The Champ is Back!

I've had this 1979 Fender Champ guitar amp for a few years, (picked it up used at Starving Musician on Meridian in San Jose).  It's a nice amp, with a real potent sound, but for the past couple of years it lie unused, waiting to be repaired.

In November I had the main filter cap replaced and only had it back home for a couple of hours when it failed again, this time with a bad tube socket.  Sure sounded nice for the hour or so I got to hear it.

After consulting with my amp repair guy I decided to build on my recent car repair success story and see if I could replace the tube socket myself.  I ordered a new socket and on New Year's Day I replaced the old socket (and took a few photos along the way).

To make a long story short, the repair was a success and I've been playing the amp since yesterday afternoon!

Fender Champ

Here's the scene of the crime, my "lab" as I call it.

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Fender Champ

That's the bad socket, with all the wires removed.  I printed a photo of the layout of the wires before even heating my soldering iron!

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Fender Champ

Waiting for the new socket.

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Fender Champ

And we're off.  About half-way done in this photo.

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Fender Champ

Yeah! She works and sounds great, even without a cabinet.  

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Fender Champ

Ooh, pretty tubes, glowing in the dark.

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Fender Champ

The Fender Champ guitar amp really is a champ!  A one trick pony, but a very nicely done trick.  This amp is one of my favorites.

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As usual, you can click on any of the above images to see a larger version.  Also, there are few more photos of the amp at my Flickr Fender Champ photoset.