More with the '73 Fender Champ | It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

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[@TeleCaster66]

Love my 68 Champ!

[@manicguitar2455]

Silverface champ was my first amp back in the late 70s because it was the cheapest amp in the store. Lots of good memories of that amp - I wish I still had it.

[@edwardhannigan6324]

Hey Lyle, nice to see you back safe & sound and rested..I hope..! Cool little amp and very informative, on the speaker use. Pity that new one didn't work out...Hope to hear the next one installed..Ed..uk..😀

[@WayneMemphisMojo]

Champs gonna Champ ... glad to hear ya had a great N.O. trip. (Even your voice seems to be energized)

[@fiddlix]

Glad you had a good break with your wife. Keep up the excellent content.

[@wea69420]

Thanks for the consideration of explaining the less literal terms. I've been learning the language for a long time but things like that can still leave me scratching my head occasionally.

[@Cre8tvMG]

I left my mid 70s vibro champ at church once and never saw it again. late night robbery. 😢 I love seeing the old small Fender cone just like my original. Thanks.

[@PeteBreen]

Welcome back! Now for my Excalibre head. 😀

[@mikehoehn1475]

Real good tone

[@Satchmoeddie]

Allparts used to sell a bushing between 3/8 inch and 8mm. I have those in bulk. You can also make custom adapter washers from fiber and a punch. Use a nut, a bolt, two washers and a 12 gauge standard NEMA junction box lid to shape the bushing washers. You will need to ground the pot.

[@Satchmoeddie]

Some of the hemp cone Weber 8s have more bass, but they can also be kinda dark. The Alnicos fit the silver face Fenders but not the tweed, nor the old black face nor the very early silver face Champs. It's tight but they do fit.

[@jonmorris9645]

I have a '73 champ that came with a cheap celestion speaker. I had a guitar warehouse ceramic speaker that I substituted. I actually preferred the sound of the cheap celestion and put it back. One of my favorite amps.

[@LennieDean]

Those celestion 8's are great sounding little speakers as far as 8's go - way more bass and a smoother break up!

[@mkii1964]

Just repaired my 1966 BF Champ that hadn’t worked in 40 years. Just need a good replacement 8 inch speaker.

[@denenige]

I tried several speakers and the Celestion Eight 15 is what I prefer for this champ.

[@jfiery]

I picked up one of these when I got my 1st guitar (a Series 10 LP knockoff) in 1992 for $15 and sold it when I went to basic training in 1996 for like $25. Man do I wish I still had it.

[@Halliday7895]

little beatles "dont let me down" lick on the sound demo!

[@halhawkins7641]

now I want a champ..........

[@DannyDKNYC]

A good way to fix the knob ( with the center reflector missing ) is to use aluminum tape with the adhesive back. Like a tin knocker. Would use on ductwork

[@jacobbockover1628]

That is basically my very first amp in the 80s. I would have to put it on a shelf next to my head to hear it with the drums

[@spookybaba]

I had a silver face Champ many moons ago. But, I don't recall the power switch being a black plastic one. Neat soldering, by the way 👍

[@archiedentone5950]

Yep. They had a habit of getting broken if the cord pulled across them

[@butchlauer]

Last champ I had I sold to a buddy for 70 bucks. Mind you that was a lare 70's, 70 bucks.

[@violinmiata]

WGS makes really nice speakers

[@williambock1821]

If using a 10”, a Weber 10A125P can sound fantastic with bf/sf Champs. They’re a cross between P10R and a British type speaker. Adds a bit more midrange but still has the Jensen sound. Good price too. Goes REALLY well with a mid boost but I like 6.8k mids. A toggle between that and the stock 15k is great.

[@NathanielBlank]

I will never sell my 1973 Champ. Original speaker and wiring. Sounds incredible. May swap out the speaker for a new one just to preserve the original.

[@pjotrmaster9424]

The lack of excessive low frequencies is a vast benefit when recording. They are not needed in the band mix.

[@bradfordlester17]

Bummer on the WGS. Also looking for a champ speaker.

[@Burgschall]

No Shrink Tubing over the wire connections to the speaker? I usually put some on to prevent breakage of the stranded wire at the solder joint...

[@PsionicAudio]

No offense, but shrink wrap won't prevent a wire from breaking.

[@edwardebel1847]

Do you have the torque values for the speaker bolts/nuts? Thanks!

[@walterrizotto8668]

How about replacing the front baffle and using a 10" speaker?

[@PsionicAudio]

Not my call, though it would be tricky to have a speaker that cleared the OT and filter cap can

[@matthewf1979]

Isn’t the GA8 a Jensen-ish type speaker meant to replace the P8R in Tweed Champs?

