1953 Tonemaster Amp: Little Brother to the Tweed Fender Champ 5C1
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ก.ย. 2024
- This video features a very compact early 1950's Tonemaster guitar amp with a 3-tube circuit that is quite similar to the first (5C1) Fender Champ created in 1953. This circuit uses a 6SJ7 pentode pre-amp tube instead of the more conventional 12AX7 that came later, and although it offers less amplification, the 6SJ7 produces a warm, "tweed-like" tone. As usual, the amp is evaluated thoroughly inside and out, and improvements are made to both the speaker and the circuit. Before and after sound checks are provided.
Comments and procedures in this video can also be applied to the following amps: Magnatone M-199 Student, Silvertone 1301, Aircastle 79A, Gibson GA-5 Les Paul Junior, Gibson GA-7 TV, Supro Super 1606 (early model), Dickerson MOTS (Pre-Magnatone).
If you enjoy videos such as this, featuring classic vintage amps and offering tips on how to repair and improve them, then please subscribe to my channel. You will gain immediate access to over 55 similar videos, and you will be notified each time a new video is released.
Thanks for watching !!!! - เพลง
I really can not express to you how much I both enjoy and learn from your wonderful videos. Thank you so very much!
Hi Uncle Doug & Family, Sweet , simple little amp. I love 'em. Still moving ahead on the 5F1, but, will definitely build a 5C1. Thanks for the inspiration to expand into some high volt DC. I've been building some rather simple guitar pedal effects as I have most of the parts required, dirt, boost, etc.. I made a capacitor discharge tool per one of your video's. For self taught, with a little help from my friends, I do O.K.. Not the living end, and, probably never will be, but my projects, be it sound to light, a chip amp or power supply work as they should. We foster cared for a little female husky I found and she got back to her owners, my kind of excitement. Take care, C.
+Cass Virgillo You're welcome, Cass. It's great to hear of your progress. Bless you for taking care of the lost dog.....a person's character is evident in the way they treat helpless creatures.
Greetings Uncle Doug, My wife requested that the ceiling in our living room get a fresh coat of paint so I immediately started a craigslist search for amps to preserve the floors during the painting process. To my amazement I found this amp for sale. Not just the same model ETC but the actual amp featured in this video. The seller stated that he purchased it from you on Ebay. Small world, It was nice to purchase an older amp and have confidence in the restoration applied to it. Having watched almost all your videos mainly for the cat scan and initial exterior roasting process; It was surreal to see one of your patients available locally. I will message you on Facebook as I have some questions.
So the little Tonemaster is moving on to a new home. I hope it gives you many years of reliable service and enjoyment, Jim.......and gets some new white specks on top :)
My volume issue was related to the potentiometer as stated in your video. The one that was in the amp was too low and it was failing. cheap part and hopefully an easy fix. Thanks again for the great video.
That sounds really good. I can tell that the cabinet is contributing to the overall tone. Beautiful!
Thanks, Giulio :)
Thanks, Cat. I do believe that just about all modern oval speakers are for car stereo systems, particularly for use in the luggage tray behind the rear seat. Nothing would make me happier than finding a good, original 7" x 10" Rola speaker and getting this amp back into its correct form. Re your hunt for vintage 8" speakers, the Jensen I ordered for the Airline amp turned out to be a great speaker, in case you can't find originals.
sounds like Fogerty.. you're a gem of a guy for these videos and all of your solid advice. Stay cool!
Wow.....high praise indeed, Steve. Thanks so much :)
Thanks, Ben. With the heavy doping on the speaker cone and fairly hot biasing of the 6V6, the tone tends to stay fairly clean even at higher volume. It does get nasty, however, when you turn up the guitar input signal too high and overdrive the 6SJ7. I got this amp, along with several others, from a professional harmonica player in Albuquerque, NM. This is part of why I suspect that the alterations were to make the amp more suitable for harmonica playing.
These old amps have such a lovely sweet tone. Love them.
Jason Phelps I agree, Jason. Modern amps seem sterile by comparison. It's why I've been "hooked" on vintage amps for many years.
Yes indeed, another episode of amplifier exploration. Thanks UD!
Thanks, F86. I'm glad you enjoy them.
I totally love watching ''Amp Wizards" at work. So fascinating.
Glad you enjoyed the video, Mo.
