schundog Posted October 25, 2015 Posted October 25, 2015 I have been in the mood to downsize a bit lately, and have gotten rid of a few guitars and my digital piano. I picked up an electronic drum kit, as it is smaller and easier to move around than the acoustic set, but have been unable to bring myself to sell the acoustic set, so it sits in the corner behind the electronic set, stacked up. If I am to truly devote myself to downsizing, however, I just need to stay out of guitar shops. I’m like a drunk who says he’s quitting, but hangs around in bars… Not a good idea. Friday morning I was heading to a lunch appointment, and I was a bit early, so I stopped by this relatively new independent shop in Pekin, IL. The first thing I saw when I walked in was not one, but TWO vintage Fender Tweed amps, a Champ and a Deluxe. Holy Cow! The owner of Josh’s Guitar Shop, um, Josh, was standing at his station giving a Gibson Les Paul Classic a fret level. He’s a very likable, easy going guy, and told me that they were on consignment from some old guy in Canton, a nearby town, who had bought them new. The old boy had bought the Champ first, in the 50s, and, finding it not loud enough, bought the Deluxe. They had not been used for several decades. Josh got them and did Cap jobs on them, and generally went over them. I had to get to my appointment, but assured him I would be back to check them out. I came back a couple hours later, and tried out the Champ. I couldn’t believe how BIG the amp sounded for such a small package. I had had a silverface Champ in the past, and it wasn’t half the amp that this thing is. After trying it out, I plugged into another cool old amp he had available, a Univox that looked like it was from the 60s. Man, it sounded great, too! It reminded me of the Magnatone amps that Phil X uses in his guitar demos. I made an offer on the Champ, and was told that the price was very firm on it. I countered with an offer for the Champ and the Univox, and we made a deal. I spent some quality time with the Champ tonight. It, almost more than any other amp I have owned, is two separate beasts when used with single coils VS humbuckers. It’s very hard to keep clean with HBs, yet has a very pleasing snarl at a relatively low volume. With SCs, it stays cleaner a bit longer. Very cool amp. Being an old vintage amp, it doesn’t have an out for another speaker, but I’d love to hear it through a larger more efficient driver. Maybe down the road I’ll figure out how to make that happen without ruining the vintage value. The Champ looks like it has some water damage to the tolex, but is fully functional in every way, with no issues. The rectifier tube was replaced when the Cap job was done, but the pre and power tube appear to be quite old, if not original. The handle is in very good shape, which leads me to believe that it may not be original. Once warmed up and pushing some air, there is a stale cigarette smell emanating from the tiny beast quite common in old amps. Prior to yesterday, I was pretty sure that my next amp would be a Princeton Reverb of some sort, but these two little amps just kind of found ME.
schundog Posted October 25, 2015 Author Posted October 25, 2015 This schematic was folded up, tattered, in the back of the Univox. Pretty cool.
JeffB Posted October 25, 2015 Posted October 25, 2015 Congrats! There would never be a chance of me finding stuff like this at a hock shop/pawn shop over here. Im amazed by the stuff you find and personally, this is the coolest finds yet.
Polo Posted October 25, 2015 Posted October 25, 2015 Excellent double snatch! I'm always on the look out for nice ol' tweed......that one looks just about perfect....congrats!
Blunote Posted October 25, 2015 Posted October 25, 2015 What happened to the Deluxe? What did he want for it?
FredZepp Posted October 25, 2015 Posted October 25, 2015 Man... I do dig those amps. If you got a great deal, which I'm sure you did, that would be hard to pass up. You can imagine the tone just looking at them..... Another great grab.... Congrats.
schundog Posted October 25, 2015 Author Posted October 25, 2015 What happened to the Deluxe? What did he want for it? The Deluxe is still available; at $2500, it was too rich for my blood. Very cool amp, though.
schundog Posted October 25, 2015 Author Posted October 25, 2015 Here are some more shots of the Deluxe. It is a 5B3.