[@PsionicAudio]

I guess. Seemed a promising choice for harp use, but nope.

[@kmwalsh84]

You said positive on the right but installed it on the left and neutral on the right? Or am i missing something?

[@crawside]

This vid made me bust out my little silver face to see when it was made. I think it’s from March of 72’. It has an orange (colored) generic looking speaker stamped: Labeled In Mexico - V8GXC-15/328726N - I think replaced a while ago. On back of amp: A 32361 Black stamp: HEAD Front logo has tail. Anyone able to assist in the dating of this amp? It has been serviced several years ago and has JJ tubes and a 3 prong.

[@jagtone]

I replaced the original speaker in my '73-ish Vibrochamp with a fairly cheap Weber, and it was worlds better.

[@waynegram8907]

Why is there DC leakage when the input jack 68k gridstopper voltage dividers are mounted on the PCB board, this sounds like a preamp grounding issue compared to the chassis ground mounted direct to the input jack or some type of added resistance is added when the jack to the PCB board has parasitic resistance or something creating DC noise issues. Maybe this is why Leo fender mounted the grid stop voltage resistors direct to the input jack to cut down on the signal to noise ratio?

[@PsionicAudio]

The board becomes conductive. I explained this last week in the Clark Penrose video.

[@waynegram8907]

@@PsionicAudio yes I just watch it I had no idea that the board was conductive that fender used. I have watched other techs often isolate the preamp ground from the power amplifier ground and NOT tie them together as a modification to reduce signal to noise ratio. In all fender and marshall ams the preamp ground and power amp ground are tied together soldered to chassis ground/earth ground which I'm guessing causes noises and bad signal to noise ratio. I didn't know floating the ground isolating it from the power amp ground would be a good thing to do. What are your thoughts about this?

[@kengevers8738]

Hey Lyle, just a quick silly question if you don't mind. What temperature do you have your Hako iron set at when working on the circuit boards? Thanks in advance for your response.

[@PsionicAudio]

About 725 for eyelets.

[@kengevers8738]

@@PsionicAudio I'm sorry if I didn't make the question clear, Lyle. I was asking about the temperature for the circuit boards of let's say a Fender Blues Deville. I usually keep my iron at 800 degrees. That is too high for a circuit board. That could destroy the solder tabs. Thanks for your response again. 👍

[@PsionicAudio]

750 on most PCBs. But I work fast.

[@kengevers8738]

@@PsionicAudio Muchos Gratias Senior 🙂

[@riders.oregon4474]

Not a silly question at all

[@imannonymous7707]

Ok one question is that original speaker an oxford? And if you have time to reply ...i do appreciate it . ✌

[@PsionicAudio]

I don't know what brand the paperweight is. It's already boxed up to give to the owner.

[@jaysorensenIBEW]

Could have been any of these. here's the list, with corresponding numbers you'd look for on the stamp. My '76 has the Oxford. Cheers! Altec-Lansing -# 391 CTS - # 137 Electro-Voice -# 649 Eminence -# 67 Jensen - # 220 JBL # 73 Oxford - # 465 Rola -# 285 Utah -# 328

[@stevesuv]

Use a Weber 8

[@voxpathfinder15r]

How much you want for the old speaker?

[@PsionicAudio]

Goes back to the owner.

[@voxpathfinder15r]

@@PsionicAudio you should build a new cabinet to bring out the lows of the new speaker. The little 8” speakers in my Vox Pathfinder amps move earth with the amount of bass they shove out. It’s the box they are bolted into that’s creating all the low end. Oversized semi-open back, roughly 16”x15”x8” (edit: it appears champ cabinet is as large if not a smidge larger than a Vox Pathfinder combo box, interesting, nothing special about the cheap Chinese pressed steel Vox 8” speaker?)

[@bobr8565]

Some folks say a new speaker needs break-in, that might allow more pronouncement of the lows. But I doubt it would be very much..opinion?

[@jrumiano]

I've tried several models of WGS speakers, and all of them went back. To me they just don't sound very good.

[@passionplayer7]

I’d have to add the WGS Veteran 30 sounds way closer to a UK V30 than the current Chinese made V30’s by Celestion. I was pleasantly surprised! The Retro 30 was great for a 1x12 combo that needed tighter bass and worked well for me, alas to each their own. Cheers!

[@charlesreibold2883]

4-1/2 minutes to solder two speaker wires. Really?

[@PsionicAudio]

No. About a minute to do the work. The extra time was to show how it was done and to explain the concepts behind a reliable solder connection and the things that can go wrong. I've seen so many botched speaker solder jobs in my time. So yeah, many people don't know how to do it right. I was trying to show that. If you have a problem with that, watch something else.