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Post by Gregg Hermetech on Jun 30, 2023 20:18:30 GMT
I recently ordered a WF-55 kit from Barry at AmpMaker.com. It took me three sessions to build it, from Wednesday to Friday last week, then a session of safety testing on Monday. It worked first time and I am chuffed! It was my first amp/valve/high voltage project. It sounds amazing, I learned a helluva lot, and I'm very happy! It's based on the Fender Champ 5F1 circuit. 4 watts. I have it going into a Weber 12A125A 12" speaker and am running it with NOS RCA 12AX7 and NOS Brimar 6V6GTY tubes. It's still RIDICULOUSLY too loud for an apartment... Any other amp builders here? Attachments:
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Post by lavaman on Jul 1, 2023 16:12:09 GMT
Those little Fender Champ amps are brilliant and so LOUD!
Looks to be an impressive kit and your wiring looms are pretty neat. Well done. Just keep your fingers away from the high voltage rails.
I've never built a valve amp but about 30 years ago my boss (an electrical engineer who had previously worked at Mullard valves) helped me repair a Sound City amp.
Iain
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Post by Gregg Hermetech on Jul 1, 2023 21:55:39 GMT
Thanks Iain!
Some of the best things about Barry's kits are the very detailed instructions, and the emphasis on safety. He says about half of his customers are first time builders like me, so I was careful with the HT/B+ stuff and learned how to check if the chassis was live, how to measure the voltage across the big caps (while it decreases after switching off), and how to discharge the caps quickly and safely. It's given me so much confidence and I'm already itching to build another one (5E3 Tweed Deluxe maybe?), but gonna try and tweak this one to perfection first, while studying the circuit diagram and trying to grok it all, before moving on.
Right now I want to add a few things:
1) Some way to decrease the level while keeping the great tone (I have ordered some lower gain preamp tubes, 12AY7 and 12AX7, but there are numerous other things to try, such as number 3 below)
2) A bass reduction mod (it's a bit muddy, but I've already learned that replacing some caps with lower values will decrease the amount of bass)
3) A power mod (very easy to add a switch between the regular 4w output, to 2w or 0.4w). Will hopefully give power tube breakup at apartment levels
4) A mid cut mod to make it less Tweedy/more Blackfacey. Looks simple to do, a single pot, cap and resistor will allow the regular "raw" sound, to a mid scooped sound. The values of the fixed resistor and the cap determine the maximum amount of cut, and the centre frequency of the cut.
As I said, I am learning A LOT!
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Post by Gregg Hermetech on Jul 2, 2023 6:18:57 GMT
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Post by grayn on Jul 2, 2023 8:52:17 GMT
Congrats, that looks very cool, with a lovely vintage vibe.
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Post by surfguy13 on Jul 5, 2023 12:44:32 GMT
I have often considered building an amp and yet have never had the confidence to go ahead and do it. Looking the photos you have done an incredibly neat job and I know for a fact that I couldn't get close.....my soldering is getting better but it is not easy to do such a neat job.
My thing is old Fender tweed amps from the 50s and have had quite a lot the over past 50 years with my favourites being an old 1954 Twin (25 watt) and a 1956 Super, both wonderful amps. However, there is something about champs (and Princetons) that is really quite organic....the simplicity of the circuit I guess.
I have found that using the volume and tone controls on the guitar is almost essential with a Champ and it is astonishing what a wide range of tones you can get. As you say, changing the caps for lower values is a simple and cost-effective means of dramatically changing your bass and trebles.
The Weber speaker is a great choice, love them! I never experimented with 12" speakers on Champs or Princetons, sticking with alnico 6"/8" speakers but I bet it gives you a superb sound!
Fantastic job and look forward to hearing how the amp performs after the upgrades.
Guy
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Post by Gregg Hermetech on Jul 5, 2023 16:39:34 GMT
Thanks. Go for it! It was far less stress than I thought it would be. The instructions were so good. As long as you have all the tools and a bright workspace and take things slowly and carefully, you'd be fine, I'm sure!
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Jo whoever he is.