@@UncleDoug You are the best, Doug!
@@mozilla2576 Thanks, Mo :)
It sounds nice. You can hear the tube tone even through my computer speakers.
Great video.
Thanks so much, HA. Glad you liked it :)
Very cool that it has a pentode input tube. I figured this was unheard of outside of Vox's. Learn something new everyday!
***** I think they were imitating the early Champ amplifiers (5B1, 5C1, 5D1). Fender didn't convert to 12AX7 until 1955, which was two years after this amp was made.
Standard automobile rear deck speaker automotive style used from the late 50's through the 80's, (and maybe beyond, but by then I was looking at other things).....
I still have many 5X7 and 6X9 speakers in stock because I liked the way they sounded when driven with 10 watts or less. When my daughter was very young, I built a mini jukebox style record player for her using a pair of 6AQ5 and a single 12AX7, and with a single 6x9 on either side it was plenty loud and sounded very good too....
I enjoyed the sound of your 'improved' tonemaster...
I think you will find most tube amps built from the 30's thru the late 50's will run 'hot' on a 120VAC line voltage. I believe they may have been designed to run on 108 VAC. The easiest solution is to just lower the screen voltage a bit to set the bias current...
Thanks for your input and helpful comments, Dennis.
Love these little Supro amps.
The true origin of these old "Tonemaster" amps is a little murky, at least to me, Mr. A. The larger, more elaborate Tonemasters were built by Magnatone and were exceptional amps. The smaller ones, like this unit, must have been farmed out to companies like Valco for economic reasons. Apparently, Valco also used this Champ-like 3-tube circuit in all sorts of early amps, including those it built under the Supro, Oahu, National, etc. brand names.
The Magnatone amps are a different source than these English Electronics models
They just happen to have a similar name. The Magnatones were made for Imperial Accordion Company and the Supro's were for a Lap Steel shop. A big difference in size and features due to the usage.
"Norman English was a popular lap steel guitar player that also owned a studio in the 1950s. Norman chose Valco guitars and amplifiers to rebrand as “English Electronics Tonemaster.”"
Love your vids Uncle Doug, thanks for sharing.
Wow, Uncle D. I learn something new from you all the time. I had no idea that Fender's first version of the Champ used a pentode in the pre-amp! I figured that the Vox AC30 was one of the few amps that ever did this!
Yes, indeed, Alva. The earliest versions of the Champ used a 6SJ7 pentode as the pre-amp tube.....just like the little Tonemaster.
Hi Doug,This Tonemaster looks very much like my Magnatone Lap Steel amp-it has the same output transformer,3 Octals and the tube sockets uses the same rivited method.Also the chassis slots into the cabinet the same way.
Similar amps were often marketed by different companies under different brand names, Sharon.
I have this amp! Ive been looking for its model forever. I can't really tell, but mine has a mother of pearl finish, same colors, though. LOVE IT!
Greetings, Caleb. I believe this amp was made by Valco. It has a thin oil-cloth-like two-tone fabric covering. I have seen pictures of similar ones with the pearloid (AKA Mother of Toiletseat) finish like yours. Yes, it's a really nice little amp. Thanks for your input :)
I saw hefty 6x9 Jensen in 70's 80's jukebox, probably good for this use.
Thanks for the tip, Andre.
The cloth was probably a taste thing. I liked a lot the way it sounded with it on. I need to get my hands on one of these!
You're right that perceived tone is a purely subjective matter, DJ. That's why it's so difficult to recommend different speakers and components. What I might prefer may not please others.
My first thought when I saw that speaker was that it was intended for automotive use. I've seen where they'd install such a speaker cloth "barrier" to keep contaminates from dropping thru the dashboard speaker grill and being held captive in the speaker one .. which of course would cause perpetual rattling :-) Just a thought .. another great video, Doug :-)
I think you're right on the money, KC. It surely must have been intended for use with a car radio.
Thanks for this video and all the wonderful info you covered. I just acquired a 1956 Supro version of this exact amp and it's matching lap steel. It's all original (yes, even the Rola speaker) but the filter caps are on the way out. Thanks to your help, I know what to do. I'll be adding the missing 10/450 filter cap and 500 ohm resistor. I'm also tempted to see if its tone is different with the cathode bypass cap at 10uF and 25uF.
