Fender Champion 30 Solid State Guitar Amp Repair & Demo

[@jollyroger6258]

I have the same amp. It started making shrieking yelps last week. I took your advice and inspected the solder joints - found at least six faulty ones. I ended up reflowing around 12 joints, put the amp back together and...no noise. Thanks for the tip!

[@jeraldjoyce2995]

Yeah I'm having about one problem with the amp and the reverb doesn't work. It doesn't make any funny sounds, and when performing a visual inspection inside the cab, everything looked in order. I dunno what's up. Based off what i've heard, it could be cold solder joints or a broken trace

[@roaddog7542]

More proof the player not the amp cost determines how good the tone is. Nice work Brad.

[@TheGuitologist]

Road Dog nice of you to say. But I think the amp sounds objectively good if you dial it in.

[@tjsogmc]

I've learned to embrace the solid state technologies. I have picked up broken amps for pennies on the dollar and repaired them for free most times. I like the SS technologies, it is reliable and you can do a lot with it. Before everybody chimes in to say that SS is junk that breaks down, take a look around any amp repair shop at all the broken tube amps. If it's electric, it will break sooner or later. Learn to fix it.

[@yummyklown9226]

If it wasn't for SS amps, I would never afford one. I love SS amps!

[@friedrich1957]

For those of us who have not delved into cracking open an amp, thank you... very enlightening. And thank you for showing that skill with the guitar is far more important than the gear.

[@vmat1000]

I loved Fender SS amps from the late '90s mid '00's. Princeton 112 and Frontman 212 tearing it up.

[@FUCKINGRI0T]

Wow this is really all new to me but this is the best tutorial I found and I will be able to repair my reverb pot without paying too much for repairs, thank you so much!

[@shyfire5150]

I know this is an old video but I miss you showing the actual soldering in your newer videos. Keep up the good work!!!!!

[@jgrimsley2000]

Just a quick tip...The Soldapullt has a Teflon tip. It wont melt if you leave the iron on the solder when sucking it off. It's the only way you'll get all of the solder out of a feed-through ferrule. Great video, as always. That's a good sounding little amp.

[@katana-pp1in]

Finally someone that works on solid state amps.5 amp repair shops in the Los Angeles aria told me they only work on tube amps,hard to believe but true story.2 guys said I'd be better off buying new amp for the price of the repair. Peavey classic chorus 130 sterio series. Only has srachy tone knob and loose input jack.

[@TheGuitologist]

You can fix it!

[@Da_Publick]

It really would cost you more to repair it than it would to buy a new one, because it's a cheap, mass produced, fodder-amp. A fodder-amp is what we used to call amps like the Peavey Decade, with its 'Saturation' channel (yes, the same amp,) and the Gorilla amps with their 'Tube Stack' switch. They're fodder for newbies.

[@0421072]

Came for the repair. Stayed for the playing! I have a Fender G-DEC 3-30. Best practice amp ever!

[@TheGuitologist]

I prefer the Boss eBand. But those can sound nice too.

[@0421072]

That actually seems much better for the bedroom. I like my Yamaha THR 10x for the bedroom and my Fender for low level practice with drums. Want to get two GDEC's in Bassman mode for my Digitech 2120 for the ultimate bedroom set-up!

[@incredifunk]

Smart move Brad! When the wife came in laughing and you obviously were a bit upset about it, You just kept your cool & remained quiet. You did the smart thing, avoided more confrontation by not saying a word. Just let it roll off your back the best you could & Cooled yourself down before continuing with the moderation... As every man knows, well at least married men, you pick your battles..

