Members BartDude Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 I had a Tweed Champ 5F1 clone in standard size tweed covered cab with an 8" speaker and I loved it for it's portability and tone. But I made the mistake of hooking it into a 12" speaker cab and was unable rest since. Finally, I bit the bullet and had someone build me a bigger cab. I went nuts a bit further and ordered a 12" Weber 12A125 for it. I hooked up with a guy who occasionally sells tweed cabinets on ebay. I asked him if he customizes cabs and he said 'yes'. I told him how I wanted it to look like and he said give him about a month. I got the cab the other day and couldn't wait to slap the chassis and speaker back in. I couldn't say much about the tone as the speaker is yet to be broken in. But what a difference it made as to how big and full it sounded. The porthole at the back panel where one tube peeks through ala Carr Mercury adds a cool factor. Here's how big it is now compared to the 5E3 and Princeton Reverb size cabs. How it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 You can usually fit a 10" speaker in a tweed champ's cab. I replaced the 8" in mine with a 10" 3.2 ohm 15 watt Weber and love the sound. I kind of understand the appeal of the 8" speaker in a Champ if you are cranking the amp to the max and playing screaming lead guitar out of the thing. It sort of honks and the single lead notes just sound thick with that tiny speaker. But if you want more versatility and better chording/rhythm...a bigger speaker gets you a lot of the way there. I modded my 5E1 Champ like crazy over time. It still can be made to sound like Clapton's amp on Layla, but I was able to get wonderful cleans out of it by doing mods like: -replacing the 68K input resistor on input one with a lower value like 22K-removing the negative feedback loop-installing a treble bleed cap across the volume pot which is switchable-playing with the cathode resistors and caps on both gain stages and the power tube with different values It now has fanastic cleans at bedroom volumes but still can crank up and roar. Not as muddy sounding when you turn down. I find it ironic that Leo Fender was trying to make a practice amp with the tweed Champ. It found acceptance played in a manner it wasn't designed for, and now with these mods I've brought it home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vrm Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 Looks like a quality cab. How much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BartDude Posted March 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 You can usually fit a 10" speaker in a tweed champ's cab. I replaced the 8" in mine with a 10" 3.2 ohm 15 watt Weber and love the sound. I kind of understand the appeal of the 8" speaker in a Champ if you are cranking the amp to the max and playing screaming lead guitar out of the thing. It sort of honks and the single lead notes just sound thick with that tiny speaker. But if you want more versatility and better chording/rhythm...a bigger speaker gets you a lot of the way there.I modded my 5E1 Champ like crazy over time. It still can be made to sound like Clapton's amp on Layla, but I was able to get wonderful cleans out of it by doing mods like:-replacing the 68K input resistor on input one with a lower value like 22K-removing the negative feedback loop-installing a treble bleed cap across the volume pot which is switchable-playing with the cathode resistors and caps on both gain stages and the power tube with different valuesIt now has fanastic cleans at bedroom volumes but still can crank up and roar. Not as muddy sounding when you turn down. I find it ironic that Leo Fender was trying to make a practice amp with the tweed Champ. It found acceptance played in a manner it wasn't designed for, and now with these mods I've brought it home. I did consider putting a 10" but wasn't quite sure whether the replacement would make that much of a difference if the cabinet's size stays the same.I would love to do the mod you've listed, I just don't neither the confidence nor knowledge to do it. With all the warnings about potentially fatal electrical shock when working with tube amps, it sounds daunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIP Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 I actually like the sound of the original 8"...microphones seem to like 8" speakers live and in the studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BartDude Posted March 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 Looks like a quality cab. How much? Yes, it is quite good, very solid. He used finger jointed pine for the cab. He charged me $175 for the cab plus $12 for the piping. Shipping extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIP Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 I will say it's a snappy look! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 29, 2009 Members Share Posted March 29, 2009 Really the mods are safe. You don't go near the power stuff when you do this. Here's a simple mod I like that costs a buck or two and might make a world of difference in your amp. Buy yourself a tone capacitor that has a value of around .022 uF...The ceramic disc ones are fine...cost around a dollar. You can play with different values like .047, .033, .01 etc...around there. These are the same tone caps that go on the tone pots inside your guitar. Anyway solder it across the volume pot on your amp like so: It will make your amp sound way better when you turn the volume down. Has no effect at all when the volume knob is maxed.If you don't like it, remove it. It only cost you a buck or two. Try different value caps for different rates of sweep. You can even run the mod to a tiny toggle switch if you want to have it both stock and modded. I guarantee you won't kill yourself as long as you just mess with the volume pot. Only a very tiny electrical energy runs through that pot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jimtalkbox Posted March 29, 2009 Members Share Posted March 29, 2009 Nice modded champ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BartDude Posted March 30, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 30, 2009 Really the mods are safe. You don't go near the power stuff when you do this. Here's a simple mod I like that costs a buck or two and might make a world of difference in your amp. Buy yourself a tone capacitor that has a value of around .022 uF...The ceramic disc ones are fine...cost around a dollar. You can play with different values like .047, .033, .01 etc...around there. These are the same tone caps that go on the tone pots inside your guitar. Anyway solder it across the volume pot on your amp like so: It will make your amp sound way better when you turn the volume down. Has no effect at all when the volume knob is maxed.If you don't like it, remove it. It only cost you a buck or two. Try different value caps for different rates of sweep. You can even run the mod to a tiny toggle switch if you want to have it both stock and modded. I guarantee you won't kill yourself as long as you just mess with the volume pot. Only a very tiny electrical energy runs through that pot. Oh, the treble bleed mod, right? I did that to one of my Teles. May I ask you something? I noticed that since I've replaced the preamp with a GT 12AX7M I have lost a bit of volume. It used to have a NOS 12AX7 tube (I don't know the brand) which gave to a friend. Like I've said, it lost a bit of volume. Any correlation? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BartDude Posted March 30, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 30, 2009 Nice modded champ! Thanks. I'm very happy with it. I'm looking for an amp logo to finish it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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