No Sound in a Champion 600

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[@jguse2378]

I have one of those Thanks for the vid Mine has some hum but not as bad as that one It's the nature of it I put Tung Sol's in it plus a new grill clothe and a Weber It's been going strong for 10+ years

[@florisbackx1744]

The guitar tech near me has a sign hanging on the wall in his shop which says "you don't pay me for the 30 minutes it takes but for the years it took to be able to do it in minutes".

[@weschilton]

Right on!

[@gamjammallota78]

Doubt if one will ever cross Lyle's path but I have a 5watt Monoprice Stage Right amp. $149.00 new. It has 1-12ax7 and 1-6v6. Comes with a Celestion super-eight 8"speaker. Volume and tone controls. Sounds fabulous. Built well {imho} for what it is. It's held up well for over a year now. It owes me nothing. Great intro into tube amps for very little investment. His bigger 15watt 2-EL-84 brother is $279.00. With bells and whistles. I have it also. Great sounding amps.

[@michaelmoore7975]

I got the 15W/1W version and it is awesome. I swapped out the stock reverb tank for a MOD. Good improvement. Tried a Cannabis Rex but the stock Celestion works just fine. Not sure about yours, but mine is based off the Laney Cub circuit. And from what I understand, if someone wants a cheaper but better sounding JCM 800 tone in a small package, you get a Laney Cub. At any rate, it is really a killer little amp.

[@gamjammallota78]

@@michaelmoore7975 I also did the reverb mod. Mine came with a Celestion "A" type speaker that I love. It seems to pair well with the amp. I believe earlier models came with a vintage 30. I tried the amp with one of my Orange PPC-112 cabs with a vintage 30. Of course an open back vs a closed back have their own differences. Can"t go wrong with either. Just a matter of personal taste really. I like them both.

[@notplaying2379]

The super 8 is great choice.

[@jbognap]

It's highly admirable that you aren't charging for the diagnosis.

[@sgt.grinch3299]

Sometimes you just need to push it in. The Hum remains the Same. That was a great concert recorded over a few day at Madison Square Garden from my youth.

[@goodun2974]

I personally thought The Song Remains the Same (movie) was rather overblown, sloppy and filled with wretched excess.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

@@goodun2974 Ahhhh, wretched excess. Those were the days! I was born too late.

[@goodun2974]

@@BradsGuitarGarage I am glad I am old. When people give me the dismissive "Boomer" crap, I tell them I wish I was even older than I am now because if I'd been born 3 or 4 years earlier I would have been at Woodstock for sure. As it is, I was able to see a lot of great music that the next couple of generations completely missed.

[@thomasmetz3]

Instead of fixing the hum, I put the Mercury Magnetics 5F1 kit into mine (I was bored). Sounds great, especially plugged into a 12” Weber speaker cab.

[@r.weaver3769]

I did too, but with a Weber 8" speaker.

[@jonathanjohnson8656]

Is it just a set of transformers? Or is there more to it? I used a classic tone when I replaced mine but I wish I'd saved up for mercury's. I want to build a larger cab and increase the size of the speaker ( maybe a 2x10? But probably just a single) would appreciate your input.

[@thomasmetz3]

@@jonathanjohnson8656 It was a complete 5F1 conversion kit along with the transformers & a Weber speaker. I usually bypass the speaker and plug it into a 12” cabinet. I run An EQ pedal in front of it and turn it up all the way😊

[@jonathanjohnson8656]

@@thomasmetz3 Thanks for the reply. I looked for it and it seems to be discontinued. Maybe I could build it piecemeal, but I'm not sure. It's encouraging to read that it's a good upgrade and I believe my amp has potential for a great tone ( its not bad as is.) . I had a 59 tweed but I sold it to fund something else and I regret it. So I'm looking to get close to that tone with the champ600. I run mine in stereo with a vox ac10 or pathfinder15 and they work great together with my tele. I think the larger speaker is a huge improvement as I have ran mine through an eminence red coat private jack and it sounds great. Thanks again!

[@2yoober]

Diagnosis and experience are king. ...love your approach - as do your customers. 😎

[@davidgartland2179]

The solution I found to reducing the power hum (even at eliminating it) was to isolate the grounding of the preamp main filter cap/and associated stage grounds from the overall poor ground scheme of the amp. Basically I cut the (large) trace that connects those grounds (on the right side of the board) to the power section grounds, then reground the preamp section at the input jack. * This after replacing the volume control, input jacks and associated resistors with higher quality parts. To a technician, this is an easy mod and makes a good amp (in theory) a great amp. (Or leave volume/input assembly and use a big soldering iron to just ground that section to chassis near input jacks) No need to throw away, or to live with poor design.