[@thedude4872]

The first amp I ever owned. Came in a package deal with a MIM strat. Not bad for home use and couldn't beat the price. One thing about fender amps.....they all seem to have that fender clean everyone likes, no matter the price point or type (ss vs. tube)

[@philmcguire7346]

came here for a repair tutorial and then kept getting lost in the deep of guitar riffs, wow man you shred

[@davidf8749]

Your other half has a delicious sense of humour at 11:43. Plus, the audio you have subsequently, while you're soldering, is very relaxing. Great vid on the key points to look for on one on these (or any) amps of this type. :)

[@Kevin-wj1do]

"Don't do this at home kids. (Eat tide pods instead.)" Fantastic XD

[@jaysusrockso2623]

Man, I've been wondering why the input jack on my peavey bandit has been spotty and I'm betting it's because the solder joints are shot on the board. Thank you so much for this video and the knowledge you pass on.

[@dlunsford1980]

I recently repaired a very similar Frontman 15G. The TDA power chip had failed, shorted and burned up the speaker. They don’t make the chip anymore but can still find them. The new chip starting clipping and I noticed it would stop when I placed my finger on it. Long story short, it was overheating and adding some metal to the heat sink solved the problem. I couldn’t help but notice that your mount/heatsink was a lot thinker in this amp. Unfortunately the failed speaker doesn’t make this amp worth repairing further so it is now a bench amp. Maybe I can find an old stereo speaker to throw in it one day and donate it.

[@TheGuitologist]

dlunsford1980 but you're already in it for the cost of the part and your time. Yes that heat sink on this one has a large aluminum shim. A fan would solve it too.

[@dlunsford1980]

The Guitologist I considered the fan but thought it was overkill for this. I had a smallish aluminum rail that I cut a hole in and added to the heat sink. Worked pretty good. I haven’t given up on the amp.The shop gave me the amp for my time but that only covered the chip and the hour of labor. It would be worth it to me to fix it and donate it. Once I find a speaker, I am sure there are plenty of places that would take it in the Memphis area. I was impressed that little amp chip produced that much volume. To think how far electronics has come in 50 years.

[@learntospell]

Your solder sucker would be much more effective if you keep the iron on the joint as you press the button. Love your vids!

[@cliffgulliver4626]

Hanks for showing that. I need to learn how to do gear maintenance. If my 40 breaks I’d rather fix it than trash it... oh and 98 was my terrible year. Coming up on 20... rock on buddy.

[@brich2929]

She laughed at "pushed in". LOL

[@phatman1478]

I spit my drink all over my laptop during the tide pod joke

[@mottosierra1372]

Wow

[@Guitarzan8]

Catching up on your videos since I discovered your channel. You have a LOT of them. Thanks to Gregg for donating that amp. I 1/2 thought you were going to have a contest or drawing to give it away. Y’no what would be cool is if every amp you took apart that had pots mounted directly on the PCB is remount them on the chassis and run wires to the board like you did on this one. It could be your signature made-it-better stamp. Dude I wish I knew what you know about amps.

[@mistermojo1969]

My brother in law picked up one of these Champion 30s at a thrift store (he wants to start playing at some point). Seems to work OK other than the channel switch. If I'm lucky, it just has broken solder joints there, but it shouldn't be too tough to find the switch if necessary. Thanks for the video, Brad, it gave me some idea of what to expect when I finally get around to opening it up!

[@mistermojo1969]

And my repairs were finally made on this amp! The solder joints on the switch looked pretty good, but I reflowed them anyway. I touched up any that I found that looked suspect. I think in my case, the bad one might have been on the footswitch jack, so if you have a switch issue, it pays to looks at that jack. Amp works great now, even tested the channel switching with a Peavey footswitch I own. Bill will have a nice amp to play around on. By the way, I found out the the OD channel works pretty well with a Strat type guitar, but I wasn't won over with humbuckers. Fortunately, he has a Strat copy, which I hope to get set up for him by Christmas. Thanks again, Brad for the great video!

[@TheGuitaristFrom1984]

Wow, I'm really impressed with the dirty channel! This sounds a heck of a lot better than the Fender Frontman 25R I used to have. The dirty channel on that amp was very unusable.

[@CryptToneMusic]

Little amps like these are great for donor chassis and cabinets and they can even be fun to tweak and mod since a lot of them can be pretty simple unless you get one with tons of digital effects and features.