Thanks again and can't wait to see what amp you find next.
You're welcome, JE. I'm glad the video was helpful. I've had a real dry spell here lately, but hopefully I'll turn up something interesting in the near future. Stay tuned :))
really nice video!!!
i used this video as the main inspiration for my DIY solid state amp. it uses darlington transitors instead of pentodes, but to make it more tube-like, instead of the output stage using a transistor constant current source like most class A amps or a resistor for a high voltage gain, mine uses a big a*# choke to mimic the inductance of the output transformer. this gives extremely soft clipping on one side, while hard clipping on the other side, really fat and gritty.
That sounds like an interesting project, Theo.
@@UncleDoug thanks
This little thing is amazing, I love it... I would add a gain...
Thanks, Mr. B. You can easily do that by adding an overdrive pedal between the guitar and amp input. I tried it and it worked great.....but the output transformer got really hot after an hour's use. You have to be careful.
Yes, that makes sense because the transformer is being pushed and the tubes are in such a way (Not Typical), so maybe not a great idea using a full amount of gain but just enough for a little crunch. Does it get hot using humbuckers? Is it okay with humbucker pickups? 500K? or does it work better using 250K Single coil with the pedal
I never noticed any difference in heating with humbuckers, Mr. B. There may be a few degrees, but it's not evident by touch.
I love these amps and they're great in a studio today... I have a habit of never plug it in and turning a amp on before I look inside, if I see any paper and foil capacitors they're gone and I replace them with polypropylene capacitors, because these caps can destroy your tubes and make your transformers run hot, in fact I replace every capacitor it has, the only caps I ever leave alone is the domino looking mica caps I never found a bad one, but they don't apply here... Sometimes the caps can read the perfect value, but is in fact leaking a good dose of DC current acting as a resistor. One major issue I found was some of the caps I ordered has the line on them so I automatically thought it was the right polarity until I took it out a nd turned it, this drove me crazy for a long time then tested them on a scope and found they must print on the side it comes down the line, but electrolytic caps are usually always good
Thanks for sharing, Mr. B.
To do so would require significant changes in the circuitry, and I would hate to alter it like that. It's easier to simply run the guitar signal through a stand-alone reverb unit like the Fender 6G15 on the way to the amp.
Apparently they only sell them in pairs....I am checking to see if they will sell individual speakers. Thanks for the tip, Ben.
a bit late...but I'm willing to bet thats a 6x9 originally designed for use in a car stereo. its very common for them to come with that cloth/felt covering over the cone. it helped when they were mounted on the shelf under the rear window in case something got dropped down it wouldnt rattle around in the cone...as well as protect from sun damage. its probably voiced more for hifi than guitar amp usage. very cool little amp though...thank you!!
You're welcome, Josh, and I agree with your analysis. It does indeed appear to be a car radio speaker. I was trying to find an original replacement, but ended up selling the amp before that happened.
Lotta sound out of a little box! Nice going..😄
Thanks, VonZ.
Cool amp, I've never seen a headphones out on a vintage tube amp.
A viewer said that it was most likely a pre-amp output.....to drive a power amp, which makes good sense. I believe it could be used for both purposes.
Another beauty. I've always liked oval speakers, they were everywhere when I was a kid. I like to think that the longer dimension favours the lows, and the narrow the highs. Probably nonsense, but, as Confucius once said, What do I know? Fine sound, though.
That's an interesting theory, Bill, and I like it......as well as oval speakers.
Great work! Many thanks!
+SiliconSet You're welcome, SS :)
Hey UD, I would bet that 6 by 9 speaker came out of the rear deck of a car, i have seen that setup with the cloth cover (I guess to keep dirt out of it) covering factory car speakers. Not sure how I am just now finding this video, I thought I had watched all of your videos, great sounding amp!
Agreed, Jack. It was not a particularly good speaker......unsuited for guitar amp use.
@@UncleDoug Agreed, also Audiovox was far from a top quality speaker even for car use! That was one of the cheapest POS's you could buy! Just rewatching a few of the old videos, have a great day!
@@jackallen6261 Agreed, Jack. The amp needed a nice Rola oval speaker.
Input impedance is not actually 75k for each input. The upper input has the impedance (shortest path to ground) is the 75k resistor in series with the grid resitor which is 5M. So effectively, input impedance is close to 5M.