[@OldManJeremy]

I have a Fender Champion 600 and I love it, I'll be sad if and when it breaks, but I've had it for years and have gotten far more joy out of it than the $149 it cost me. Sometimes things are like that. I have no illusions that they're top of the line things, I'd agree with you that they're "cool looking toys", but a lot of the things people buy are like that. I have no regrets :)

[@ericrinehardt9373]

I’ve always liked the sound of these early 2000s Champ 600s (when they actually work). They have a fixed tone stack that makes them sound big and full compared to most low-watt amps. The VHT Special 6 is a very similar idea with a fixed tone stack. Thankfully, the VHT comes with a 10” speaker, is hand wired on a turret board, and has none of the hum issues the Champ 600 is known for. A Special 6 with a Weber 10A125 is a beautiful tone. I’m not ashamed to say that it’s my favorite amp, and I’ve owned an embarrassing amount of guitar amps over the years 😂

[@johnvincent9877]

They hum because the transformers are too close together. Try moving the output transformer. I have a Gretsch badged version in the UK. I had a local tech mod it for me, to get rid of the hum and a couple of other things. Works well, 4 years and counting.

[@stratosexual1329]

I had a champion 600 for a few years. I loved it. It had a lot of miles on it and I decided to let it go because if I had problems it wouldn’t make sense to fix. If I see another one for cheap I will probably grab it.

[@johnvincent9877]

They are nice little inexpensive amps. And the hum is an easy fix.

[@weschilton]

@@johnvincent9877 But not cheap.

[@stratosexual1329]

@@weschilton if you can get one for under $200 they are worth it

[@Starcrunch72]

Yup, amen..I turned away a Peavey something or other combo that had no sound on the dirty channel--repairs outweighed the cost of replacement--clean channel worked just fine, told the kid to use pedals in front of the clean... "Well yeah, my uncle gave me this amp, but I have a Mesa Mark III." Me: "Ok good, don't bring me that amp either."

[@weschilton]

Ha!

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

Ahhh, I hate these kinds of situations. My instinct is to find out and fix whatever's wrong. I have to hold myself back because my landlord couldn't give 2 shits about my good intentions. The customer just wants it back for like $50 and has no idea what's involved. Making the videos is a little bonus and sometimes justifies taking a hit on time invested, but only when the workload isn't insane. And I can't remember the last time that was the case. 2018, maybe?

[@TheCyberMantis]

Truth.

[@dennisflock3958]

Amen, brother. Folks are buying into cosmetics, thinking its going to sound and function like the amps of yore. We've all learned that sad lesson to one extent or the other. BTW, hey, from Chicago. Love the channel. Keep up the great content.

[@DetroitWrecker666]

I will now go back to delete past comments as a means of keeping one of my favorite amps priced where it should be. By the way. The amp I spoke of was not passing signal. It took a COMPLETE re-cap to get it going again. I'll admit after 25++ years of being a workhorse for me. I mistakingly brought it down to a 2 ohm load and played it that way for a bit. Could have very well been what took out a bunch of those old caps. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with all of us.

[@Curranproducer]

respect!

[@Lesjaye]

I have one of these amps! Sloppy design by fender. Hum is normal. What can you expect from a 22uf smoothing cap? I put 100uf cap in parallel that reduced hum by 70 percent, but twisted wire supply wires run right across board pre amp circuit. Hum can be reduced further by balancing virtual earth 100R resistors on filament supply but, best thing to do is full wave rectify filament supply and smooth with a 1000uf cap. Totally silent now but what a farce! 6v6 biasing is so hot that it red plates a Tung Sol tube. Changed 560R to 680R 5watt. No ht fuse so if tube shorts due to ridiculously high B+ supply it burns out the 100R virtual earth resistors & results in massive hum! Had to fit power scaling to reduce & control B+ supply voltage to sensible levels. Tung sol 12ax7 & JJ 6v6 (has more power dissipation). I shouldn’t have to do all this, but luckily I can & it became a challenge. It looks cute,….but speaker & cabinet are too small for sound & electronics. If you see one of these amps for sale,…. Run a mile!

[@PsionicAudio]

Good job. Now tell the people what all that would cost if they had it done. ;)

[@stevem.1853]

If the cabinet is not garbage, that is the only good thing about these amps. Better to find a broken one at bottom dollar price and gut it to start from scratch, but even then reusing the transformers will limit what you can do... The only thing that impressed me about these amps when new was the cosmetics.

[@notplaying2379]

I had to make a similar decision about an amp recently. It had decent speakers so I converted it to a cabinet and kept the parts that I could use on future projects, then took the transformer to a recycling facility. The cabinet sold for £10 less than I paid for the amp, the parts I salvaged would have cost me more than the £10 loss on the amp.

[@GiantPinhead]

I've got one, purchased used with the Mercury Magnetics transformers and choke/component mods/upgraded Weber speaker, and better tubes. It still makes noise and the cabinet rattles. It is what it is, and I'm not planning to throw any money at it. Turn it up, ride the guitar's pots, and have fun, or spring for a proper Champ, which is a pro sounding amp compared to this.