[@Emil-Antonowsky]

I'm here to watch more amp repair vids. Keep 'em coming.

[@briang.7206]

I was thinking you could use hot glue to secure those controls to the circuit board. I used it on tvs to secure the magnets in TV sets after I adjusted the color. Hot glue is pretty easy to pry off and remove should you Need to.

[@bmorr6734]

Wish I could play a tenth as good as you, Brad. Always enjoy and learn from your videos.

[@locutus61]

My late 90s Fender Princeton 65W solid state with a 12" speaker sounds pretty damn good and has the power to gig. Much lighter and bullet proof than the same size tube amp. PS: Never had trouble pushing it in all the way:-)

[@LeNeovein]

Does anyone else get brain tingles seeing a board out of an amp or is it just me? Literally clicked because of that thumbnail. Subbed for the content.

[@alecjahn]

I've got a Stage 100 head from around that era (well technically it was born a combo) that my old band buddy gave to me (we both used it over the years). It hadn't been working for a while and whaddya know, I found a whole slew of broken or cold solder joints just like that.

[@TheGuitologist]

It's a plague on these.

[@baerster]

I also have a stage 100 and love it. This video helped me repair one of the input jacks on it.

[@keithmccormick1272]

SOLDAPULT IS THE BEST YOU CAN GET . YOU WAIT TO LONG BETWEEN HEATING AND SUCKING . REPAIRED TVS FOR 30 YEARS NOW RETIRED . LOVE YOUR WORK AND VIDEOS KEITH

[@jimbeaux4988]

Not bad tone for no tubes. I had a transistor amp very early on and always had fun playing it.

[@St.E.V.T]

Boy your playing is hypnotic in this video.. Great repair video too!

[@urideemer4333]

The Champion 30 replaced the Champion 110 in 1999. The Champion 30 has 2 inputs and no headphone jack like the 110, The 110 has one input.I have had a Champion 110 for 20+ some years and the dirty channel is where I park at mostly but the clean is no slouch either. A more than capable bedroom / den / practice amplifier ( That's all I do ne way ) I like the silver face drip edge mojo as well. For those that say the Frontman 25R is the same amp I say nay! whatever the difference is there is a difference - speaker? case material ( my 110's are wood ). I purchased a used 110 lately for "scrap" prices because it has the clean channel out - however that works when the gain channel button is not engaged as the volume knob there controls the clean channel volume on this one as well. Go figure.The Champion 110 manual states that The Drive Channel incorporates Fender's innovative " Smooth Clipping" circuit which is designed to simulate the way tubes clip and produce the overdrive distortion sound......The PCB board is dated 1992 but the amp looks like it was in the closet for all these years. I bought a new identical fender volume pot ( same as your original pot in the 30)for it and came here to see how to remove the PCB board so I can get at it. I bought the amp in order to make an extension speaker cabinet out of it, likely intending to upgrade the speaker, although the Fender/Jensen speaker is well...... vintage. I wired in an extension speaker jack and am using that with an 8 inch Tweed covered Fender ss Bronco amp...but I figured if I can fix the clean channel issue why the heck not? Thanks for the video much helpful.

[@Guitarman-so5lb]

Thanks you for this video. It help in looking at things to check on my amp. Turns out the solder joints were broke in the same places.

[@cubedomatic]

I want one to mod after seeing clipping diodes in there but man, that thing sounds really sweet as is!

[@abjr2010]

Good to see you pull out so many different guitars throughout all your videos for checking the work done. And you be jammin' maan.

[@kenjimac2211]

Reminds me of the little Fender bullet reverb I used to have. Great sound from a small package.

[@unclebob6728]

Thanks for opening up a solid state Fender for us. I have a G Dec15 that always has issues. Now I have a clue on what I'm looking at when I open it up. Thanks again for the content.

[@TheGuitologist]

Uncle Bob the GDEC is a needling amp, so there will more ICs in that model.

[@TheGuitologist]

*Modeling amp.

[@unclebob6728]

Yes, and I'm curious to see the differences inside with the Champ !