The lower input impedance is 150k, because the shortest path to ground is through *both* 75k resistor to the ground contact of the upper input jack. The 5M in paralel to the two 75k resistors is large enough to be ignored.
kardRatzinger I concur with your analysis of the Fender Champ circuit, Kard. I misspoke in the video, and should have said that the two input resistors were of equal value, rather than using the term "impedance", which is not equal for the two jacks. Thanks for your input.
Uncle Doug
thanks for the response, Uncle Doug. Hope I'm not becoming the village nitpicker (certainly not my intention).
Cheers
Not at all, Kard, I appreciate any input that helps to clarify or correct errors.
good luck you can always keep one as a spare or he may sell you one he is a nice guy
Just about to fill my personal gaps regarding your Amp-videos;)
Nice work again, doug -- the iconic recording champ used by clapton, harrison etc is the later 12AX7 cathode biased 5F1 -- as you know the 5C1 is pentode and grid leak biased.. the original fender pro in the 40's used 6SJ7''s cathode biased -- by the way what does is sound like cranked all the way up ? Where did you source this one ? cheers, B
I will be putting this model amp (but original) along with a Tonemaster lap steel guitar with case - from the same estate, on Ebay for auction on Monday, Dec. 15, 2014.
Only if I can find an original Rola 7" x 10" replacement.....which seems unlikely. I'll keep an eye on Ebay.
Doug that looks like a line out jack to connect to a higher wattage amp like pedal steel guitar players do not a head phone jack. Like your videos keep them coming.
You may be right, Mark. I would have thought that an output to another amp would come from the pre-amp of the Tonemaster, not from its Output Transformer (in parallel with the cabinet speaker jack, with 350 Ohm resistors in series within each line). I am not familiar with this type of modification and simply guessed that it was for headphones. Thanks for your input !!
why cant every demo be done like this !
Thanks, JH. Glad you liked it :)
Doug, I install a preamp out-power amp in before the PI but my line out comes off the impedance jack either with or without level pot. Mark
Jay Blue: I finally figured it out. Some comments labeled "Linked Comment" cannot be responded to....and all your comments are so labeled. I have no idea why yours are "linked" and unanswerable and everyone else's aren't. Re the photo of your father and brother.....what a great photograph !!! I can see where you get your interest in guitars. I can't see enough of the little amp to identify it. You might peruse some historical amp sites to see if it turns up. Meanwhile, you are welcome to post amp and guitar photos on my FaceBook page: Uncle Doug's Vintage Amps.
Weird. I don't see any reference to linking anywhere. Oh well. That amp is long gone. It was replaced with a Silverface Champ which my father used with a keyboard for composing barbershop arrangements (100s of them). My nephew learned to play on the guitar, and has also inherited the Champ. I've posted a comment on your FB site with a link to photos of the guitar.
I'll check out the photos, Jay. I love old, unusual guitars.
pricey bit worth it the vintage 47 6 by 9
QUESTION: Hi, I have a 1956 Supro 'Special' model 1633E amp similar to this one. It uses a 6SQ7 and a 6V6; an 8" spkr and probably about 4W. It works, but the problem is no volume gain beyond about 25% of the vol pot travel. It starts out nice and quiet, and advances up to a clean moderate volume at what would be maybe '3' on a fender amp that has numbers, and then never gets any louder (or noisier) from there up to fully rotated (ie:all the way up). All the tubes check good, but to be certain, I swapped out for a complete full, known good set and, still the same. I disconnected the volume pot and it tested good, but with a total value of 387K ohms. Champ amps and smaller old Gibsons always use a 1M ohm volume pot and I thought maybe somebody has taken out the original vol pot/pwr switch and replaced it with a 500K ohm. Problem is... no schematic available, and I cannot identify the exact model. I know it's Valco made and in 1956, but all the schematics I find use a 6SC7 and have three input jacks, whereas mine only has two. THankS...oh, I guess the QUESTION is: What value vol. pot do you have in that Tonemaster? That information might help me narrow this mystery down some...
Carl Rudd Carl, the fact that the volume increase ceases about at about 25% of pot travel would indicate that the pot has sufficient resistance. If it didn't, the volume would increase throughout the pot travel and yet be low even at 100%. The Tonemaster pot measured about the same as yours.....around 400K. Here is a site that offers solutions for the problem you are having: www.geofex.com/ampdbug/lowpower.htm Good luck.
