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Thread: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

  1. #1
    Forum Member mrmas's Avatar
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    Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    I purchased a Champion 600 last week. Love the little amp. Sounds great for a Practice/Small Session amp. Word of warning, be careful with it. I was on my way to a buddy’s house to get my pick on and the amp fell over backwards. The chicken head volume knob protrudes further than the back of the amp. The volume pot took a shot when it tipped over. The volume did not work when I got there and plugged it up. I took it apart and...You guessed it... it is a plastic pot, plastic shaft coming out of the pot, and soldered onto a green board with little clearance. The only moving part of the amp is plastic. Thought I should give a public service announcement on the subject though. I patched it up so I could play on it but as soon as I get the time, that baby is getting replaced with a pot that is a bit higher speed.
    We Aint Got No @&* #$%$ Band Randy!

  2. #2
    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Quote Originally Posted by mrmas View Post
    it is a plastic pot, plastic shaft coming out of the pot, and soldered onto a green board with little clearance. The only moving part of the amp is plastic.
    Modern manufacturing techniques rear their ugly head.

    Again.



    Bummer about your amp.
    Several guitars in different colors
    Things to make them fuzzy
    Things to make them louder
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  3. #3
    Forum Member stratcat55's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Thanks for the heads up. That's pretty typical of Fender lately. Glad you can repair it yourself.

  4. #4
    Forum Member Erock_Germany's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Those are really cool. I recently played one also - the build quality and design is a little cheap but that is what you get for that money these days...but the sound is kind of cool!

    I also tried a Super Champ XD. Kind of cheesy in the build also but I must say, I was impressed by the sound. We hooked it up to a 1X12 cabinet also and the sound that came out of the little bugger was amazing. It is a 15 Watt A/B amp with 2 6V6 tubes and then a mix of solid state and digital modeling stuff. Certainly an interesting hybrid....
    "Sorry" - John Belushi as he smashed a guitar in Animal House

  5. #5
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    If those Champion 600s sold for less than I paid for my last Champ (a 1979 Vibrochamp. It cost me $125), I'd pick one up.

  6. #6

    Replacing the jacks and pot - Champ 600

    Just a suggestion...

    One of the first mods I di to my Champ 600 was to replace the pot and jacks.

    Proceedure is easy. (Maybe 20 minutes)

    Here are photos of before and after.




    Notice the orange drops in the fore ground. Another easy mod, but be careful.

    A fantastic value that sounds great.

    I hope this is useful.
    Mandopicker

  7. #7
    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Good to know there's enough clearance to install chassis mount components.
    Several guitars in different colors
    Things to make them fuzzy
    Things to make them louder
    orange picks

  8. #8
    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Someone here posted their pics of their conversion of the 600 into a 5F1 hand-wired.

    I'm just wondering how that 6" speaker fares in it.
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

  9. #9
    Forum Member ziess's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    I'm sorely tempted to buy one to convert into a proper champ. I've also got an old 6" speaker that would probably sound pretty nice.
    Anyone know what impedance the speaker in the Champ 600 is?

    Tommy.

  10. #10
    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Quote Originally Posted by ziess View Post
    I'm sorely tempted to buy one to convert into a proper champ.
    So am I, but I'm waiting to come across the scorched hulk of a dead one to pick up for a couple of bucks. I imagine I won't have to wait long.
    Several guitars in different colors
    Things to make them fuzzy
    Things to make them louder
    orange picks

  11. #11
    Forum Member ziess's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Ha ha, good plan.

    I found the schematic and it's a 4 ohm speaker. Does anyone have the original Champion 600 schematic? I can't seem to find it.

    Tommy.

  12. #12
    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    I imagine it's pretty close to this.

    Up until 1953, the letter indicated the year of the printed schematic.

    5A1 would be a '51 Champ
    5B2 would be a '52 Champ
    5C3 would be a '53 Champ

    After 1953, the revisions became less frequent (but have more changes), and the code sort of falls apart.