[@incredifunk]

One of those little handoyman helpers would be his handy in this situation. Where you need a third hand. Just a little stand with alligator clips on it that you could mount up your piece in and have it held in place and that way you have both hands free to do the job

[@BobBlec]

Brad, I just got myself a Deluxe 90 - a contemporary of the Champion 30 - and I want to change the clean channel volume pot from the stock 50K linear taper to a 50K audio taper, which makes a LOT more sense! Why Fender uses linear pots instead of audio is beyond me... The volume pot in the overdrive channel is a 100K linear; can a 50K audio be substituted without too much problem? (100K audio doesn't seem to be available in the Fender 'snap-in' bracket pots...)

[@crazyuncleduke8012]

You just HAD to throw in a Tide Pod as things not to do. :-) Now i get to clean the coffee spew off my keyboard...Thanks!

[@Misack8]

I Gotta pause for a minute to recover my breath. Then clean my keyboard again... Thats the third time just this week.

[@telecasterbear]

I bought a used fender blues junior in a tweed cabinet. A handsome little amp. One of the knobs was not lined up well with the numbers on the control plate. I loosened the screw to line up the knob, and saw that the pots were like the stock ones shown here. Soldered to the board, with no washers and nuts to mount them to the board. I know the blues jr is not a high end amp, but that is quite a poor feature on an amp that sells for about $600. I sold it.

[@doca9357]

they pretty much all have PCB boards now, except some re issue custom things that are over 2 grand

[@martinreid1740]

Nice fix Brad, but oh how that was such design flaw mounting pots and jack's to the board It's what gives cheap PCB amps such a bad name.

[@TheGuitologist]

Martin Reid it doesn't help. The lead-free solder hurts too.

[@akkudakkupl]

And all that is needed is daughter board for the controls wired to the main board. No more broken connections. But that would cost like 20 cents more per amp. Thats milions lost in the grand scheme of things!!! LOL

[@SIXSTRING63]

Need a heated solder vacuum Brad. Ask the boys at Bang Good for a test drive model. Great when taking off PCB components.

[@TheGuitologist]

Yep. And a proper microscope is on the wish list too. I might hit up sugar daddy Banggood for some comps. They seemed ok with sending the thermal cam. Why the hell not.

[@GasNBullets]

Sounds like she is used to it not being fully pushed in hahahah

[@TheGuitologist]

I wouldn't want to hurt anyone, you know...

[@jimtalltheislandbrothers6639]

Love your work and love the background music.

[@trenenpierskalla5500]

I have a Crate b10 xl guitar amp, it’s a solid state, very similar but much simpler, i was playing it sounding great and suddenly zero audio, not even a hum, but still had power and all connections are good, ive been trying to trace the problem on the board but I’m not quite experienced enough to figure it out even though it looks simple to solve

[@julioluna3366]

Awesome idea 💡! Thanks I will check my board amp too!

[@notyou1567]

I have the exact same amp with identical problem and your video fixed it. Thank you brother. But my second channel(overdrive) is getting no power. Blown? Seperate transformer? Any advice?

[@doca9357]

did you notice any burned spots on the board? I would look for more cracked solder points, I also had a couple bad diodes, was using it 1-2 times week, running into both inputs, driving it like bar gig use for 3-6 hours each week for about 4 years before that happened, also volume knob joints cracked, once re soldered, works fine

[@lroy730]

The Conn Strobe Tuner in all its glory !

[@moleman1961]

Got one of these! Lovely clean tone.

[@twinsmm1]

you and your spousal unit sound like me and mine. ...and not a bad sounding little amp.

[@kendavis8046]

Thanks, Brad. The only thing I wanted different was a chicken head knob. But I had an amp 20-plus years ago that had those danged plastic pots mounted directly to a PCB, and sure enough, they will not stand up to gigs at all.