400K....alright....Thanks. I'll pursue other avenues. I'm getting 20M ohm readings between the red primary lead and either of the secondary leads on the Output Transformer. My understanding is that this indicates a winding short. Maybe that's it.
Yes, a shorted OPT is one of the prime causes of decreased output.
I guess a little bitty 4 ohm OPT designed for one output tube (the 6V6 in this case) will be hard to locate. I know 4 and 5 watt guitar amps are still being designed, but none of the usual vendors seem to go quite that small. Of course I haven't checked every last one. THANKS again! :)
Carl, you need to check out the Triode Electronics site. They offer a huge selection of Classic Tone transformers, including OPT's that will fulfill your needs.
Also, a question on the bias setting. I noticed you bias the output tubes very cold. The way you are calculating dissipation (by measuring V(Rc)) you are not really getting the plate dissipation, but plate+screen dissipation (bacause screen current also passes through the cathode resistor). So the "max" on you sheet should really say 14W, not 12W. Setting this to 9.4W (not to mention 8.4) probably won't make the life of the tube much easier than to 14W, or it's life noticeably longer, but it will lower the volume of the amp and what's worse, it will shift the bias into a position where it has less headroom.
So I guess the question would be - why so cold?
kardRatzinger You make a good point, Kard. Cathode-biased-output amps can be safely biased at about 100% of max PD. In retrospect, I should have biased it much closer to 12 to 14W. Bear in mind that this video is addressed primarily to beginners, and in an attempt to keep it as basic as possible, correction for screen current was not included. I have since altered (and posted in subsequent videos) a more accurate assessment of PC. Thanks for your input.
Uncle Doug
thanks for the response, always nice to chat to a fellow tube-maniac.
Keep the videos coming.
You're welcome, Kard, and thanks again for your input. We're on a brief hiatus at the moment, but should be back on the air soon.
I've been kind of interested in the 52-53 bassman amps... I've played a few and the Jensen speakers in the originals was that thick 40s era cardboard... with no flex and 25 watt amp... and a great guitar amp in both years, but absolutely horrible for bass... I've often thought that Fender came up with the ultimate guitar amp by making possibly the worst bass amp (at least at the outset) since the early pro, deluxe or similar, reproduced more bass than the BASSMAN? I realize there were different priorities, such as audible tones, and the fact they could be used for upright or the brand new Fender Precision... likely they were prioritizing use with uprights... just wondered of you had any revelations on this or what people were using back then for bass. I just watched the Elvis live Movietone footage from the carnival in Mississippi in 1956... where Bill Black sounded great... using a DeArmond contact pickup and 4×10 bassman... just wondered about the early days and the original Ampeg rigs in the 40s...
I understand your feelings on the matter, Sean, and, by coincidence, was just working on a BF Bassman with all sorts of problems in the Bass channel. I had to reconfigure the pre-amp circuit to make the channel usable for either bass or regular guitar. I sense a confusion on the part of Fender when it came to the Bassman.....should they make it a bass amp, as the name implies, or a regular guitar amp, as most people preferred. As with most compromises, the bass channel was much more seriously affected than the normal channel (which sounded good).....but who wants to pay for a two channel amp with only one really usable channel ???
Curious to know how the pentode sounds cranked or nearly dimed and also
wanna know which guitar and which pickup etc. Dunno how this vid snuck
by me but better late than never... thanx Uncle Doug and... cheers
The demo guitar was a 1980 Vantage V-695 Performer with MMK-45 humbuckers.
I kinda hope you found a classic Rola to fit this amp. I'm sure your amp room is filling up.
While still looking for the proper replacement speaker, I ended up selling the amp, Joel. So now it's up to someone else to make that decision.
Can you build a modern version using a EL86 instead of the original 6SJ7?
I have heard the 6SJ7 pentodes ate problematic.
Yes, you could, Mark, but I've never had problems with the 6SJ7.
Catching up on your archive of fantastic videos Doug! Audiovox is a TERRIBLE low end car audio manufacturer. That speaker cost $10 new, I bet! Available at your local discount department store (names withheld to protect the "innocent")
I agree, D. It was junk. Fortunately, it has since been replaced.