Gitfiddler Posted October 25, 2015 Posted October 25, 2015 Congrats! Nice vintage amp snatches, Brian. If you can locate an RCA (male) converter to 1/4" (female) cable, you'll be able to connect that Champ to a larger speaker cab. Weber used to sell them, if I recall correctly.
pressure Posted October 25, 2015 Posted October 25, 2015 Interesting "Deluxe". It has the 3 inputs like a " Harvard" 5f1.
kidsmoke Posted October 26, 2015 Posted October 26, 2015 That is too sweet, Brian! Happy for you. A while back PK and I compared our 5F1 clone's, not the same to be sure, but both well regarded clone circuits. The difference between the 8" and 10" (which I have stuffed into a standard Champ cab) was tremendous. Hope you can find a way to do it.
DetroitBlues Posted October 26, 2015 Posted October 26, 2015 Hopefully, you'll get that amp plugged into a larger cabinet. I'd like to hear your thoughts compared between the 5E3 and the Champ....
zguitar71 Posted October 26, 2015 Posted October 26, 2015 WHAT! Great amps! I 100% approve and there is a little jealousy going on here too.
schundog Posted October 27, 2015 Author Posted October 27, 2015 Congrats! Nice vintage amp snatches, Brian. If you can locate an RCA (male) converter to 1/4" (female) cable, you'll be able to connect that Champ to a larger speaker cab. Weber used to sell them, if I recall correctly. Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Tim, Lyle (LK115) send me a PM suggesting this, as well. I gotta make that happen. I compared my 5E3 KBP810 Tweed Deluxe Clone to the mighty Champ tonight, and, as you would expect, the Deluxe, with it's 12" speaker overpowered the Champ, but both had most righteous tone. As small as the Champ is, don't mistake it for a "bedroom volume" amp that you will be playing while the baby sleeps in the next room. It's got attitude, and is quite loud only halfway up the dial, which, of course, goes to 11... There is more flexibility with the two interactive volumes knobs and a tone knob on the Deluxe. After running the Deluxe and then going back to the Champ, you can't help but notice a bit of boxiness, for lack of a better term from the small speaker/cab of the Champ, not unlike the common complaint about Fender Blues Juniors. I can't imagine that putting the circuit through a bigger speaker/cab wouldn't be a night and day experience.
DetroitBlues Posted October 27, 2015 Posted October 27, 2015 Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Tim, Lyle (LK115) send me a PM suggesting this, as well. I gotta make that happen. I compared my 5E3 KBP810 Tweed Deluxe Clone to the mighty Champ tonight, and, as you would expect, the Deluxe, with it's 12" speaker overpowered the Champ, but both had most righteous tone. As small as the Champ is, don't mistake it for a "bedroom volume" amp that you will be playing while the baby sleeps in the next room. It's got attitude, and is quite loud only halfway up the dial, which, of course, goes to 11... There is more flexibility with the two interactive volumes knobs and a tone knob on the Deluxe. After running the Deluxe and then going back to the Champ, you can't help but notice a bit of boxiness, for lack of a better term from the small speaker/cab of the Champ, not unlike the common complaint about Fender Blues Juniors. I can't imagine that putting the circuit through a bigger speaker/cab wouldn't be a night and day experience. that very idea has me wanting to build a champ amp head cabinet or a larger combo such as a 2x10.... Nice snatch, nice snatch indeed.
LK155 Posted October 27, 2015 Posted October 27, 2015 Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Tim, Lyle (LK115) send me a PM suggesting this, as well. ... Guess I wasn't paying attention, as it seems I just lost 40 somewhere. I'll look for it today. Maybe it's the exchange rate kicking in.
schundog Posted October 27, 2015 Author Posted October 27, 2015 Guess I wasn't paying attention, as it seems I just lost 40 somewhere. I'll look for it today. Maybe it's the exchange rate kicking in. 155 down to 115.... Oops! Well, things DO tend to shrink over time, buddy....
ElNumero Posted October 27, 2015 Posted October 27, 2015 Two nice snatches are better than one nice snatch! I love the photo number 8 in the series, with the Champ next to the Univox. I swear that looks like a dead fish sitting on the Univox!!
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