Fender Champ Amp 5f1 as stompbox ?

[Krinor]

Has anyone seen a stompbox replica of the Fender Champ 5F1 cicuit ?
I'd dearly like to build one, but searching around the forum and elsewhere I can't find anything. The closest thing is the Proffesor Tweed I guess, but that pedal doesn't sound at all like for instance my own Champ Amp. Maybe someone here would like to try making such a mini amp and post the project here ? 

[Dragonfly]

Maybe someone here would like to try making such a mini amp and post the project here ? 

Or you could take on the project....

[markm]

Maybe someone here would like to try making such a mini amp and post the project here ? 

Or you could take on the project....

What "era" is your champ?

[Krinor]

I'm affraid my skills are not sufficient to dive into such a project just yet. But darn it, I'll try it anyway. 
My champ is a 5F1, 2007 era amp.  I made it myself. Well, almost by myself. I had my audiophile uncle help me. Alot.  The amp is a replica of the 1959/60 Tweed Champ but I put it in a "candy apple red" cabinet with a 12" speaker which I salvaged from an old Yamaha organ from the 70's. Now you're probably thinking "oh my, ooh my", but really - it sounds great!
Well... I'll have a look at that Proffessor Tweed circuit and see if it makes me any smarter. I guess if I use the same approach I should be able to get something not too far off.

Here are some pictures of my amp (sorry, text only in Norwegian):

http://demostenes.no/prosjekter/?hending=visprosjekt&prosjekt=59
http://demostenes.no/rorprat/?post=1068

[vanessa]

I think a fuzz face would be a nice project. The overdrive tone of the champs are what many are fond of and make use of in the studio. Playing live players need more volume. It's hard to get that cranked champ tone out of a 100 Watt Marshall. Some players like Hendrix would use a fuzz face to get some of that vibe.

[aron]

I believe the O'Connor amp books and the Gar Gilles book takes on very similar projects to this. You might want to check those books out.

[Krinor]

Thanks Aron. I'll check those titles.

[Ben N]

I believe the O'Connor amp books and the Gar Gilles book takes on very similar projects to this. You might want to check those books out.

O'Connor & Gilles do amp-emulation stompboxes? 

Aron, he already has the amp--and a tasty-looking amp it is, too. He just wants to emulate it.

Krinor, I'd wager that your amp sounds somewhere between a real Champ and a Deluxe because of that 12" speaker. A real Champ would have a lot less bass.

[aron]

I think it's this one, but write Kevin to ask.

http://www.londonpower.com/books/tut5.htm

Here's Gar's book. I think he has the Herzog in there.

http://www.garnetamps.com/orderb.htm

[aron]

>Has anyone seen a stompbox rep

Kristian, did you mean solid state emulation or real tube circuits? I meant real tube circuits that could be put into a box.

[aron]

>but that pedal doesn't sound at all like for instance my own Champ Amp.

Most of them don't sound anything like the real thing. Maybe even the real thing doesn't sound like itself through another amp.

[Krinor]

Aron, I meant solid state emulation.
And I am aware that it won't sound the same as the real thing. Of course it won't. Nothing beats the warm full sound of a real tube amp. But putting it all in a small package gives you some of that vibe in pocket size, and that is a very tempting thing to try to build. It's nice to play the Champ at full volume, but when I do that people tend to leave the house by any available exit. My champ is really loud. Getting something that is at least a bit like the original in respons and tone but at headphone levels would be very nice and practical. Actually, a "Fender mod" that could be applied to for instance the Ruby would probably be sufficient. But a solid state "blueprint" of the 5F1 circuit would be very much more interesting.

[Krinor]

I believe the O'Connor amp books and the Gar Gilles book takes on very similar projects to this. You might want to check those books out.

O'Connor & Gilles do amp-emulation stompboxes? 

Aron, he already has the amp--and a tasty-looking amp it is, too. He just wants to emulate it.

Krinor, I'd wager that your amp sounds somewhere between a real Champ and a Deluxe because of that 12" speaker. A real Champ would have a lot less bass.

Yeah that's right. It has a somewhat "bigger" sound than the original.

[mojotron]

Aron, I meant solid state emulation.
...

I put together a project called the Vibin' Champ to do just that - make a Fet version of a '70's Silver Face Champ. Here is the link to that:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=47371.0

Schematic, layout, clips and mods are all listed in that thread.

I use this circuit a lot to get a champ/fendery sound and it works great as a preamp for recording.

[aron]

>Getting something that is at least a bit like the original in respons and tone but at headphone levels would be very nice and practical.

I guess I would go for mojotron's build. I'm going to reserve my comments on amp "simulations" :-) Let's just say that that line above could be applied to almost any amp that people want to emulate and have been trying for ages to do.

Good luck.

[Krinor]

Ha ha, thanks Aron.
I'll have a look at that one Mojotron. Thank you very much. 

[Krinor]

Mojotron,
That's a very nice project!
But the vero ink is dead. Do you think it is available somehwere else?

[Ben N]

I own and love a silver face Champ. But I would guess that it is rather different sonding than your 5f1 (although the ceramic spealer would change that tweed tone somewhat).

And Aron, I agree with you about so-called emulations.  was just tryig to focus on what the OP had asked.

[Dragonfly]

Kristian,
  If you decide to embark on the learning experience of "creating your own project", this would be a good one. Here's a starting point....

  1) Print out the Professor Tweed schematic and the 5F2-A Princeton schematic (which is what the Professor Tweed is based on)...
  2) Put them next to each other on a table, and looking from left to right, see what the similarities and differences are.
  3) Do a search on the forum for "JFET emulation".
  4) A little reading, research, and ingenuity should take you the rest of the way.

  Best of luck,
  AC

[Jaicen_solo]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this already but, the problem with emulations like the Prof. Tweed is that they're not modelling the power amp section, which in something like a Champ is the most important factor in getting 'the tone.'
If you're looking for something to practice along with that's 'in the ballpark' then look no further than a POD or its derivatives (ie, Flextone). That has a couple of really nice Champ, Deluxe and Twin emulations to name a few, and sounds great at low volumes.