Those philips screws on the front are disturbing to me. You must have some vintage screws that you could replace them with.
I did the next best thing......I sold the amp.
It is a neat little amp!Will you change the speaker?
Now you've got me wondering... the 6SJ7 Pentode... when it's wired in Triode mode with Grids #2 and #3 tied to the Plate, has an amplification factor of 19 and the later models used a 12ax7 that has a factor of 100? Like you said, the 6SJ7 is a low gain part and why the early model sound so good. I wonder if you used a 12au7, which has factor of 19 also, if you can get the later model to sound more Pentode Tweed? I've often stabbed an "au" in place of an "ax" on the first gain stage, and used either a 1uf or even a 0.68uf for the cathode bypass cap in order to mellow and cream up an amps voicing... and even added a 0.0022uf cap from the Plate to the Cathode to trim the top end... which sounds like a smooth cigar... it's one of my favorite clean tones. I've got a tube amp test bed that I often dead-bug a design on so that I can run the test gear through it and hear how it sounds before I work out the layout and real-estate... I'm going to wire this mess up and see if my theory is correct... and... you can use a 12 series tube in a Cascode arraignment which performs and sounds better (they're not prone to microphonics, for one thing), but act much like a Pentode... but the gain is higher... I will do a little math and see if I can castrate the Cascode and see if that works well and sounds close to the 6SJ7 in the circuit... and report back in a few days... this might offer us some pleasing results... UPDATED - and I forgot to talk about the 0.022 cap that resides in front of the 6SJ7 that rolls off some of the incoming bass frequencies which will seriously effect the amps voicing. Does the addition of this to the later model Champ circuit get us in the Tweed territory?
This sounds like an interesting experiment, Mark. We anxiously await the outcome :)
+Uncle Doug I just finished the experiment with great results. The goal was to see if a 12AT7 wired cascode could sound and behave like a 6SJ7 pentode, or close thereof. Those pre-amp pentodes have a beautiful jangle to them, especially when pushed. The 7199 and the 6U8A are a newer and popular NOS tube that also houses a triode. Anyhow... I wired a cascode for the first stage and tested that. And then in the second stage position with a triode for stage one. In each instance I replaced the cascode with a 6SJ7. I carefully auditioned each setup. I actually think the cascode sounds slightly better than the pentode. The cascode is harmonically rich like the pentode and pretty easy to wire up. I declare a victory. I will work on posting a schematic.
+Mark Rakemaker Using a 12au7 with that amplification factor of 20 for stages 1 and 2 does sound close to the low gain tweed variaties, but not quite like the pentode does, especially when pushed. I would call it a close match when dialed in clean.
Thanks for the update, Mark.
@@UncleDoug What the flock is a cascode UD? And do the two different value input resistors equate to dirty & clean? Thanks!
Do you still have the Supro Super 1606 and if so I vote a demo video (?)
('cause the new Supro line has a 1606 as well) cheers
Nope, I sold it a while back, Jonny.
If it's not Valco, it looks they had the same parts supplier.
I agree, Jason.
Lots of vintage and replacement speakers on ebay. The only problem is that people think that "vintage" means they are worth more than they are and also jack up shipping charges. Recones DO NOT make them worth more, either - if anything, they are worth less now that they lost their "mojo."
I agree, Sid. I found an Ebay seller offering an original oval Rola speaker like the one I need for this amp, but it looked a little rough and he emphasized that he "knew nothing about speakers and had no way to test it".....which generally translates to: "this is junk and you'd have to be crazy to bid on it". Someone ended up paying $65 plus shipping for it. I think that's the problem. As long as people will pay big prices for untested, probably defective items, then madness will prevail. And, like you, re-coning is not a huge selling point to me. A lot depends on the skill of the person who did the re-coning, and regardless, it's not worth as much (to me) as a good, original-coned speaker.
Just got sniped for 2 12" '58 Jensens. I was in the process of paying with Paypal and allofasudden I wasn't the winner, and the ending cost was more than double!!! I can't believe it. I hope they have money left over for recone kits.
Sorry to hear of your disappointment, Sid. I guess someone was willing to pay a big price for date-coded speaker baskets. I hope you have better luck with your next purchase attempt.
Thanks, Doug!
