switch for dropping in a 6L6 or EL34.

bluehonky, I've never used a kit yet (although I've got a TS808 Tubescreamer kit getting here UPS today)... but if you're going to build from a kit - you'll have a lot less headaches! But then again, kits for head units for old combo based amps may not be readily available.

I've finished my tweed Twin head (the '54 5D8 20watt) too.

My Reverb build was the closest to using a kit - although I sourced all of the parts myself (caps, resistors, etc) I got a prepunched fiber eyelet board from Mojo and I got a W*b*r chassis and his Reverb transformer/choke set for the 'verb... was less than happy with his customer service (to put it mildly)... so I'm never going back to him.

ol man · May 11th, 2006, 05:08 AM

I'm sure that little baby sounds great with that
meatyish ot and all.
Nice job!
Esthetically, I would have prefered a totally clean front with no
controls. Always cool to se that pilot lamp gleamin' read though.
So I'm torn... 8)

JohnnyCrash · May 11th, 2006, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ol man

I'm sure that little baby sounds great with that
meatyish ot and all.
Nice job!
Esthetically, I would have prefered a totally clean front with no
controls. Always cool to se that pilot lamp gleamin' read though.
So I'm torn... 8)

You mean with the volume knob on the back?

That would've been cool!

Maybe on the next one. I built one for a buddy... it seems I'm always building my freak Champ head for people now :)

captain gorgeous · May 11th, 2006, 09:12 AM

i have a question though. how come you made the head so high? looks like there's plenty of spare head (huh!) room in there.

boneshaker335 · May 11th, 2006, 09:22 AM

Hi,

which cathode resistor value did you select for the 6l6?

Pete

bluehonky · May 11th, 2006, 09:24 AM

Plenty of room to swap tubes out?

petebradt · May 11th, 2006, 10:43 AM

When are you going to shellac the tweed?

David Barnett · May 11th, 2006, 01:26 PM

Get a 1/4-round edge-trimmer bit for your router, so you can round off those pointy corners.

CancerLeoCam · May 11th, 2006, 02:00 PM

Great job! Any chassis pics?

JohnnyCrash · May 11th, 2006, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by captain gorgeous

i have a question though. how come you made the head so high? looks like there's plenty of spare head (huh!) room in there.

I sort of threw the dimensions together, and I wanted some extra room for the big bottle 6L6s to pull em and put em in... I may have gone a little too big :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneshaker335

Hi,

which cathode resistor value did you select for the 6l6?

Pete

If memory serves me (the amp I finished a while back, the cab I just now finished), a 250ohm alongside the 25uF cap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by petebradt

When are you going to shellac the tweed?

After I've built a cab for my newly built 5D8 Twin head. I got my TS808 Tubescreamer kit yesterday and finished it last night... That'll get a coat of paint after all of the cabs are built and shellac'ed :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Get a 1/4-round edge-trimmer bit for your router, so you can round off those pointy corners.

I forget what radius bit I used on the edges, but like I said, this cab was butchered. The fingerjoints and edges weren't as nice as my Reverb cab build... the corners got a smaller radius on this cab since the fingerjoints were a little hairy. Now that it's skinned in tweed, no more woodworking on this one :)

Like I said though, I'm learning how to work with wood a lot better after those two cabs. My tweed'ing skills need more work too :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by CancerLeoCam

Great job! Any chassis pics?

I forgot to do that when I finished the chassis, I was so excited I found a camera after the cab build that I forgot to take some! I haven't bolt mounted the chassis into the cab yet, so I'll pull her out and take some...

Until then, here's a brain snapshot to keep you waiting, I used the red swirl board, blue and black Sprague Atom electrlytic caps, and yellow Mallory caps... I like how all of the colors in these old builds look so cool together. I could stare at amp guts all day!

Mind you, I'm not a professional builder like you CancerLeoCamp, so my chassis pics will be a little more sloppy than you're used to! So don't judge me too harshly!

a42 · May 11th, 2006, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

Maybe on the next one. I built one for a buddy... it seems I'm always building my freak Champ head for people now :)

You decide you want to build some more I don't think you'll have any problem finding takers. Looks good and I bet it sounds even better.

CancerLeoCam · May 11th, 2006, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

Mind you, I'm not a professional builder like you CancerLeoCamp, so my chassis pics will be a little more sloppy than you're used to! So don't judge me too harshly!

Heya, don't be so quick there. I'm not a pro if my amps don't sell.

Don't worry, I'm always interested in the choice of materials and the beauty of the chassis layout. It's art to me. 8)

It doesn't have to be perfect. Hell, I've seen some guys that AREN'T pros that make me look like I'm in kindergarten. Kinda depresses me a bit but it motivates me to be more keen. We all learn from each other.

JohnnyCrash · May 11th, 2006, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CancerLeoCam

Heya, don't be so quick there. I'm not a pro if my amps don't sell. :cry:

Don't worry, I'm always interested in the choice of materials and the beauty of the chassis layout. It's art to me. 8)

It doesn't have to be perfect. Hell, I've seen some guys that AREN'T pros that make me look like I'm in kindergarten. Kinda depresses me a bit but it motivates me to be more keen. We all learn from each other.

Don't be so modest, your cabs look VERY good. Nice and clean and neat... hopefully I can get to that level soon myself!

It's a hard market to break into... sales reflect nothing on craftsmanship... if you feel like you're in "kindergarten" you'll get a kick out of my "preschool" work! HAHA

The best marketing you have is to use your own stuff onstage... the sound will grab the musicians in the crowd and make them want one of your amps... make giant faceplate logos with spolights on them! HAHA

CancerLeoCam · May 11th, 2006, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

Don't be so modest, your cabs look VERY good. Nice and clean and neat... hopefully I can get to that level soon myself!