    The differences between "A" circuits and "C" circuits are usually minimal.
    Several guitars in different colors
    Things to make them fuzzy
    Things to make them louder
    orange picks

  13. #13
    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Quote Originally Posted by Kap'n View Post
    So am I, but I'm waiting to come across the scorched hulk of a dead one to pick up for a couple of bucks. I imagine I won't have to wait long.
    I keep telling myself that about HRD carcasses. But look how the value on those have kept up.
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

  14. #14
    Forum Member ziess's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Cool, thanks. Any experience with the 6SJ7?

    Tommy.

  15. #15
    Forum Member mrmas's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Mandopicker,
    what pot did you use. The schematic isn't specific. Tell us more about what you have done. Don't just leave us hanging. (nice work BTW)
    We Aint Got No @&* #$%$ Band Randy!

  16. #16
    Forum Member mrmas's Avatar
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Mandopicker,
    I think I just found your point to point conversion pics on another website. You appear to be an authority on the subject so what mods are worth while on this amp?
    We Aint Got No @&* #$%$ Band Randy!

  17. #17

    Champion 600 Rewire

    Yes, I have actually gutted the new 600 and installed a 5F1.(modified very slighty from original) New transformers, the tube rectifier, adjustable bias, all controls including adding a switch pot recently and and using the power switch as a standby...the whole thing.

    BTW the volume pot is 1M Ohm. (same for a switch pot if you prefer.)

    Originally it had a 6" speaker, so I kept it that way. If it was good enough for Leo, it is good enough for me. I really like the tone of that size speaker in that tight little cabinet. A new baffle made from 3/4" mdf made it even more solid. Besides, I have enough amps with 8", 10" 12" etc. The size is just perfect for room jamming and has no trouble being pushed by pedals...it sounds really great with a tele, a Holy Grail, and a sparkle drive as one combination.

    Its actually pretty amazing I must say.

    That said...if you want to keep it the PCB design (AA764 with fixed tone controls from what I can tell) you could modify just about anything, but soldering is delicate. Proabably stick to the caps, inputs and controls.

    The real reason I went with the eyelet design was so that I could experiment with modificiations down the road. Now all kinds of things are possible. Honestly, its pretty difficult to buy a cabinet, speaker and chassis for under $200 any way you slice it.

    Here it is with Oxblood grill cloth. Bright flash photo made the baffle show more in the image than it actually does. In person it looks great.

    Glad you found the experiment interesting. I sure had fun.
    Mandopicker

  18. #18

    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    For your viewing pleasure. A 5C1! Nice copper chassis.



    Mandopicker

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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Quote Originally Posted by mrmas View Post
    Mandopicker,
    I think I just found your point to point conversion pics on another website. You appear to be an authority on the subject so what mods are worth while on this amp?
    Hi,
    Can you give a url for this?

    Thanks

  20. #20
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Quote Originally Posted by pchilson View Post
    Hi,
    Can you give a url for this?

    Thanks
    Nevermind, found it.

  21. #21
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    Re: Replacing the jacks and pot - Champ 600

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandopicker View Post
    Just a suggestion...

    One of the first mods I di to my Champ 600 was to replace the pot and jacks.

    Proceedure is easy. (Maybe 20 minutes)

    Here are photos of before and after.




    Notice the orange drops in the fore ground. Another easy mod, but be careful.

    A fantastic value that sounds great.

    I hope this is useful.
    hi mandopicker. do you think you might be able to do a step by step for the vol and input mods for the champ 600? not sure of the resistor wiring for the inputs, thank you. kind regards, steve.

  22. #22

    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    Hi Steve,

    It is difficult for me to give you a step by step, but I tried to draw it out a bit more clear. I hope this helps.

    Good luck and have fun.

    Mandopicker

  23. #23
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    thank you mandopicker, thats a great help. now i can get rid of that crackle! cheers again, steve

  24. #24
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    Re: Public Service Announcement Fender Champion 600

    sorry to bug you again mandopicker. is it a log or lin pot that i need to get? thanks ageain. steve

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