[@jeanlawson9133]

I sure could do with some one donating me such a gift..... enjoyed the video 😎 Thanks

[@bernardosilva7306]

Dude, I think you replaced a A50K (audio taper pot) with a B50K (linear taper)... Probably this volume pot is not behaving as expected if that is the case :D

[@Rico_G]

I doubt whomever ends up with this amp will either notice or care about the altered taper.

[@TheGuitologist]

Bernardo Silva well-spotted! Yes, the taper is different. Does the job. I don't keep a full stock of pots, just the most often needed. The 50k just happened to be coming for something else where taper wasn't a concern.

[@akkudakkupl]

The owner could have you change the opamps for ne5532s for example, would make for a way quieter amp (less hiss). LM4562 would be even better, but they cost more, way more (1$ vs 4$ per a dual opamp).

[@bringbackthe1960sppl]

I LOVE THE REVERB ON THIS AMP

[@josematparedes393]

i would disconnect the reverb (red/black and Green/Black) so i can lay the PC board flat while desoldering. just to free hands from holding the board.

[@TheTexBlues]

Hey Brad love your channel been watching for a while now. The amp breakdowns , the technical side of electronics and tinkering reminds me of the days of Mr. Wizard..lol Very informative for us guitar players that are on the other side of things and have little knowledge of amp signal paths and electronic designs in general. Oh also glad no Millennials were harmed we'd hate for that to happen Lol.. cough cough i mean offended..

[@TheGuitologist]

TheTexBlues appreciate ya watching, Tex. Glad to have you aboard the crazy train.

[@patreidcocolditzcastle632]

Clean sound is quite awesome

[@waynegram8907]

GUITOLOGIST, try to make a theory lesson about how to measure various guitar amplifiers output transformers midrange curve using an oscilloscope. The output transformers are suppose to have a midrange growl midrange bump curve which all various output transformers will have a different profile curve which you can measuring using the oscilloscope. Try making a video lesson because I would like to see how you would approaching doing this test setup.

[@RayMan012150]

Hi, I'm a new subscriber to your channel and I plan on watching it often. This sounds like what I need to do to my amp. I have the same one, had it for years, since around 1990. One question, well maybe two. What kind of solder are you using and what wattage is your soldering iron? I enjoyed the video. Thanks Ray

[@hirangabijoychakraborty6639]

Hi...... That was pleasant to watch but way out of my expertise. I have owned a champion 40 for over 4 years. Never any problem until recently the volume knob started flickering and a sound drop and sounds like as if I've activated alow pass filter. No other pedal is connected, guitar directly to the amp. Can you please help me understand why is this happening?

[@francisskundaliny1295]

With a cheese little amp- the sign on the front says fender champ! rockn rolly brad!

[@johnsimms3957]

That's a nice sounding amp.

[@whisk0r]

Sorry Gregg, your name is officially Gary now :D

[@TheGuitologist]

Ah crap. Well that's embarrassing.

[@mark006868]

Your wife has a cute laugh...just saying...lol

[@brndmginc]

No worries Brent. lol

[@benjimenez7702]

hey brother brad - thanks for the tips - i resoldered a few joints on my crate - 19 and the hum's gone from the amp - hey, any further dives into the guitar center dumpsters? any interesting finds? diving in Ohio - found a set of fender tuners, 6 cables, 6 speaker cables. take care -

[@TheGuitologist]

I did pull a set of headphones and some tuners out recently. I'm keeping it more quiet these days so they don't go back to locking it up on me.

[@evanfehr3819]

Hey brad what should we watch out for when we open up our own amps?

[@williamsquires3070]

This would sound sweet with a tube front-end, though you’d have to derive a filament and B+ supply.

[@CrazedPsychic]

One thing I would of used is solder wick then that sucker. It heat sinks to the pad and wicks the solder out. Less likely burning off the pad. Another thing I do. I always seem to have a amp that is for parts that have some of those weird pots like that. I will most of the time test and measure to see if its the right value. If so I use them. Last thing I would of done if you don't want to go that route is offer to just replace all the pots for good ones if this person wanted it done like that. But everybody has there own methods. Over all good work. Though have to say you put a liner taper in there XD.

