zguitar71 Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 Well after quite some time I am finally posting a sound/video clip of the Champ. I am playing a stock 150 GT with Lollar p-90's straight into my 2x10 Champ from `76. All settings are on 10. I start on the rythem pickup and then go to the bridge, I never touch the volume, it cleans up with a light touch. I cant tell you how much I love this guitar/amp combo, its dreamy.
DetroitBlues Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 That guitar is sweet! Great tones out of that Champ too. Can't play a searing lick without good facial expressions as well. Loved the playing man, rock on!
zguitar71 Posted March 31, 2012 Author Posted March 31, 2012 Yea sometimes I look like someone out of deliverance.
schundog Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 Dig it! Sounds fantastic. Champs are fun, and P90s: probably my favorite kind of pickups. Nice combo, man, and great playing.
bolero Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 damn, that was awesome!! kind of like a mix of Alvin Lee & Johnny Winter, with some CCR vibe in there too I dig lollar P90's, have a set here waiting to go into something....would love to get a P90 heritage someday; it would probably be a goldtop, if I had a choice...the cream P90's match so well with that color combo
RhoadsScholar Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 That Guitar / Amp Combo along with the great playing is a match made in Heaven. Sounded Great !
zguitar71 Posted April 1, 2012 Author Posted April 1, 2012 Thanks for all the kind words. RhoadsScholar you were 100% right when you said I would love that amp, I am gald you offered it in the trade. Here is a clean sample. My rhythm is horrible in this one, without a band I apparently to have rhythm issues. The amp settings are the same but the neck p/u is on 5 for both the volume and tone.
Gitfiddler Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 Zguitar~ Good stuff, man. You got your blues on in the first video. Those Lollar P90's snarl through your Champenstein amp. (I can say that as an owner of two hot-modded Champs!). Have you taken your amp out to gigs yet?
zguitar71 Posted April 1, 2012 Author Posted April 1, 2012 Lately I only use the champ, I used it last night at one of the brew pubs we play regularly. It's amazing how loud 5 watts can be. I was asked to turn down by the manager twice, and I never mic it. I ended up covering the amp with my light down jacket. Then I had people in the audience tell me I was not loud enough, go figure! I think I will unplug one of the tens next time.
Gitfiddler Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 Next time you are in that club, try turning your speaker cabinet around backwards, facing a wall. That will disburse the sound without the typical unidirectional inconsistencies. That might even allow you to turn the amp up a bit, especially for your solos.
RhoadsScholar Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 That is awsome. Quite a versitle combination. I just had that champ reworked before Iparted with it and it came back to life. Silverface champs/vibro champs are under-rated and when you get all the components up to snuff, a bigger speaker they come alive. I am amazed of the different tones you care getting with the single coils by tweaking the tone/volume knobs. Nice a quite too... Thanks for sharing the videos and taking the time to post them. Take care
FredZepp Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 That's a great sounding combination... and you put it through it's paces, tonewise, very nicely. I haven't done anything with my 70's VibroChamp for a while, it did something odd last time I cranked it.... but soon I'll have to check it out. ..(tubes or fried speaker probably.. ) Your vids are an inspiration to get that lil' old Fender fired up again.
zguitar71 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Posted April 2, 2012 Hey RS, were there any mods done to the amp or just replacement with stock components? I'm asking because the tone from that amp is so good it made me wonder if all silver face champs are this good.
DetroitBlues Posted April 21, 2012 Posted April 21, 2012 Slammer should take a listen to this.. He'll have an idea of what he's in for....
Guest HRB853370 Posted April 23, 2012 Posted April 23, 2012 Slammer should take a listen to this.. He'll have an idea of what he's in for.... I did...man, after listening to Zguitar's scortching licks and tones, (very nice btw), I just cannot wait to play it through my KBP810 Tweed Deluxe. I don't have a Champ, but now I am gonna be on the look out for one! Thanks for sharing!
212Mavguy Posted April 26, 2012 Posted April 26, 2012 Hey RS, were there any mods done to the amp or just replacement with stock components? I'm asking because the tone from that amp is so good it made me wonder if all silver face champs are this good. The circuit sounds good because it is simple. But wait til you start swapping out iron, particularly the output transformer. Then there's old stock tubes...and you already know about the speaker part! I went further than that, to circuit mods. Mine is a mutant with serious hybrid vigor as well as a bit of short person's disease...It wants to be a full Marshall stack that sings like a Dumble. Hard to find a better platform for some f-ing SERIOUS tone tweakage than a simple single ended tube amp, old school style build, with lots of folks having experience to answer your questions found online as well as several good books now available. Serious compliments to the playing!.
RhoadsScholar Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 Here is the secret of that mystery champ. The later silverface champs (I think 74 to 78) are probably the least desireable on the used market. On top of that, everyone is reluctant to change out the power transformers as it might hurt the resale value. I would say that is true for any of the pre 1969 higher wattage fender stuff (my opinion) as these were the last years of the blackface circuits, but the champ probably changed the least. The ONLY modification done to this stock silverface champ was a NEW OUTPUT TRANSFORMER. Prior to the mod, it would cut out on me after about an hour (go to about 1/2 volume, but everything else sounded the same). Thought I was going crazy. changed all the tubes, still did it. Took it in to the amp tech. A week later, it came back with a new OUTPUT transformer (zguitar71, don't remember the brand, but it was about a $125 installed repair) and I would have sworn it was a new amp. Nothing special on the OUTPUT transformer. In fact, if you are handy, you can go to www.allenamplification.com (I think this is the URL). He has a redesigned made in usa output transformer for about $55.00 I think. Don't need to to crazy with the mercurymagnetics stuff on a champ. I got the amp back about the same time I aquired the 150 GT and I swear that guitar and that amp were made for each other. This thing came back twice as loud, and much more responsive to pick attack (softer cleaner, harder, added the bite)... So a 55 dollar mod to a mid to late 70's champ/vibrochamp will get you there. Luckily for me. Brian KBP810 hooked me up one of his 5E3 Deluxe heads to go along with my Reverb Deluxe. I will probably get another silverface champ/vibrochamp at a later date . First thing I will do it go to allenamplification.com and pick up one of their output transformers. Keep up the good playing ZGUITAR71 and share some clips from time to time. I would love to see a video of that champ in action with your band cutting through the mix. take care
JeffB Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 whoa hey!! how come I didnt find this thread before? Cool vids!. Thats some pretty wicked playing. Plenty of fire. Would love to hear you ripping it up in a band with that combination.
zguitar71 Posted April 29, 2012 Author Posted April 29, 2012 Here is the secret of that mystery champ. take care Hey thanks for the info. I put an old RCA 5y3 rectifier tube in it and changed to a Tung-Sol 6v6, other than the 2x10's I have not changed anything else. The RCA tube gives it a glassy tone which suprised me, usually rectifiers don't change the tone as dramaticly as a power tube will. I used a 5ar4 for a short time but it burned out the 6v6 tubes in just a couple of hours, Tung-Sol tubes cannot take the voltage in some circuts like other 6v6's can. I promptly dropped the JJ 6v6 and broke it about a week after I received the amp, otherwise I could run the 5ar4 and the JJ for a little more headroom, but I find myself always returning to the 5y3 anyway.
RhoadsScholar Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 Good tips ZGUITAR71. It sounds like you dialed it in even more after I had it. I'm going to file this away when I get another VibroChamp and use your recommendations for tubes etc. Yours could pass for a botique amp for sure. Maybe even one of those "high end" KPB810 creations (Brian, maybe you should make a vibrochamp clone)...
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