The Original Fender Super Champ Club

Hi All
My Super Champ is a 1982 model and I've had it from new. I well remember all of the other Rivera era Fender amps as I worked in my local music shop at the time. I particularly liked the Princeton as well as both Champ types. I wasn't quite so keen on the overdrive offered up by the Deluxe Reverb II and Concert, probably as I've always leaned towards a Marshall style drive sound. I actually bought one of the solid state combos first which suited the band I was in for a while but later traded it for the Super Champ. I can't say it's been my number one amp for all of these years, again, I'm really a Marshall guy, but it it go with me to the grave as it is far to useful to lose!

I've done a few mods to try to make the Character more Marshall in the mids. I fitted a 5 Volt reed relay, operated from the foot-switch to engage the mid boost. I powered the relay from the vactrol supply line. I generally don't have reverb on so I sacrificed the reverb switching for the mid boost function.

I found a website some years ago (can't remember where) with a few mods which I included. Reverb 2000pf to 500pf cap, 4k7 to 6k8, mid resistor, screen grid resistors, 330p with series resistor for mid boost, all snubbers removed and speaker changed for an Eminence Ragin Cajun. I never really bonded with the sound of this speaker so later I built an larger pine cab and fitted a Celestion vintage 30, which was definitely more my thing - apart from the increase in size and weight.

I recently put it all back in the original cabinet and found that my opinion on the Ragin Cajun was coloured by it not being broken in, a process that I found about later. I now find myself really liking the RJ so much so, that I've restored the amp circuit to original (screen grid resistors excepted) to remind me how it sounds with this "new" speaker. Having the original cab does make the amp far more portable, especially on some of the cramped stages I've gigged on. The Vintage 30 is in it's own cab so that itch can be scratched if necessary.

Anyhow, so glad I've found these SC threads, I'll be wading through Bendyha's observations and trying a few mods out once I've re-aquainted myself with my restored amp.

 

Hi Shiney Strings. Welcome to TDPRI- Great to have another SC owner here, and someone who has experience in working on the amps set-up and circuitry - looking forward to hearing more from you.

 

I need to write up a post about the transformer swap/upgrade that I did in my Super Champ, held back until I did a few gigs with it first to get a good insight into the changes.

 

Hi all, looking to replace a couple knobs on my SC that have gone missing from the push pull pots over the years. Anyone ever had to replace theirs? Any specific one that fits and looks period correct? Thanks

 

Please do, I’m interested to know make / model, and results. Thanks

 

Re-joining!

Hope I am still allowed...

Sold my 120V-UL-Super Champ, which I had brought back to life and converted to 240V. That amp rocked, with EV Force 10 speaker, new PT and reliability mods. Got a PRII instead and sold it.

So... I needed another Super Champ (again). Found an all-original '82 Super Champ in really great, mint condition. Dropped quite some money, but it is worth it.

Pictures below. Original Pyle speaker, will keep the amp as original as possible - including the speaker. Sounds very good to me - sure - not a lot of bass, but the rest is great. Reliability mods will be coming next, then I am done.

 

not sure this is still needed but...
I know where to source that stuff in Germany, in the US, you have a lot more options

here is one
https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/knob-fender-black-skirted-blackface-amps

There are two different knobs on the Rivera amps:

ones with set screws made for the push-pull knobs
ones fitting the plastic shaft CTS pots

 

Hi everyone, I am the proud but frustrated owner of a Fender Rivera era Super Champ. I love this amp. It’s portable, loud and has incredible tone. The frustration lies in that 6C10 tube. Mine finally got a little noisy and crackly. I replaced it with a 6AC10 and it’s nice and quiet now but I know it’s not gonna have the same amount of gain. In my quest for any kind of a replacement I have seen 6D10, 6BK11 and of course the 6AC10. The BK version is even more rare and all these tubes are either overly expensive or not adequately tested.
The question is this; is it a viable option to have someone build a workaround with 3 12ax7 tubes? Or, is the $100+ price for the 6C10 still worth it?

 

I can't remember where but I have seen a writeup and photos of somoene building an adaptor. He started with the base of an old 6C10 and added a small aluminium box with two sockets for 12AX7s. (You want three halves of a 12AX7, not three whole valves). 6C10s might still be be worth the present askng price, but in a year / 5 / 10 ...?

 

I tried a 6AC10 in mine, less gain but still sounded fine, cost about $10. Keep looking for a 6C10, pretty sure you can still find one for less than $100. Bendyha has a schematic he designed for a 2 x 12ax7 replacement setup.

 

Bendyha! That's the feller! I should have remembered.

 

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/super-champ-1983-optimizing.473956/

2nd page.

 

Do you hear much change with the 6AC10?
I mean, yes it has less gain on paper, but not a lot. Do you actually hear / feel a difference that matters to you? Have you played with all controls maxed or only half way in the past?
The 6C10s occasionally show up cheaper, I still have one or two spares somewhere.
If you don’t use the reverb a lot or turned up wide, the bases for the three triodes can be re-wired and you could use a cheap 6U10, which has one high-mu and two medium-mu triodes - but you would also slightly change the cathodyne phase inverter operation (to my ears not in a bad way and not significantly)
Beware, lots of people don’t approve
Good luck and have fun

 

Playing at house levels I didn't notice any difference at all with the 6AC10, haven't had the chance to use it live for a while but as I use my SC purely on the 'clean' channel I don't why it shouldn't work.

 

Hi there Stratopastor! You dated this amp for me. Don't know if you remember but I had the original receipt from Mannys.

 

Would love to see a pic of a finished adapter.

 

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/super-champ-1983-optimizing.473956/

Read the whole thing if you can, essential reading but skip to page 2 if you want to see the photos of the 6C10 adaptor.

 

That works for me! If only I had turned the page, LOL!

 

Hey there Jim, yes, nice to see you here.