Well, I don't build the cabs. I have a supplier for those who does great work. I have a metal fab place do the chassis for me and I install, wire (solder)and test everything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

It's a hard market to break into... sales reflect nothing on craftsmanship... if you feel like you're in "kindergarten" you'll get a kick out of my "preschool" work! HAHA

The best marketing you have is to use your own stuff onstage... the sound will grab the musicians in the crowd and make them want one of your amps... make giant faceplate logos with spolights on them! HAHA

Yeah, now if I can only find a few poor unsuspecting individuals to grab a bass and a drum kit and I'd be well on my way! I've installed a Weber Cali 15" in the amps and they sound awesome. FWIW, I would recommend them as a speaker. They're brighter than the Jensen RI's.

Johnny, we'll have to get together at some point and play some gi-tar.

May 10th, 2006, 02:18 AM	#1 (permalink)
JohnnyCrash Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lost Angeles and Orange County Posts: 7,128	Pics of my Champ head (finally). Finally got my hands on a digital camera. The picture quality SUCKS, but still, even a butchered tweed cab a little blurry from a poor photographer's eye (mine) always still looks good to me :) The front: Yeah, I know I'm slamming the tube's plates with high voltage without letting them warm up without any Standby switch (and with a faster voltage throwing SS rectifier)... but, it's a Champ, I've got to retain the primitive simplicity :) The back: I got a 3 way impedance switch for my speaker output, and a "High/Low Power" mode switch for changing the bias for either a 6V6, or a 6L6 or EL34 power tube. It's got a 10 watt output transformer. It's got a JJ 6L6 power tube in it on this picture, as well as an ElectroHarmonix 12AX7 preamp tube. I got more pics of different stuff in my user's galleries, just don't laugh at how ugly I look in em!

May 10th, 2006, 11:04 AM	#6 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Posts: 10,587 37 Photos	muy bien! it is multo groovy looking amigo! __________________ 'never pet a burning dog'

May 11th, 2006, 09:12 AM	#10 (permalink)
captain gorgeous Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Angel, North London Posts: 1,888 38 Photos	looks way cool i have a question though. how come you made the head so high? looks like there's plenty of spare head (huh!) room in there. __________________ "What is it with chimpanzees and that middle parting? It's so 1920s." www.myspace.com/daddylonglegsuk http://www.myspace.com/thetacticians

May 11th, 2006, 02:00 PM	#15 (permalink)
CancerLeoCam Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mule Deer-Mt. Lion Safari, CA Posts: 1,692 5 Photos	Way to go JC! Great job! Any chassis pics?

May 10th, 2006, 02:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
JohnnyCrash Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lost Angeles and Orange County Posts: 7,128	Oh, and I'll probably put a metal grill or some sort of protective back panel on her, I just don't know which one would look cooler.

May 10th, 2006, 05:16 AM	#3 (permalink)
JohnnyCrash Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lost Angeles and Orange County Posts: 7,128	Now to "field test" this thing at next band rehearsal... I doubt a 10 watter could do gigs, but at home it is LOUD as h e l l, so you never know!! Now to build a pine home for my 5D8 tweed Twin and finish my TS808 Tubescreamer clone. WITH THE TUBES: 6V6 - raunchy "bulldog" tone. Johnny B Goode to the bone. Likes P90s. 6L6 - tons of bass, nice and big sounding. Both bright and bassy. Likes my Les Pauls or Telecasters. EL34 - smooth midrange. Good for classic rock with less bass and brightness than the 6L6. CLEAN: Sounds great. A little compressed due to it's headroom, but depending on the power tube used and volume setting, you can get bright crystal clear to warm and full. DIRTY: Every tube sounds awesome in this thing! Balls to the wall. The feedback this thing gets is so cool sounding. Adds nice power tube saturated sustain for blues or rock. The reason Champs are prefered for "home crankers" is for it's fat overdrive. For home recording it's a Jekyl and Hyde - great cleans or big dirty, all in one amp.

May 10th, 2006, 09:29 AM	#4 (permalink)
bluehonky Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lehigh Valley Posts: 133	Finally! The suspense has been killing me! They look great, man. Great job. Makes me want to give it a try and get one of those kits. I'm just afraid that if I start with a champ, I won't be able to stop. Again, great job on you builds.

May 10th, 2006, 09:34 AM	#5 (permalink)
Sidney Vicious Tele-Afflicted Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Posts: 1,246 13 Photos	That thing looks very cool. 8) Your design? That is unreal! Congratulations! (edited to ask: Are you Slash and Kirchen gigantic? or is Jim Marshall really short? LOL)

May 11th, 2006, 05:08 AM	#8 (permalink)
ol man Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sweden Posts: 255	I'm sure that little baby sounds great with that meatyish ot and all. Nice job! Esthetically, I would have prefered a totally clean front with no controls. Always cool to se that pilot lamp gleamin' read though. So I'm torn... 8)

May 11th, 2006, 09:22 AM	#11 (permalink)
boneshaker335 TDPRI Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 65	Hi, which cathode resistor value did you select for the 6l6? Pete

May 11th, 2006, 09:24 AM	#12 (permalink)
bluehonky Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lehigh Valley Posts: 133	Plenty of room to swap tubes out?

May 11th, 2006, 10:43 AM	#13 (permalink)
petebradt Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Niner Country Posts: 3,519 12 Photos	When are you going to shellac the tweed?

May 11th, 2006, 01:26 PM	#14 (permalink)
David Barnett Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: LIttle Rock, AR Age: 52 Posts: 5,491	Get a 1/4-round edge-trimmer bit for your router, so you can round off those pointy corners.