NAD!

[Rich_S]

I've had an old Univox chassis kicking around my shop for years. Bought it for $9.95 on eBay years ago, 'cuz it was cool and and nostalgic and weird. It's from a UB252 solid-state head from the '70s, complete with groovy silkscreened graphics. Since it's small and has graphics for volume, bass, and treble controls, I always wanted to build a blackface Champ into it, just never got around to it.

Instead, Muchxs from the TDPRI volunteered to build one for me. A lot of the parts are recycled, including an old RCA 6V6 and an OT from a '61 RCA phono.

I planned to build the enclosure myself, but Muchxs didn't want to ship a bare chassis so he "banged together" a dovetailed pine cabinet for it. I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it.

 

[DankStar]

Re: NAD!

Awesome

 

[Ironikaika]

Re: NAD!

Chee Hooooo!

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: NAD!

so cool

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: NAD!

Those old home brews are invariably ratty, rough, unrefined and muddy edged.
Just the thing for a true roots blues sound. No one is ever going to mistake them for a Tweed Princeton, thats for sure...but cool for what they are.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: NAD!

Those old home brews are invariably ratty, rough, unrefined and muddy edged.
Just the thing for a true roots blues sound. No one is ever going to mistake them for a Tweed Princeton, thats for sure...but cool for what they are.

Sigh....

Congrats on the new amp man. Should sound killer.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: NAD!

That looks great. Love the Champ circuit! What is the difference between a tweed Champ and a black face one?

I would leave it naked, myself ...

 

[Oinkus]

Re: NAD!

Just wipe some stain on it and call it finished , you have to seal it against beer and spills.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: NAD!

That looks great. Love the Champ circuit! What is the difference between a tweed Champ and a black face one?

The blackface has more feedback in the output stage for a cleaner sound. Less feedback/more gain in the preamp stages, which helps compensate for the gain lost in the TB tone stack. Overall, Tweeds are more middy, and blackface has more of the traditional Fender scoop. Both are good, I just went with blackface on this because the chassis had the right holes in it.

 

[xxxplorer]

Re: NAD!

Stain the cab, maybe add a front plat that slopes down to meet the sloping face of the chassis to give it a cool look... Concave like.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Wattage]

Re: NAD!

Stain it blue!

Nice

 

[Demanic]

Re: NAD!

With that tube and OT that thing could sound sweet. What are you going to put it through? I recommend a Cannibis Rex. Or maybe a Screaming Eagle, both 50 watters by Eminence.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: NAD!

The blackface has more feedback in the output stage for a cleaner sound. Less feedback/more gain in the preamp stages, which helps compensate for the gain lost in the TB tone stack. Overall, Tweeds are more middy, and blackface has more of the traditional Fender scoop. Both are good, I just went with blackface on this because the chassis had the right holes in it.

Thanks for the info; My Lil Dawg Champster is a tweed Champ ... ironically, it creates some of my favorite high gain tones! Takes pedals like ... a ... champ.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: NAD!

Stain it blue!

Nice

Great minds think alike.

With that tube and OT that thing could sound sweet. What are you going to put it through? I recommend a Cannibis Rex. Or maybe a Screaming Eagle, both 50 watters by Eminence.

I'm thinking about building another cabinet to match my DIY 18 Watter. Pretty sure I'll go with some sort of Emi 12". Most of their Red & Blue series speakers have really high efficiency, which is a good thing to have when you're only putting out 5 watts.

 

[zzmoore]

Re: NAD!

That looks great. Love the Champ circuit! What is the difference between a tweed Champ and a black face one?

I would leave it naked, myself ...

Basically, just the lack of a Tone Stack in the Tweed.
They tend to have more gain, and all that goes along with that.
No reason at all why a "home brew" amp would not be the equal of the same factory circuit.....especially from somebody like Much.
good luck.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: NAD!

Basically, just the lack of a Tone Stack in the Tweed.
They tend to have more gain, and all that goes along with that.

Thanks!

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: NAD!

Re: how the Champ handles gain ... here's an excerpt of a song I am mixing; the 12/8 section at the front of the clip is all Champ. (The second section is the Studio 2) Nothing fancy here: e609 and an iso cab, amp is cranked about 2/3 of the way up.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: NAD!

I finally got my odd little Champ fired up today. I told Muchxs when he started the project to handle the wiring and tone-related parts of the project, but leave the grunt work to me. So the amp showed up with no way to plug it in; nibbling out the hole for the IEC power connector was part of my job. Sort of delayed the gratification, since it took me a couple weeks to get around to it. While I was in there, I added a mini switch for the NFB loop.

Anyway, today was the big day... it came up no problem and sounded great. It's good to have a "Fender" amp in the stable. With the NFB connected (normal "blackface" mode) it is clean all the way up. This I blame on the speaker, which was the G12-H80 in my 18 Watter combo. No way an 80-watt 12" is going to break up at all, driven by a mere Champ. One might even describe the tone as "dull", I assume just because it's not hitting the speaker hard enough to bring it to life.

Then I dug an old Peavey Rage cabinet out of the shop. One of my son's friends blew it up at rehearsal and left it here. I took a crack at fixing it, but it wasn't worth the hassle. The amp chassis ended up in the trash, leaving a solid little enclosure housing a cheap 8" speaker. Perfect grab-n-go cab to accompany a Champ head.

The Champ actually sounds a bit better through the cheap 8"; brighter and more Champ-ish. It has me reconsidering what sort of cabinet to build for the Champ. I was thinking about an Eminence Patriot (probably a Cannabis Rex) for it's high efficiency. When you're only putting out 5 watts, you need the most efficient speaker you can get. But now I'm thinking something smaller might be better suited to the Champ, even it I lose a dB or so; maybe a Ragin Cajun 10".

I'm glad I put in the NFB switch. Turning the feedback off is the only way to get any dirt out of the amp. It's nice to have the option, it doesn't do the full tweed transformation, but it's a step in that direction.

It's going to be a great amp for home. The volume is really reasonable, the tone is great, and it's a quirky little one-of-kind amp.

Still haven't decided on a finish, leaning toward red tolex today, with a matching cab.

 

[zzmoore]

Re: NAD!

..."nibbling out the hole for the IEC power connector".....
Glad you mentioned this. I assume you used the "typical" 15 Dollar nibbler.
How did that work out for you.?
I have a few chassis with just a hole for a 16-18 gauge cord and strain relief...but I would much prefer a removable IEC like you have.
Thanks

 

[Rich_S]

Re: NAD!

I have a nibbler that I bought at Radio Shack years ago. It works okay. Beats drilling and filing those IEC rectangles.