[@glenturrell4485]

Amen brother!

[@andrewsutton7007]

I've got one of these on my bench right now from a friend that is in a complete state after becoming his 'modders playground' with more than 50% of the components swapped out and most importantly, a cooked R10 Cathode resistor. Economically a no-go project, but its serving as a great platform to deepen my tube amp knowledge so a win-win deal so far... BTW - the internet is chocked full of alleged fixes for the infamous '600 Hum' so the amp in this video my have left China with same fault?

[@richclayton5785]

Nice! Good to hear you protecting the owner your client; too bad Fender doesn’t care as much.

[@marcospintor1333]

I thought they’re all like that. Mines definitely hums

[@louderthangod]

I have one of these terrible amps. I had a guy modify it with the Mercury Magnetics kit they made years ago. I also re-housed it in a new 1x12 Mather cabinet with an AlNiCo Weber and it now sounds amazing.

[@bigtguitars7312]

I love mine i am on my second one the first had a US plug so made it difficult to use here in the UK and I upgraded the speaker to a weber I would happily pay the cost of the amp to improve it hum wise

[@rjschmirler3794]

Amen brother...

[@megwatts1903]

Yeah, they hum. Had one, it hummed. Gave it to a student. Friend gave me one, it hummed. I can't remember what I did with it. My wife gave me one for my B-day. It hummed. I think I can pretty well draw the conclusion at this point that they tend to hum. Because, yeah, they hum. It's a "Classic Rock" kinda hum, though, if you're into that.

[@iliasspeis2011]

I really wish you had worked on it not only to fix it but also to modify it and make it sound special. It's such a cheap little thing that having info on how to make it better would benefit a lot of people like me. Well maybe next time.

[@mickizzo]

I’ve got one of these, I had to relocate the OT further away from the PT to lose the hum.

[@bigtguitars7312]

I love mine if we lived on the same continent I would happy sink a few hundred more into to make it perform better

[@johnwilliamson467]

As I observed during a deposition from a doctor " It not what I do it what I know. "

[@danielsaturnino5715]

It is what it is.

[@honkytonkinson9787]

I feel like I’d be more likely to pay you the value of the amp for a good repair than to pay the same for a different amp hoping that it’s not also broken or going to break soon

[@pauldavis6356]

I sent a MarkBass 802 chassis to a repairman in Pennsylvania that needed a new power amp board. He inquired with MarkBass about a replacement board cost, but they just sent him the board. He asked me If I wanted to get it fixed, otherwise he'd have to return the board to Italy. I said yes. I wouldn't want a tech to swallow a cost that rightfully isn't his.

[@Elraurko]

The hum is inherent with the majority of the champion 600’s. The output transformer is too close to the 6v6 and needs to be relocated further away

[@BenState]

$100/ hour is a very low pro rate in Australia

[@ci3008]

I'm sure you considered this but looking at it with my limited knowledge the first thing I thought of was lead dress.

[@1theverve]

I have one of these Champ 600's. Love it but mine has the hum too. Anyone ever diagnose the root cause?

[@PsionicAudio]

Pretty sure it’s where the output transformer is mounted. As-built it should never have made it out of the prototype stage.

[@taylornutt]

I have the same problem with my dad's old acoustic guitar. The cost to repair it properly exceeds the cost of the instrument. You hate to not fix it, but it just does not make sense.

[@weschilton]

I have to admit I am in the 'amen brother' camp. Buy cheap and deal with the fact that its a disposable product that will eventually fail. Or, have your tech rebuild it right for more money than its worth and move n with your life. Cest la vie.

[@richardlynch5632]

😎👍

[@stevem.1853]

What is the build quality of the cabinet on these reissues? If it's decent, these might end up being a good candidate for diy'ers. I remember being impressed by the cosmetics of these but nothing else. Unfortunately, if you want Tweed tone, even the power transformer would have to go... probably not enough power for a 6v rectifier tube...?

[@PsionicAudio]

Crappy cab.

[@stevem.1853]

@@PsionicAudio well that scuttles that idea! It's just a cute tchotchke that can amplify sound then...

[@johnvincent9877]

I use mine in a 12 inch Cab. Sounds decent. Quite loud too, enough for jamming.

[@soundknight]

No sound or of a fender champ 600??? Don't touch it, that's a good thing.

[@innocentoctave]

More people need to understand the difference between 'not repairable', 'repairable if under warranty', and 'not economically repairable'. Perhaps this video will help. You are a tech, not a charity. But it will still sting an owner to be told that a several-hundred-dollar amp is 'not economically repairable', perhaps only a few weeks out of warranty.

[@zbaby82]

It would have been nice if four brand new F&T electrolytic capacitors had made the hum go away.