Let's build a hopped-up Champ-ish thing

[corliss1]

I have a nibbler but haven't tried it on steel yet. I also had a routing template for aluminum, but I may have accidentally killed it at one point...

 

[corliss1]

Alright, we got some more wired up today. This is about as far as I wanted to get before mounting the controls:

Oh, I guess I lied...I should put the LED in there before the massive switch. It's a Red/Blue common anode (and if you look in the back, you can see a cathode bypass cap/resistor pair prepped):

There we go - it has a home now:

So the massive switch:

4PDT On-Off-On. I wanted to be able to control 4 things with one switch:

-Power
-LED color
-4ohm output attenuation
-8ohm output attenuation

and this guy let's me do that nicely. Let's start adding some things:

Preamp mostly done...

Wires around the pots nicely tucked:

Power wiring added to the switch:

Close-up of the LED and low voltage section:

 

[corliss1]

Now we need to get the attenuator and output section wired. Here's the start of the 4ohm side:

Give them a twist and secure with zip ties:

Same with the 8ohm side - some wire:

Some twisting and zipification:

and suddenly I *think* we have an amp. I also added some heat shrink to the unused OT connections:

Let's get some knobs, and a clear jewel:

and I guess we need some tubes. This one says "amp" right on it, so it's likely the one we need:

I don't have a 6L6 that's nearly as cool...but we'll finish up this build in the next post

 

[printer2]

It is not a Champ if you do not have to build it like a ship in a bottle, way too much room. Mind you, blaming it on the attenuator saying you need the surface area to dissipate the heat, yeah, that will work. The knobs look good with the black face plate.

 

[corliss1]

Alright, it's time to wrap this guy up. Let's start with the bottom plate:

This guy wanted a custom serial number. On my combos, I laser etch it into the wood, but for this we'll just stamp it in:

Let's make a template to mount the feet:

Let's make a second template once you realize you hated the spacing on the first one........

Some pilot holes started for the feet:

Holes drilled, and a mostly-arbitrary 5th hole:

Grind off some metal on the inside of the 5th hole:

Let's add the feet, tall enough to get over any normal-sized cabinet handle:

And connect the ground wire to the main ground. Since it's powdercoated, I wanted to make sure the bottom also had a good ground connection:

 

[corliss1]

The only single tube I had was JJ, so that's what we get here:

but we need a way to cover the tubes now. Fortunately, Hammond makes a perforated cover for this series of chassis. The handle is the most art deco looking option I could find from the kitchen handle aisle at the hardware store:

Let's get my logo on it, and then we're all set!

Here's some better images:

So remember the mega switch and LED? When you have it on the "High" power setting, you get the full power and the LED is Red:

and when the switch is down, it's 1/10 power and blue:

So that's it! It's burning in on the bench for a bit now, and he'll get it later this week. Thanks for following along!

 

[turfdoc]

Wish the people who do 'y-tube' demo videos would take a lesson from you on being concise and clear, while still showing options and pitfalls. Very nice.

 

[Kmanshaman]

Super cool.

 

[Willie Johnson]

I never appreciated how much machining/tool and die work goes into this kind of thing. Congrats on the finished product.

 

[Tjeppen]

Great !!

 

[smoggyama]

Expert work. Expert design, and expert expository. Is a parts list available and do you have a reverb, line out, and an output attenuation design? Are faceplates available for sale? THANK YOU

 

[corliss1]

Nah, no reverb for this guy. That's why there's pedals. Can't have everything in every amp!

 

[NikkiM]

Somebody got an "A" in metal shop.. excellent as always!..
I keep hoping for a build your own Vox V212HWX...speaker cab with blues kit..there's no way I could ever afford $1400.00 to buy one..