[@HoopaZero]

how many of these do you think went in landfill, for want of an ounce of knowledge and a few inches of solder? Shaking my head - you are doing the work of angels

[@TheGuitologist]

Probably a few.

[@damnyankeex1]

The guys who work at the landfill will take them home. When they find they don’t work or can’t fix them, they bring them back to the dump to have them buried. I’ve seen folks ditch guitars there and the guys set them aside to take them home.

[@russellhltn1396]

Nothing surprises me anymore. I've pulled a Vornado fan and a dehumidifier from my apartment building's trash pile. The fan needed to be cleaned, but the dehumidifier was fine as-is. Some people just throw things out because it's the easiest way to dispose of it. I've heard you can score big at the dorms on move-out day. Kids are packing up and going home and they don't have the room in their luggage.

[@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG]

@@damnyankeex1 A buddy of mine was emptying his truck at the dump when a car pulled up next to him to empty and he noticed one of the items he was chucking was an ES-335 with a broken tuner...."Uh...I'll take that...!" It's now repaired and being played frequently in a loving home. (Some guys have all the luck...)

[@scottriddle5468]

Cool jam man , amp sounds pretty decent for a solid state.

[@TheGuitologist]

I agree. Thanks, Scott.

[@baerster]

Those sold state Fenders sound pretty good!

[@JammyCrackcorn]

Looking to do the same thing to my Woodson 150-2 amplifier ...My Vib/ Tremelo push pull has a broken shaft....

[@brewer13210]

Just a suggestion, use something like kapton tape instead of black electrical tape. The electrical tape will just get soft and gooey over time.

[@swordandshieldproductions9133]

How do you fix a Fender guitar AMP that picks up radio stations I am using an connector plug adapter which allow me to plug a 3.5mm female or it could be guitar cable 1/4" to 1/4" and a 1/8" male to 1/4" female plug...straight to computer from AMP to my computer

[@joshporter5205]

I have the same amp, though the reverb is all but non-existent. You can get a tiny bit when it is turned all the way up. Not sure what is going on with it.

[@olldmann]

Useful demo, thanks!

[@p_mouse8676]

These amps aren't so bad once you put a better speaker in it btw.

[@haysfordays]

Was wondering about that. What do you like?

[@p_mouse8676]

@@haysfordays Something from Eminence or WGS

[@haysfordays]

@@p_mouse8676 Excellent. Thanks. Well, I have to replace a pot on mine. So, If it all works after I get my novice hands all over it, maybe i will consider that speaker change.

[@icebob8555]

I have the same amp on the bench now 2 tone pots busted off

[@tagalapaz2697]

Good day boss, I have a fender frontman 212R, and got a bunch of pots busted, primarily the volume, the ,High and mid of the clean channel, the volume pot , the high and mid of the drive channel and the more drive button switch, I checked out the internet for some replacement parts butit is way too much for the budget, Can I replace it with some local equivalents pots in order to get it running again? I'm gonna be using your method as I've seen it's quite economical and budget wise... Thanks for the future advice..

[@SlowMenThinking]

Repaired because you can! sound great or not it was a cheep fix and the only real cost was time. I can think of a few things that this amp is better than the $$$ valve/tube rig of heavenly tones. Service work why use a good valve amp just to check what is wrong with a incoming guitar that may or may not work? I like my tube amp for performance but a nice little solid state is great for practice and warm up with out putting more heat in to the room! When writing a song if it sounds great on the worst gear how much better will it sound on good gear! Not sure where my last post went it was in reply to a " It sounds CRAP!" type of post. I do use my solid state as a backing track amp at times (its clean enough and loud enough) in actual performance!

[@larrydering1598]

Nice fix. Good clean tone.

[@futilitarian]

Nice! Was my first amp.

