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Yep, last Thursday about 45 minutes into practice, middle of a song my Fender Champ quit. Power light stayed on for about 5 seconds then blipped off.

Today I had a chance to look at it and it seems it blew the fuse, and a little closer look revealed that it had been arcing cross two pins of the power tube, connectors on both power and rectifier tubes are loose, so I have to replace both tube sockets.

Don't know yet if it fried any tubes, I think the power tube is OK but original rectifier tube is shot, it wouldn't light up. I did get it to power up for a couple of minutes, long enough to find out the rectifier tube won't heat up at all, so I replaced it with a spare. Power tube does light up.

I won't be able to get tube sockets until next week, but do have a working amp for practice. And of course I have a dozen tube sockets from a yard sale, mostly around 40 years old and still in brand new condition, but not one fits the 6V6/6L6 or 5Y3 tubes. Both fit the same socket.

Practice is going well otherwise, things are coming together quicker than most bands I've been in, we have enough material right now to make 3 good sets, most of it only needs another run through or two, a few need some minor work. I'm amazed, under 3 weeks and most bands I've been in take 2-3 months to put together 30-35 songs.

I'm just hoping nothing more serious is amiss with the old Champ...(1974 model) it works perfect for practice, helps us keep a low volume level and has a great sound. So far I've been planning to use it onstage too, with electronic drums we won't need a really loud stage volume.

ARRRRRGH!!! I hope it all works out ok there Billy.

Thats as bad as breking the neck off you favorite guitar.

That sucks, man. At least you have the know-how & drive to fix it.

I always laughed when I heard Zappa's "Joe's Garage," when he calls that amp "cheesy." I know a LOT of ppl that use 'em, both for practice & bar play.

Glad to hear you're working on stuff with another player, Billy. Sounds like you're coming along very well, if you have 3 sets already.

Thats as bad as breking the neck off you favorite guitar.

Yeah, that would really suck. As close as I've gotten was when some drunk cheesehead in Austin just had to play my Epiphone acoustic and I finally gave in, after trying to tell the guy I didn't like to let people play my guitar, I had to make a living with it. He wouldn't give up so I finally said OK, but I'm TAKING my guitar back after a minute or so, I have to make a living.

He dropped it face down on the sidewalk, broke all the inside support struts loose and I was out of a job for a couple of days while I repaired it. Since then NOBODY touches my guitars when I'm at a gig. Period.

George - I'm pretty sure it will work out fine. It's a lot better and less expensive than the transformer replacement I originally expected.

Thanks Phil, it's coming along really well and we're both very pleased with it. I have a couple more good ones to add this week, and at least it's not too difficult to add more tunes, Randy's taste is very close to mine as far as the song list goes. We're playing several things already that both of us have failed to get previous bands interested in. He mentioned 'Magnolia" one night, JJ Cale tune. I always liked it really well, this is the first time I've been able to play it except at solo gigs. Several others too. Crazy Mama, [also JJ Cale,] Melissa, [Allman Brothers,], a couple of Tom Petty tunes, I can only think of a couple without my list handy...

Anyway I'm pretty excited about it, and it's really surprising how good it sounds for just two people.

Fixing the amp should be no big problem, I solder very well, and already rebuilt both the Champ and Super Reverb a couple of years ago, just have to wait till we finish the job we're on in a few days so I'll have the money for parts. Till then it all goes in the gas tank...

Sorry to hear about the Champ, Billy.

however,

I was relieved to find out that it wasn't the Super! ( that would REALLY suck )

Howlin'

I was relieved to find out that it wasn't the Super!

Don't even think that!!

Now go to your room.

I'll be picking up some tube sockets in the next couple of days, soon as I get a chance to make a trip to the bigger town down the road, and of course a few bucks (ten of 'em actually) to pay for the parts.

Then I get to sniff some solder, then check it out and see if I blew any tubes or anything else...

But like i said, it's a lot better than a blown transformer...

For now I'm using the Super for practice, at very low volume. Works great, and the nicest cleans you ever heard...The Marshall overdrive pedal isn't quite the same as the Champ cranked to 10, but it does the job nicely.

GONGHEAD wrote:Thats as bad as breking the neck off you favorite guitar.

oh no it's not!
try breaking the neck on your old Gibson Hummingbird (yup, I did that)
"never carry a quality guitar in a cheap case"

I have a champ too Pete. love it. they were a lil dismayed when they asked me "where is your amp" in Charleston, and I pointed down and said there it is lol.
Good Luck with yours Pete. hope it's not bad!

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"It is what it is"

I have a champ too Pete. love it.

Me too, mine sounds great especially for low volume practice, and we're using electronic drums so it's just a matter of setting the PA to match the Champ cranked to 10. Works great...I pulled the 6V6 power tube and plugged in a 6L6, no more power or anything, just a gutsier sound. I played them side by side one day, there's no comparison.

But hey I figure if it's good enough for Clapton ti use to record "Layla" it better be good enough for me. Except I think his was the older model made in the 50's with only one knob, VOLUME. Fortunately it's one of the amps CBS didn't change when they took over fender...it's identical to the pre-CBS Champ.

I've tried at least a dozen practice amps, still have a RMS that sits there gathering dust, nothing matches the old faithful Fender Champ for a low wattage practice amp.

Oh, and I also realized what happened to it. The power tube socket worked loose. The contacts need to be tightened now and then, every few years, on any tube amp due to metal fatigue from road use and vibration. About a week ago (also at practice) I unplugged the internal speaker to plug in an external 1x12 cab, bumped the power tube and it fell out. I missed the cue and didn't realize it needed to be tightened...it gradually worked loose and started to arc between two contact pins. I'm paying for my inattention now...

Tis good you are so adept at fixing stuff Billy.
All this makes me wonder (again) if I should just find myself a sutable SS amp.
We tried doing some 4 track recordings Tuesday night, I thought I was going to have to put my little 50watt monster on a chain outside, hell every mic in the house picks this thing up like they are sitting right in front of it.
I kinda like the tone my little Ibanez Tone Blaster 15R has on the overdrive channel, compared to my Carvin though, its more buzzy / fuzzy than crunch.

bummer.
reminds of my first amp - I had a 25 watt Crate amp. Turned it on, and CRACK!, then smoke, then silence and uber stank... fortunately for me, it was in the comfort of my room and not on stage - not that I've played on stage at any venue

hope you can recover your loss!
G.L.
chris

It's fixed, YAAAY...

Got the tube sockets yesterday, sniffed some solder later in the afternoon, turned it on and found out the power tube was fried too. Plugged in a spare and it works great. Unfortunately that was the best sounding power tube I had, but it still sounds good with the replacement.

At first I thought I had blown the output transformer, it made no sound at all, but decided to try tubes first, and the power tube was bad. It was still arcing in the new tube socket, I shut it down real quick, don't want to trash a new tube socket...If it ever burns the surface of the tube socket, it will always try to arc in that same spot, you have to replace it.

Also yesterday was the first day since Sunday I've been able to play at all. Woke up Sunday and my right wrist hurt. Probably slept on it. Monday it was worse, and Tuesday...boy howdy...that was some really interesting pain...Tuesday evening it suddenly started to hurt less, yesterday I could play, this morning it's still a but tender but definitely on the mend.

I couldn't hold a cup of coffee, had to dress left handed, couldn't open my door, had to do everything left handed...and I'm definitely not a southpaw... That's also why I haven't been on here the past few days, couldn't type.