I have an amp very similar to this, only has one input, is black paint instead of white for the metal, and no output Jack.
I'm having a bugger of a time finding any information about it.
Same front face to it just doesn't have the name badge.
Your amp was probably built by Valco, Jenna. They built thousands of different amps for other companies to be sold under different names.
Uncle Doug I just was rewatching this(I was pretty tired last night) but compared to mine, your missing a cap like the big yellow one between the fuse and (I forgot at the connection point was the chassis or the rectifier?) Either way, mine has another cap over there like the yellow one. Also at one point the cap was unsoldered and had to be resoldered without knowing its real connection point, so I best guessed it to a point that look like it had something soldered and was it about the right distance. No problems soo far.
I'm wondering, because I'm not great with schematics... Is that where you were talking about adding the extra capacitor in your hand drawn diagram?
Back to rewatching.
Original speaker is paper.
You have me thinking I should do a video about it😉
With a tear down like yours, I don't know as much... But I'm sure with what you know, if I did a video you could tell me whats going on.
Uncle Doug Along my travels on the internet, I've seen it suggested in another TH-cam video that they didn't show if it was a black or white face... That it was a Harp amp.
Have you seen that video? It has a Dos Equis bottle in front of it.
So just went to play it a bit, its not as loud as I remember 🤷 I think it needs some TLC.
This little thing used to cut my head off(for its size), where did its volume go?
Uncle Doug sorry for all the replies... Just excited.
I'm going to work on making that video tomorrow, I have family time to attend to, Happy 4th of July 🎆
(If you live in the state's that is😉)
Either way, have a great day and thanks for pointing me in the right direction thus far☺️
Very nice! Anyone make a GOOD amp kit in a 5C1? Might like to try one.
It would be an ideal circuit to scratch build, Tom. Cut out the middle-man, order optimum components, and build a world-class clone.
@@UncleDoug I think I would really like to try one of your kits, 5C1, however my wife and I just moved to a new home and I am currently getting my basement shop in order to build my banjos and guitars. I have a ways to go before I could handle putting a kit together. I could eventually build the wood housing for the Amp easily enough. I probably could not read a regular electrical schematic as you do, I just do not have that kind of training, I would need a color coded diagram of sorts . I would be a couple months yet before I will be comfortably organized to do my work again in my shop. I might not be a bad Idea to get a price for the components required, minus the housing for the components. At least a general idea, I know the cost of parts change all the time, because I buy them to. In the mean time I'll keep watching your videos. Eventually I would like a Princeton reverb style Amp to. Maybe a kit for that to. Tom
@@PLINKER Good luck with your new home and eventual project, Tom.
What would be a recommend speaker for the 5C1
An original 5C1 Champ is a rare and valuable amp. As such I would advise against making any changes that will alter the cabinet or chassis. Since it came with a 6" speaker, it would be best to stick with this size to avoid alterations....even though most 6" speakers are marginal at best. This Jensen speaker caught my eye: tradeupstore.com/products/speaker-6-jensen-vintage-alnico-20-watts-4-ohm It can probably handle max volume without flubbing and, once broken in, should provide great tone.....for a long, long time.
Can you add a small reverb tank to it?
What a nifty piece of electronic history! Thanks for the guided tour. I wonder if you could help me identify an amp that my father used to own. The amp is shown in the photo below, taken in about 1958, showing my father playing his Wilfer guitar and my brother at an early age. I can tell you more about the guitar, with photos, if it is of interest. The pickup, which you can't see, is a deArmond Rhythm Chief. Here's the photo:
c1.staticflickr.com/4/3403/4597542527_1cc5fc8fe0_b.jpg Here is 1 of the possible speakers. Mine has the same frame but a different magnet structure.
Yes, I believe this is exactly how the original speaker looked, Mr. A. I gave up trying to locate a proper replacement for my modern speaker.....and sold the amp.
wtg unk greatblil amp
Hey Uncle Doug. I have one of these and a guitar to go with it. Found it in my mother in laws estate. It seems to be in pretty good shape. I have not plugged it in I just cleaned it up a little. I would like to sell it if you know anyone who would be interested in it.
Jenn Rathbun Greetings, Jenn. Congratulations on a great find. Perhaps you could offer it on Craigslist in your area....so you don't have to ship it. Good luck :)