[@mottosierra1372]

Hello, It turns out that I have a 100 head lead mosfet and it doesn't matter which od / dist pedal I put on the clean channel they all sound very harsh and characterless if I cut the treble then they sound dull it's like all the pedals have the same sound, mxr Ibanez or boss, it doesn't matter which one, the cab is 2x12 with vintage 30, do you think it has a component in poor condition?

[@freepress8451]

Hi, really enjoy your video's. 2 things I noticed instead of insulating tape why not use the hot glue to shield the wires and it was Gregg not Gary who gave you the amp

[@TheGuitologist]

Yeah, this is why you don't edit videos at 3am.

[@freepress8451]

Its 21:19 over the pond and 16:19 in US?

[@TheGuitologist]

It was edited last night.

[@neliomoura354]

Congratulations on the excellent work. Would you help me? At the time of video 3:04, 3:35 appear BLACK/RED and BLACK/GREEM. BLACK/RED = output of reverb tank? Thanks. Hug.

[@kevinshea4776]

Awesome! Quick question: I see the Conn Strobotuner...have you had to replace any componates? I have mine and it seems to wander when trying to tune a guitar. Capacitors?

[@ellismorgan8910]

I know this might not get to you, but I'll give it a shot. I'm attempting to repair an older solid-state Fender and was wondering what temperature your soldering iron is? I usually have it at 350 for guitar wiring and was thinking that might be too hot for boards.

[@machine-madedog5059]

What was up with Fender amps from this period?! I used to have a Fender Performer 1000 that was manufactured in '96, roughly the same period as this model, it was my second amp.. It developed an issue where it began switching channels by itself. Apparently it was a common issue, according to the internets. I had a couple of friends with tube-driven Fender amp models from that era and they had issues too.

[@TheGuitologist]

First wave of import amps for Fender. Working out bugs, for one. Inferior lead-free solder. And bad construction practices, e.g. the cheap board-mounted jacks and pots.

[@jameswarren1712]

I have a Fender G-DEC 30 Amp. It's a 230v I think. Any suggestion to changes it to a 120v. Thanks Doug

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Was the Volume pot broken to silence the guitar amp, do you know what might be nice is to have a KORG Nutube 6P1 stage for the first stage give it that Valve sound.

[@williamsquires3070]

Nice, clean board layout! Likey-Likey! 🤗

[@perpetuant5452]

I have one I am repairing now from the 60s. Not joking.

[@williamcolvin3609]

I have a Fender Frontman 15G Amp Head that I purchased from E-Bay that was for parts or not working - parts look like the leads are rusted some completely eaten into. The amp has 2 of the TL072 Op Amps and one of the BA4560 Op Amps - I was thinking about changing those out since everything needs to be replaced. I will be going back with all Rubycon Capacitors. What would you suggest to go back with on the Op Amps - I have used the 4562 on a Jay Turser Amp that I rebuilt and they worked out great.

[@Sousafolle]

Well,.. may I catch the ball... a bit late? First : Ask yourself What is the goal of the repair/upgrade? My opinion here : As far as guitar amp goes TL072 and 4560 are excellent circuits. Most guitar amps have a limited frequency range, are relatively noisy, compress and distort... In fact, what most people like in a guitar amp would be considered slightly wrong in other audio gear ;-) So If you want an hi-fi guitar amp, you'd better build one from scratch instead of modifying one. And about capacitors... in 2024 most small value (4.7uF or less) electrolytics are now easily replaceable with film cap of reasonable size. But always check specs if it fits the intended use in the circuit. For new elecrolytics, I'd recommend those with the longest life expectancy : 105oC, 2000-8000 hrs and Low ESR and you'll buy yourself peace of mind for a while.

[@mushroomsamba82]

I bought a brand new Vox Pathfinder 10 a few years ago and one of the resistors didn't have any solder in the through hole 🤔

[@BIZARBIES]

11:39 for the money shot.. fully pushed in.

[@chriscunningham6362]

Solder work on inexpensive (and some not so inexpensive) solid state amps is creepy. If I have some reason to crack one open, I always inspect the solder joints. I usually end up re-soldering 20 to 30% of the joints. Amazing!