My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

[B Bent]

I just can't handle stock stuff for the most part. That is evident on most of my gear. I can't even build a straight up Champ clone. I have to go stick a 15 watt OT in it and have a cab built that accommodates a 10" and the list goes on.

I have been thrilled with my 5F1 kit I built last year, but a bug bit me to do something a little whack, so I had John Mergili build me a head cab and speaker cab for my tweaked out champ. Now I have this uber cool little baby tweed champ stack. It is so nice and compact, but sounds so big. It isnt exactly a champ obviously, but anyone that likes a tweed tones would find a familiar sound here.

I alternate between a Weber Alnico 10" and a Weber 10F125 ceramic. Currently with this micro tweed stack I am running the Alnico Weber and it sounds great!

Hope you enjoy the pics:

Here are some gut shots:

I also have a baffle ready with some Weber 6x9s if I so choose:

 

[Hoss]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Too Cool man!

I totally dig that!

NEW STUFF ROCKS!!! :headbang:

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Very cool... Eric Johnson once said that the best amp only had one knob.

 

[Gunny47]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Very clean work my dude. Interesting choices as well hehe. TV fronts, head and cab config etc. 6x9s that's crazy, I've never seen those. I like the idea of a small amp with a big cab. If it wasn't for portability, all of my small amps would be like that.

Congrats with the work though! Which do you seem to prefer, the ceramic or alnico Weber 10"?

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

I would love to build a Champ kit! Where did you get yours?

 

[B Bent]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Very clean work my dude. Interesting choices as well hehe. TV fronts, head and cab config etc. 6x9s that's crazy, I've never seen those. I like the idea of a small amp with a big cab. If it wasn't for portability, all of my small amps would be like that.

Congrats with the work though! Which do you seem to prefer, the ceramic or alnico Weber 10"?

Thanks bro! I really love the look of TV front Fenders so that's why I went that route, plus no one really makes too many new cabs in that Fender era it seems. I guess I just like to be different. The 6x9s really sound disappointing with the champ. I have heard plenty of 6x9s in the past in small Valco amps and such and they always sounded warmer than these. The 6x9s totally change the voice of this amp dramatically.

As far as the 10's.....If I am craving warmer tones with little to no headroom it is the Alnico all the way. If it is louder, bolder tones with more headroom I use the ceramic. I'm luck because I have an old Vibrolux Reverb that sits right next to this amp that sounds great with either of the 10's I use in this amp. Plus this amp sounds great with either.

I would love to build a Champ kit! Where did you get yours?

This is a Triode Electronics kit. They are very impressive kits for the scratch. I have found a lot of beginner DIYers overlook Triode because they need paint by numbers, step by step instructions. You get all the parts you need and a layout with Triode and that's it. Their email tech support is fast to reply. I seriously give them 2 thumbs up.

BYOC's new Champlifier uses all the same trannys as Triode and the same components for the most part, but you get step by step instructions and the price is about an extra $70. I think with your electronics experience you'd have no issues whatsoever with the Triode kit. I had an absolute blast building mine. When I finished a friend liked it so much he ordered him a kit and had me build it. He has rocked it hard for almost a year now and still loves it.

This is what shows up when you get the kit. It is up to you to figure out how to use assemble it with the layout given (which is very good):

 

[woemoejack]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

that lacquered tweed is SICK

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Get enough honey on the tweed there Gregster? :laughing:

Great job, looks great

 

[B Bent]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

that lacquered tweed is SICK

Get enough honey on the tweed there Gregster? :laughing:

Great job, looks great

These pics with my cellphone and flash are a little misleading. It isnt this shiny in person. That led flash really makes it look shiny. It has looked like friggin Seattle here in Atlanta for a few days now so I havent been able to take proper pictures of it.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

This is a Triode Electronics kit. They are very impressive kits for the scratch. I have found a lot of beginner DIYers overlook Triode because they need paint by numbers, step by step instructions. You get all the parts you need and a layout with Triode and that's it. Their email tech support is fast to reply. I seriously give them 2 thumbs up.

BYOC's new Champlifier uses all the same trannys as Triode and the same components for the most part, but you get step by step instructions and the price is about an extra $70. I think with your electronics experience you'd have no issues whatsoever with the Triode kit. I had an absolute blast building mine. When I finished a friend liked it so much he ordered him a kit and had me build it. He has rocked it hard for almost a year now and still loves it.

This is what shows up when you get the kit. It is up to you to figure out how to use assemble it with the layout given (which is very good):

Nice. Yeah, I think I'd have no problems with the Triode kit. I was even thinking of just sourcing parts myself and building my own turret board somehow, but that's a lot of unnecessary work really. The Champ is a stupid simple circuit.

So I guess you're on your own with the cab. Where did you get yours, or did you build it yourself?

 

[B Bent]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Nice. Yeah, I think I'd have no problems with the Triode kit. I was even thinking of just sourcing parts myself and building my own turret board somehow, but that's a lot of unnecessary work really. The Champ is a stupid simple circuit.

So I guess you're on your own with the cab. Where did you get yours, or did you build it yourself?

I got my cab from John Mergili. He builds all of the cabs for Kendrick amps. He is super good and easy to work with.

http://mergili.com/

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

That looks fantastic!

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Is it hard to wire up in what appears to be such tight spaces?

 

[DankStar]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Neat baby stack!

 

[B Bent]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Is it hard to wire up in what appears to be such tight spaces?

I honestly didnt find it challenging at all. Building this champ was cake.

 

[gripweed]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Champs rule. I have 2 Silverface Champs from the early 1970s.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Very, very cool!

 

[B Bent]

Re: My name is B Bent and I like customizing stuff Leo created so long ago.

Thanks again guys. The tone really opened up on this amp with this ever so slightly larger cab. It has a much more resonant, ringing tone now and sounds less muffled that it did in the smaller cab with the chassis and everything all crammed together. This is such a cute little setup. LOL! (Now pull my man card for using that word.)